IDF WEST BANK COMMANDER SHAMNI BRIEFS THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TEL AVIV 001218 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/04/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ECON KWBG IS SUBJECT: IDF WEST BANK COMMANDER SHAMNI BRIEFS THE AMBASSADOR ON SECURITY COOPERATION WITH THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Luis G. Moreno, Reason 1.4 (b) ( d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Major General Gaddi Shamni, the commander of the IDF's Western Command, briefed the Ambassador June 4 on what he termed the development of relations of cooperation and mutual trust between his coammnd and the PA Security Forces at all levels over the past year. Shamni described a joint Israeli-PA effort to "crush" Hamas operations in the West Bank by focusing on the Da'wa social services network as well as the armed wing. In response to requests from Prime Minister Fayyad, Shamni said he had agreed gradually to allow the PASF to take on a larger security role while limiting the IDF's interventions to cases of urgent need only. Shamni praised the PASF's development of strong intentions to take on Hamas, and said he no longer assessed that Hamas would quickly take over the West Bank were it not for the IDF's intervention. Shamni insisted, however, that the IDF would need to retain overall security responsibility for some time, arguing that the PA could not replace Israel's intelligence capabilities. Shamni expressed appreciation for the work of Lt General Dayton, and urged the U.S. to encourage the PA to engage the Israelis rather than intervening directly. He complained that Gulf Arab donors prefer to finance Hamas, and said more should be done to promote economic development. West Bank Division Commander BG Tibon also stressed the importance of developing the PA's judicial system and the establishment of Western-style jails. The Ambassador stressed the importance of continuing to improve Palestinian movement and access and noted that we should have the opportunity to make progress on the economy and security this year. Regarding GOI plans to remove illegal outposts, Shamni said he had not received any new instructions but noted that he has issued orders to stop the establishment of any new outposts, which requires daily small-scale operations. Shamni said that if the GOI decides to demolish outposts, he hopes to use border police and not IDF soldiers in order to avoid creating a split within the army. The Ambassador observed that Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation is a building block to support the political process that we are trying to initiate. End Summary. Expanding the PASF's Security Role -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador, accompanied by Army Attache and Pol Couns, met with the Commander of the IDF's Central Command, MG Gaddi Shamni, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv June 4. Shamni was joined by West Bank Division Commander BG Noam Tibon, West Bank COGAT head BG Pauli Mordekhai, and representatives of Shamni's intelligence and operations staff. Shamni reviewed Central Command's responsibilities, which he said include maintaining security and preventing terror attacks, destroying terrorist infrastructure and uprooting Hamas, cooperating with the Jordanian military and preventing smuggling across the Jordanian border, assuring the "decent well-being" of the Palestinian population, and working with the Israeli police and border police to maintain law and order. Shamni noted that while he has four divisions under his command, three are ready for deployment at any time to the north or south. Shamni pointed out that sixty percent of the IDF forces deployed for Operation Cast Lead came from his command. Shamni said he has good relations with the Jordanian military, including regular meetings at all levels, as well as good cooperation with the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF),although the IDF maintains a low profile for its contacts with the PASF. BG Mordekhai serves as Shamni's liaison to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. ¶3. (C) Shamni said his goals include improving the quality of life for Palestinians in the West Bank, promoting the PA, and deeply damaging Hamas. He described Hamas' power as largely based on its Da'wa social services network, which provides support to elements of the Palestinian public who are not being served by the PA. Shamni commented that his assessment of Hamas and the PA's relative strengths in the West Bank is shifting: two years ago he believed that Hamas could take control of the West Bank within weeks were it not for the activities of the IDF and Shin Bet, but that assessment has changed, partly as a result of effective action by the PA to gain control of armed Fatah fugitives, and partly due to a joint PA-Israeli effort to go after all elements of Hamas, especially its financial network. ¶4. (C) Shamni noted that PM Fayyad asked in 2008 for the IDF to allow the PASF to take over a larger share of security responsibilities. Shamni admitted it had not been an easy decision, but he decided gradually to pass security responsibilities to the Palestinians, including the establishment of joint working teams. Shamni noted that this TEL AVIV 00001218 002 OF 004 approach has resulted in a high level of PA-IDF security cooperation and greatly increased mutual trust. He urged that "third parties" (i.e. the U.S.) not intervene in ways that undermine this cooperation. ¶5. (C) Shamni said that while the PA's anti-Hamas efforts were showing results, it was difficult for the PA to deal with the senior levels of Hamas. He suggested that part of the problem is that Gulf Arab donors, and especially the Saudis, prefer to donate to Hamas rather than Fatah, believing the Hamas social services network to be less corrupt. Shamni praised the PASF's performance during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, which he said demonstrated a high level of discipline. In response to the Ambassador's question whether the improved performance only applied to units trained by Lt. General Dayton's team, Shamni said there was across-the-board improvement, although some PA security organizations were still reticent to cooperate with the Israelis. Asked about a PASF operation earlier that week in Qalqilya in which PASF killed a wanted Hamas official in a gunbattle in which five other Palestinians died, Shamni said it pointed to a change in the level of PASF determination. The security units involved had not sought a firefight, but once it started they did not back away. The Ambassador noted that Lt. General Dayton had told him that the PASF were proud of their performance in Qalqilya. Shamni agreed, saying the operation had been "good for them and good for us." Shamni praised the development of the PASF, noting that while in the past he had said that they had adequate equipment but inadequate intentions, now they are properly motivated as well. ¶6. (C) While Hamas does not currently pose a threat to take over the West Bank, Shamni said Hamas was focused on building up its operational forces in Qalqilya, Hebron and Tulkarm. Hamas is also active in the West Bank villages, where their activities are harder to track. Shamni commented that West Bank Palestinians see themselves as different from Gazans and do not want Gazans to settle in the West Bank, but he admitted that the Palestinians would eventually have to unite the two areas, although he thought this could take years. Shamni stressed that at their last coordination meeting the previous week, the PASF representatives were complimentary about the IDF's lower profile. One organizational problem that they face, however is the lack of a unified PASF chain of command. An incident involving one PA security unit firing on an IDF undercover operation had resulted from a failure on the Palestinian side to share information. In the Jenin area, Shamni has established a hot line to the PASF, but information is still not widely disseminated on the Palestinian side. The PASF are working to establish joint commands of their various security organizations, but only for limited periods. West Bank Developments -------------- ¶7. (C) Shamni said he wants the PA to replace the municipal governments controlled by Hamas. Fayyad says he cannot fire the municipalities, but may decide not to hold new elections when their terms end. Shamni commented that the PA is doing a good job of maintaining public order and has cleaned up West Bank cities and towns. He has ordered his troops not to enter Palestinian urban areas unless there is a real operational need in order to give the PASF broader freedom of action. Noting some specific improvements, Shamni said that in 2008 there was a 62 percent rise in the transportation of goods in the West Bank, a 40 percent increase in trade with Israel, as well as a dramatic increase in tourism, with over one million tourists visiting the West Bank in 2008. COGAT is increasing the number of VIP passes for businessmen to enter Israel as well as increasing the number of Palestinian workers with permits. Shamni noted, however, that the PA needs greater assistance in developing its governance capacity. Hamas at this point is more skilled at running large organizations than Fatah. ¶8. (C) Praising Lt.General Dayton's efforts, Shamni said he supports continued development of PASF capabilities. They still lack some operational components, and the training process could be accelerated. He termed their current level of operations as "good," and said they need to improve the capabilities of all the police units. The Ambassador asked whether the EU police training efforts were helping. Shamni said they were, noting a marked reduction in ideological attitudes and increased professionalism among the police. He repeated his admonition that the U.S. and Europeans take care not to intervene too deeply in the development of the Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation, noting that "Dayton understands this, but not everyone else does." TEL AVIV 00001218 003 OF 004 ¶9. (C) BG Tibon commented that the PA's legal system needs greater assistance, adding that their ability to maintain law and order is undermined by their lack of real jails. The Central Command is committed to improving the daily life of Palestinians by developing infrastructure and supporting the creation of jobs. There should also be greater foreign investment, especially now that the security situation has improved. The Ambassador said we need to continue to focus on improving movement and access, adding that we had lost some time during the political transitions in Israel and the U.S. Shamni commented that Central Command had not lost any time due to the transition. He said he asks his Palestinian interlocutors how he can help them with their economy, and they mostly point to the need for improve movement and access. Shamni said he is looking at removing more checkpoints and roadblocks, but there are security limits to how much more he is able to do. He commented that there are currently only 16 checkpoints in the West Bank, 7 of which are located in the Jordan Valley. ¶10. (C) The Ambassador noted that while it may not be possible to go back to pre-Intifada arrangements in Area A, he urged Shamni to consider a phased process of returning full PA security control in some areas. Shamni replied that in Jenin, the IDF hardly enters at all now. But he said the IDF could not agree to give up the overriding responsibility for security in the West Bank, especially since there was no substitute for Israeli intelligence capabilities. One car bomb in Israel would set back the entire process, he stressed. Nonetheless, Shamni said he is committed to giving the PA a "lot of freedom to act," as well as to enhancing the visibility and respect accorded the PASF. He described the idea of transferring overall security responsibility as "old thinking," however, and suggested we focus instead on new modes of Israeli-PA cooperation. He then noted that he was going beyond his mandate, since these were essentially political decisions. Outposts and Settlements -------------- ¶11. (C) Shamni noted that his military mission includes protecting the settlers. (Note: Shamni has been subjected to demonstrations in front of his home, having the tires of his personal vehicle slashed, and now hate mail and death threats from far right activists due to the extreme wing of the settler movement's sense that Shamni is acting against the settlers' interests.) In response to the Ambassador's question how the GOI plans to carry out the evacuation of outposts, Shamni said he had not yet received orders to evacuate outposts. He did however have a general policy of preventing the establishment of new outposts, and noted that his command carries out such evacuations on a daily basis. He commented that he is mostly relying on police and border police to carry out these evacuations since he is concerned about using the IDF for evacuations. He candidly admitted that the IDF, as a "people's army reflecting Israeli society," could face difficulties in such operations, an implicit reference to IDF concerns that the high percentage of national-religious soldiers in combat units could result in a refusal by some to obey orders to evacuate outposts and/or settlements. Shamni said he has command of enough police and border police to prevent the establishment of new outposts, but admitted he would need additional personnel to evacuate all 26 outposts mentioned by the GOI. He noted that some of the outposts are large, with 40 families living in Migron, the largest outposts. In all, Shamni estimated that about 1,700 Israelis live in illegal outposts. Looking Ahead -------------- ¶12. (C) The Ambassador commented that we expect to have the opportunity to take new approaches this year to economic development and security in the West Bank. We are also looking at ways to develop the PA's justice system. The Ambassador said he looked forward to working with the Central Command in support of our policy. BG Tibon noted that it had taken over a year to develop the current level of trust between the PASF and Central Command. He hoped that "top-down interventions" would not disrupt this cooperation, adding that explanations on the ground of IDF operations were critical to understanding the situation in the West Bank. The Ambassador called economic development and security cooperation building blocks in support of a political process. Israelis and Palestinians should work together as much as possible and only turn to the U.S. for help when the process becomes blocked. 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