SHEIKH YASSIN'S KILLING COMPLICATES JORDAN-ISRAEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002165

SIPDIS

INFO ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER KISL IS JO
SUBJECT: SHEIKH YASSIN'S KILLING COMPLICATES JORDAN-ISRAEL
TIES

REF: AMMAN 1971

Classified By: DCM David Hale for reasons 1.5 (b and d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) A visibly upset FonMin Muasher told us March 22
that Israel's killing of HAMAS spiritual leader Sheikh
Ahmad Yassin just days after King Abdullah's meeting with
Prime Minister Sharon in Israel embarrassed the King, whose
government has recently come under intense criticism for
continued contact with Israel. The King met Sharon as
members of Parliament rejected a no-confidence motion
against three ministers who participated in the recent
commemoration of a joint Israeli-Jordanian research
center. Although there were few concrete results from the
meeting with Sharon, it represented a step towards
repairing tense relations between Israel and Jordan and
might have set the stage for future exchanges, including a
possible rescheduling of the visit to Jordan by Foreign
Minister Silvan Shalom. However, Sheikh Yassin's
assassination has personally embarrassed the King and
shaken advocates of the relationship, who may now question
Israel's commitment to its ties with Jordan and make it
more difficult for the GOJ to explain why contact with
Israel is in Jordan's interest. The killing also will
embolden the anti-normalization movement in Jordan. End
Summary.

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FRESH FROM ISRAEL VISIT, KILLING EMBARRASSES KING
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2. (C) Israel's assassination of HAMAS leader Sheikh
Ahmad Yassin (who was released from Israeli jail in 1997
upon the late King Hussein's intercession) (fuller reaction
septel) comes on the heels of King Abdullah's March 18
meeting with Prime Minister Sharon in Israel. A visibly
upset Foreign Minister Muasher told the Ambassador March 22
that the assassination personally embarrassed the King and
Jordan, and would affect how Jordan interacts with Israel
in the future.


3. (C) Ashraf Zeitoon, officer in charge of Israel and
peace process issues in FonMin Muasher's private office,
told PolOff on March 21 that the three-hour meeting did not
produce any breakthroughs, but was a prelude to future
engagement on other bilateral issues, including a possible
visit from Foreign Minister Shalom to Jordan in the near
future. He said the visit was timed to precede the King's
(and Sharon's) upcoming visit to Washington in April. The
two leaders covered a wide range of bilateral issues, but
mostly discussed Israel's plans to withdraw from Gaza.
Sharon did not divulge the specifics of his plans, but King
Abdullah shared the Jordanian position, insisting that the
withdrawal must be within the context of the roadmap, not
leave open a power vacuum for militants to fill, and not
involve relocating settlers to the West Bank. (FonMin
Muasher told the Ambassador that Sharon said the roadmap
was "dead.")


4. (C) On other matters, Zeitoon reported that the
Israelis tried to allay Jordanian concerns about the
separation barrier. The King also asked for the release of
remaining Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails. However,
the Jordanians received no concrete Israeli commitments on
either score. Without divulging specifics, Zeitoon
lamented that Israel is often willing to make promises to
Jordanian officials privately but fails to follow up with
public commitments that could help solidify the GOJ's
position against rising anti-Israeli sentiment among
Jordan's population.

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GOJ ALREADY UNDER FIRE FOR ISRAELI-JORDANIAN PROJECT
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5. (SBU) The King's visit to Israel occurred despite the
brewing controversy over the newly commemorated
Jordanian-Israeli Bridging the Rift research facility
(ref). Though the King supported the project -- he hosted
a reception for the group upon its opening March 9 -- he
hardly advertised the fact. Critics in Parliament led by
Islamic Action Front MPs focused their wrath on his
ministers in attendance at the commemoration, calling for a
vote of no-confidence for Planning Minister Bassam
Awadallah, Education Minister Khaled Toukan, and Minister
of Higher Education Issam Zaabalawi. However, 78 of 82 MPs
present on March 20 rejected the no-confidence motion. The
vote came after 18 MPs walked out of the session to protest
the Prime Minister's decision to hold the meeting behind
closed doors, revealing the government's anxiety that this
issue could get wider traction among the public.


6. (SBU) Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali sought to put a
positive spin on the vote, saying before the meeting was
adjourned that "the development is an indicator that
democracy is a deep-rooted practice in Jordan." Later,
four ministers held a press conference reiterating that the
GOJ has the right to meet Israeli officials under the
auspices of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty and that it
is in Jordan's interest to do so. FonMin Muasher said such
meetings are essential to defend Jordan's national
interests, noting that recent prisoner releases would not
have happened without direct contact with Israel.


7. (U) Asked whether the vote signals a worsening in
relations between the GOJ and Parliament, Minister of
Political Development and Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad
Daoudiyeh said the vote "speaks for itself," adding: "We
could call this a renewal of the confidence in the
government if you like." Government spokesperson Asma
Khader said the GOJ looks at the no confidence motion as
"political opposition" and not an attack on the ministers
themselves. "We have to remember here that the
Jordan-Israeli peace treaty is an effective law passed by
the Parliament. This is not the first time that ministers
or officials meet Israeli officials and will not be the
last." She added that such meetings do not indicate that
the GOJ has no "sensitivities against the Israeli practices
and do not mean that the government is content with what
Israel is doing."

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COMMENT
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8. (C) Yassin's assassination could not have come at a
worse time for the GOJ and King Abdullah, just fresh from a
meeting with Sharon and just prior to the Arab League
summit, as he looks complicit in the killing. While there
is no love lost for HAMAS in the GOJ, most Jordanians view
HAMAS as a legitimate Palestinian resistance organization
and do not view Yassin as a terrorist; the killing could
boost public support for the militant group. The killing
challenges the credibility of GOJ officials who have
publicly defended Jordanian-Israeli ties and will make it
less likely that senior Jordanian officials will risk
visible, high-level meetings with Israelis in the near
term. FonMin Muasher said this move will effectively
silence his and other moderates' efforts to ensure
productive handling of the Israeli-Palestinian issue at the
Arab League summit. The killing also will embolden the
anti-normalization movement in Jordan, given emotional
public reaction and the defensiveness of proponents of the
Jordan-Israel relationship.

Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman or access the site
through the State Department's SIPRNET home page.
GNEHM