[Title] Statement by H.E. Mr. Koichi Haraguchi at the Fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on agenda item 38: the Middle East issues

Mr. President,

The international community witnessed the acceptance of the Roadmap by both the Israeli and Palestinian sides last spring as well as the subsequent summit meeting held at Aqaba, and thus hoped that the long-waited opportunity for fundamental progress on Middle East peace had finally come. However, the process has remained adrift since August, when conditions suddenly deteriorated again. Now that the new cabinet of the Palestinian Authority has been formed under the new Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, the expectation that implementation of the Roadmap will resume has been heightened. Japan shares that expectation. Nevertheless, since we have observed with great disappointment the rapid evaporation of the great hopes of six months ago, we cannot but take a cautious view on the progress, while welcoming the recent positive events. Even if the prospects of the Palestinian track have not faded away entirely, the situation is now such that enormous efforts on both sides of the parties will be required in order for the outlook to brighten again.

Mr. President,

Fortunately, many of those concerned have expressed their intention to reinitiate serious efforts towards progress, which we find encouraging. First, Japan welcomes the fact that Prime Minister Qurei and Prime Minister Sharon have expressed their readiness to meet directly to resume implementation of the Roadmap. We also commend the U. S. government for its continued commitment to the implementation of the Roadmap and to working on persuading both parties, particularly Israel, to make renewed efforts in this regard. This involvement of the United States is indispensable for achieving peace. In addition, we appreciate and strongly support the efforts of the Egyptian government in serving as an intermediary in order to effect a ceasefire among the Palestinian factions once again. Japan also welcomes the adoption of Security Council resolution 1515, which we hope will add momentum to the search for peace. Furthermore, we welcome the formal announcement of the Geneva Initiative yesterday, as such an initiative provides hope for peace, and we trust that this achievement will have a broad support of the international community, including the parties to the conflict. All of the aforementioned efforts are positive and may be of help in improving the situation.

Mr. President,

However, there is a serious question to be answered; If all of those efforts bear fruit immediately, will this be sufficient to convince the Israeli and Palestinian people and world opinion that both parties have returned to the Roadmap, which is the only viable plan for peace? Regrettably, I am afraid that the answer is no. As long as the Palestinian Authority's actions against the extremists fail to yield results and the Israeli government continues its settlement activities and construction of a wall that crosses the Green Line, it will be difficult for mere words expressing a sincere commitment to achieving peace through the Roadmap to be accepted. As long as both sides continue to insist either that "the Palestinian side has to act first," or that "the Israelis must first show good faith," peace will never be produced. What is indispensable is courageous and insightful action by both parties.

Mr. President,

Concerned Member States, including Japan, have repeatedly appealed for strong action by the Palestinian Authority against the extremists and for the termination of the settlement activities and the construction of the wall beyond the Green Line by the Israeli government. At the Security Council and here at the General Assembly, appeals have repeatedly been made through statements and voting actions. Member States have also appealed bilaterally to the parties. As to whether the parties have actually listened to these appeals and taken them to heart, that is doubtful, to say the least.

Mr. President,

Let me make myself clear: Japan genuinely wishes that peace be realized in the Middle East, and, even if our appeals are ignored by the parties unfortunately, Japan will neither lose interest in the peace process nor stop our support for peace efforts by the parties that are accompanied by concrete action. But in spite of that, or rather, precisely because of that, I wish to ask both parties to stop and think about the significance of the fact that so many repeated, unanimous appeals for peace has been made by the international community.

Mr. President,

I also wish to ask both parties to consider this: Even after their commitment to the Roadmap has been accepted as credible as a result of concrete actions by both parties toward peace, the credibility will not be established once and for all but will have to be tested many times over until peace is finally achieved. In other words, unless both parties are truly committed to the vision of two states living side by side in peace, a crisis of credibility may arise at any time.

Mr. President,

The Government of Japan has extended support of various kinds to promote Middle East peace, such as humanitarian relief for the Palestinian people and reform assistance for the Palestinian Authority. One example of such assistance is the sponsorship of the confidence-building meeting, that was held in Tokyo in May this year. This meeting was organized on the basis of our belief that, in order to achieve peace through dialogue and negotiation, there must be some level of confidence between the parties. As long as both parties understand the importance of confidence building and are serious about pursuing that goal, we intend to continue our support of the process with perseverance. But in order for our support to make any sense, it is essential that both parties recognize the importance of such confidence building and make an earnest effort to promote it.

Mr. President,

It goes without saying that, to achieve a lasting Middle East peace, we need to seek a comprehensive peace. Therefore, in the Syria-Lebanon track too, if the parties shared an interest in seeking peace and worked to build mutual confidence upon the foundation of that shared interest, we believe it would be beneficial for the resumption and future progress of negotiations for the Middle East peace.

Mr. President,

Are we now facing opportunity and hope, or crisis and despair? I would like to answer that we face opportunity and hope. But the source of the power to transform such opportunity and hope into reality, if it exists, can only be found in the parties to the Middle East conflict themselves. Only in the presence of the strong will of all the parties to pursue peace and the strength to make concessions and fulfill responsibilities for the sake of the ultimate goal of peace, can support from the international community be effective. I would like to take this opportunity to urge once again all the parties to the conflict to uphold their determination to pursue peace. The Middle East peace is directly connected to the peace and security of the entire world. As long as they will respond to our appeal in good faith, the international community always stands ready to extend support for its progress.