MOD READOUT ON BARAK'S MEETINGS IN CAIRO

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001379

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/26/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER MOPS EG KWBG IS
SUBJECT: MOD READOUT ON BARAK'S MEETINGS IN CAIRO

Classified By: DCM Luis G. Moreno, Reason 1.4 (b) (d)


1. (S) Summary. Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited
Cairo June 21 and met one on one with President Mubarak,
Intelligence Minister Soliman, and Defense Minister
Tantawi. MOD Arab Affairs Adviser David Hacham, who was
part of Barak's delegation, provided PolCouns with a
readout June 23 based on Barak's briefing to his staff.
Hacham said the Egyptians were focused on their efforts to
promote Palestinian factional reconciliation, about which
Barak expressed considerable skepticism. On Shalit,
Soliman made clear Egyptian readiness to resume mediation
with Hamas, based on the point at which talks broke down in
the Olmert government. Hacham said the new Israeli
mediator was due to make his first visit to Cairo, but
Hacham thought the Netanyahu government would not agree to
release the 325 prisoners that Olmert had agreed to, much
less the full 450 demanded by Hamas. Barak was also not in
a position to respond to the Egyptians' request to agree to
a new ceasefire in Gaza, to be followed by the reopening of
the crossings under PA control. Hacham noted that this
would have to be part of a package with Palestinian
reconciliation. On smuggling, Hacham commented that
Egypt's performance has improved significantly, but the
Israelis believe that weapons and explosives are still
getting into Gaza. Barak reportedly also discussed Iran
and means of restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations,
but Hacham did not offer any details. MOD Pol-Mil Director
Gilad subsequently told the Ambassador that Barak pressed
Tantawi to revive the mil-to-mil channel with Israel.
Tantawi reportedly asked Barak to send Gilad and IDF J-5 MG
Amir Eshel to Cairo to discuss counter-smuggling
cooperation. Meanwhile, Israeli and Arab media this week
have been full of inaccurate reports that a deal on
Shalit's release is imminent. End Summary.

Barak in Cairo
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2. (S) According to Hacham's account, Barak's found the
Egyptians very intently focused on their efforts to achieve
Palestinian political reconciliation. Soliman reportedly
told Barak that the Egyptians will plan to wrap up the
process by July 7 and if Hamas rejects it "they can go to
Hell." At another point, however, Soliman said Egypt will
remain engaged in this process no matter what happens on
July 7. Hacham said the Israelis are very skeptical that
Hamas will accept the Egyptian proposal, since the Egyptian
focus is on restoring a major role for the PA in Gaza and
it was hard to see why Hamas would agree. Amos Gilad
separately told the Ambassador that he was worried that
Egypt might pressure Abu Mazen.


3. (S) On Shalit, Soliman reportedly offered to resume
Egyptian mediation with Hamas on a prisoner exchange.
Hacham said that Soliman wanted Barak to agree to proceed
on the basis of the Olmert government's agreement to
release 325 of the 450 prisoners demanded by Hamas, but
Hacham commented that he sensed a toughening in the GOI
position and doubted that Netanyahu would agree to the
release of 325, much less the additional 125 who were
rejected by Olmert. Hacham confirmed that the new Israeli
negotiator, retired Mossad deputy director Hagai Hadas,
would go to Cairo within a few days to restart the
discussions. Hacham denied media reports that Soliman's
deputy, General Mohammed Ibrahim, had visited Israel this
week to wrap up a deal for Shalit's release.


4. (S) Hacham said the Egyptians also pressed Barak to
resume the Tahdiya (calming) agreement negotiated by Gilad
last year, which entailed both a long-term ceasefire and
the gradual reopening of the border crossings, including a
role for the PA security forces and an EU monitoring team
at Rafah. Barak noted that the GOI will first want to see
what can be done about Shalit, and indicated that the
Netanyahu government is still reviewing its overall Gaza
policy. Barak reportedly also discussed developments in
Iran and ways of restarting Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations with Mubarak, but Hacham did not offer any
specifics.

Israelis See Improved Egyptian Counter-Smuggling
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5. (S) Hacham said the MOD sees a marked improvement in
Egyptian counter-smuggling efforts, and noted that Barak
had told the Egyptians as much, while still noting that
more needs to be done. Hacham said Israeli intelligence
has been able to quantify a drop in the amounts of weapons
and explosives entering Gaza, but he reiterated that the
smuggling continues. MOD Pol-Mil Director Gilad told the
Ambassador that Barak made this point to Field Marshal

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Tantawi, and urged Tantawi to resume discussion of the
smuggling issue in mil-to-mil channels. Tantawi reportedly
asked Barak to send Gilad back to Cairo to see him. Gilad
plans to bring IDF J-5 MG Amir Eshel with him for these
discussions.

Media Circus
--------------


6. (C) Both the Israeli and Arab media were full of
inaccurate reports this week, reporting progress toward
Shalit's release and a prisoner exchange. Israelis marked
the third anniversary of Shalit's captivity with protest
demonstrations and a media campaign sponsored by Shalit's
parents. The liberal Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on
its front page June 26 that European and Palestinian
sources had confirmed a new U.S. initiative to promote
Shalit's release to Egyptian custody pending a finalization
of the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Despite
these reports, Egypt and Israel are still struggling to
come up with a formula for Gaza that involves a ceasefire,
opening of crossings, and a prisoner exchange.

CUNNINGHAM