IRAN: CODEL KYL AND HARMAN'S BREAKFAST WITH

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000739 SIPDIS CODEL SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2017 TAGS: PREL PTER MASS KPAL KWBG IR SY IS SUBJECT: IRAN: CODEL KYL AND HARMAN'S BREAKFAST WITH OPPOSITION LEADER NETANYAHU REF: A. TEL AVIV 542 ¶B. TEL AVIV 559 Classified By: Marc J. Sievers, Political Counselor. Reasons: 1.4 (b)(d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) During the visit of CODELs Kyl and Harman to Israel, February 18-20, the two CODELs -- led by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) -- held a series of meetings with GOI officials and Knesset members according to a program drawn up by Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli Co-Chair of the U.S.-Israel Interparliamentary Commission (IPC). Reftels report on their meetings with Prime Minister Olmert and Foreign Minister Livni. This cable reports on their February 19 working breakfast with opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the King David Hotel. At the breakfast, Netanyahu was accompanied by an aide, Steinitz, and former Mossad Intelligence Director Uzi Arad. Senator Kyl and Representative Harman were accompanied by Representatives Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and Steve Pearce (R-NM),Todd Stiefler from Senator Kyl's office, two military escorts, DCM, POLCOUNS and poloff. ¶2. (S) Netanyahu's remarks centered on Iran. He expressed his concern that U.S. focus on Iraq is occurring at the expense of an aggressive approach to Iran. He urged that the U.S. take at his word Iranian President Ahmadinejad's calls to wipe Israel off the world map, and respond with massive economic and political pressure on Iran through sanctions against Iran's banking and oil sectors, including divestment from Iran's state pension fund. Netanyahu portrayed Iran's leadership as apocalyptic and dangerous, but also vulnerable to coordinated American and European pressure. He noted that he would be traveling to Paris in the near future to urge the French to take stronger financial measures against Iran. Netanyahu expressed his view that Europe could do more against Iran, and will, if the U.S. leads. He warned that Iran's rising power might cause Sunnis in the Middle East to become more fundamentalist to rival Iran. On the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Netanyahu warned that making concessions to the Palestinians at the present moment would be a mistake. He urged that the U.S. "choke" whatever kind of national unity government Hamas and Abu Mazen would be 
able to put together. END SUMMARY. -------------- -- IRAN IS LIKE NAZI GERMANY -- IT MUST BE STOPPED -------------- -- ¶3. (S) Netanyahu focused his remarks on the Iranian nuclear weapons issue, saying that as essential as it is, it seems sidelined in the U.S. by Iraq. He warned that whatever the U.S. does in Iraq will ultimately be overshadowed by Iran, as Iran has ambitions of empire and is obsessed with Israel's destruction. Netanyahu stressed that the Iranian leadership's words must be taken seriously, as Iran's leadership proved during the Iran-Iraq war that it is willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of its people for the sake of its aims. He suggested that the current situation is similar to Europe in 1938 -- with Hitler openly speaking about a greater Germany -- except that the international community has before it the lessons of the past. The world, he stressed, "cannot claim to not comprehend the danger posed by a retrograde regime, an apocalyptic cult of narrow-eyed, corrupt Ayatollahs that has stated its willingness to use the bomb." Netanyahu warned that if the U.S. does not deal with Iran, it will lose the Middle East. He urged that the U.S. resort to massive economic and political pressure, including divestment of Iran's state pension funds. Netanyahu noted that banking limitations are taking their toll on Iran and hurting its oil sector. The effect of these pressures could lead to personnel or regime change. ¶4. (S) Responding to Senator Kyl's (R-AZ) observation that America is focused on Iraq because of the difficulties it is posing, Netanyahu reiterated that it is in America and its allies' greater interests that Iran is stopped. "The Iranians are the Branch Davidians with nuclear weapons," he warned, "Ahmadinejad will not be deposed if he gets the bomb. He needs to be brought down. He's too dangerous." Netanyahu noted that even in Iran, Ahmadinejad has enemies, including Khamenei. He urged that the U.S. begin by hitting TEL AVIV 00000739 002 OF 003 Iran's main state pension fund. "If you do that, the Europeans will follow." He said that the U.S. should also take steps to withdraw holdings from the 400 plus foreign companies that are doing business in Iran. Netanyahu also underscored the importance of keeping the military option open, and attacking the ruling regime for its denial of the Holocaust. He noted that he would visit Paris shortly and give the French "a piece of his mind," with the hope of encouraging French investors to cease their activity in Iran. -------------- MUSING ON LESSONS FROM NORTH KOREA AND LIBYA -------------- ¶5. (S) Netanyahu inquired about the deal reached with North Korea. Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz expressed his view that it is possible to make progress with sanctions, although he was not sure they will ultimately resolve the problem. He underscored that Iran is the key issue for Israel, the Middle East, and the entire world, and voiced his concern that the current focus on the Palestinians and Lebanon might blind the world to the Iranian nuclear threat. He noted that Iran already has missiles with ranges of 3,500 kilometers that can hit Eastern Europe, Greece and Italy. Steinitz drew a contrast between North Korea and Libya: In the case of North Korea, economic sanctions worked. In the case of Libya, "only the threat of brute force made Qaddafi change." Steinitz said he is concerned that Iran is more like Libya, and therefore merits both sanctions and the threat of force. -------------- THE KEY IS TO CONVINCE KEY EUROPEANS TO LEAD -------------- ¶6. (S) Netanyahu said that he would meet with French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and push for a Franco-German understanding on the Iranian nuclear threat. The key would be to get the French and Germans working together. After that, the rest of the Europeans would fall in line, and the market could be allowed to do its work. Former Mossad Intelligence Director Uzi Arad added that the "tipping point" in Europe will be when the Europeans see sanctions having an effect. He stressed that the case needs to be made that sanctions are working, as some Europeans are still dismissive of the facts. Arad claimed that France is "soft on Iran" due to its vulnerability in southern Lebanon. He suggested that the UK is trying to compensate for joining the U.S. in Iraq by being softer on Iran. Arad praised Germany for being tough on Iran. Netanyahu observed that some state legislatures in the U.S. (e.g., Georgia, Missouri) were showing common sense in their approach to Iran by passing legislation on divestment. -------------- -------------- IRAN UNCHECKED MAY PUSH THE SUNNIS TOWARDS FUNDAMENTALISM -------------- -------------- ¶7. (S) Responding to Congresswoman Harman's (D-CA) question, Netanyahu said that Iran's Sunni neighbors are terrified by Iran. He claimed that they want Washington to help them, while -- at the same time -- they are taking steps to acquire their own nuclear capabilities lest they be caught off guard when Iran goes nuclear. Steinitz warned that Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia would develop their own nuclear weapons, and claimed that Egyptian President Mubarak told Israeli PM Olmert one month earlier that this would happen. Steinitz also suggested that there are different views on how the Sunnis would ultimately react to an aggressive Iran, with some people anticipating that the Sunnis would seek to bandwagon with the U.S. and Israel, and others predicting that the Sunnis would become more fundamentalist to compete with Iran. Steinitz pointed to the Mecca summit as evidence that Palestinian President Abu Mazen is moving closer towards Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Netanyahu said that fundamentalism is "steamrolling" across the Middle East, is trying to break into Iraq and Lebanon, and is making inroads among the Palestinians. Bringing the discussion back to Iran, he said, "They want to produce ten bombs a year and have global reach. These people are mad. Ahmadinejad was an executioner in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. He is out to get us, and to get you." Netanyahu warned that Syria is arming Hizballah with arms from Iran, and said that Hizballah is ready for a next round with Israel. -------------- NETANYAHU: CHOKE THE PALESTINIANS -------------- TEL AVIV 00000739 003 OF 003 ¶8. (S) Netanyahu warned that, considering the current situation, giving more concessions to the Palestinians would be a mistaken. He characterized efforts by European foreign ministries to make progress by pressuring Israel for concessions as misguided steps that only embolden Iran. "For the sake of having the Palestinians reach some sort of internal compromise, they act at Israel's expense," he observed. "We have to bring down Hamas. Collusion with Hamas is not the way to do it. We need to get the extremists out of here, and out of Iran." In response to Senator Kyl's (R-AZ) question about how the U.S. should deal with a Palestinian National Unity Government, Netanyahu replied, "Choke them. The Arab world also wants to see them go." ¶9. (U) Neither Senator Kyl nor Representative Harman had an opportunity to review this cable. ********************************************* ******************** 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