EMBLEM: GOI LISTS NATIONS MAYBE WILLING TO SPEAK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 006760

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/IPA AND EUR/AGS, PRM FOR ACTING A/S GREENE, L
FOR BELLINGER, NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA, NSC FOR
ABRAMS, H, L

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/02/2015
TAGS: IS PGOV PREF PREL SZ GOI EXTERNAL ISRAELI SOCIETY
SUBJECT: EMBLEM: GOI LISTS NATIONS MAYBE WILLING TO SPEAK
OUT IN FAVOR

REF: GENEVA 02903

Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: MFA Director for International
Organizations and Human Rights Daniel Meron asked poloff
December 2 to pass to the Department a list of nations that
the GOI believes might be willing to speak publicly before or
during the diplomatic conference in favor of adopting the
Third Additional Protocol. Meron also said that the Egyptian
delegation in Geneva is leading efforts to re-open the
protocol for discussion, a move that Meron said the GOI
adamantly opposes. ICRC Head of Delegation Dominik Stillhart
reported December 1 ICRC and Swiss Government concern that
the Syrians and other OIC countries have already proposed
over 10 amendments to the protocol, and said he expects they
will propose many more. Their concern about Syria led Swiss
government officials, Meron reported, to arrive uninvited at
MDA President Noam Yifrach's private residence in Tel Aviv
late December 1 to convince him to fly immediately to Geneva
to speak to Syrian Red Crescent Society (SRCS) President Abdu
Rahman Attar, who arrived in Geneva the same day. Meron said
he is confident that Yifrach will not fly to Geneva to speak
to Attar, and said that instead Yifrach will fly to Geneva on
Sunday night "on the same flight that I am taking" in order
to attend Monday's diplomatic conference. END SUMMARY.

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NATIONS THAT MAY BE WILLING TO SPEAK OUT IN FAVOR
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2. (C) Meron provided poloff a list of countries that the
GOI believes might be willing to speak publicly before or
during the diplomatic conference in favor of adopting the
Third Additional Protocol.

- Africa: Kenya.
- Australia.
- Asia: Japan and South Korea.
- Europe: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany,
Holland, Italy, Sweden, Romania, United Kingdom.
- Middle East: Jordan is favorable but cannot speak out.
- North America: Mexico and Canada.

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GOI OPPOSES RE-OPENING THE PROTOCOL
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3. (C) Meron reported that the Egyptian delegation in Geneva
has led efforts to re-open the protocol for discussion, a
move that Meron said the GOI adamantly opposes. He said GOI
officials are disappointed that Swiss Ambassador at Large for
the Emblems of the Geneva Conventions Didier Pfirter has
worked to accommodate the demand of the Syrian government
that the SRCS reach an agreement with MDA prior to the
conference.


4. (U) ICRC Head of Delegation Dominik Stillhart called
poloff December 1 to report ICRC and Swiss Government concern
that the Syrians and other OIC countries have already
proposed 10 to 12 amendments to the Third Additional
Protocol, and said he expects many more amendments will be
proposed before and during the conference. He said that
emblem opponents who can no longer base opposition to the
emblem conference on the claim that the timing is not right
have begun instead to focus on the substance of the protocol
itself.

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GOI DOES NOT WANT YIFRACH TO SPEAK TO THE SYRIANS
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5. (U) Stillhart also said that MDA President Noam Yifrach
told him December 1 that he does not plan to leave Israel in
the next few days. Stillhart said he suspects the GOI has
pressed Yifrach not to return to Geneva prior to the
conference, where he would have the opportunity to speak to
SRCS President Abdu Rahman Attar (reftel). As of early
December 2, Stillhart reported that Swiss officials had not
been able to convince Yifrach to return to Geneva.


6. (C) Meron told poloff December 2 that Swiss government
officials arrived uninvited at Yifrach's private residence in
Tel Aviv late December 1 to convince him to fly immediately
to Geneva to speak to Attar, who arrived in Geneva the same
day. Meron said he is confident Yifrach will not fly to
Geneva to speak to Attar, and that instead Yifrach will fly
to Geneva on Sunday night "on the same flight that I am
taking" in order to attend Monday's diplomatic conference.


7. (U) Meron said he was concerned about Israel TV Channel
10 news reports December 1 claiming that Syrian and Israeli
government officials planned to discuss humanitarian issues
related to the Golan Heights. Channel 10 said that the GOI
refuted this report, according to Meron, who also said PM
Sharon denied GOI contact with Syrian officials during a news
conference December 1.

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