GOI PROMISES NO PATHWAY AROUND SEA OF GALILEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002746 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2013 TAGS: PREL PGOV KIRF VT IS SUBJECT: GOI PROMISES NO PATHWAY AROUND SEA OF GALILEE WITHOUT APPROVAL OF CHRISTIAN HOLY SITES REF: A. STATE 97360 ¶B. TEL AVIV 2087 Classified By: PolCouns Marc Sievers for reasons 1.4 (b)(d). ¶1. (C) MFA Bureau of World Jewish and Inter-Religious Affairs Head Shmuel Ben-Shmuel and MFA Director for Religious Affairs Bahij Mansour assured poloff September 6 that the planned construction of a pedestrian pathway around the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) would not traverse or otherwise infringe upon the properties of the Christian holy sites situated on the lake's northern shore (reftels). After interventions by the Embassy, Papal Nuncio and others, Ben-Shmuel and Mansour said the MFA had recently succeeded in "sensitizing" those involved in the plan to the need to protect the sanctity and integrity of the major Christian sites on the Sea of Galilee. "No one in the government wants to offend the holy sites and hurt tourism," Ben-Shmuel said. ¶2. (C) Ben-Shmuel and Mansour noted that the MFA had won agreement from all implementing parties -- the Interior and Tourism Ministries, the Society for the Protection of Nature, and lakefront municipalities -- not to implement the plan without prior consultation with the affected sites. Mansour showed poloff letters of assurance the MFA received recently from the various government authorities involved in the project. Ben-Shmuel said that if problems arise during implementation, "the Papal Nuncio only has to call the MFA and we will take care of it." Ben-Shmuel added that he had recently briefed Vatican Deputy FM Parolin on the issue, and that Parolin had "accepted our assurances." ********************************************* ******************** 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