GOI MAPPING OUT CRITICAL HUMANITARIAN PA PROJECTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000810 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREF KWBG KPAL ECON IS EG HUMANITARIAN AID GOI EXTERNAL SUBJECT: GOI MAPPING OUT CRITICAL HUMANITARIAN PA PROJECTS THAT SHOULD RECEIVE AID Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b ,d). ¶1. (C) Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister Shalom Tourgeman told NEA DAS Elizabeth Dibble February 23 that, without causing a humanitarian crisis, the GOI seeks to limit assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to show Hamas that adherence to its current positions comes at a price. Tourgeman said the GOI is now "mapping out" the types of assistance it would consider humanitarian in nature and how best to channel that assistance. The international community should not go around Hamas to bail the PA out of its economic situation, Tourgeman underlined, since the Palestinian people will credit Hamas for providing such assistance. Tourgeman indicated that the GOI is also considering whether to cease its role as customs collector for the PA. DAS Dibble agreed that the international community cannot conduct business as usual with a Hamas-led PA. She stressed, however, the importance of avoiding a Palestinian economic collapse that would lead to an economic crisis and that the GOI's chances of achieving EU and Quartet unity on assisting the PA would be greater if limitations, especially on humanitarian assistance, are not too severe. She noted that by ending its role as customs collector, the GOI would, in fact, abrogate the Paris Protocol. End summary. ¶2. (C) Tourgeman was accompanied by his assistant, Ari Varon, and MFA First North American Department Director Dan Arbell. DCM Cretz, Deskoff Logerfo, and Poloff notetaker accompanied DAS Dibble. -------------- Punishing, but Not Punishing the Palestinians -------------- ¶3. (C) Tourgeman began the February 23 meeting with DAS Dibble by asserting that some 45% of Palestinians voted for Hamas knowing that by doing so they were voting against international assistance to the PA and against relations with Israel. He said that Israel does not want to punish the Palestinian people, but argued that in order to change a Hamas-led PA, the Palestinian public should know that their support for Hamas comes at a price. Tourgeman expressed concern that the EU and the Russians are looking for ways to bypass Hamas and still assist the PA. "This is not the way," he underlined. The Palestinian people need to feel there has been a negative change, Tourgeman underlined. "If Hamas sees that international assistance is still coming to the PA," Tourgeman said, "(Hamas) won't feel responsible (for the people)." "We can't be more responsible to the Palestinian people than Hamas," Tourgeman added. He acknowledged, however, that Israel "will be the first to pay the price" if there is a humanitarian crisis in the PA. (Note: In a meeting immediately following that with Tourgeman, MFA Director of International Organizations Roni Ya'ar told Dibble he had just received a read-out from Tourgeman and Ya'ar stressed the GOI's interest in meeting the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people. End note.) ¶4. (C) Tourgeman expressed concern that the Palestinian people will credit Hamas with providing government services and salaries, even if the assistance comes from the international community. He stressed the need to draw a firm line from the start on what type of assistance to the Palestinians the GOI will accept, and expressed concern that EU and Quartet unity in dealing with Hamas will deteriorate over time as they consider more types of assistance to be humanitarian. DAS Dibble underscored that the USG does not want to bail out Hamas, but stressed that no one wants to see a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories. She underlined the importance of assessing how to show Hamas that it must change, while at the same time preventing an economic collapse. Dibble agreed that international unity in dealing with Hamas is wobbly, adding that where the line is drawn on assistance will determine the extent and viability of this unity. ¶5. (C) Tourgeman said that the GOI is still discussing these issues with the EU and Russia, adding that the GOI is not sure how long the latter will "be on board." He said that on February 28, the GOI will discuss "how to deal with Russia" on this issue. Tourgeman said -- but did not elaborate as to why -- that the GOI is already worried about the Jordanian and Egyptian positions. -------------- GOI Determining PA's Basic Needs -------------- ¶6. (C) The main task for the GOI now, Tourgeman said, is to determine the basic needs of the Palestinian people and how best to channel assistance to meet those needs. At the same time, he said, it is necessary to prevent Hamas from taking credit for providing for those needs. Tourgeman divided assistance to the PA into direct budget assistance and project funding. The GOI, according to Tourgeman, is in the process of "mapping out" and prioritizing which of some 50-55 Palestinian infrastructure and assistance projects now in the pipeline it would consider to be humanitarian -- and therefore considered eligible for outside assistance -- and which it would not so consider. (Note: Tourgeman did not indicate what types of projects these are or whether they are foreign funded. Also, it is not clear to what extent Tourgeman's explanation here represents the official GOI position. End note.) Tourgeman said that the GOI does not recognize most infrastructure projects as humanitarian, unless they also serve Israeli interests, such as sewage or other environmental projects. In response to Dibble's query, Tourgeman said that civil society projects such as institution-building, would not be considered humanitarian. Within the PA budget, Tourgeman said that allocations for food, medicine, health, and some energy and infrastructure needs, such as water, would be considered humanitarian. ¶7. (C) Education assistance is much more problematic, Tourgeman said. On the one hand, he said, the GOI wants PA schools to continue to function, but, on the other hand, he noted GOI concern that Hamas will begin using anti-Israeli textbooks and curricula. Tourgeman assessed that Hamas would not take over the PA school system for another year, so the GOI has some breathing space to address this issue. He speculated that Hamas timed the 10-year cease-fire it has advocated to what he termed the graduation of a generation of mullahs. In this case, Tourgeman asked, "do we want to pay teachers' salaries?" Tourgeman expressed strong opposition to the use of assistance to pay salaries, arguing that it is impossible to pit one group of public employees, such as teachers, against others, such as security forces. Tourgeman indicated that money to support workers in some public sectors could be channeled through NGOs, but he was adamant that it should not go through the PA. ¶8. (C) In response to the DCM's query, Tourgeman said that the non-transferred tax revenues should not be used to fund public services, as the Palestinian people would perceive these benefits as derived from Hamas. Tourgeman added that the same applies to the annual USD 200 million in mainly Arab assistance to the PA, reasoning that by using these funds to provide public services, other funding would be freed up for Hamas to use for other purposes. Tourgeman said that Iran has already promised to provide the PA with assistance, and he asserted that these funds could bankroll terrorist activities. Tourgeman claimed that the GOI had blocked the tax transfer from the PA for two years in the past, and this had not resulted in any financial crisis to the PA. Dibble noted that a crisis was averted then because of USG and other assistance to the PA. ¶9. (C) The DCM questioned whether addressing the needs of the Palestinian people could be met by supporting the private sector. Tourgeman said that encouraging the private sector could be a positive direction, but added that this is a "tricky" area. He said that Hamas could benefit from various tax and other financial arrangements with the business sector, including what he said are money-laundering scenarios. He claimed that private sector firms had already been implicated in schemes by which Hamas or its benefactors abroad paid on behalf of Gaza merchants for foreign-origin goods destined for Gaza, then received reimbursement in Gaza from the respective merchant. -------------- GOI Thinking on Customs and Crossings -------------- ¶10. (C) In response to Dibble's query, Tourgeman said that the GOI is now considering whether to move toward "total separation" from the PA, including whether to continue collecting customs on behalf of the PA. The result of a decision to stop collecting customs, Tourgeman said, would be that goods would enter the PA without having been taxed. Dibble noted that if the GOI takes this path, it would, in fact, be abrogating the Paris Protocol, while at the same time demanding from any Hamas-led government adherence to prior Israel-PA agreements. Tourgeman agreed that this is a contradiction, but stressed that Hamas's victory in the PA elections created a new situation and the GOI cannot continue with business as usual. Responding to the DCM's question as to why the PA could not collect the customs, Tourgeman said that the PA simply does not have a system in place to do this. Tourgeman also indicated that the GOI is considering the issue of keeping the crossings open. ¶11. (C) Tourgeman argued in response that the USG supports the use of pressure on the Iranian population to convince them to change their government. "Why not support the same (strategy) with the Palestinians?" Tourgeman asked. Dibble noted that Iran is a sovereign nation with control over its own borders and over the daily lives of its people, while the PA is not a state and does not have such control. She added that the USG is not trying to punish the Iranian people. Tourgeman argued that the PA acts like a state and should be treated as such. He said that most Palestinians want to abandon terrorism and voted for Hamas in protest against Fatah. The question, he said, is how to get them to want to change their regime. -------------- Time is of the Essence -------------- ¶12. (C) Tourgeman stressed that the GOI does not feel that it can wait six or even three months to show Hamas that it will pay a price for not changing its positions. He said that "the one virtue of Hamas is its sensitivity to public opinion, and we should use it." Tourgeman stressed that going around Hamas and using PA President Abbas to channel funding is dangerous and will play into Hamas's hands. Hamas would then use Abbas, Tourgeman argued, to deal with international assistance. Tourgeman said that Abbas should be strengthened, but in a separate way (note: Tourgeman did not elaborate). Dibble underlined that it is as yet uncertain how Hamas will act, but that the USG position is against reverting to business as usual with the PA. She stressed the need to show the Palestinian people that assistance they receive is coming from the international community, not from Hamas. -------------- Abbas's Speech -------------- ¶13. (C) In closing, Tourgeman expressed dissatisfaction with Abbas's recent speech, questioning whether it had any positive message. Tourgeman accused Abbas of ignoring the international community's concerns about Hamas in the speech and not calling for Hamas's recognition of Israel. Dibble acknowledged a divergence of views between the U.S. and Israel on the Abbas speech. The DCM asked what the GOI would consider Hamas recognition of Israel. Tourgeman said this issue "is not debatable," that recognition has to be "legislated" and that Hamas has to annul its covenant. ********************************************* ******************** 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