FAYYAD LAYS OUT PA PLATFORM, APPEALS FOR PEACEFUL

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001077 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (TEXT) NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND NEA/IPA; NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR; JOINT STAFF FOR LTGEN SELVA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2019 TAGS: PGOV KWBG ECON PREL PTER PHUM KPAL IS SUBJECT: FAYYAD LAYS OUT PA PLATFORM, APPEALS FOR PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE REF: A. JERUSALEM 1031 ¶B. OSC GMP20090623748003 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad delivered a widely publicized speech on June 22, in which he appealed to the Israeli people for mutually beneficial coexistence with a Palestinian state and laid out the PA's domestic priorities. Fayyad also called for the international community to ensure GOI compliance with Roadmap obligations. End Summary. FAYYAD'S SPEECH EXPRESSES HOPE FOR PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE -------------- ¶2. (C) PM Fayyad told the Consul General that his ninety-minute speech on June 22 at the al-Quds University campus in Abu Dis, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, was designed to provide a rational and sober response to Israeli PM Netanyahu's June 14 speech on the peace process. Fayyed was critical of the harshly negative comments by other Palestinians immediately after Netanyahu's speech. Fayyad's speech included elements aimed at Israeli, Palestinian, and international audiences. ¶3. (U) In his speech, Fayyad described the PA as a partner "not to improve the occupation, but to end it." He appealed directly to his "Israeli neighbors," acknowledging that Israelis had "history, worries, pain and aspirations," as did Palestinians. Appealing to the Israeli people, he said, "We hope to establish our country next to yours and to see both countries living side by side in a meaningful peace that will lead to good, neighborly relations.... We seek peace in which both sides recognize the advantages of co-existence. We do not want to build walls, but to build bridges. We do not want to exclude you from our lives, but to live with you on the basis of reciprocal respect and mutual interests in economy, security, stability, and other fields." He also expressed hope that negotiations would restart from where they left off, rather than returning to an earlier point in the peace process. FAYYAD CALLS ON PALESTINIANS TO WORK TOGETHER TOWARD STATEHOOD -------------- ¶4. (U) Fayyad called on Palestinians to "rally around the establishment of a Palestinian state, the construction and strengthening of its institutions... so that a Palestinian state will have been established... within two years at most." He stressed the need for Palestinians to be self-reliant in their pursuit of statehood and commended PA efforts over the past two years to develop institutions. He said that Palestinians must act non-violently to oppose "Israeli encroachment" in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. FAYYAD ASKS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO HOLD PARTIES TO THEIR COMMITMENTS -------------- ¶5. (U) Fayyad appealed to the international community to insist the GOI meet its obligations under the Roadmap. He called for a halt to settlement activity, an end to incursions into PA-controlled areas, and the lifting of "the siege" on Gaza. Fayyad also asked international donors to fulfill their financial commitments to reconstruct Gaza and support the PA. PALESTINIAN REACTION GENERALLY POSITIVE -------------- ¶6. (C) Palestinian reaction to the speech has been generally positive. One Palestinian contact noted, approvingly, that the speech "led with the head, not with the heart." The criticism (apart from the expected response from Hamas) focuses on the perception the speech was tailored disproportionately to the international community. Director of PASSIA Mahdi Abdul Hadi said Fayyad risked losing his domestic constituency if "he continued catering to the international community." WALLES