GOJ CONDEMNS ISRAELI RAID IN SYRIA; ISLAMISTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 006409 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2013 TAGS: PREL PTER IS JO SY SUBJECT: GOJ CONDEMNS ISRAELI RAID IN SYRIA; ISLAMISTS SURPRISINGLY SILENT REF: AMMAN 06394 Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for Reasons 1.5 (B,D) ¶1. (U) Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher on October 5 condemned in an official press statement the Israeli military strike in Syria, calling it a "dangerous escalation" which threatened the security of the entire region. Muasher further said that the attack "does not at all help the peace process," and called upon all parties to live up to their commitments as outlined in the roadmap. ¶2. (C) Muasher privately told Ambassador that same day that the GOJ had to strongly denounce the Israeli raid, as it had the Haifa bombing, since "Jordanian policy is not very popular inside Jordan or in the Arab world." ¶3. (U) In contrast to Muasher's statement, there was no official or publicized reaction by Jordanian Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front, to the Israeli action. While a few Arabic press editorials decried the attack (see reftel), public response was surprisingly muted. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: It could be that the Islamists are still formulating a response for inclusion in tomorrow's press or are awaiting the results of a possible UN resolution vote condemning the Israeli raid. Also, with Parliament now out of session until December 1, the IAF did not have a ready public platform to air their latest grievances against Israel. Please visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at http://www.state.sgov/p/nea/amman or access the site through the Department of State's SIPRNET home page. GNEHM