DEMARCHE REQUEST: GOI DENIAL/DELAY OF ENTRY TO

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002486 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KWBG KPAL CASC IS SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST: GOI DENIAL/DELAY OF ENTRY TO AMCITS OF PALESTINIAN OR OTHER ARAB DESCENT REF: SECSTATE 111936 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In response to recent spate of incidents in which American citizens of Palestinian or other Arab origin encountered problems attempting to enter Israel, post in two separate meetings with MFA said any such discriminatory treatment could prompt us to revise our Travel Warning. Such denials of entry appear to be relatively small in number, but ongoing. MFA officials said they are in constant dialogue with airport immigration officials on this matter. They pledged to look into the specifics of four cases we raised with them, and report back to us. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Post is pursuing with GOI on several tracks the specific cases and larger issue highlighted in reftel, regarding problems encountered upon entry into Israel by American citizens of Palestinian and other Arab descent. We have asked that all AmCits be treated equally and not discriminated against due to place of birth or ethnic background. We have informed the GOI that a continuation of such discriminatory actions will force us to revise our Travel Warning to reflect this. ¶3. (SBU) During an August 7 meeting, the Ambassador raised the treatment of American citizens at Ben Gurion Airport with MFA Director General Aharon Abramovitch and Deputy Director for North America Yoram Ben Zeev. The Ambassador said there had been several recent cases of Amcits detained at Ben Gurion. Pressed by Ben Zeev on specific numbers, the Ambassador said we did not have a good fix on the numbers of such cases nor what percentage of Amcits headed for the West Bank that these cases represented, but they were getting a lot of attention in Washington. The Ambassador cautioned that we might need to revise our Travel Warning or otherwise complain publicly if Israel did not address the problem. ¶4. (SBU) Abramovitch said he was well aware of these concerns, which did not involve only American citizens but many other nationalities. The MFA has a constant dialogue with the Airport Authority on these issues. There were many security measures in place at Ben Gurion to prevent terrorism, but Abramovitch admitted that Israel needed a better system that did not cause so many complaints. He added that the terrorist threat to airport security was a global phenomenon that we all face. The Ambassador reiterated that there was real concern in Washington over the apparent discriminatory treatment accorded to Palestinian-born American citizens in particular, as well as other Americans planning to visit or reside in the West Bank. Abramovitch said the MFA was taking the problem seriously and reiterated that they were in constant dialogue with the Airport Authority. ¶5. (SBU) On August 9 Consul General delivered a similar message to MFA Consular Affairs director Yigal Tzarfati, and the chief of MFA Consular liaison, Revital Danker-Maly. Consul General presented to Tzarfati and Danker-Maly the particulars of the two cases cited in reftel -- Mahmoud AMIN Dolah and Rami Ezzat Zein. CG brought up two other cases that came to our attention at the same time -- Imad Abu Ziad and Sadat Hasan. Both were denied entry at Ben Gurion, sent out of the country and told to apply for entry at a land crossing from Jordan. Hasan was recovering from surgery and in a wheelchair while in detention at the airport. Tzarfati and Danker-Maly were noncommittal on the specifics of these four cases, but promised to pursue with the Airport Authority the precise reasons for the difficulties in each instance, and report back to us with their findings. ¶6. (SBU) To gain some perspective on the extent of the denial of entry problem for Palestinian and other Arab Americans we checked with Ministry of Interior sources at the airport on the overall numbers of such cases. They told us roughly 1,000 American citizens a week arrive at Ben Gurion, mostly on the twice-daily Continental Airlines flights from Newark, and of that total about 30 percent are of Palestinian or some other Arab origin. They average one denial of entry per flight -- or, around 15 a week out of a total of 300 arrivals. Our MOI sources said the most common reasons for entry difficulties among this population relate to whether the individuals possess a Palestinian identity document and/or have overstayed on prior visits. ¶7. (SBU) It is safe to say the GOI is aware of our concerns on this issue. While we concede to them the sovereign right of any country to control who enters its territory, we have made it clear there will be consequences for arbitrary and capricious denials of entry, based solely on ethnic origin. We believe a free flow of legitimate travel to the West Bank is beneficial to the GOI and advances this mission's strategic objective of promoting peaceful co-existence between Israel and its neighbors. We will continue to press on this issue. JONES ********************************************* ******************** 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. ********************************************* ******************** JONES