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Comments by new Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee on New Zealand co-sponsoring a UN motion condemning Israel’s settlements in Palestinian territory are at odds with comments by Prime Minister Bill English.

Brownlee said on Wednesday the Security Council resolution passed last December had been “premature” and implied it should not have passed without Israel’s support.

He said on Radio New Zealand that the value of Security Council resolutions was in the “willingness of the parties who are having the resolution imposed upon them to accept what’s in it.”

But English, on the same day, said the resolution had been in line with New Zealand policy and that he did not regret New Zealand’s co-sponsorship.

Read more: Brownlee statements about UN’s Israel resolution at odds with Prime Minister’s – National – NZ Herald News

It’s not often that a new minister disowns the policy of his immediate predecessor and of the Government as a whole. But that’s what newly-appointed Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee has done.

Brownlee  says it was “premature” of New Zealand to co-sponsor the UN Security Council resolution condemning the Israeli Government’s policy of expanding Israeli settlements. At a stroke he has ratted on his government’s  bold and courageous move which called Benjamin Netanyahu’s belligerent government to account and expressed a widespread international frustration at Israel’s behaviour.

In doing so he has contradicted and disowned the policy of his predecessor, Murray McCully, and thrown his Government’s policy into utter confusion. This is not a sensible course for a new minister to follow, and he should be hauled over the coals by his leader, Bill English.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) ” The new political program of Hamas, published Monday, is meant to help the Islamic militant group break out of its international isolation. The manifesto does not formally replace the group’s fiery 1987 founding charter, but adopts more conciliatory language, even if some goals remain unchanged ” such as the eventual “liberation” of all of historic Palestine, including what is now Israel.

Read more: Hamas rebrands itself in new manifesto, but old goals remain – World – NZ Herald News

New Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee has revealed he has moved swiftly to try to restore diplomatic relations with Israel.

Soon after receiving his ministerial warrant on Tuesday, he wrote to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding out an olive branch.Israel withdrew its ambassador from New Zealand in December and belated travel rights of New Zealand’s ambassador to Israel, based in Turkey, after New Zealand co-sponsored a Security Council Resolution condemning its continued settlements in the West Bank.

“I’ve sent a letter to Mr Netanyahu yesterday firstly congratulating them on their national day but expressing a desire for the Israeli-New Zealand relationship to get back on track and to do that by recognising that we’ve got synergies and innovation and agriculture and various other things like that.”

Read more: Brownlee moves quickly to restore relations with Israel – National – NZ Herald News

PARIS, May 2, 2017 – UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights NGO, condemned the “hijacking” of UNESCO’s agenda by the Palestinians and Arab states, after the agency’s 58-member board  singled out Israel today for condemnation—the only nation to be criticized—as the Jewish state celebrated it 69th Independence Day.

“Israel lost the vote today, but it did score a small moral victory: despite reported fears that Germany’s negotiations with the Palestinians would erode support, Israel in the end won more votes than ever before, including from major democracies like the U.S., Britain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

“The Palestinians at UNESCO are hemorrhaging support for their ritual anti-Israel resolution: last April they had 33 yes votes, then in October it was down to 24, and today it’s down to 22. The no votes increased substantially from 6 to 10.”

“And once again, India—an increasingly important friend and ally of Israel—has voted to abstain, showing that its recent break from decades of lockstep voting with the Arab states is now a fixed policy.”

Read more: UNESCO’s Anti-Israel Resolution Gets Least Votes Ever – UN Watch

A spokesperson for the American UN mission has roundly condemned the anti-Israel resolution that was passed by the global intergovernmental body’s cultural agency at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday. “Once again, the United States rejects the adoption of these anti-Israel resolutions at UNESCO,” the spokesperson told The Algemeiner. “Like other parts of the UN system, UNESCO is too often used as a vehicle by member states inclined to deride and delegitimize the State of Israel. Although several of these ant

Read more: American UN Mission Blasts Anti-Israel UNESCO Resolution for Denying ‘Historic Connections’ Between Jewish People and Jerusalem | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com