Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06JERUSALEM1106
2006-03-17 14:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Jerusalem
Cable title:  

FATAH LEGISLATORS SEE ISRAELI ACTIONS,

Tags:  PREL PGOV PBTS KWBG KPAL KDEM IS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJM #1106/01 0761448
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 171448Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0965
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001106 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS KWBG KPAL KDEM IS
SUBJECT: FATAH LEGISLATORS SEE ISRAELI ACTIONS,
INTERNATIONAL INACTION EMPOWERING HAMAS


Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001106

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS KWBG KPAL KDEM IS
SUBJECT: FATAH LEGISLATORS SEE ISRAELI ACTIONS,
INTERNATIONAL INACTION EMPOWERING HAMAS


Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. During a March 13 meeting in Bethlehem,
four Fatah Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) members
asserted that Israeli policies had played a deciding factor
in the Hamas victory in the January 25 legislative elections.
These mid-level Fatah leaders, who are close to Fatah's
grassroots, argued that Fatah and Hamas held similar views on
key final status issues, adding that a more accommodating
Israeli and international view toward Hamas would help
moderate the movement. The PLC members predicted that
economic sanctions against a Hamas-led government would
backfire and lead to more Palestinian support for Hamas.
Prospects for a Fatah-Hamas unity government, while low,
would be possible under certain conditions. The PLC members
also anticipated more problems between Fatah and Hamas in the
Legislative Council. End summary.

Israeli Policies
Empowering Hamas
--------------


2. (C) Fatah PLC members Muhammad Khalil al-Laham, Issa
Qaraqah, Fayez al-Saqa, and Fuad Kokali complained to ConGen
Poloff that Israeli measures had contributed to Hamas'
success in the January 25 legislative elections. (Note:
Al-Saqa and Kokali -- the former mayor of Bayt Sahur -- won
their PLC seats as Fatah district candidates, while al-Laham
and Qaraqah won seats as candidates on Fatah's national list.
End note.) "We believe that Israeli policies have led us to
these results, and the Hamas take-over is related to the
failure of the peace process," al-Laham said. He suggested
that Palestinians saw a contradiction in the non-reaction
from the U.S. to PM Olmert's reported plan to annex West Bank
settlement blocs. At the same time, Palestinians saw the
international community placing conditions on Palestinians as
Israel proceeded with settlement expansion in the West Bank.


3. (C) Al-Saqa argued that the election results were

directly linked to Israeli policies. Palestinians were
desperate for a way out of the deteriorating conditions in
the West Bank and Gaza, and since Fatah had failed to provide
solutions, Palestinians had thrown their support towards
Hamas. This did not mean that Palestinians had confidence
Hamas would deliver on their election promises, al-Saqa said.


4. (C) Al-Saqa also argued that unless Palestinians saw a
"balanced" international policy toward Israel and the
Palestinians, he anticipated no progress toward rational
solutions. Following on al-Saqa's point, Kokali said that
Palestinians saw no political horizon as a result of Israel's
unilateral policies. He warned that continued unilateralism
would endanger Palestinian national aspirations. Kokali
remarked that Palestinians had little confidence in the U.S.
role in pushing forward the peace process and perceived U.S.
policies as unhelpful since they tended to embrace Israeli
positions at the expense of Palestinians. "What does the
U.S. want from us?" He described the PLC election results as
a gift to Israel who would now claim that there is no
Palestinian partner.

Hamas, Fatah Convergence
on Key Final Status Issues
--------------


5. (C) Kokali dismissed any notion that Fatah and Hamas
were advocating competing agendas. "We are with Hamas on its
basic positions," he said, namely the establishment of a
Palestinian state in the entire West Bank and Gaza.
(Comment: The Hamas charter actually calls for an Islamic
state in all of Mandate-era Palestine. End comment.) Fatah
and Hamas also held similar positions on the "right of
return" for Palestinian refugees. Kokali said that neither
Fatah nor Hamas would accept anything less on these issues.
Kokali insisted that the PLO remained the point of reference
for negotiations with Israel: Hamas recognition of Israel was
therefore a secondary matter. Hamas moderation would only
come through its participation in the political process.
Kokali said that Israel could play a role in moderating Hamas
by fulfilling its obligations under the Roadmap.

Economic Sanctions
Will Backfire
--------------


6. (C) Qaraqah noted that it was wrong to assume that
economic sanctions against a Hamas-led PA would lead to new
Palestinian elections. These sanctions would have the
opposite effect, Qaraqah said, as the deteriorating

conditions would push Palestinians toward extremism and
thereby strengthen support for groups like Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Saqa concurred, adding that
Palestinians wholly rejected the terms put forth by the
Quartet.

Unity Government Possible
--------------


7. (C) Al-Laham thought that Fatah might join a unity
government with Hamas if Hamas guaranteed that it would
continue the peace process. Fatah's participation would also
require assurances from Israel that it would continue talks.
However, given Israeli and U.S. views on Hamas, it made
little sense to participate in the government. Hamas
recognition of Israel would do little to change the current
Israeli thinking or its overall strategy in the West Bank.
The conditions for Fatah participation would be Hamas
recognition of a two-state solution, cessation of all
attacks, and a resumption of talks with Israel.

More Problems
Ahead For PLC
--------------


8. (C) Qaraqah and al-Saqa anticipated more problems
between Hamas and Fatah in the Legislative Council. Al-Saqa
suggested that Hamas preferred to impose its agenda on the
Council in order to prove Fatah's failures in the previous
Council. Hamas was inclined to focus efforts on the internal
domestic situation rather than on the larger issues of
recognition of Israel or negotiations. Al-Saqa said that
while Hamas had concluded that it has a mandate from the
elections, Fatah would continue to defend its actions and
preserve its accomplishments from the previous Council.

WALLES