ROBERT
SERRY
SPECIAL
COORDINATOR FOR THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
BRIEFING
TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
26
MARCH 2015
Monsieur
le Prdsident,
Je
vous remercie chaleureusement pour vos aimables propos. Ces septs
dernibres ann4es ont 4t4 pour moi une expdrience extraordinaire qui
restera avec moi pendant toute ma vie. Je reconnais avec humiliate et
gratitude l'opportunitd unique qui m'a 4t4 offerte.
I
brief today against the backdrop of another month plagued by the
brutality that continues to cause immense human suffering across the
region. As this will be my last briefing, I intend to focus on my own
mandate while, of course, recognizing that the Arab-Israeli conflict
is affected by the dramatic events in the region. In any peace
agreement Israeli security concerns will need to be seriously
ad&essed. However, losing sight of reaching peace between Israel,
Palestine and the wider Arab world altogether -I have repeatedly
warned the Council that we may be heading in this direction- would be
tantamount to pouring more oil on the regional flames. Conversely,
real progress in achieving a two-state solution and ending the
longest ongoing occupation in modern history would go a long way
towards improving regional security and strengthening moderate forces
in the region. In this regard, the Arab Peace Initiative still holds
out the prospect of Israel normalizing its relations with the Arab
and wider Muslim world, rather than isolating itself.
Let me
first briefly update you on significant events during this reporting
period before sharing with you some parting thoughts based on my
seven years of experience, which the Council may wish to consider. On
17 March, general elections were held in Israel. We congratulate
Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Likud party on winning the highest
number of seats and note that President Rivlin has invited him to
form the next government, a process that may take several weeks.
However, I am frankly concerned by many of the hardline statements
put forward in the final days of campaigning, in particular remarks
by the Prime Minister raising serious doubts about Israel' s
commitment to the two-state solution. I urge the incoming Israeli
government to seize the opportunity of a fresh mandate to quickly
demonstrate in words and, more importantly by actions, this
commitment.
Earlier
this month the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Central
Council adopted a series of decisions, including "to suspend all
forms of security coordination given Israel's systematic and ongoing
noncompliance with its obligations under signed agreements."
While noting that in three months' time the PLO Executive Committee
will report back on the implementation of this decision, to date
security coordination is continuing. This move may have far-reaching
consequences and, along with the Palestinian accession to the
International Criminal Court effective 1 April, it is yet another
powerful sign of Palestinian determination not to return to the
status quo.
We
cannot run from reality. There is a genuine possibility that ending
Palestinian security coordination with Israel may be the final nail
in the coffin of the Oslo Accords. However, there is still time for
parties to end the cycle of counterproductive action and
counteraction.
With
the third month of Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax revenues,
now amounting to over $400 million dollars, the Palestinian
Authority's financial crisis is deepening. We are deeply concerned
that despite the announcement of an austerity budget for 2015, this
temporary bandaid may not allow the Palestinian Authority to survive.
Israel's action is in violation of the Paris Protocol of the Oslo
Accords. We, again, call on Israel to immediately reverse this
decision.
In
Gaza, an equally destructive financial crisis, related to the lack of
progress on civil service reform, continues to ratchet up tensions.
It has been nearly five months since the UN facilitated a
humanitarian payment to Gaza civil servants. I cannot help but feel
that such a gesture may be needed yet again to sustain minimum
conditions for stability until the parties have addressed the
underlying issue.
In
this regard, I welcome Prime Minister Hamdallah's second visit to
Gaza this week and commend his continued efforts to find solutions
for this and other critical issues, which will facilitate the GNC's
assumption of its rightful responsibility in Gaza, which was
developed with Palestinian and broad international support. I also
welcome last week's declaration of support by President Abbas and
Hamas for the Swiss Roadmap pertaining to the reintegration and
reform of the public sector in Gaza. I would like to thank
Switzerland for their committed efforts on this issue and urge the
Roadmap's swift implementation.
While
the appalling situation in Gaza endures, there are some signs of
progress. While not enough, the temporary Gaza Reconstruction
Mechanism (GRM) is making a difference. As of 23 March, almost 80 per
cent of damaged shelters have been processed through the GRM, with
over 61,000 individuals having procured construction materials to
carry out their home repairs. In addition, the mechanism is ready to
process large-scale reconstruction. Over 40 international and private
sector projects have been approved and five are already underway -
including Qatar's first major housing project to construct 1,000
housing units. I appreciate Israel's willingness to facilitate this
process. I, therefore, encourage all international partners to take
note that the mechanism is working and to fully engage on Gaza
reconstruction, in line with their pledges in Cairo last Octo
Mr.
President,
The
situation in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, remains
tense. At practically every monthly briefing during the past seven
years we have reported on negative developments. These include the
loss of lives and injuries resulting from demonstrations,
inter-communal violence often involving Israeli settlers and Israeli
search-and-arrest operations. We have also reported on security
incidents, including, increasingly, so-called "lone-wolf'
attacks - and the Secretary General and I have firmly condemned acts
of terror. I do not need to give the details to report that this
month resembles the average from previous briefings, including on
home demolitions, another disturbing trend. Numbers sometimes hide
the grim reality of entrenched occupation leading to growing despair.
We did
not fail to report to you either more positive developments, in
particular related to Palestinian state building and the easing of
Israeli restrictive measures. After a longstanding dispute, Rawabi
has finally been connected to water supply, allowing families to
begin moving into this modern Palestinian township near Ramallah. I
also welcome recent Israeli steps to ease some of its restrictions on
the movement of people and goods in the West Bank and Gaza. I only
wish that I could have reported such positive news on a regular
basis, and I urge Israel to expand upon these important initiatives.
Unsurprisingly,
settlement planning and activity also continued this month, despite
unanimous opposition from the international community. According to
the Israeli NGO Peace Now, from January 2008 to January 2014 - or six
of my seven years as Special Coordinator - the population in
settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem steadily
increased by an estimated 16 per cent to a total of 551,500 persons -
over half a million people. Some 16,500 new residential units were
constructed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem during this
period.
Illegal
settlement activity simply cannot be reconciled with the objective of
a negotiated two state solution and may kill the very possibility of
reaching peace on the paradigm of two states for two peoples. I
frankly do not lcnow if it is already too late. The minimmn
conditions of trust cannot be restored without the new Israeli
government taking credible steps to freeze settlement activity.
Mr.
President,
Allow
me, in this final briefing, to share my parting thoughts.
Upon
leaving this position, I cannot but express an overriding feeling
that I have been part of a peace process in which a can is kicked
down an endless road. During the past seven years, three US led peace
initiatives remained inconclusive and did not bring us any closer to
the urgently needed political foundation for a Palestinian state as
part of a two state solution. This is why the remarkable progress
achieved in Palestinian state building, pursued vigorously under the
leadership of President Abbas and former Prime Minister Fayyad, has
started to turn into a "failed success". Moreover, all
three stalled negotiations were followed by wars in Gaza, leaving the
strip devastated seven months after the last war, as I observed
during my last visit.
To
seek to prevent yet another descent into conflict, I have publicly
called for a new strategy prioritizing Gaza. By this, let me be
clear, I do not mean "Gaza only." Neither I nor the United
Nations would ever support a strategy that would seek to divide Gaza
from the West Bank. Focusing support to Gaza must be inextricably
linked to addressing the wider peace process.
"Prioritizing
Gaza" means that we recognize that we cannot possibly hope to
pick up the pieces of a shattered Israel-Palestinian peace strategy,
leaving Gaza as it is. It means that we cannot possibly hope to again
board the peace train in the West Bank and arrive in Gaza as a final
stop. It means that we must fix Gaza - or at least stabilize it - so
that we do not reconstruct it for a third time only to see it
destroyed again and so that it does not halt peace efforts which aim
to reach the long desired two-state vision: Israel living
side-by-side in peace and security with one single, unified State of
Palestine.
"Pfioritizing
Gaza" means for me achieving four main objectives urgently.
First,
we need a more stable ceasefire under the umbrella of the Government
of National Consensus. I have called for a "reconstruction
hudna": a freeze of all military activities above and below
ground over at least a three-to-five-year timeframe. This would allow
time and give donors confidence for the large-scale, accelerated
reconstruction that Gaza desperately needs: major infrastructure
projects, including housing; a gas pipeline to generate inexpensive
energy; and a desalination plant to address the chronic water
shortages. Once these immediate needs would be met, a next step would
be to look into providing an opening to the world via a seaport.
Second,
such a "hudna" can only be sustainable if Palestinians move
towards a real reconciliation - this has not happened yet. Clearly
this will not be an easy task, but what is the alternative?
Empowering the Government of National Consensus to take up its
leadership role in Gaza is the only way forward. Bringing all the
crossings in Gaza under the control of the consensus Government and
civil service reform represent essential next steps.
Third,
all Gaza crossings need to be opened further to support the free
movement of people and goods, including to reconnect the Strip and
the West Bank and to enable exports.
And
fourth, the international community must be prepared to fully support
the Government of National Consensus politically and financially.
This includes acting on the commitments made at the Cairo Conference
to support Gaza reconstruction. A new strategy for Gaza needs the
engagement of all stakeholders. I very much hope that conditions will
soon allow Egypt to continue playing its important role, including by
resuming the stalled ceasefire talks and promoting Palestinian
reconciliation.
I can
honestly state that Gaza has consistently been a top priority for the
UN and for me, personally. During each crisis, the United Nations,
including through the personal involvement of the Secretary-General,
was in the forefront to stop the fighting. Let me here also thank the
UN family on the ground, particularly UNRWA, for their indispensable
role in picking up the pieces in the aftermath and doing the
important development and humanitarian work. The stark truth is that,
despite all the efforts, Gaza is our collective failure and the
people of Gaza continue to suffer the consequences.
Mr.
President,
Auother
lesson learned after seven years and three wars is that the Middle
East Peace Process has mainly played out on three inter-connected and
mutually conflicting tracks: Peace negotiations; Gaza; and the UN.
The
interplay of these three tracks has produced a dangerous outcome, I
dare say the biggest crisis to date to our joint efforts to achieve a
two-state solution. As I have noted in my briefings to you since May
2012, the parties are heading towards an outcome which I can only
describe as a one-state reality.
As the
parties do not appear at this point ready to recommence negotiations,
we should not rush them back to the table. If indeed we believe that
they do continue to seek an outcome of two neighbouring states living
in peace and security, but are unable themselves, at this juncture,
to agree on a meaningful framework to resume negotiations, the
international community should seriously consider presenting such a
framework for negotiations, including parameters, to achieve this.
This may be the only way to preserve the goal of a two-state
solution, in the present circumstances.
Peace
is first and foremost the responsibility of the parties to the
conflict. But that reality cannot absolve international institutions
of their responsibilities. For its part, the Quartet has largely
failed to live up to expectations - although recent efforts to
reinvigorate it, including through an enhanced role for regional
stakeholders, may have a positive impact.
It
remains the primary responsibility of this Council to play its role
in developing a new peace architecture for resolving the conflict at
long last. Security Council resolution 242 embodying the key
principle of"land for peace" is nearly half a centmy old.
During my tenure - in my first year, actually - the Council passed
only two resolutions on Israel and Palestine and neither of these
provided a strategy. Hasn't the time come, Mr. President, for the
Council to lead?
Mr.
President,
In
conclusion, let me express my appreciation for the dedicated work of
the many UNSCO staff members without whose efforts I could not have
done my job. And, further, I wish to convey my sincere gratitude to
the Security Council and to the Secretary-General for all the support
I have received over these eventful years. I could not have carried
out my mission without your strong backing and, in particular,
without your support for my maintaining contact - as the only peace
Envoy permanently on the ground - with all parties concerned,
including as appropriate with non-state actors, such as Hamas.
Goal-oriented contact with such interlocutors is an essential element
for any Envoy seeldng peace in a complex, modem conflict.
Finally,
to my successor, Nickolay Mladenov, I wish every success in dealing
with this infinitely challenging environment.
Follow me on Twitter @NabilAbiSaab
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