QATAR'S ARRANGEMENTS WITH ISRAEL AND THE

S E C R E T DOHA 000301 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/IPA KURT MEDLAND E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2018 TAGS: PREL KPAL KWBG IS SUBJECT: QATAR'S ARRANGEMENTS WITH ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS REF: STATE 34850 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Michael A. Ratney, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Qatar's Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani, in a March 31 meeting with NEA Assistant Secretary David Welch, summed up Qatar's views on resolving SIPDIS security-related aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this way: "Qatar will accept any agreement acceptable to the Palestinians." Until such an agreement is reached, Embassy Doha notes that Qatar maintains relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA),HAMAS, and Israel. Qatar's overall financial support of the Palestinians put it at the top of the list of Arab League contributors, alongside Saudi Arabia and the UAE, for 2007. Qatar, however, has not sent any money through Arab League channels since June 2007, and it remains unclear the extent to which the GOQ will fund government salaries while HAMAS and the PA remain in conflict. Senior Qatari officials have expressed frustration that the Quartet encouraged Palestinian elections, then discouraged international contacts with HAMAS after it won the elections and formed a government. ¶2. (C) Qatar advocates engaging HAMAS, including hosting visits by Khalid Mish'al, as the only viable strategy to ensure a successful, long-term agreement between the parties. It also applies the same logic in engaging Israeli officials, such as FM Livni, who visited Doha as recently as April 13-14. Indeed, Qatar maintains both overt and discreet relations with Israel. The most obvious manifestation of the relationship is the Israeli Trade Office in Doha, which helps coordinate political issues and official visits between the two states (and spends relatively little time on trade matters). The office nevertheless promotes business ties and assists Israeli commercial interests when there are problems. ¶3. (C) According to Ambassador Roi Rosenblit, head of the Israeli Trade Office, there is officially about USD 2 million in annual trade between Israel and Qatar. In the past year, Qatar exported to Israel about USD 1.2 million of goods, mostly petrochemicals, while Qatar imported from Israel about USD 800,000 of goods, mostly high-tech telecommunications equipment. Real trade, however, may be as much as four times higher (i.e., up to about USD 5 million) via third countries, and includes Israeli exports of agricultural goods which are sometimes labeled in stores as coming from Egypt or Jordan. Some products are shipped to Qatar by air via Jordan, while others are generally imported by boat. There is virtually no visible trade in terms of public marketing of Israeli-origin goods in Qatar. ¶4. (C) While Qatar does not have any Arab League boycott laws on the books or enforce a boycott, the GOQ will usually send an embassy observer to the Central Boycott Office meetings in Damascus. Some government tender documents also continue to contain outdated boycott language, but a decree from the Minister of Finance to make the language current is unlikely anytime soon. Senior GOQ officials, while ostensibly satisfied with the current level of engagement, are reluctant to undertake further normalization absent forward movement on the peace process. Despite its aspirations to play the role of regional mediator, Qatar does not want to stray too far from the Arab fold. ¶5. (S) Qatar has no known security arrangements with Israel, although Qatar's Foreign/Prime Minister has hinted obliquely in private meetings that the GOQ sometimes "helps" Israel's security service. Qatar has no known security arrangements with the Palestinian Authority, nor does it provide the PA any security assistance. Qatar has long been accused (particularly by Jordan and the PA) of providing funds to HAMAS, though the Foreign/Prime Minister vehemently denies this, and we have seen no smoking gun to corroborate the allegations. RATNEY