UN General Assembly
2012

of a draft resolution and to engaging in the consultations that have been signaled to us. I said earlier that New Zealanders are practical and constructive. They are also fair-minded people; they expect to see their Government bring all of those attributes to the consideration of such a resolution, and that we will surely do. Having said that, let me also be clear that we see such a resolution as a very poor substitute for the direct discussions that should occur between two leaders who live half an hour down the road from each other. In his address to the Assembly earlier in the week (see A/67/PV.12), Prime Minister Netanyahu set out clearly the grave implications for the Middle East, and for the global community more generally, of a nuclear breakout in the region. Like other Member States, New Zealand believes Iran must be told to step back from a course that risks further dangerous escalation of the situation. We hope the international community will stand firm in sending that sort of message. In return,