TFLE01: ARAB LEAGUE OFFICIAL ALLEGES U.S. LOSING

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 004782

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2016
TAGS: PREL UN PTER LE IS EG
SUBJECT: TFLE01: ARAB LEAGUE OFFICIAL ALLEGES U.S. LOSING
ALLIES OVER HANDLING OF LEBANON CRISIS

Classified by ECPO Counselor Catherine Hill-Herndon for
reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Arab League Chief of Staff Hesham Youssef
told poloff that in a meeting on August 2, the League's
permanent delegates had expressed growing frustration with
the failure to achieve a cease fire in Lebanon and agreed to
seek an emergency meeting of the UN Human Rights Council to
investigate the killing of civilians in Qana. Youssef also
warned that Arab street support for Hizbollah was growing and
warned that because of its support for Israel, the U.S. was
losing allies in the region and beyond. End summary.


2. (C) Arab League Chief of Staff Hesham Youssef told
poloff August 2 that in a meeting earlier that day, the
League's permanent delegates faulted not just Israel, but
also the U.S. for the "destruction" of Lebanon and signaled
an increasing interest in supporting the Hizbollah
"resistance" against Israel. The delegates complained
specifically, Youssef said, of the U.S. failure to pressure
Israel for a cease-fire and the ongoing supply of weapons to
Israel. Even the delegates of nations that fear growing
Iranian influence in the region agreed, Youssef argued, that
the "Iran-Hizbollah" problem "can wait," but Israel must not
be allowed to destroy Lebanon.


3. (C) Youssef described the UN's failure to call for a
cease fire even after Qana as "unconscionable" and said the
delegates agreed to call for an emergency meeting of the UN
Human Rights Council. Youssef said that League Secretary
General Amre Moussa left immediately following the meeting on
a regional tour to meet government officials in Jordan,
Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, but noted that several
League delegates voiced frustration that Moussa's trip was
beginning "too late."


4. (C) Arab street support for Hizbollah and anger at the
U.S. handling of the crisis are increasing by the day,
Youssef said. More than 120 members of parliament marched to
the Arab League Headquarters on August 1 to voice support for
Hizbollah. Moussa had originally agreed to meet "five or
six" parliamentarians, Youssef said; but he could not prevent
the other members from joining the meeting. The
parliamentarians also criticized Moussa and the League for
failing to intercede to end the crisis. Support for
Hizbollah and Nassrullah on the streets of Cairo should be a
sign to the U.S., Youssef said, that Hizbollah has won public
opinion. You have made him a "hero," Youssef said.


5. (C) Youssef also criticized the U.S. for its "premature"
focus on a force composition meeting at the UN. Expecting
nations to commit forces before their mandate is clear,
Youssef said, is unreasonable. He stressed that achieving an
immediate cease fire should be the focus of urgent attention,
and the U.S.'s failure to pressure Israel on this issue has
"lost the U.S. allies and friends" in the Arab world and
beyond. The U.S. does not yet appreciate the damage that has
been done, Youssef warned.
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