Minister learns the ropes from officials

Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee says he’s an ‘‘excellent student’’ when it comes to learning diplomatic speak.

The newly-appointed minister is being tutored by his officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade after comments which appeared to undermine a New Zealand-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the building of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.

Brownlee admits the comments were his mistake.

’’The Government’s position hasn’t changed. What we are trying to do is re-establish diplomatic relations with a country that we’ve had a long relationship with. Under the intense scrutiny of a Radio New Zealand journalist, I used some language that perhaps made that less than clear.’’

In that interview, Brownlee described the resolution as ‘‘premature’’, and suggested New Zealand should not have moved forward with it unless Israel agreed.

’’It’s something I’ve got to take a little bit of a lesson from my friends at MFAT who are currently giving me various pieces of advice about appropriate diplomatic language.’’

But Brownlee gave an assurance: ‘‘I’m an excellent student, a great learner.’’

His comments come after Prime Minister Bill English on Monday said he had spoken with his foreign minister and was confident they were the comments of someone still ‘‘trying to find the right language’’.

Brownlee – just weeks into the job – has written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to patch the fractured relationship. A response to the letter had not yet been received.

UN Security Council Resolution 2334, passed late last year, demanded Israel ‘‘immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem’’ and said the settlements had ‘‘no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law’’.

Netanyahu described the passage of the resolution, also cosponsored by Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela, as an ‘‘act of war’’. He recalled Israel’s ambassador from New Zealand, and restricted the ability of New Zealand’s representative to enter the country. Diplomatic relations have been close to non-existent since.

But while the Government stood by the resolution, it was working on nudging back in to Israel’s good graces. On Monday, English appeared to suggest a New Zealand embassy in Tel Aviv would be preferable to one in Turkey’s Ankara, cross-accredited to Israel.