EMBLEM: GOI REJECTS MDA STATEMENT BUT WILL NOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 006333

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/IPA AND EUR/AGS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2015
TAGS: PREF PREL KPAL IS SZ GOI EXTERNAL ISRAELI SOCIETY HUMANITARIAN AID
SUBJECT: EMBLEM: GOI REJECTS MDA STATEMENT BUT WILL NOT
CLARIFY TO CONFERENCE INVITEES

REF: A. GREENE-WALLES E-MAIL 10/15/2005

B. GENEVA 02395

Classified By: Richard H. Jones for reason 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Israeli MFA Director for
International Organizations and Human Rights Daniel Meron
told poloff November 1 that the Government of Israel (GOI)
has made clear to the Swiss its rejection of the widely
disseminated oral statement by MDA Chairman Noam Yifrach, but
has not specifically asked the Swiss to advise conference
invitees of the GOI rejection. Yifrach's September 27 oral
statement in Geneva stipulated that once the MDA joins the
Red Cross Movement its "geographical scope" will be "confined
to the State of Israel within its internationally recognized
borders." (ref A) Meron passed to poloff the October 6
letter from MFA Deputy Director General for International
Organizations Affairs Aharon Leshno Yaar to Swiss Ambassador
at Large for the Emblems of the Geneva Conventions Didier
Pfirter, which states that Yifrach's oral statement is "not
binding on or reflective of the position of the State of
Israel." Describing Yifrach's oral statement as "political
dynamite" in Israel, Meron told poloff that the GOI has "no
intention whatsoever to stop settlers receiving services from
the MDA." Meron, however, said he does not believe that
Yifrach's oral statement will disrupt plans for the December
5 conference on the Third Protocol, and insisted that
"Yifrach will not repeat such statements in the future."
Post notes that the GOI decision to leave it up to the Swiss
to decide whether or not to communicate GOI opposition to
Yifrach's oral statement, which the Swiss disseminated to
conference invitees, may itself be "political dynamite" if it
leads participants to attend the December 5 conference on the
basis of false expectations about GOI willingness to accept a
delimitation of MDA activities in the occupied territories.
END SUMMARY.

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IMPORTANT MEETINGS ALREADY CONVENED
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2. (C) Meron reported that since the October 31 departure
from Israel of Swiss FM Calmy-Rey, officials have begun
"moving very quickly" to prepare for the conference. He said
that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Representative in Israel has already convened meetings
between the MDA and the PRCS. In addition, Meron reported,
Israeli Ministry of Defence Advisor BG (res) Baruch Spiegel
met with the ICRC on November 1 to discuss how the GOI can
lift restrictions on movement for PRCS ambulances in the West
Bank and East Jerusalem.

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YIFRACH'S ORAL STATEMENT IS "POLITICAL DYNAMITE"
-------------- ---


3. (C) Meron explained that he does not believe Yifrach's
September 27 oral statement in Geneva will disrupt plans for
the December 5 conference. Swiss FM Calmy-Rey respected Yaar
and Meron's request that she not raise the issue of Yifrach's
oral statement during her meetings with Prime Minister Sharon
and Foreign Minister Shalom.


4. (C) Meron also reiterated in strong terms the GOI
position vis--vis the oral statement Yifrach delivered in
Geneva. While the GOI supports Yifrach's written statement
of September 27 on behalf of MDA, Meron said, he stressed
that "we have nothing to do with his oral statement," which
Yifrach pronounced on the same date. (ref B) Describing
Yifrach's oral statement as "political dynamite" in Israel,
Meron insisted that the GOI has "no intention whatsoever to
stop settlers receiving services from the MDA." For the
Jewish people in Israel and abroad, he explained, MDA is a
"powerful symbol of unity." Meron also confidently predicted
that "Yifrach will not repeat such statements in the future."


5. (C) Meron cited the Oslo Agreements in explaining that
the issue of health services in the occupied territories is
to be resolved during final status negotiations. Only the
Palestinians have recently urged MDA to consider delimiting
its area of operations, Meron said; no one else, he stressed,
including the Europeans, has pressed the GOI on this issue.
Meron also reported, however, his personal belief that the
Swiss "dictated to Yifrach" the language he employed in his
oral statement of September 27, which Ambassador Pfirter then
transcribed and broadly circulated in a letter to other
delegations on September 30. (ref B) The Swiss may have
been motivated, Meron explained, by their fear that the
states in the Organization of the Islamic Conference will
seek to undermine any conference on the Third Additional
Protocol.

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OFFICIAL LETTER FROM YAAR TO PFIRTER
--------------


6. (C) Meron passed to poloff the October 6 letter from Yaar
to Swiss Ambassador Didier Pfirter, the full text of which
follows:

"It has been brought to my attention that at a meeting in
Geneva on September 27, 205, Dr. Noam Yifrach, in his
capacity as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Magen
David Adom Society, signed a declaration on issues relating
to the use of the emblem. On the same occasion he made some
oral remarks.

"Dr. Yifrach has advised me that these oral remarks were made
informally in a personal capacity, and so they do not
necessarily reflect the position of the Magen David Adom
Society in Israel. It goes without saying that they are not
binding on or reflective of the position of the State of
Israel."


7. (C) Meron asked that the USG not share this text with
outside parties. Meron also said that the GOI has not asked
FM Calmy-Rey to clarify either publicly, or in private
communication with other participants in the planned December
conference, the GOI position with regard to Yifrach's oral
statement. Nor, Meron said, does the GOI intend before the
conference to comment, publicly or through channels, on
Yifrach's oral statement.

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