SPECIAL ENVOY MITCHELL'S EU MEETINGS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000601

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2019
TAGS: PREL EUN IS XF
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY MITCHELL'S EU MEETINGS

REF: BRUSSELS 00567

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Christopher Murray per 1.4 (B and D)


1. (U) 22 April 2009, EU Council Justus Lipsius Building,
Brussels.


2. (U) U.S. Participants:

Special Envoy George Mitchell
NEA DAS David M. Hale
NEA/IPA Payton L. Knopf
NEA/IPA Alon Sachar
NSC Mara E. Rudman

USEU Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Christopher Murray
USEU PolMinsCouns Christopher Davis
USEU PolOff Courtney Nemroff

Summary
--------------


3. (C) Special Envoy for the Middle East Senator George
Mitchell briefed the 27 ambassadors of the EU's Political and
Security Committee (PSC) on his mid-April trip to the Middle
East, which focused on creating the context for meaningful
negotiations toward comprehensive peace. Affirming the
President's personal commitment to comprehensive peace, S/E
Mitchell encouraged the EU to step up its efforts as a
partner for regional peace. Senator Mitchell also conferred
privately with senior EU Council officials Marc Otte and
Robert Cooper. In the PSC meeting, the Commission
representative and Senator Mitchell shared concerns about the
anticipated one-billion-dollar financing gap the Palestinian
Authority will face this year, agreeing that pledges made at
Sharm-el-Sheikh must be met. France raised the issues of
Israeli settlements and the need to open crossings into Gaza.
The UK highlighted the Arab Peace Initiative as an area on
which his foreign minister is focusing. Germany asked about
Russia's role and the proposed Moscow conference. Italy
raised Syria and Lebanon, hoping Senator Mitchell would visit
those countries as well. Spain asked about the future of the
Quartet. Senator Mitchell noted the series of meetings
President Obama will have with Middle East leaders, including
one held with King Abdullah of Jordan on April 21. He
cautioned that international conferences on the Middle East
should be timed to enhance the prospects of achieving
specific goals, so the circumstances on the ground are
important. Iran NOW topped the list of concerns among all
the leaders he met in the region. Senator Mitchell
emphasized the importance of transatlantic unity so that the
naysayers on either side of the bargaining table would not
find support in the international community. END SUMMARY

Mitchell Outlines Objectives, Next Steps
--------------


4. (C) On April 22, Special Envoy Mitchell addressed and took
questions from the 27 ambassadors of the EU's Political and
Security Committee, who were joined by representatives of the
EU Council Secretariat, the Commission, the Military
Committee, and the EU Council Legal Services. Senator
Mitchell was joined by NEA DAS David Hale, the USEU Charge
and Polmincouns, and other members of the Mitchell
delegation. Senator Mitchell briefed PSC Ambassadors on his
10-day trip to the region on behalf of a "complete effort" by
the USG in pursuit of a comprehensive peace agreement.


5. (C) During his visit to 10 Arab States, Israel and the
West Bank, S/E Mitchell began a substantive dialogue with the
new Israeli government, encouraged all sides to take
immediate concrete steps to improve the climate for
negotiations, and promoted full regional participation,
including through integration of the Arab Peace Initiative
into the U.S. approach. S/E Mitchell stressed that leaders
in the region must act immediately to reverse the prevailing
view in the region of "the inevitability of conflict,"
including by taking steps toward normalization of relations
with Israel, quicker movement toward resumption of dialogue,
and in meeting the needs of the people of Gaza. On the last
point, S/E Mitchell said he encouraged Egypt to close off
illegal routes into Gaza and open up legal crossings for
legitimate commerce. He said a two-state solution was the
only realistic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, and he repeated the importance of moving promptly,
for fear that a "spark" could sweep away hope of an accord.

Iran: Pervasive Regional Fears
--------------


6. (C) S/E Mitchell underscored that all of the region's

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leaders, Israeli and Arab alike, had cited Iran as the
preeminent threat in the region. Iran's objective was to
project influence in the region by exploiting conflicts. In
this context, Mitchell had pointed out to regional leaders
that the resolution of conflicts would be a significant part
of dealing with Iran. While Iran's nuclear threat was the
primary security concern of the Israel PM, the nuclear issue
and regional conflicts were not mutually exclusive. Resolving
both problems required support from the EU.

PA Needs Greater Support NOW
--------------


7. (C) S/E Mitchell stated that the international community
needed to do more to help PA PM Abbas show his people the
benefits of following the path of peace. He thanked the EU
for its steadfast support for the PA, including in financial
assistance and rule of law. S/E Mitchell encouraged the EU
to step up implementation of its institution-building work
with the PA police force, as this would be a key element with
respect to final status issues.

EU: You Can Count on Us
--------------


8. (C) EU PSC Ambassadors uniformly welcomed Senator
Mitchell's message and sought to assure the U.S. Delegation
of EU support and partnership. Mark Otte, EU Special
Representative for the Middle East, noted that Mitchell's
message from President Obama had created "high expectations
both here and in the region" and acknowledged that the call
for engagement came with a call to "do more." In response to
Otte's question about how the EU could help, Mitchell noted
that we would be consulting the EU on an ongoing basis in
which candid discussion among friends was needed. In this
regard, the EU should consider Ambassador David Hale and
General Dayton as key interlocutors. The Commission
representative expressed concern, shared by Senator Mitchell,
over the anticipated one-billion-dollar financing gap the
Palestinian Authority will face this year, adding that it was
important that pledges made at Sharm-el-Sheikh be met.
Mitchell encouraged EU leaders to do more and assured them of
his vigorous engagement with Arab states and U.S.
Congressional leaders on this issue.

Steps Needed on Access, Settlements and Normalization
--------------


9. (C) The French ambassador raised the issue of Israeli
settlements and the need to open crossings into Gaza.
Mitchell agreed that that the situation at the crossings
remained unsatisfactory and said that the USG would continue
its "clear, consistent, and insistent" encouragement for
Israel to act. The settlement issue was one of many topics
discussed at length with Netanyahu, according to S/E
Mitchell, and would be on the agenda for Netanyahu's meetings
in Washington in May. The U.S. is encouraging Israel and the
Arab states to consider steps to improve the regional
climate. For Israel, Mitchell suggested that such steps
could include freezing settlements, halting demolitions and
expulsions, and implementing the MOU on Access and Movement.
(He acknowledged having read FM Miliband's "freeze for thaw"
paper.) Likewise, there were a number of concrete and
important symbolic steps Arab countries could take NOW to
begin to normalize relations with Israel. In this regard,
the UK ambassador commented that the Arab Peace Initiative
was an area on which his foreign minister is focusing.

Russia, Syria, Lebanon, and a Word on Transatlantic Unity
--------------


10. (C) The German ambassador asked about Russia's role and
the proposed Moscow conference. He noted that his foreign
minister was committed to hosting the Berlin POLSEC
conference and was looking forward to a related
Netherlands-UK co-hosted conference. The Italian ambassador
raised Syria and Lebanon, hoping S/E Mitchell would visit
those countries as well. The Spanish ambassador asked about
the future of the Quartet. S/E Mitchell noted the series of
meetings President Obama will have with Middle East leaders,
including one held with King Abdullah of Jordan on April 21.
He cautioned that international conferences on the Middle
East should be timed to enhance the prospects of achieving
specific goals, so the circumstances on the ground are
important in determining the merits of holding such an event.
On Syria, S/E Mitchell noted the recent visit of two senior
officials to Damascus and expressed hope for the resumption
of earlier Turkish efforts to bring about direct talks
between Israel and Syria. S/E Mitchell closed by noting the
critical importance of transatlantic unity - "even if we
won't agree on every detail" -- so that the naysayers on

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either side of the bargaining table not find support in the
international community. Evoking his negotiating experience
in Northern Ireland, with its "700 days of failure," he said
just one day of success is needed.

EU Council Senior Officials
--------------


11. (C/NF) Immediately prior to meeting the PSC ambassadors,
S/E Mitchell met with Marc Otte, the Special Representative
for the Middle East for High Representative Javier Solana,
and Council Director General for External and
Political-Military Affairs, Robert Cooper. Both also
attended the PSC meeting. S/E Mitchell said his long,
detailed meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu created a context
for dialogue which will continue when Netanyahu visits
Washington on May 18. Mitchell cautioned that the term
"peace process" is taken by Arabs as code for delay, and
delay serves no one, except Iran. While somewhat sympathetic
to Cooper's observation that Israel should not pre-occupy
itself on the nuclear issue and instead deny Iran's influence
in its proxy conflicts, S/E Mitchell nonetheless noted that
the nuclear question was indeed paramount for Netanyahu.


12. (C/NF) Despite Israel's "yearning for acceptance," S/E
Mitchell said demands are ratcheting up each day on both
sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide. It is important, he
said, for both sides to find conciliatory language, and
ultimately change attitudes. The second intifada, S/E
Mitchell recalled, was not planned by either side, but
resulted from misjudgments, mistrust, and over-reaction. S/E
Mitchell welcomed Otte's suggestion that the EU pursue a Gaza
border-monitoring/anti-smuggling mission, provided the EU was
sensitive to Egypt's concerns over sovereignty. His message
to both Egypt and Israel had been that legal commerce must be
allowed in order to stop illegal commerce.


13. (C/NF) Otte expressed concern that Arab countries were
encouraging already difficult divisions among Palestinians,
noting that PM Fayyad has complained about lack of financial
assistance from them. Mitchell answered that much of his
recent discussion with the King of Saudi Arabia was about the
need to help the Palestinian Authority financially.


14. (C/NF) Concluding, Otte said he hoped the Quartet envoys
could meet regularly in Jerusalem after DAS Hale opens the
Special Envoy's field office and can work on follow-up
mechanisms for S/E Mitchell's work. As with Bosnia, Cooper
added, positive developments can spur others, who do not want
to be left out, to join. S/E Mitchell agreed, but cautioned
against high expectations.


15. (U) S/E Mitchell's staff cleared this message.

MURRAY
.