GENERALLY POSITIVE ISRAELI REACTION TO THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 002177 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2017 TAGS: PREL KPAL XF IS SUBJECT: GENERALLY POSITIVE ISRAELI REACTION TO THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH, BUT SOME RESERVATIONS AS WELL Classified By: Acting DCM Marc Sievers, Reason 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Public commentary in Israel on the President's July 16 speech has headlined the GOI's satisfaction, including a leak from PM Olmert's office that the idea for a regional meeting originated with Olmert. Meanwhile, mainstream commentators continued to express doubts about President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad's ability to deliver. In our discussions with GOI officials, we have encountered a more nuanced reaction: appreciation for the President's reiteration of the U.S. commitment to Israel's security and for Israel as a Jewish state, as well as satisfaction that in their view, much of the onus for progress was placed on the Palestinians, but also some reservations about the regional meeting and how it would be structured, and the lack of clear linkage to the Roadmap. One senior official was particularly concerned by the reference to convening the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, calling this an "unjustified reward to Norway." Interestingly, none of our GOI contacts expressed concern about the President's reference to removing illegal outposts and freezing settlements, with one commenting that he hoped "this time" the U.S. will make sure Israel delivers on its commitments. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The Israeli media headlined the President's speech July 17, with Israel Radio reporting the "satisfaction" of GOI sources and their comment that Israel accepts the speech in its entirety, including the references to dismantling illegal outposts and halting settlement expansion. The mass circulation daily "Yediot Aharonot" reported that sources in Prime Minister Olmert's office declared the idea of a regional meeting to have originated with them. Op-eds in the press were more mixed, however, with senior commentators Nahum Barnea and Ben Caspit skeptical about President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad's ability to reverse the rise of Hamas despite the declarations of international support for them. The media connected the speech to Vice Premier Haim Ramon's July 17 announcement that he supports negotiating an interim agreement with the Palestinians for Israel to withdraw from 60-70 percent of the West Bank, including evacuating settlements in the areas to be vacated. ¶3. (C) Reaction from MFA was nuanced. MFA North America Department office director Dan Arbell expressed appreciation for the President's reiteration of U.S. commitment to Israel's security and his reference to Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland of the Jewish people. Arbell also commented that the message to the Palestinians was positive in its emphasis on the need to choose between extremism and moderation. In his view, the President put the onus primarily on the Palestinians, though he wondered how that message would play in the Arab world. ¶4. (C) A senior MFA official attuned to Foreign Minister Livni's thinking said there was a generally positive reaction among the Ministry's senior staff, particularly among those who want to seize the opportunity presented by the new Palestinian government. They appreciated the President's message to the Palestinians to reject Hamas and that a Palestinian state would never be established through terror. Livni reportedly responded particularly well to the President's description of a struggle between forces of moderation and extremism. The senior official added, however, that there was some concern about a regional meeting, since they felt that while the Prime Minister's office had been briefed on the idea, it had come as a surprise to the MFA. MFA senior staff also thought the process for achieving a Palestinian state was unclear since there was no timeline and only one reference to the Roadmap in the speech. An Israeli NSC official cautioned that he thought it important to offer Hamas "some incentive" not to play the spoiler. The NSC official also said he hoped the regional conference idea had been coordinated with the Saudis, since they would likely reject it if they were not consulted in advance. ¶5. (C) A senior MFA official cautioned in particular that the U.S. will need to maintain control over the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee meeting, arguing that the President's reference to it appeared to be a "prize to the Norwegians that they don't deserve" due to Norway's forceful advocacy of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation. He added that Norway had its own agenda for the AHLC that could cause the session to be "disastrous" unless the U.S. made sure to set the meeting's agenda. ¶6. (C) Asked about the Israeli reaction to the President's comments about removing illegal outposts and freezing settlements, all of our contacts, including a senior National Security Council official, responded that it should not pose a problem for Olmert despite some negative comments by Likud TEL AVIV 00002177 002 OF 002 Party leader Bibi Netanyahu. One GOI contact said that in terms of outposts and settlements, he hoped the U.S. "will try to make sure something actually happens this time" since the GOI had not delivered on long-standing commitments to the U.S. ********************************************* ******************** 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. ********************************************* ******************** CRETZ