ITALY SUGGESTS MODIFIED LANGUAGE FOR OSCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 001472 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/OHI E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2014 TAGS: PHUM SOCI IT OSCE SUBJECT: ITALY SUGGESTS MODIFIED LANGUAGE FOR OSCE ANTI-SEMITISM CONFERENCE DRAFT DOCUMENT REF: A) ROME 1402 B) PARIS 2794 C) STATE 78071 CLASSIFIED BY: A/POL MINISTER-COUNSELOR GARY ROBBINS. REASON: 1.5 (B)(D ) ¶1. (C) FOLLOWING UP ON REF A CONVERSATION, MFA OSCE OFFICE DIRECTOR FABIO CRISTIANI TOLD POLOFF THAT THERE WAS LITTLE SUPPORT AMONG OSCE MEMBER STATES FOR LANGUAGE IN THE OSCE ANTI-SEMITISM CONFERENCE DRAFT DOCUMENT LINKING ANTI-SEMITISM TO ATTACKS AGAINST ISRAEL. HE CLAIMED THAT ITALY COULD LIVE WITH SUCH A LINK, BUT "OVERWHELMING" OPPOSITION MADE IT UNLIKELY IT WOULD RECEIVE CONSENSUS. IT WAS FAR TOO GENERAL, HE AVERRED. ¶2. (C) CRISTIANI SUGGESTED THAT ACCEPTABLE COMPROMISE LANGUAGE WOULD REFERENCE THE FACT THAT ANTI-SEMITISM IS SOMETIMES MANIFESTED AS AN ATTACK ON "THE RIGHT OF ISRAEL TO EXIST" OR "ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE". COMMENT: THIS PHRASING IS ALMOST EXACTLY AS PROPOSED BY FRANCE IN REF B, LEADING US TO BELIEVE THE COMPROMISE LANGUAGE HAS BEEN DISCUSSED AND APPROVED BY AT LEAST SOME OF THE MAJOR PLAYERS AMONG THE EU MEMBERS INTERESTED IN THE DRAFT. VISIT ROME'S CLASSIFIED WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.STATE.SGOV.GOV/P/EUR/ROME/INDEX.CF M SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME01472 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL