SHEETRIT SAYS ISRAEL MUST PROPOSE FINAL BORDERS TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000394

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2016
TAGS: ECON PGOV KWBG IS GOI INTERNAL ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: SHEETRIT SAYS ISRAEL MUST PROPOSE FINAL BORDERS TO
U.S.

Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 b and d.

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Summary
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1. (C) In a discussion with the Ambassador, Minister of
Transportation Meir Sheetrit said that the Kadima Party list
for the Parliamentary elections would be fully formed by the
end of January, and added that he was confident that all of
the ministers and members of the Knesset (MKs) in the party
would make it into the next Knesset. As for himself, he
indicated a personal interest in becoming Finance Minister in
a Kadima-led government. Sheetrit also agreed to review an
earlier-submitted U.S. paper on agreed operating procedures
at Israel-PA crossings to which the GOI has not yet
responded. There was also a discussion on U.S.-Israel
aviation issues which will be reported septel.

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Sheetrit the Moderate
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2. (C) The Ambassador and econoff met recently with
Transportation Minister Sheetrit in his Tel Aviv office.
Sheetrit began by discussing his place in the Israeli
political spectrum. He said that it is "no surprise" that he
is now in Kadima, characterizing himself as a "moderate"
whose long-held political views are now represented by that
party. He recalled that he was one of the only Likudniks to
break party discipline and abstain on the Oslo Accords,
rather than vote against them. Regarding PM Sharon, Sheetrit
said that he told Sharon after his first election as PM that
Sharon needed to "make history or be history." He said that
Sharon followed his advice and called the ailing PM
charismatic and courageous. Sheetrit added that Sharon's
illness represented a "loss to the country." While calling
Sharon a great tactician, he said that he was not a great
strategist. On the peace process, Sheetrit said that he had
supported the Saudi Peace Plan, but with the disengagement
now completed, the way to move forward is to present a
serious peace plan, including plans for delineating Israel's
final borders to the USG for discussion.

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Kadima List to be Completed by End of January
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3. (C) Stating that electoral reform will be a crucial part
of Kadima's program, Sheetrit discussed his admiration for
the checks and balances of the U.S. constitutional system and
for the genius of its founders. Regarding the composition of
the Kadima list, he said that all of the ministers and MKs
attached to the party will likely win seats in the upcoming
elections. Without mentioning names, however, he also noted
that some of those brought in by Sharon are actually damaging
the Party's interests, but he did not elaborate further.
Noting that PM Sharon had been consulting with him, Ehud
Olmert, and Tzipi Livni regarding the composition of the
Kadima list, he said that nothing regarding the list was yet
definite. A few people received promises about future
positions. Uriel Reichmann (formerly of Shinui) was promised
the position of Education Minister, while Shimon Peres was
promised an unspecified ministry. Sheetrit noted that the
possibility of making Peres number two on the Kadima list was
annoying to some people, but said that all the problems will
be resolved by the end of January when the final list will be
decided. Regarding his own future, Sheetrit mentioned his
past experience as Minister of Finance in 1999 and his work
on the economic reform program with Finance Minister
Netanyahu as a Minister attached to the finance ministry. He
said that, given this background, he is interested in being
appointed Finance Minister in a Kadima-led government. Until
the election, he will stay in the Transportation Ministry if
not offered a more senior portfolio. (Note: Sheetrit has
since been appointed to the position of Education Minister,
but will also retain the Transportation portfolio. End
note).

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Netanyahu Shot Himself in the Foot
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4. (C) Regarding Likud Chairman Netanyahu, Sheetrit
recounted how he had advised Netanyahu that resigning from
the government would not be a smart move. He noted that
Netanyahu would be the clear front-runner in the race for
Prime Minister, had he remained in the cabinet.

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Crossings
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7. (C) The Ambassador began the discussion on crossings by
asking about the GOI's response to the paper submitted by the
U.S. to the Israelis and the Palestinians regarding agreed
operating procedures for crossings, noting that the
Palestinians have already submitted their comments. When
Sheetrit replied that he had not seen the paper, which he
suggested had probably gone to the Ministry of Defense, the
Ambassador said that the Embassy would submit it directly to
him. Sheetrit said that the operations at the crossings are
huge and entail big security problems. The Ambassador noted
that four scanners are already in country for use at the
crossings and that one is being tested at Karni. He added
that once the scanners are in place, they will speed up
passage at the crossings considerably and also increase
security for Israel.

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