BAHAMIAN FOREIGN MINISTER EQUATES ISRAEL WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 000332

SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2025
TAGS: PREL PINR PGOV IS BF
SUBJECT: BAHAMIAN FOREIGN MINISTER EQUATES ISRAEL WITH
WHITE SOUTH AFRICA


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Robert M. Witajewski, Reasons 1.
5 b and d

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Visiting non-resident Israeli Ambassador David Dadonn
was not given a meeting with Bahamian Prime Minister Perry G.
Christie during his current visit to Nassau. Ambassador
Dadonn also reported that his first meeting with Foreign
Minister Fred Mitchell ended abruptly after five minutes
after FM Mitchell equated Israeli actions in Palestine with
white South Africans racist policies opposing black majority
rule in that country. Mitchell later sent a message to
Dadonn that he "regretted" his statements. Dadonn also
reported that he believed that Caricom had already made a
decision not to support the candidacy of former Salvadoran
President Francisco Flores as OAS Secretary General, although
he was unsure if they could agree whether or not to vote as a
bloc for either the Mexican or Chilean candidate.
END SUMMARY.


Prime Minister Again Plays Hard to Get
--------------


2. (C) Visiting Israeli Ambassador David Dadonn expressed
dismay to Ambassador and DCM during a private meeting prior
to a dinner February 15 hosted by the Ambassador for the
visiting Israeli that he had been unable to see Bahamian
Prime Minister Perry Christie during his visit to The
Bahamas. Ambassador Dadonn, the non-resident Israeli
Ambassador, is stationed in Mexico City. A clearly
frustrated Dadonn complained to the Ambassador that his
meeting with the Prime Minister had been repeatedly
re-scheduled and then canceled. (Dadonn's problems are
similar to those encountered by former Salvadoran President
Francisco Flores in scheduling his February 14-15 visit to
Nassau to promote his candidacy for the OAS Secretary
Generalship. Flores first encountered difficulty obtaining a
meeting time with the Prime Minister. Then, while he was
airborne on his way to Nassau from El Salvador, the meeting
was arbitrarily moved up to start prior to his scheduled
landing time. In Flores' case, however, the meeting
eventually occurred and lasted about 45 minutes.)


Mitchell Equates Israel with White South Africa
-------------- --


3. (C) The focus of Ambassador Dadonn's unease, however, was
his report of his February 14 meeting with Bahamian Foreign
Minister Fred Mitchell. According to Dadonn, his Monday
meeting with Mitchell was tense and abrupt. A "curt" FM
Mitchell, related Dadonn, entered the Foreign Ministry
reception room for the meeting and proceeded to equate
Israeli "oppression" of the Palestinian people in the Gaza
with "white South Africans oppression of the country's black
majority" prior to majority rule. Dadonn told the Ambassador
that he felt, at this point, no option except to abruptly end
the meeting and walk out after only about five minutes.


4. (C) Apparently realizing what he had done, Ambassador
Dadonn said that FM Mitchell passed a message through the
Ministry's number two official, Permanent Secretary Dr.
Patricia Rogers, to the Israeli Honorary Consul in The
Bahamas, Ralph Seligman, that any offense that he might have
conveyed was "unintended" and "regretful." Dadonn said that
the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Rogers, scheduled a meeting for
the following day -- one that lasted 50 minutes -- during
which the Permanent Secretary said that the Minister's views
had been "personal" and "did not reflect (Bahamian)
Government policy."


5. (C) Asked by Dadonn for his analysis of Mitchell's
behavior, the Ambassador responded that there seemed, at
times, to be "two Fred Mitchell's," the polite and polished
public Mitchell and the more private -- but more revealing --
Mitchell. The Ambassador agreed with Dadonn that The Bahamas
had not been helpful to the U.S. in several UNGA votes this
past year, citing the Sudan and anti-Israel UNGA resolutions.
The Ambassador also noted that The Bahamas continued to not
be as publicly helpful on Haiti as they could be considering
the massive U.S. assistance provided to The Bahamas in
illegal drug and migrant interdiction.


6. (C) Ambassador Dadonn agreed that The Bahamas had not
been supportive in the UNGA. He cited an example where The
Bahamian PermRep in New York delayed supporting an Israeli
request to petition the Secretary General for a special
session to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation
of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz until after enough other
countries had already submitted requests to carry the
proposal. At that point, Dadonn observed dryly, "the
Bahamian action was of no value."


7. (C) Asked for his analysis of the construction of a large
new mosque in Nassau, Ambassador Dadonn responded that he had
expressed concern about it to Bahamian officials but that
they indicated that they could do nothing about its
construction. (The mosque is reportedly being constructed
with Saudi government funds.) Dadonn promised to forward any
additional information about the mosque, its programs, or its
funding that became available to him.


Caricom Unlikely to Support Flores
--------------


8. (C) Asked by DCM for his analysis of the OAS Secretary
General race, Ambassador Dadonn said that he believed that
Caricom had already taken a decision not to support former
Salvadoran President Francisco Flores' candidacy. What
Dadonn was unsure of, he continued, was whether Caricom at
its current Heads of State meeting in Surinam could reach a
positive decision about whom to support as a bloc.


Comment
--------------


9. (C) The Israeli Ambassador was clearly taken aback by FM
Mitchell's comments equating Israel with racist South African
policies. He stated that such rhetoric isn't even heard in
the Arab world anymore. We note that when demarched last
fall about a series of UNGA votes, FM Mitchell explained to
us that The Bahamian position as one of not supporting
country-specific resolutions...except in the case of Israel.
Mitchell's candid outburst to the visiting Israeli Ambassador
probably reflects the "real" Fred Mitchell much more than his
deliberately calculated, polished "Foreign Minister" image.

ROOD