ISRAELI FM SHALOM VISITS PARIS, TOULOUSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 007439

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2015
TAGS: PREL PINR IS FR
SUBJECT: ISRAELI FM SHALOM VISITS PARIS, TOULOUSE

REF: PARIS 7398

Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT, FOR REAS
ONS 1.4 B/D


1. (C) Summary: Israeli FM Sylvan Shalom concluded a 3-day
visit to France on Saturday, October 29 after visiting Paris
and Toulouse. Although Shalom's visit was planned as the
latest in a series of bilateral efforts to improve the
Israeli-French relationship, international issues
predominated, especially after the Iranian President's widely
condemned remarks calling for Israel to be "wiped off the
map" (reftel). In a private meeting with Douste-Blazy,
Shalom forcefully argued against the inclusion of Hamas in
the Palestinian political process, a demarche that a French
diplomat called "disappointing." End summary.


2. (C) Shalom arrived on October 27 and, while in Paris, met
with FM Douste-Blazy, Senate President Christian Poncelet and
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. A local Israeli Embassy
contact told Poloff October 26 that Shalom's visit should be
seen as a follow-up to Prime Minister Sharon's visit to
France in July and FM Douste-Blazy's visit to Israel in
September. The Israeli and French governments are working to
upgrade their cultural and educational ties, said the Israeli
diplomat.


3. (C) On October 28, Poloff met with Herve Besancenot, the
MFA's DAS-equivalent for Egypt and the Levant, and discussed
Shalom's visit. Besancenot said Douste-Blazy and Shalom
discussed a range of current issues in their private meeting,
including the Middle East Peace Process, the political
process in Gaza, Iran nuclear challenges and the Iranian
President's widely condemned remarks. According to
Besancenot, Shalom criticized Palestinian PM Abbas for
failure to reign in militants and urged France to support the
political isolation of Hamas. Besancenot said France had
expected a more moderate line from Shalom, and feared that
the Israeli government was engaged in a process of
"Arafatization" of Abbas. In addition, France had hoped,
said Besancenot, that Shalom would be more pragmatic
regarding Hamas' participation in the Palestinian political
process. Nevertheless, France was pleased that Shalom
appeared more open to the idea of an EU-led mission to
monitor the Gaza/Egypt border, said Besancenot.


4. (C) On Iran, Shalom praised France's condemnation of
Ahmadi-Nejad's remarks, although he said nobody should be
surprised by what Ahmadi-Nejad said. Shalom said
Ahmadi-Nejad was following the same line as that of former
President Rafsanjani, although Ahmadi-Nejad was less
sophisticated. Besancenot also said Shalom praised
French/U.S. cooperation on Syria/Lebanon. Iraq was not
discussed.


5. (C) At the tail end of Shalom's visit, he and Douste-Blazy
addressed a regional umbrella group of Jewish organizations
(CRIF-Toulouse) in Toulouse. According to APP Toulouse,
Shalom reprised the same themes he had focused on in official
meetings in Paris. He emphasized that Hezbollah should be
viewed in the same light as al-Qaida and discussed Israeli
efforts to upgrade relations with moderates in the Muslim
world. Shalom also praised French efforts as exemplary in
fighting anti-Semitism.


6. (SBU) In his follow-on speech, Douste-Blazy focused on the
need to assist Gaza in building its rule of law and political
stability, and raised the continued importance of the Road
Map with regards to the Middle East Peace Process. Straying
from his prepared remarks, Douste-Blazy said that at first,
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon had not impressed him.
However, said Douste-Blazy, his opinion of Sharon changed
after a long conversation with him in which the Israeli PM
said he was tired of war and had become a man of peace.
Douste-Blazy said he came away from that meeting very
impressed with Sharon.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
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