CODEL PELOSI DISCUSSES PEACE PROCESS, IRAN, REFORM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001118

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2019
TAGS: PREL KPAL KDEM KWMN IR IS QT JO
SUBJECT: CODEL PELOSI DISCUSSES PEACE PROCESS, IRAN, REFORM
WITH KING AND GOJ OFFICIALS

REF: AMMAN 994

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


1. (C) Summary: During their May 7-8 visit to Amman,
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Representative
Rush Holt (R-NJ) met with King Abdullah, Senate President
Zaid Al-Refai, and Lower House Speaker Abdulhadi Al-Majali.
They heard optimism about the President's engagement on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict coupled with skepticism about
the openness of the Netanyahu government to peace. Iranian
influence and leverage in the region was also a topic of
concern. While the group delivered helpful messages about
our concern with the lack of progress on reform, their
interlocutors soft pedaled their lack of support for change.
End Summary.

Israel-Palestine
--------------


2. (C) Discussions with Senate President Zaid Refai and
Lower House Speaker Abdulhadi Al-Majali focused primarily on
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Refai noted a "180 degree
change" in perceptions about American involvement in the
peace process following the election of President Obama. He
urged the Administration to make use of the strategic
opportunity for progress on the ground, remarking that the
"ingredients for peace are well known." Majali told the
Speaker that Jordanians were tired of "suggestions and
initiatives" and were looking for the end game to begin.
Reflecting on the 1994 Wadi Arabah agreement that normalized
relations between Jordan and Israel, Majali said that Jordan
had "tried a warm peace," but was unable to point to any
concrete benefits of this peace for the Palestinian cause.


3. (C) Refai voiced his displeasure with the tone of the
Netanyahu government's statements on peace to date, saying
that it was "against a Palestinian state in principle." He
said that Netanyahu's proposals for economic rather than
political engagement with the Palestinians were unacceptable
and noted that such a policy would allow settlement activity
to become "irreversible" and tie the hands of future Israeli
leaders. Refai also opined that Netanyahu's use of President
Shimon Peres as the public face of his foreign policy
amounted to "sugar coating his policies."


4. (C) Refai and the King both mentioned the planned visit
of Netanyahu to Jordan on May 13, saying that Jordan would be
looking for some rhetorical deliverable as an outcome of the
visit -- preferably a solid commitment to a two-state
solution. Both predicted that such a statement would
probably not be forthcoming at this stage, but said Jordan
would keep pressing the Israelis.

Iran
--------------


5. (C) Every Jordanian official voiced concern about Iranian
influence in the region. The King noted Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's recent visit to Syria, which he claimed
was designed to shore up relations and strategize on peace
process issues. (Note: The King also paid a visit to Syria
on May 11 to talk about the same subjects. End Note.) Queen
Rania stated her belief that the popularity of President
Obama has resulted in muted Iranian criticism of the United
States in recent months. Refai said that sanctions and
incentives were ultimately worthless when dealing with Iran,
whose intention was to "revive the Persian Empire." Majali
seconded that opinion, adding that Iran "only pretends to
support the Palestinians" and uses the issue to further its
own political reach. Speaking about the recent Arab League
meeting in Doha in April, Majali worried that Qatar was
playing with fire by trying to serve as a bridge between Iran
and the Arab world.

Reform
--------------


6. (C) Responding to the Speaker's questions about the issue
of honor crimes in Jordan, both Majali and Refai blamed lack
of education and societal mores for the ongoing problem.
Deflecting personal responsibility for the issue, Refai noted
that "social problems have nothing to do with economics,
politics, or religion." Even so, Refai admitted that
loopholes in the penal code resulted in light sentences for
the perpetrators of honor crimes. He voiced support for a
package of amendments to the penal code that, among other
things, would close those loopholes.


7. (C) Majali, an outspoken opponent of reform, attempted to
soft pedal his lack of commitment to political change when

AMMAN 00001118 002 OF 002


pressed for his views by the Speaker. He optimistically
noted that political freedom in Jordan was "comparatively
better than other countries in the region." Blatantly
ignoring his own recent pursuit of legal action against a
journalist who accused him of corruption, Majali said that
Jordanians "can say anything" and have the "right to
criticize" (Ref A).

Afghanistan/Pakistan
--------------


8. (C) The group also discussed the situation in Afghanistan
and Pakistan during a dinner with the King and Queen. The
Speaker outlined the recent visits of Afghan President Hamid
Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Zardari to Washington and
spoke about the need to fight corruption in the region. The
King expressed support for a strong Afghan government able to
combat the tide of extremism.


9. (U) Codel Pelosi was unable to clear this cable before
departing Jordan.
Beecroft