MAY 1 UPDATE ON CROSSINGS ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001730

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2016
TAGS: PTER ECON ETRD KWBG KPAL ASEC EG IS PEL ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS HUMANITARIAN AID
SUBJECT: MAY 1 UPDATE ON CROSSINGS ISSUES

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


1. (C) Summary: Brig. Gen. (res.) Baruch Spiegel on May 1
briefed the Ambassador, USSC Head General Dayton, and EU-BAM
head of Mission General Pistolese on his recent trip to
Washington. Spiegel said the GOI will issue a formal
position on which assistance projects can continue. He said
the GOI remains interested in tunnel detection technology and
noted suspicious activity near Kerem Shalom and an Egyptian
report of an underground tunnel near Rafah. The Ambassador
said that such instances underscore the urgency of moving
forward on a tunnel detection system. Spiegel said that
discussions regarding a customs protocol are ongoing at the
highest political levels of the GOI. General Dayton said it
is important to get a formal GOI decision on whether Israeli
officials will join a meeting of the AMA's Security Working
Group if the Palestinian side is represented by officials
from the Office of the PA President on the new Border
Crossing Administration under his control. Dayton noted that
donors are strongly supportive of strengthening the PA
President and entities under his control. End summary.

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TRIP TO WASHINGTON
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2. (C) On May 1, Brig. Gen. (res.) Baruch Spiegel briefed the
Ambassador, USSC Head General Keith Dayton, and EU-BAM head
of Mission Lt. Gen. Pietro Pistolese on his recent trip to
Washington. He said that a team of seven-eight Israelis was
invited by the Brookings Institute to Washington. They also
met with members of Congress, DAPNSA Elliott Abrams, and
State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary
David Welch. Spiegel said that the GOI is still analyzing
which foreign assistance projects should continue. After the
analysis is complete, he said, the GOI will issue a formal
position. Spiegel said the Israeli Ambassador in Washington
will be in contact with U.S. officials on this matter.

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TUNNEL DETECTION
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3. (C) Spiegel said that the GOI remains interested in
tunnel detection technology and hopes to meet with a U.S.
expert who will be visiting Amman in the near future.
General Dayton said that he would also soon travel to Amman
and would encourage the security expert to visit Israel.
Spiegel said the GOI still wants to send a team of security
experts to the U.S. to check out tunnel detection systems;
the Israeli Ambassador and Defense Attach in Washington are
handling this issue. He noted that Israeli officials are
investigating suspicious activity near Kerem Shalom (which
may or may not be a tunnel) and that Egyptian officials have
reported that there is a tunnel near Rafah. The Ambassador
interjected that such cases underscore the urgency of moving
forward on a tunnel detection system.


4. (C) Spiegel noted the well-publicized incidents in which
Palestinian police prevented a terrorist attack at Karni last
week. While the Israeli government applauds the actions of
the Palestinian police, he said, it is nonetheless concerned
by the fact that the owner of the stolen car used in the
attack had not been detained. Spiegel said that close to one
ton of explosives were in the car and, despite press reports
to the contrary, none of the five terrorists involved in the
incident were apprehended. He said that the GOI would like
to see the USSC-organized security meetings at Erez continue
and would like to isolate all the crossings from security
threats. General Dayton said that he would also like to see
the security meetings, like the one held in Erez a month ago,
continue. Moreover, Dayton said he wants to organize a
meeting of the Security Working Group called for in the
Agreement on Movement and Access. He would, however, first
like to know whether Israeli officials will meet with
Palestinian officials from the Office of President Abbas or
the Border Crossing Administration, which is under his
control. Spiegel replied that this was a policy matter well
above his pay grade, but he undertook to forward it to the
incoming GOI for a decision. (FYI: MFA CoS Yaki Dayan told
the Ambassador May 2 that he had already received Spiegel's
report on the meeting and would brief his minister on
Dayton's request.)

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NEW BORDER AGENCY
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5. (C) EU-BAM Head of Mission Lt. General Pietro Pistolese
said that the new Border Crossing Administration under Abbas
officially has been formed, but may exist only on paper.
General Dayton said that the border agency has an
administrator and claims to have 1,600 employees. He said
that before funding, training, or equipping such a force, he
wants to do a thorough assessment of the organization.
Pistolese said that the presidential guard currently at the
Rafah crossing may not be getting a regular salary. He
suggested that Rafah could be self-financing or there may be
a way to provide funding directly to the agency. The
Ambassador said that perhaps the BCA could make Rafah
self-supporting through user fees.

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CUSTOMS PROTOCOL
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6. (C) Pistolese said that the Egyptians are ready to accept
exports from Gaza at Rafah, but do not want to proceed
without the Israelis being on board. Spiegel said that the
Egyptian Ambassador told him that Egypt is waiting first for
the GOI and the PA to reach an agreement. He noted that the
Ambassador had been working to help the two sides reach a
customs protocol. Spiegel said that the customs protocol is
being discussed at the highest political level of the Israeli
government, and the GOI may have something ready by next
week. The Ambassador said that the customs agreement is
another aspect of the issue of whether the GOI can deal with
Mahmud Abbas separately from the Hamas-led PA.


7. (C) General Dayton briefed the group on the donors
meeting in London on April 27. He said that the more than 12
organizations in attendance strongly support strengthening
the PA presidency and entities under the president, as well
as oppose doing anything with Hamas. General Dayton said
that he has plans to build the capacity of the presidential
guard and the border agency as well as encourage the
Palestinian security forces to move into northern Gaza to
deal with the Kassam rockets, moves which the donors strongly
support. It would be helpful, however, General Dayton said,
to know if the GOI objects strongly to such plans. He said
the goal is to create a force that could help with security
at the crossings, and not pose a threat to Israel. General
Dayton said he would talk to Israeli General Kaplinsky before
proceeding with any plans. Spiegel said that the IDF would
continue working "professionally" with Palestinian contacts,
at the "working level" until the new GOI set its policy.

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INCREASE IN EU-BAM PERSONNEL
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8. (C) Pistolese said that he has asked for more monitors.
He said that by the end of May EU-BAM monitors and armed
security personnel should total 79. Currently, the monitors
work for 11 hours each day, but should increase that to 15
and then 18 hours when all the new personnel are in place.
(However, Pistolese told the Ambassador on May 2 that
operations would remain limited to daylight hours for the
time being in light of a terrorist threat against the EU/BAM
reported by Egypt.)

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