Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CAIRO1049
2007-04-12 16:52:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

ALLEGATIONS OF POW KILLINGS DURING 1967 WAR

Tags:  PREL PGOV MEPN KPAL PHUM EG IS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3004
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #1049/01 1021652
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 121652Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4567
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001049 

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SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MEPN KPAL PHUM EG IS
SUBJECT: ALLEGATIONS OF POW KILLINGS DURING 1967 WAR
CONTINUES TO BE A SOURCE OF IRRITATION

REF: CAIRO 624

Classified by ECPO Counselor Catherine Hill-Herndon for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001049

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MEPN KPAL PHUM EG IS
SUBJECT: ALLEGATIONS OF POW KILLINGS DURING 1967 WAR
CONTINUES TO BE A SOURCE OF IRRITATION

REF: CAIRO 624

Classified by ECPO Counselor Catherine Hill-Herndon for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) The controversy sparked by an Israeli documentary
film alleging that 250 Egyptian POWs were killed by the IDF
at the end of the 1967 war has dropped from the front pages,
but remains close to the surface and will likely continue as
a source of irritation in the bilateral relationship with
Israel for some time. Strong denials by the Israeli minister
at the center of the controversy, along with admissions by
the film director that he erroneously described Palestinian
commandos as Egyptians helped to reduce the severity of the
Egyptian reaction. However, additional allegations of
Israeli mistreatment of Egyptian POWs in other conflicts,
along with general public discontent over failure to settle
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, have kept the issue alive.
Public pressure is cited as the primary motive behind
Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit's request that Israel
provide clarifications on the issue, and that the
International Committee of the Red Cross investigate. It
remains unclear whether the ICRC has been formally approached
by the Egyptians to pursue the matter. End summary.

--------------
Shaked Documentary Roils Feathers and More
--------------


2. (C) Charges leveled in a recent Israeli documentary film
that Israeli soldiers killed Egyptian POWs in Sinai at the
close of the 1967 war (ref A) continue to serve as a point of
serious irritation in the bilateral relationship between
Israel and Egypt. The Egyptian media, members of Parliament,
and the Egyptian public have reacted with furor over the
film's allegations, shown on Israeli television in late
February. Neither the strong denials by the Israeli
commander who headed the IDF unit portrayed in the film, nor
public admission by the film's director, Ran Edelist, that
the film mistakenly portrays Palestinian commandos who were
killed as "Egyptians" has quelled public outrage, due in part

to Egyptian media's failure to focus on Edelist's admissions.
Also, numerous other accounts alleging cruel treatment of
Egyptian POWs at the hands of Israeli soldiers during other
conflicts have surfaced and are fueling continued calls for
investigations and retribution. Caught in the middle -
wanting to protect the key bilateral relationship with Israel
while strongly defending Egyptian pride and security - is the
Egyptian government, particularly the Foreign Ministry.

--------------
GOI Minister, Close to Egypt, Strongly Denies
--------------


3. (C) Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer,
commander in June 1967 of the Shaked Force at the center of
the controversy, has strongly denounced accusations leveled
in the film, insisting that the 250 "soldiers" killed by
Israeli forces near El Arish were not Egyptian soldiers but
rather Palestinian "fedayeen" commandos based out of Gaza.
Egypt's newspaper of record Al Ahram - interestingly the
first to print news of the Israeli documentary film,
published an exclusive telephone interview with Eliezer on
March 5, in which he asserts that no Egyptian soldiers were
in the area at the time. In the interview, he describes the
battle against the Palestinians and asserts that the Israeli
who appeared in the documentary stating that Egyptians were
killed, mistakenly assumed that the troops were Egyptians
since Gaza was under Egypt's administrative control at the
time.

--------------
Egyptian Official Views
--------------


4. (C) Following up on the issue, poloff on April 12
discussed the POW/film controversy with MFA Palestinian
Affairs Director Randa Labib and Cabinet Staff Member Ahmed
Hafez. Labib said that the GOE had taken a political
decision to try and contain the situation early after the
story broke. She noted that within the MFA questions were
raised about the story being first reported by Al Ahram
newspaper, Egypt's official paper of record. She speculated
that many in the senior ranks of the Egyptian media, official
papers included, harbored deep resentment towards Israel and
its treatment of the Palestinians and other Arabs. She said
that FM Aboul Gheit was "crucified" by the Parliament and
media after he rejected calls to break relations with Israel,

CAIRO 00001049 002 OF 002


and demanded that Israel clarify the factual content of the
film's allegations. The minister's anger over the situation
was evident during a March 20 meeting with visiting Assistant
Secretary Welch, to whom he complained vigorously about the

SIPDIS
Israeli side causing the flap. He admitted that Israeli FM
Livni, in a clearly unusual move, had called Egyptian
Intelligence Chief Soliman earlier that day to request he
help tone down Aboul Gheit's public discourse on the topic.


5. (C) Asked what impact the flap had had on Egypt-Israel
ties, Labib noted that a planned visit by Eliezer to Egypt
had been cancelled and that other possible senior-level
visits for the time being would be difficult. The people in
the street are outraged, she said, even if the film maker
admitted mistakes and Eliezer denies the story. The damage
is done, whether intended by the Israelis, or not, she said.
Asked for details about the historical events at the center
of the controversy, she said that according to the written
transcript of the film (translated into Arabic by the
Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv),the fighters - whether
Palestinian or Egyptian - were shot by IDF forces from
helicopters and not killed in cold blood. She said the
killings took place after Israel had taken control of the
Sinai, at the very end of the 7-day war (consistent with
Eliezer's Ahram assertions). Any Palestinians in the Sinai
then, she said, would have been from Gaza and would not have
had Egyptian citizenship or residency status. Egypt was
administratively responsible for Gaza until the conclusion of
the war, so would have had close ties with any Palestinian
forces in the region. They would not have been wearing
Egyptian military uniforms, she asserted.
JONES