DEMARCHE - LIMITATIONS ON ENTRY/EXIT TO ISRAEL

UNCLAS STATE 092282 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CASC CVIS KPAL PREF PREL IS SUBJECT: DEMARCHE - LIMITATIONS ON ENTRY/EXIT TO ISRAEL FOR AMCITS REF: A. A. JERUSALEM 1324 ¶B. B. STATE 82689 ¶C. C. TEL AVIV 1840 ¶1. (U) This is an action request. See paragraph 2. ¶2. (SBU) Action Request: The Department requests that Embassy Tel Aviv approach the GOI at the highest appropriate level to parallel Department approaches regarding the limitations that the GOI has placed on certain Amcit travelers as reported in ref A. Tel Aviv should draw upon the objectives provided in paragraph 4 (ref B) to formulate this message. ¶3. (SBU) Background: The Department continues to receive reports of Amcits experiencing problems traveling to and from Jerusalem and the West Bank. Open source reporting continues to focus on problems encountered by travelers to Israel, including reports in major media outlets. Congressional and community inquiries are increasing, which echo reports from ConGen Jerusalem, the PLO Office in Washington and NGOs that Amcits are provided with a stamp limiting travel to "PA Areas Only." Also, similar reports note the provision to some travelers at Ben Gurion Airport of a form that restricts those travelers from entering the West Bank. This has hampered our ability to inform the American traveling public of exactly when these restrictions are used and when they are not. ¶4. (SBU) Ref C reports on an initial demarche made by Embassy Tel Aviv to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Department continues to await a complete answer from the GOI. The Department understands that the GOI is now discussing this entry/exit problem at the highest levels of the government. As such, the Department requests that Embassy Tel Aviv raise the level of approach to reinforce with senior GOI officials the USG's interest in this issue. These restrictions have already been raised in meetings between senior Department officials and high ranking Israeli officials. The U.S. expects all Amcits to be treated equally by the GOI, including Amcits of Palestinian and Arab origin. In concurrence with higher level approaches in Tel Aviv, the Department will continue to press the GOI at the highest levels on this issue. ¶4. (SBU) Objectives: -- Press the GOI to end restrictions targeting certain American citizen travelers to Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank. The GOI has not been specific on the circumstances and types of traveler that are being subjected to the new entry stamp and the new entry restriction form being employed at Allenby and Ben Gurion. -- Remind the GOI that it is the expectation of the USG that all Amcits are treated equally, regardless of their national origin or other citizenships. GOI restrictions that unfairly impact Palestinian American or Arab American travelers are not acceptable. -- Request that employees of the Coordinating Office for Government Activities in the Occupied Territories (COGAT) be instructed not/not to require a letter or fax or any other kind of statement or support from the Embassy or Consulate General when individuals made subject to these restrictions apply for permission to enter areas of the PA from Israel or to enter Israel from PA controlled areas. The fact that an individual is a U.S. citizen, and bears a U.S. passport, is sufficient evidence of the USG's interest in that individual's free passage. Refer the GOI to the notation on the first page of all U.S. passports, which states, "The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection." Requests for additional statements of support should not be necessary. In addition, since such letters have never resulted in COGAT granting an exception to the restrictions, COGAT's purpose in requesting them seems only to be only an attempt to avoid responsibility for denying an exception. CLINTON