A/S SILVERBERG DISCUSSES LEBANON AND UNSCR 1701

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 001750

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2017
TAGS: PREL UNSC PGOV PTER SY LE IS
SUBJECT: A/S SILVERBERG DISCUSSES LEBANON AND UNSCR 1701
ISSUES WITH ISRAELI MFA DDG YA'AR

REF: A) TEL AVIV 1704 B) BEIRUT 0818 C) BEIRUT 0805

Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones; Reasons 1.4 (B and D).


1. (C) Summary: IO A/S Kristen Silverberg discussed Lebanon
and UNSCR 1701 issues with MFA IO Deputy Director General
Roni Leshno-Ya'ar and his staff on June 7 in Jerusalem.
Ya'ar reiterated Israeli concerns over the rearmament of
Hizballah, noting Israeli plans to meet with the UN border
assessment team and reluctance to share sensitive
intelligence with UN offices. A/S Silverberg relayed
UNIFIL's frustration with the level of cooperation from the
IDF and urged Ya'ar to encourage the IDF to address some of
UNIFIL's reasonable requests (return calls from UNIFIL,
establish a hotline, etc.) which will help maintain the
international community's focus on Hizballah. Ya'ar agreed
to speak with the IDF, but complained that "UNIFIL is not
doing enough." He urged postponement of action on the status
or definition of the Sheba farms until at least September,
claiming that UNSCO shares this point of view.
A/S Silverberg sought the GOI's views on the upcoming UNIFIL
extension. Ya'ar urged a "technical extension" and promised
to brief the USG following GOI-UNSCO meetings during the week
of June 10. Reftel (A) reports on A/S Silverberg's
discussions on other IO issues. End Summary.

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GOI Concerns with Arms Smuggling
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2. (C) Calling Turkey's discovery of arms shipments to Syria
a "smoking gun," Ya'ar reiterated Israeli concerns over the
rearmament of Hizballah. He added that Israeli intelligence
services are increasingly reluctant to brief the UN on
weapons shipments because past intelligence materials had
found their way from UN staff to Hizballah. Ya'ar said the
UN must find some symbolic way for UNIFIL to have an
anti-smuggling role. In addition, he advocated expediting
the German program on border security.


3. (C) Ya'ar noted that the GOI had not met with the UN's
border assessment team prior to their departure for Lebanon,
but said Israeli experts would do so during the week of June
10 in New York. IDF Strategic Planning Chief BG Udi Dekel
will brief them then as well. A/S Silverberg encouraged the
GOI to reiterate with the UN Missions the need to focus on
preventing arms smuggling (as opposed to other contraband),
to raise its concerns with UNSCO, and to share the results of
these meetings with the USG.

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UNIFIL's Difficulties Dealing with the IDF
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4. (C) Stressing our mutual interest in focusing the
international community on Hizballah's ongoing violations of
UNSCR 1701, A/S Silverberg encouraged the GOI to work more
closely with UNIFIL. She noted that UNIFIL commander MG
Claudio Graziano had expressed growing frustration on several
issues: the failure of Israeli military officers to answer
UNIFIL's calls; continued stalling on installation of a "hot
line" between UNIFIL and the IDF; a May 28 violation of the
Blue Line by IDF ground forces, along with UNIFIL's usual
complaints about overflights. A/S Silverberg stated that as
the Council approaches the UNIFIL extension, it will be
important to keep the focus on Hizballah, by avoiding
unnecessarily frustrating Graziano. UN Political Affairs
Deputy Gershon Kedar said that the IDF had not intended to
cross the Blue Line on May 28, invoking--as the GOI has done
in the past--the excuse that the border needs to be
demarcated because its exact location is unclear due to the
"width of the pen line on the map." Ya'ar agreed to speak
with the IDF, adding that the Israeli Mission in New York had
advised the MFA to deal directly with MG Graziano.


5. (C) Despite Israel's public statements to the contrary,
Ya'ar said the GOI "believes we have a real problem" with
UNIFIL. He alleged that "Hizballah has freedom of action" in
southern Lebanon and complained that "UNIFIL is not doing
enough." While acknowledging that some troops such as the
Spanish are more proactive than others, Ya'ar said that the
problem stems from UNIFIL's interpretation of its
rules of engagement. He called upon UN troops to establish
roadblocks inside villages, to patrol the "nature reserves,"

and to search private Lebanese homes for arms.

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Ya'ar Urges Postponement of Any Action on Sheba
-------------- --


6. (C) Ya'ar reiterated GOI concerns with Lebanese PM
Siniora's seven-point plan, especially on Sheba, as long as
IDF soldiers remain in Hizballah custody and Hizballah is not
disarmed. He also expressed skepticism that the GOL would
move quickly to implement the Hariri tribunal resolution.
A/S Silverberg described her discussions on Sheba in Beirut
(reftel C). Ya'ar reiterated the GOI's strong objection to
any action on Sheba, saying he is "more convinced than even
before that moving on Sheba will only cause problems for
Siniora and get us into trouble." He said the GOI had seen
the UN's map of Sheba, which falls far short of Lebanese
expectations. Any delineation of the Sheba area will only
increase international pressure on Israel to withdraw, a step
it will not take under current circumstances. Ya'ar also
questioned the appropriateness of assigning sovereignty based
upon property ownership and noted the risk that doing so
would help set a problematic precedent. Syria-Lebanon
Analyst Amir Weissbrod added that assigning sovereignty to
"properties" could open a whole array of problematic issues
from Lebanese holdings in Israel's Hula Valley to Jewish
property in Lebanon's Marjayoun area.


7. (C) In Ya'ar's view, the next step on Sheba should be a
Syrian-Lebanese agreement on a border. UN custody over Sheba
is a "non-starter." The MFA will urge the rest of the GOI to
share information with the UN cartographer and encourage him
to continue his work into the fall. Ya'ar claimed that UNSCO
Michael Williams shares this view and will postpone dealing
with the report until September. Ya'ar also objected to any
action by the UN to demarcate Sheba (i.e., to identify the
area in dispute). A/S Silverberg questioned the feasibility
of that approach, noting that the UN had promised a report
from the cartographer. She said that it seems both likely
and acceptable that the cartographer would address the proper
demarcation of Sheba, but that the USG would continue to
press to ensure the cartographer refrains from any judgments
on sovereignty. She requested an update from the GOI
following their talks with Williams during the week of June

10.

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GOI Prefers Technical Extension of UNIFIL
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8. (C) After discussing the difficult internal political
situation facing the GOL, A/S Silverberg noted that her
Lebanese interlocutors had been unanimous in cautioning
against any attempts to change the provisions of UNSCR 1701
during the renewal process. She requested the GOI's views on
the desirability of a technical rollover or of possible
changes. Ya'ar replied that the GOI prefers a "technical
extension" that "takes the situation on the ground into
account." For example, if Hizballah is moving armaments to
areas north of the Litani River, then UNIFIL should be
empowered to deal with the situation. In addition, the
Israelis suggested reviewing UNIFIL's mandate every six
months to maintain pressure for change. Ya'ar noted that the
GOI would discuss the mandate renewal process in its upcoming
meetings with Williams and Geir Pedersen.


9. (U) A/S-equivalent Roni Leshno-Ya'ar was joined by
Director for UN Political Affairs Roni Adam, Deputy Director
for UN Political Affairs Gershon Kedar, UN Political Affairs
Desk Officer Livia Link, and Director for Syria-Lebanon
Research (INR) Amir Weissbrod.


10. (U) A/S Silverberg has cleared this cable.

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