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

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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.

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