EMBLEM: FM LIVNI "CRACKED HEADS TOGETHER" TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001619 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/IPA AND PRM FOR PDAS RICHARD GREENE E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREL PREF PGOV SZ IS ICRC HUMANITARIAN AID GOI EXTERNAL SUBJECT: EMBLEM: FM LIVNI "CRACKED HEADS TOGETHER" TO CHANGE MDA STATUTES REF: A. TEL AVIV 1395 ¶B. TEL AVIV 1584 Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: MFA officials report that an assertive FM Tzipi Livni April 23 instigated dramatic progress on, but not yet final approval of, the two most controversial among the four remaining MDA statute amendments (reftel A) necessary for MDA membership in the Red Cross / Crescent Movement. The amendments require approval of both the MDA national council and the GOI. Immediately following Livni's April 20 meeting with the Ambassador, during which he strongly urged her to take the lead on this pressing issue (reftel B),Livni phoned Health Minister Yaakov Edery to schedule an urgent, inter-ministerial meeting. Livni brokered compromises at the meeting April 23 on the amendments addressing the MDA executive committee and the process for nominating the MDA president. Both compromises still reflect, however, the insistence of Health Minister Edery and other government officials on continuing GOI involvement in MDA governance. If MDA officials approve the two compromise amendments, then Minister of Health Edery reportedly will approve the other two MDA statute amendments. Two significant challenges remain: (1) Even if MDA approves the compromises that Livni has brokered, it is unclear whether the degree of MDA autonomy embodied in the new amendments will be sufficient to meet ICRC demands. (2) If MDA does not approve the compromise amendments, then the GOI and MDA will need to re-negotiate new amendments, and will not likely complete this process before the April 26 ICRC meeting in Geneva. MFA Director of International Organizations Daniel Meron asked poloff to ensure that the Department does not/not communicate the details listed below to ICRC, IFRC, or MDA until MDA President Noam Yifrach has had a chance to address the new proposals with MDA officials. END SUMMARY. -------------- -- APRIL 24 STATUS OF THE FOUR CRITICAL AMENDMENTS -------------- -- ¶2. (C) The MDA national council approved in 2005 versions of the first three of the four amendments listed below. MFA officials could not clarify for poloff whether the first two amendments, in their new, compromise form, will once again 
require formal approval by the MDA national council. The fourth amendment listed below still requires approval by the national council, and all four require approval by the minister of health, but that now appears to be a given assuming MDA accepts the proposed compromises. -- AMENDMENT TO CHANGE COMPOSITION OF MDA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ¶3. (C) The IFRC-ICRC Joint Statutes Committee requires that MDA amend its statutes in order to establish its autonomy from the GOI. This autonomy must be reflected in the composition of the MDA executive committee and the process through which its members are appointed, but the IFRC-ICRC does not specify exact terms for such autonomy. Current rules call for a 15-member executive committee with majority government representation. The new compromise calls for 13 members with a majority coming from MDA, but the sticking point is the review process. MFA Assistant Legal Advisor Tal Becker told poloff April 23 that FM Tzipi Livni "cracked heads together" at the April 23 inter-ministerial meeting to forge a compromise on this, the most controversial amendment, although it remains uncertain at this point whether MDA officials will approve the compromise. According to Becker, Livni cajoled officials from the Justice, Health, Foreign Affairs, and Finance ministries to accept inclusion of one MDA representative on the three-member government review panel that will determine suitability of candidates for the 13-member MDA executive board. ¶4. (C) MFA Director of International Organizations Daniel Meron told poloff April 24 that MDA President Yifrach, who also attended the April 23 meeting, will now present this compromise proposal to members of the MDA executive committee and national council, as well as MDA legal advisors. In order to assert their autonomy from the government, MDA officials have until now opposed retention of any sort of government review procedure, IFRC Representative Anna Segall told poloff April 11. Segall said that ICRC and IFRC will only accept a review procedure that does not undermine MDA's autonomy, but she offered no specifics as to what constitutes undermining. Meron implied that the compromise version successfully balances the need for both government supervision of MDA (demanded by the GOI State Comptroller (reftel B)) and MDA autonomy (demanded by ICRC and IFRC),but it is unclear whether Yifrach, MDA, ICRC, or IFRC will agree that the compromise strikes the appropriate balance. MDA officials must now consider this compromise arrangement. -- AMENDMENT TO CHANGE PROCESS FOR NOMINATING MDA PRESIDENT ¶5. (C) ICRC and IFRC have demanded that the minister of health not play a part in the process of nominating the MDA president, whose appointment receives formal confirmation by the State President, and MDA supports this demand. Health Minister Edery, however, has sought to retain control over the nomination process. Meron reported that Livni brokered a compromise amendment in which the minister of health can neither nominate his own candidates nor "veto" MDA nominees, but can select from among three candidates nominated by MDA the individual whose name goes to the State President. Yifrach must now seek approval of this compromise by MDA officials. -- AMENDMENT TO CHANGE COMPOSITION OF MDA NATIONAL COUNCIL ¶6. (C) ICRC and IFRC require that the majority of the 45-member MDA national council be representatives of MDA, and the amendment approved by the national council in 2005 meets this requirement. The minister of health, however, has not yet approved this amendment. According to Meron, Minister of Health Edery will continue to hold this amendment and the amendment that follows "hostage" until MDA agrees to accept the GOI proposal on the review procedure for approving members of the MDA executive committee. "As soon as MDA agrees to a review procedure," Meron said, then Edery will sign the amendment stipulating a change in the composition of the national council. -- AMENDMENT TO ADOPT THE FUNDAMENTAL RED CROSS PRINCIPLES ¶7. (C) The IFRC and ICRC require that MDA adopt specific fundamental Red Cross/Red Crescent principles, which, for MDA means approval by both the 45-member national committee and the health minister. The national council membership is currently incomplete, however, because the GOI has not appointed its 15 members, and other vacancies exist in the 45-member body. Meron said that the GOI will press for a consensus among government and MDA officials and legal advisors that the 23 existing national council members consitute a sufficient quorum to approve the amendment to adopt the fundamental Red Cross / Red Crescent principles. Meron added that Health Minister Edery has agreed to sign this amendment as soon as the national council approves it -- if MDA agrees to his demand on composition of the review panel for executive committee nominees noted in paragragh 3. -------------- - MERON: DO NOT MENTION YET TO ICRC, IFRC or MDA -------------- - ¶8. (C) Meron asked poloff to ensure that the Department does not/not communicate these details to ICRC, IFRC, or MDA until Yifrach has had a chance to address the compromise proposals with MDA officials. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES