Mild rebuke for Brownlee

Prime Minister Bill English issued a mild rebuke to new Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee for indirectly criticising New Zealand’s co-sponsorship of a United Nations Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements.

And the Prime Minister issued a correction on New Zealand’s policy.

He said that, like himself, Brownlee was having to get used to a new language in the world of diplomacy and he would no longer be describing the resolution as “premature”.

“He is getting familiar with the language the Government has been using around it, and in this world of diplomacy, each word matters.

“I think he was just trying to find the right language and it hasn’t changed the Government position, which is to do what he is doing and that is to rebuild the relationship with Israel because we think it is important to have representation in each other’s countries and a positive relationship.”

Asked if Brownlee would be using the word “premature” again to describe the resolution, English said: “I wouldn’t expect so and I think he would say the same thing.”

English rejected the suggestion commonly made by critics of former minister Murray McCully that the resolution was a departure from wellestablished New Zealand policy.

“We felt the resolution was expressing longstanding Government policy, in fact a longstanding commonly held international view.

“We understand that Israel was upset about the resolution and our role in it but we are keen, looking ahead, to have a positive relationship with Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled his ambassador after the resolution passed without dissent on December 24 (NZ time).