UKRAINE: PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO FINALLY TO VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 002752

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM PREL IS UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO FINALLY TO VISIT
ISRAEL?

REF: A. KYIV 2718

B. KYIV 764

Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: Israeli Embassy DCM Shahar Arieli confirmed
that President Victor Yushchenko plans to visit Israel in
mid-November and that he would also visit Ramallah and meet
with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas,
although he noted that previous planned visits did not
materialize. Arieli said the Ukrainian Embassy would be
arranging Yushchenko's meeting with the Ukrainian diaspora in
Israel, but he wondered how many people would gather. Issues
likely to be raised by the Israelis will include GoU efforts
to counter anti-Semitism and Yushchenko's decision to honor
the controversial Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) leader Roman
Shukhevych, who some allege assisted German forces with
genocide during the Second World War. Arieli suggested that
Yushchenko would push for Knesset recognition of the
Stalin-era "Holodomor" famine as genocide, but also noted
that the Knesset rarely took a position on foreign policy
issues and that Israelis generally had questions about
whether the Holodomor was truly directed only against
Ukrainians. End Summary


2. (C) Israeli Embassy DCM Shahar Arieli noted in passing to
us, during a November 1 meeting primarily on other topics,
that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was planning to
visit Israel in mid-November. (Note: The Interfax wire
service cited Presidential Secretariat Deputy Chief of Staff
Oleksandr Chaliy as saying November 1 that Yushchenko would
visit Israel November 14-15 and "sign documents aimed at
boosting bilateral cooperation.") During the visit,
Yushchenko would also visit Ramallah and have a meeting with
Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (whom
Arieli referred to by the honorific "Abu Mazen"). Arieli
said the Israeli government would not object to the proposed
meeting with Abbas, although noted that the Israelis had
resisted the idea when the Ukrainians had proposed it last
time Yushchenko was scheduled to visit Israel (a 2006 visit
which ultimately did not take place, ref B).


3. (C) When we congratulated Arieli for finally scheduling
the Ukrainian president's visit, he wryly noted that dates
had also been agreed for earlier planned trips that
ultimately did not materialize. Although Yushchenko was
personally committed to making a trip to Israel, his advisers
were wary regarding the possibility that such a visit might
stoke ongoing and simmering bilateral differences. For their
part, the Israelis would raise what they see as a a lack of
action against the Interregional Academy for Personnel
Management (known by its Ukrainian acronym, MAUP),which
publicly espouses an anti-Semitic line. (Note: Also as noted
ref B, the Israelis are also likely to raise Ukraine's
membership in the UN Committee on the Exercise of the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. In our
discussions with MFA contacts on this subject, the Ukrainian
approach has been simply to not participate in what they
describe as a "moribund committee," but they also do not want
to attract negative Middle Eastern attention by formally
withdrawing. End Note.) Arieli suggested that Yushchenko
would push for Knesset recognition of the Stalin-era
"Holodomor" famine as genocide (the Ukrainian National Day of
Rememberance for the Holodomor is scheduled for November 24).
He noted that, on this point, however, the Knesset rarely
took a position on foreign policy issues and Israelis
generally had questions whether the Holodomor was truly
directed against the Ukrainians as a group and about the
number of deaths from hunger.


4. (SBU) Arieli said the Ukrainian Embassy would be arranging
Yushchenko's meeting with the Ukrainian diaspora in Israel,
but he wondered how many people would gather. Israelis of
Ukrainian origin generally did not maintain a strong
emotional tie to Ukraine and tended to view their birth in
the territory of the modern Ukrainian state to be an accident
of geography. (Note: Probably the most famous Israeli born
in Ukraine was former Prime Minister Golda Meir, who was born
in Kyiv, then immigrated to the U.S.) Arieli commented that
the historical connection between the two countries was
always noted in a ceremonial way during official visits and
meetings, but had little real significance for the
relationship. Arieli opined that the Ukrainian Embassy would
also try to do something to further the bilateral economic
relationship, but he was unsure what could be done
practically to strengthen this area.


5. (C) Arieli asked for our view's on President Yushchenko's

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recent decision to honor controversial Ukrainian Insurgent
Army (UPA) leader Roman Shukhevych. Arlieli asserted that
Shukhevych led an SS police auxiliary unit during the early
stages of the Second World War and reasoned that, because the
unit was used to control civilians and not in combat,
Shukhevych must have been complicit in war crimes committed
by German forces - including massacres of Jews. We noted
that we have heard differing views on the Shukhevych's role
and welcomed any information that would shed light on
allegations of his role in war crimes. He said this issue
was also likely to be brought up during Yushchenko,s visit
to Israel.


6. (SBU) Also on the agenda would be Israeli concern concern
about several recent anti-Semitic incidents and the rise in
xenophobic attacks beginning in late 2006. Arieli agreed
that the diplomatic community should follow-up with Ukrainian
law enforcement officials on their recent promises to combat
hate crimes and said his Embassy would support our efforts to
press the GoU on this this issue. He discounted
Yushchenko,s order to return Torah scrolls in government
archives to Jewish communities as a public relations effort
to improve his image before going to Israel. He added that
he would rather see the GoU focus on stopping violent
xenophobic attacks than issue decrees on religious property
restitution.


7. (C) Comment: Although the visit is currently "on," there
is still skepticism in Kyiv that it will actually take place.
Ongoing political negotiations regarding the formation of a
new parliamentary coalition and a possible start date for the
parliament could result in another postponement of the trip.
However, the pending visit almost certainly motivated several
positive steps that Yushchenko recently took to combat
anti-Semitism and xenophobia (see ref A). Despite these
positive steps, if the trip takes place, Yushchenko will
likely have to defend his decision to honor Shukhevych and
reassure his Israeli counterparts that the GoU is taking
steps to counter the recent anti-Semitic incidents if this is
to be a successful visit.


8. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor