DAS DANIN AND MFA DDG'S YAAR AND HADAS-HANDELSMAN

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 002688

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2017
TAGS: PREL KWBG PTER EG LE MO IS
SUBJECT: DAS DANIN AND MFA DDG'S YAAR AND HADAS-HANDELSMAN
DISCUSS PEACE PROCESS, EGYPTIAN BORDER, SHALIT AND CLUSTER
MUNITIONS

REF: A. TEL AVIV 02672


B. TEL AVIV 02640

Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b)(d)


1. (S) SUMMARY. Over breakfast August 30, NEA DAS Robert
Danin discussed the peace process and other regional issues
with MFA DDG for International Organizations Ronny Yaar, MFA
DDG for the Middle East Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, and MFA UN
Political Affairs Director Rony Adam. Yaar noted the GOI's
"clear preference" for Jill Sinclair of Canada as a
replacement for outgoing UNSCO Michael Williams.
Hadas-Handelsman asked for U.S. help getting Morocco more
involved in the peace process, noting that doing so would add
geographical balance to the new line up of moderate Arab
states working on a way forward with Israel.
Hadas-Handelsman also described GOI frustration with mounting
problems on the Egyptian border, and stressed that the
problems associated with the Sudanese refugees and the
weapons smuggling into Gaza were both becoming untenable. He
reiterated the GOI assessment that the Egyptians needed
greater determination -- not more troops -- in order to
control the smuggling problem. Yaar, Hadas-Handelsman and
Adam also urged the U.S. to weigh in with Egypt to support
reopening the stalled negotiations with Hamas over Gilad
Shalit. Regarding unexploded cluster munitions in southern
Lebanon, Yaar stressed that the IDF had already provided
UNIFIL with all the information it had on the likely
locations of unexploded ordinance. END SUMMARY.

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UNSCO Candidates
--------------


2. (C) Yaar said the GOI was not impressed with the line up
of rumored candidates to replace outgoing UN Special
Coordinator (UNSCO) and Quartet Envoy Michael Williams.
Ticking off the list of candidates the GOI had heard
mentioned, Yaar noted that all were from European countries.
He said the GOI did not think another person from the
European camp would be helpful, since in the GOI's view, he
or she was likely bring EU politics into the Quartet process.
Instead, the GOI's "clear preference" was for Jill Sinclair
of Canada, even though she was not a declared candidate. DAS
Danin agreed that Sinclair would make a good UN envoy. Yaar
mentioned that in the meantime, Kevin Kennedy was doing a
good job, and was welcome to remain as acting UNSCO for as
long as necessary. "We like him very much," Yaar said, "he
is cooperative, helpful, and can stay as long as he likes."
Yaar also noted that the GOI had "not been fond of (Alvaro)
DeSoto."

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Finding a Role for Morocco
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3. (C) Hadas-Handelsman made a pitch for greater Moroccan
involvement in the peace process. "Morocco wants very much
to be a part of the process," he said, "and we want it too."
He asked if the U.S. could help get Morocco involved, either
in the GCC 2 (making it GCC 3) or in the Arab League Working
Group. He acknowledged Egyptian opposition to the
involvement of Morocco or other moderate Arab states, but
asked the U.S. to do what it could to overcome Egypt's
objection. He argued that it was in the interests of Israel
and the Arab moderates to include Morocco in the evolving
regional process. The GOI thought Morocco could add
geographical balance to the new alignment of Arab moderates
that was looking for a new way forward with Israel. "If the
UAE can be included, then why not Morocco?" he asked. DAS
Danin agreed that Morocco represented a positive voice in the
region, and agreed to consider possibilities for greater
Moroccan involvement.

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Sudanese Refugees and Gaza Smuggling
--------------


4. (C) Hadas-Handelsman said the GOI was increasingly
concerned about the refugee and weapons smuggling problems
along the Israel-Egypt-Gaza border. Regarding the issue of
Sudanese refugees crossing into Israel illegally from Egypt,
Hadas-Handelsman said that only about 10 percent of them were
from Darfur, and thus eligible for consideration as refugees.
He said there were also "a few hundred" Sudanese in Israel
who had been granted refugee certificates in Egypt, but who
had crossed into Israel anyway, to seek a better life. The
issue was becoming a serious problem for the GOI, he said,
for both humanitarian and political reasons. While the
majority of Sudanese living in Israel do not meet UNHCR

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refugee standards, the GOI was in a bind because it could not
return them to Sudan for fear they would be accused of
treason for having gone to Israel. "We are in a Catch-22,"
he said, "and we can't take it anymore." He added that it
was also only a "matter of time" before a terrorist
infiltrates Israel disguised as a Sudanese refugee, or before
a Sudanese refugee is coerced into terrorism.


5. (C) On Gaza smuggling, Hadas-Handelsman stressed that the
problem was not manpower, as the Egyptians claimed, but
Egypt's apparent unwillingness to effectively tackle the
problem. DAS Danin agreed that a lack of will might be part
of the problem, but countered that the U.S. also believed
Egypt needed more forces on the border with Gaza. The 250
Egyptian soldiers available for border duty at any given time
(out of the 750 garrisoned for the task) were not enough.
Hadas-Handelsman responded that our understanding of the
number of Egyptian troops available for border duty was
incorrect. While the Egyptians were only allowed 750 troops
on the border at any given time, there was no need to divide
them into three shifts of 250 each. Instead, the Egyptians
could have "thousands" of troops stationed just outside Zone
C and rotate the full allowance of 750 up to the border for
each working shift. "We're very flexible," he said, adding
that the GOI was also "keeping its mouth shut" about the 650
other security forces that remain in Zone C in violation of
the agreement.


6. (C) In response to DAS Danin raising the issue of possible
technical solutions to the Gaza smuggling problem,
Hadas-Handelsman said that GOI engineers had determined the
canal idea to be unworkable. Instead, Israeli engineers were
advocating a series of "water columns" that would be dug at
intervals along the Egypt-Gaza border. These water-filled
holes -- or "columns" -- would be about 60 meters deep and a
"couple of meters" in diameter. Any tunneling in their
vicinity would create a slight shift in the sand that would
cause them to collapse, thus indicating the location of a new
tunnel. Hadas-Handelsman said that FM Livni had briefed Omar
Suleiman on the idea during her most recent visit to Egypt,
and that Suleiman had promised to send Egyptian engineers to
Israel "within a week or two" for consultations on the idea.
However, the Egyptians had not yet sent anyone, he said.

--------------
Reopening Negotiations over Gilad Shalit
--------------


7. (S) DAS Danin asked if reports in the Israeli press that
day indicating that the GOI was interested in renewing
negotiations for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad
Shalit were correct. Hadas-Handelsman answered
affirmatively, and said the GOI was trying to get the
Egyptians to reopen the negotiations with Hamas. Adam noted
that the talks have been "stalemated for four months now,"
and said the GOI was eager to get the process moving again.
"The Egyptian channel is stuck," he said, but the GOI was
trying to pry it back open. Yaar, Hadas-Handelsman and Adam
all agreed that it would be very helpful if the U.S. could
approach the Egyptians on the issue. "Please just ask the
Egyptians to renew the negotiations," Adam said.

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Cluster Munitions
--------------


8. (C) Recalling DAS Danin's discussion the day before with
DG Abramovitch (reftel),Yaar said the GOI had "done its
part" on the issue of unexploded cluster munitions in
southern Lebanon. He said the IDF had already provided
UNIFIL with the only map it had of areas likely to contain
unexploded ordinance in south Lebanon. He said the IDF had
also recently briefed Embassy DAO staff on the issue, and as
far as the GOI was concerned, the issue was closed. (Note:
Embassy DATT subsequently confirmed that an IDF briefing took
place in Tel Aviv August 1, following a similar briefing by
the Israeli Defense Attache Office in Washington.)

(U) DAS Danin has cleared this message.

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