MIDDLE EAST: PEACE SUMMIT POLITICS IN PARIS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001219 SIPDIS NOFORN E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL FR SUBJECT: MIDDLE EAST: PEACE SUMMIT POLITICS IN PARIS REF: PARIS 1125 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Kathy Allegrone for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The August 6 joint Sarkozy-Mubarak letter to President Obama proposing a summit (reftel) remains a subject of keen interest to the French. According to our sources in Paris, however, the two key players in the Middle East peace equation -- Israel and the Palestinian Authority -- have not agreed to the letter's proposal that the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) serve as the venue for a summit this fall. Moreover, Russian Emboffs report there was no prior consultation about the proposed UfM peace summit -- or any of Sarkozy's summit proposals -- and argue that Moscow is the only potential summit site with declared support from the UN Security Council. Nonetheless, French officials continue to argue that the UfM could serve as the most effective venue for multilateral peace negotiations because it is the only entity that has brought together the heads of state of the parties to the conflict since the Annapolis negotiations. END SUMMARY. THE FRENCH VIEW -------------- ¶2. (C) French MFA Deputy Middle East DASes Adrien Pinelli and Federic Bereyziat met with poloffs on September 2 and immediately asked when the USG would respond to the Sarkozy-Mubarak letter to President Obama proposing a Middle East peace summit in the autumn under the auspices of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). As have other French officials, they argued that the UfM is the most effective forum for multilateral peace negotiations. It is the only organization that has successfully brought the Syrians, Israelis and Palestinians to the same negotiation table (albeit, they acknowledged, to address technical rather than political issues). Pinelli emphasized the importance of Syria in the peace process and said a UfM summit could keep the Syrians involved without demanding too much from them. He added it was better to have Syria at the table than outside the process playing the role of the spoiler. They contrasted the broad scope of a possible UfM summit with the limited mandate of the Moscow conference, which they said was intended to focus more exclusively on the bilateral -- Israeli-Palestinian -- conflict. Both Pinelli and Bereyziat emphasized that while French officials believe a peace summit this fall with the UfM is the best way forward, they remain very flexible and intend to follow the USG lead in the peace process. In an eventual summit, the GOF envisions the U.S. focusing on the bilateral aspects of the process while France could help rally regional and international support. THE EGYPTIANS IN PARIS -------------- ¶3. (S) Egyptian Political Counselor Nazih El Naggary also inquired September 2 about our reaction to the Sarkozy-Mubarak letter, although less adamantly than did the French. He asked whether the USG intends to reply, and argued that the current French-Egyptian UfM co-Presidency provided them the opportunity to use the organization constructively to advance peace negotiations. He echoed the GOF view that the UfM is the only group that has recently brought all the major players in the peace process together. He also argued that the UfM is the only multilateral forum that had prodded Arabs and Israelis to begin moving beyond the acrimony that followed the war in Gaza. Furthermore, he said, the Egyptians believe the Arab presence at the summit, as members of the UfM, could serve as a key gesture toward the Israelis of recognition and a move toward normalization of ties. THE ISRAELIS IN PARIS -------------- ¶4. (C) Israeli Political Counselor Daniel Halevy voiced complete surprise at Sarkozy's August 26 public announcement that the UfM should serve as the venue for a Middle East peace summit. He told poloffs September 2 the French did not consult the Israelis in Paris prior to Sarkozy's speech, and he said he believed the French did not consult the Government of Israel at all. In fact, he said, the first time they heard of the proposal was during Sarkozy's August 26 address to French Chiefs of Mission in Paris. (NOTE: Halevy made no mention of the joint French-Egyptian letter to President Obama, and may be unaware of its existence. END NOTE.) He said he had understood the UfM to be a non-political forum created to build trust among its member states by addressing shared environmental concerns and technical issues. While the French have very vigorously pursued the idea of hosting a PARIS 00001219 002 OF 002 peace summit, he said, this new element came as a surprise. He contrasted the GOF's assertiveness with Russia's apparent passivity in pursuing the post-Annapolis plan to host a summit in Moscow. THE RUSSIANS IN PARIS -------------- ¶5. (C) Russian Embassy Political Counselor Artem Studennikov told poloff September 4 that the French did not consult with the Russians before Sarkozy proposed that the UfM serve as a venue for a major Middle East peace summit. Nor did the French consult, he said, about earlier proposals by Sarkozy, following the war in Gaza, to host a peace summit in Paris. Studennikov argued vehemently that Moscow is the right location for such an event, not the UfM. "It is enshrined in Security Council resolutions that Moscow will host the next peace summit," he insisted. Sarkozy, however, he observed, is persuaded we must do something immediately: "He is very active, and even tried to facilitate a mini-conference on the Middle East this past April in Strasbourg" at the NATO summit, Stannikov said, "but the time must be right for such a meeting." Everyone must be ready, he argued, noting that even the Palestinians remain severely divided. AND A PALESTINIAN IN PARIS -------------- ¶6. (C) Bereyziat reported that Palestinian Authority President Abbas had not yet responded to the GOF request for support of their peace summit idea. Abbas is meeting with Sarkozy and FM Kouchner during his September 3-4 visit to Paris. Sarkozy plans to raise the summit idea, Pinelli said, adding that he expected Abbas to defer to the U.S. The French remain fully aware, he stressed, that they cannot contribute constructively to the peace process without USG support. But nor can the U.S. succeed, Bereyziat added, without French and European help. RIVKIN