LIBYA/IAEA: ISRAEL UNHAPPY WITH REVISED

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 001493 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2014 TAGS: KNNP PARM PREL MNUC LY IS GOI EXTERNAL SUBJECT: LIBYA/IAEA: ISRAEL UNHAPPY WITH REVISED INSTRUCTIONS ON A LIBYA RESOLUTION REF: A. CAIRO 1865 ¶B. STERLING-AUGUSTINE ET AL 3/10 EMAIL ¶C. SECSTATE 52697 Classified By: DCM Richard LeBaron for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) In response to March 10 ref (C) demarche to his deputy, MFA Deputy DG for Strategic Affairs Jeremy Issacharoff told polmiloff that the GOI, while fully cognizant of "what's at stake" in gaining consensus for a Libya resolution, is unhappy with the reftel Libya resolution language because it could set an unfortunate precedent for future GOI interests on both WMD and Middle East peace issues. The GOI, he said, believes that the language implies support for a Middle East NWFZ and overstates the value of the Libyan decision for Middle East peace. He worried specifically about the possibility that Iran could one day refer to the language as justification for international pressure on Israel. ¶2. (C) Issacharoff said he was especially unhappy to have heard from GOI representatives in Vienna earlier in the morning that the U.S. had reportedly acquiesced to the Egyptian request (ref A) to reverse the order of the ref (C) formulation "at peace and free of WMD." Reversing the formulation, he said, would unacceptably imply that WMD disarmament would be a condition for, rather than a result of, peace between Israel and its Middle East neighbors. ¶3. (C) In an earlier conversation (ref B),Issacharoff's deputy, Alon Bar, said the GOI was instructing its delegation in Vienna to seek more acceptable language. Issacharoff said language along the following lines would be acceptable to the GOI: "Recognizing that the decision of Libya could make a contribution towards a more secure Africa and Middle East that would be eventually free of WMD." ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** KURTZER