Jordan Water Conference Cancelled Because of Israel-Arab

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002999

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2018
TAGS: SENV EAID PGOV JO AL
SUBJECT: Jordan Water Conference Cancelled Because of Israel-Arab
League Dispute

Ref: Amman 2770

Classified by: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary: Host country Jordan cancelled the Euro-Med
Partners Ministerial Conference on Water scheduled to begin on
October 28 over disputes about the participation of the Arab League
(AL). A Jordanian Foreign Ministry (FM) contact and diplomats in
Jordan said the dispute was over the Arab League's desire to
participate as a full participant, rather than as a silent partner as
agreed at previous meetings. Diplomats expect the issue will be
resolved at the November
3-4 ministerial meeting in Marseilles.
Among the conference topics originally scheduled was the Red-Dead
canal feasibility study. End Summary.


2. (C) The Euro-Med Partners Ministerial Conference on Water,
scheduled to begin on October 28, was cancelled at the request of the
host country, Jordan, on October 25 because of differences over the
participation and membership of the AL in the organizing Union for
the Mediterranean (UPM). Nabil Masarweh, office director for
Jordan's FM, explained to Polchief that the FM cancelled the
conference for fear Jordan would be embarrassed by an ongoing dispute
between the Israelis and Arab League over participation. The Arab
League is seeking an upgrade in its participation, which Israel
opposes for fear discussions will become overly politicized. Jordan
supports the AL request because the Union would be one more forum in
which AL countries, including those that do not recognize Israel, get
involved in working level discussions with Israeli counterparts.


3. (C) Israel's Deputy Chief of Mission in Jordan Alon Roth-Snir told
PolOff that for the last several years, it has been agreed that the
Arab League could participate in Euro-Med Partners technical
meetings, even at senior levels, but only as observers. It was
agreed that the AL would not take any direct initiatives, give
speeches, or submit resolutions except through a proxy, which was
often Egypt, and that this had occurred. For this conference, the AL
insisted on "full participation" despite previous understandings.
Israel objected on the grounds that the AL had previously agreed to
attend as observers; because "whenever the Arab League participates
it turns political"; and because of the weak connection between
Mediterranean topics and the many geographically-distant AL members
such as Oman and Qatar. He described a similar situation at a water
conference in Jordan earlier in the year. This issue is not a
bilateral Israeli-Jordanian concern but rather a multilateral one --
which Israel maintains had been long-ago resolved.


4. (C) Egypt's Deputy Chief of Mission in Jordan Mahmoud Elmaghraby
told EconOff that the AL had proposed many options that would allow
them to participate in a meaningful way. He agreed that a silent
observer status was appropriate for technical meetings with
scientific experts but was not appropriate for ministerial meetings
such as this one. French DCM David Portal told PolOff that the
decision to cancel the conference was entirely taken by Jordan.
French diplomats in Amman attempted to create an ad hoc understanding
among the participants that would have applied just for this meeting,
but were unable to do so. They reluctantly accepted the cancellation
of the conference, but Portal indicated that French feathers were
ruffled by the incident. Elmaghraby and Portal both expected that
AL's status would be clarified at the November 3-4 Marseilles
ministerial meeting of UPM where the status is an agenda item. Portal
further added that the cancellation of the Amman conference had given
the French FM "new impetus" to make sure that further protocol bumps
in the road would be avoided.


5. (U) The conference was to be held within the framework of the
Euro-Med partnership now called the Barcelona Process: Union for the
Mediterranean (UPM). It includes the 27 members of the European
Union and 16 southern Mediterranean states, including Jordan, Israel
and Egypt. Among the planned conference agenda topics was the
project feasibility study to connect the Rea Sea and the Dead Sea
being led by the World Bank on behalf of Jordan, Israel and the
Palestinian Authority. This Red-Dead canal is part of an
international effort to aid the Dead Sea where water levels have been
dropping annually at the rate of more than a meter (reftel). The
conference program also included other regional water shortage
problems with the goal of establishing a long-term water strategy for
the Mediterranean region.

Visit Amman's Classified Website at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman
Beecroft