MESSAGE ON PALESTINIAN ASSISTANCE

UNCLAS KINGSTON 000406 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/??? AND WHA/CAR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAL IS JM SUBJECT: MESSAGE ON PALESTINIAN ASSISTANCE REF: STATE 21256 ¶1. (U) This message is Sensitive But Unclassified. Please handle accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) In a February 24 meeting with Ambassador Vilma McNish, Director, Multilateral Affairs Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT),Pol/Econ Counselor delivered reftel points, as well as a copy of the January 30 Quartet statement. ¶3. (SBU) McNish said that the GOJ is "still formulating our opinion" on the situation, and observed that continued international humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people would be important. She said that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's incapacitating stroke, and the Hamas election, had "made a complicated situation very complicated," and said that the upcoming Israeli elections would be an important indicator of how the Israeli/Palestinian political situation would develop. TIGHE