MALDIVES STRENGTHENS TIES WITH ISRAEL

S E C R E T COLOMBO 000898 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS MV SUBJECT: MALDIVES STRENGTHENS TIES WITH ISRAEL Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) In a September 18 meeting with PolOff, Maldivian Defense Minister Ameen Faisal spoke of his upcoming October trip to Israel and mentioned that he, Foreign Minister, Ahmed Shaheed and President Nasheed all agreed that stronger relations with Israel were in the Maldives' interest. The Defense Minister said, "If Palestinians, Egyptians, and others can have relations with Israel, so can the Maldives. We share the same concerns about religious extremism." These comments came on the heels of similar public pronouncements by Maldivian officials. At a September 15 press conference, Foreign Minister Shaheed announced that Maldives was strengthening ties with Israel. Shaheed emphasized that Maldives wanted to have diplomatic relations with all UN countries and remarked there had been no record of Maldives cutting off ties with Israel. He hoped that strengthening existing business relationships with Israel would encourage more Israeli investment in Maldives. Shaheed was also hopeful of getting Israeli expertise in the fields of medicine and agriculture. Further, the FM said Israel expressed interest in providing assistance to the Maldives. ¶2. (S) According to Faisal, the Israeli Ambassador to India made a recent trip to Male to pursue further diplomatic relations with Maldives. The Israeli ambassador was accompanied by a representative from the Israeli MFA. The Defense Minister mentioned that he had requested assistance from Israeli Mossad and sought an Information Sharing Agreement with Israel. And according to a U.S. contractor working for the U.N. at the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) in Maldives, Abdullah Shahid, Chief Coordinator of the NDMC, recently went to Amman, Jordan, with a side trip to Israel to seek assistance from Israel on disaster management and emergency medicine. (NOTE: Abdullah Shahid also serves as the State Minister for Housing, Transportation and Environment, is very close to the President, and was imprisoned for several years by the previous government for his alleged role in the 1988 coup attempt against President Gayoom. END NOTE.) ¶3. (C) Comment: The Maldives is a moderate, Sunni Muslim country with a democratically-elected government that is friendly to the U.S. The GOM is looking for ways to reach out to other nations that share its concerns about violent religious extremism. The Ambassador will discuss this and other positive initiatives when she visits Maldives on October 1. It should be noted that there has been no media reporting of the State Minister's trip, Israeli ambassador's visit to Male, or the upcoming Defense Minister,s trip. The Defense Minister,s trip in October was put forth as a trip to Amman, Jordan. However, the Foreign Minister,s remarks have begun to hint publicly at the GOM's recent strategic developments with Israel, paving the way for even stronger relations in the future. BUTENIS