RAMON DESCRIBES DISENGAGEMENT COORDINATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 004419

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2015
TAGS: ECON PREL EAID ETRD KWBG IS GAZA DISENGAGEMENT ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: RAMON DESCRIBES DISENGAGEMENT COORDINATION
PRIORITIES


Classified By: Charge d'affaires Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: In a July 14 meeting, Minister without
Portfolio Haim Ramon described disengagement coordination
priorities for Assistant Secretary Welch, Ambassador Kurtzer,
and Lt. General Ward. Ramon expressed his desire to
coordinate $50 million in USG assistance for improving
passages with the PA, but noted the Israeli Ministry of
Finance was an obstacle. He expressed disappointment that no
final agreement had been reached to deploy Egyptian border
guards opposite the Philadelphi corridor, stressing
the importance of involvement from the PM's office in any
resolution of the issue. Ramon said that Egyptian
intelligence chief Omar Soliman "did not object" to a
proposal for Egypt to take the rubble from Gaza settlement
housing due to be razed, but that Soliman wanted any deal to
be secret and a commercial, not a government-to-government,
transaction. End Summary.


2. (C) Minister without Portfolio Haim Ramon, designated by
the Prime Minister as one of the GOI's disengagement
coordinators with the PA, described his disengagement
coordination priorities in a July 14 meeting with Assistant
Secretary Welch, the Ambassador, Lt. General Ward and NSC

SIPDIS
Director Mustafa. Einat Wilf, Vice Premier Shimon Peres'
foreign affairs advisor, joined the meeting.

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Passages
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3. (C) Ramon began the meeting by discussing passages between
Israel and the West Bank/Gaza. In his view the passages are
as important for Israel as for the PA because $500
million/year in Israeli products are sold to Gaza. Ramon
estimated that there was an urgent need for $50 million to
complete upgrades at three key passages -- Erez, Karni, and
Tulkarm (West Bank) -- to facilitate the movement of goods.
He also detailed the unilateral upgrades that the GOI has
undertaken at Karni to expand from two to eight transit lines
for permit holders seeking to enter Israel. According to
Ramon, this plan will decrease the current wait time for
permit holders from three or four hours to a maximum of two
hours at the passage. Ramon also detailed the proposal he
endorses to extend an existing rail line from Ashdod to Erez
and to build a cargo terminal at Erez. Plans at Tulkarm call
for establishing a temporary access
point east of the Green Line and a permanent passage just
west of the Green Line. Ramon claimed that the Palestinians
agree with this plan.


4. (C) Regarding funding for the upgrades at the three
priority terminals, Ramon characterized the Ministry of
Finance (MoF) as the biggest obstacle to unlocking USG
assistance. Wilf described the MoF as "thinking the $50
million was given to Israel, so what is the need to
coordinate?" Ramon said that he planned to work with the
Ministry of Defense (MoD) on July 18 to establish a shopping
list of equipment and upgrades for the passages. Ramon
expected that the list would then be coordinated with the PA.
Wilf warned that the MoD is seeking to divert the money for
use on West Bank passages, when the more urgent need for
upgrades, in her view, is with Gaza.


5. (C) Ramon criticized the PA for holding off negotiations
on the passages in what he said was an attempt to secure GOI
agreement for door-to-door shipping. Wilf suggested urgent
efforts are needed to convince the MoF that U.S. assistance
would not be delivered until arrangements for passage
upgrades are coordinated with the PA. In addition, she
suggested that the Embassy bring the two parties together for
either a trilateral or back-to-back meetings about how to
spend the $50 million. Ambassador Kurtzer concurred and
offered to have USAID facilitate such a meeting. A/S Welch
asked that the GOI forward any plans or "shopping lists" to
the USG in advance of the meeting with the PA, but emphasized
that the USG will not mediate negotiations about how to spend
the money.

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Philadelphi Corridor
--------------


6. (C) Assistant Secretary Welch queried Ramon about his
recent visit to Egypt and what he had learned while there.
In a read-out of his meeting with Egyptian intelligence chief
Omar Soliman, Ramon expressed disappointment about the
failure to reach final agreement on the deployment of
Egyptian border guards along the 14-kilometer border between
Egypt and Gaza. Ramon said that he believed that the major
issues had been solved and now the GOI was dealing with
"legal nonsense." Ramon indicated that he was sure that an
agreement would be reached. A/S Welch commented that on
previous visits an agreement was also "imminent" but almost a
month later no progress had been made. He asked what is
needed to resolve the issue. Ramon commented that the Prime
Minister's Office needs to be involved in any decision about
securing the Philadelphi corridor. He cautioned that even if
Egyptian border guards are deployed along the border, the GOI
would not withdraw from Philadelphi until it is confident
that the Egyptians are securing the border.

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Rubble Trouble
--------------


7. (C) Welch inquired about the Egyptian reaction to the
proposal for moving the rubble from the settlers' houses in
Gaza to the Sinai in Egypt for burial. Ramon said that
Soliman "did not object." The plan, according to Ramon, is
for Israeli demolition, Palestinian transportation, and
Egyptian disposal (burial) of the rubble. Ramon thought that
an agreement was possible, but noted that Soliman had two
conditions. The first is that the deal not be made public.
Secondly, Soliman asked that the deal be structured as a
commercial transaction and not an agreement between
governments.


8. (C) Ramon recounted that PA Minister for Internal Affairs
Dahlan viewed the rubble issue as the GOI's problem, not his.
Ramon said he believes the PA is supportive of the
destruction of the houses because removing the rubble would
create jobs in Gaza. He thought the PA realizes as well that
it would not be able to control who takes over the houses
after disengagement.


9. (C) Wilf suggested that leaving the houses intact would be
the only alternative if the GOI is not able to reach an
agreement about disposal of the rubble. A/S Welch cautioned
that this was not a viable option since both the GOI and the
PA had agreed to the destruction, and the USG has been
supportive of this first "agreement" resulting from
disengagement coordination.


10. (U) Assistant Secretary Welch has cleared this message.

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