MFA COMMENTS ON MEETINGS WITH MOROCCAN AND OMANI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001565 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2019 TAGS: PREL EAIR MO MU MR IS SUBJECT: MFA COMMENTS ON MEETINGS WITH MOROCCAN AND OMANI OFFICIALS Classified By: DCM Luis G. Moreno, Reason 1.4 (b) (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Senior MFA officials recently met in Europe with the Moroccan MFA Director General and the Omani Foreign Minister. While the meetings were positive, the Israeli impression is that moderate Arab states are looking for Israeli steps on final status issues, not a settlements freeze, before contributing with steps of their own. The Israelis were pleased that the Moroccan official agreed to resume a regular political dialogue that was suspended during the Gaza operation, but they hope to see it resume without delay. ISRAEL is still waiting for Morocco to respond to a request for overflight permission for Israeli civilian airliners en route to Brazil, along with steps to facilitate Israeli tourism to Morocco. They were more negative about the MEETING with the Omani Foreign Minister, who seemed to be interested in the MEETING for its own sake without any intent of offering steps toward normalization. End Summary. ¶2. (C) MFA Deputy Director General for the Middle East Yacov Hadas briefed Pol Couns July 13 on two recent meetings he and MFA Director General Yossi Gal held in Europe with the Director General of the Moroccan MFA and Omani Foreign Minister Yussuf Bin Alawi. Hadas was relatively positive about the MEETING with the Moroccan official, noting that the meeting had been personally authorized by King Mohammed VI and was held in a positive atmosphere. Hadas was particularly interested in the Moroccan's agreement to resume the bilateral Israeli-Moroccan dialogue that was suspended by Morocco during Operation Cast Lead, but he said the Israelis want to restart the dialogue "soon," i.e. within weeks, not months. Hadas expressed disappointment, however, that in terms of moderate Arab steps toward Israel, the Moroccan suggested that ISRAEL should first take a "boosting step" on final status issues such as Jerusalem or refugees. Hadas said he had Gal had responded that Morocco was "aiming too high," and countered that the Moroccans should consider Israeli efforts to facilitiate Palestinian access and movement and improving security and economic conditions in the West Bank as sufficient for a Moroccan response toward Israel. At least in Hadas' account, neither side mentioned a settlement freeze. ¶3. (C) Hadas complained that despite indications that a positive response would be forthcoming, Morocco has not yet approved an Israeli request from June for overflight permission of civilian airliners en route to Brazil (Note: El Al recently initiated direct flight from Tel Aviv to Sao Paolo, but so far must avoid crossing Moroccan airspace, adding to the length of the flight.) Hadas said he had personally granted permission for a Moroccan diplomat to enter the West Bank to serve as Morocco's diplomatic representative to the PA in Ramallah, but if the Moroccans do not respond to the Israeli request for overflight clearance, the GOI may block Moroccan diplomats' access to the West Bank in the future. ¶4. (C) Hadas and Gal also suggested that Morocco facilitate the growing number of Israeli tourists visiting Morocco by opening a consular office in Israel. According to Hadas, up to 40,000 Israelis currently visit Morocco annually, even though they must travel in organized tours and apply for their visas in Europe. He said the number of Israeli tourists visiting Morocco could easily double if they could travel individually and obtain their visas in Israel. Despite his complaints about bilateral issues, Hadas said Israel and Morocco "see eye to eye" on most regional issues, including Iran. ¶5. (C) Hadas was less positive about his and Gal's July 9 meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Bin Alawi. Bin Alawi was friendly and engaging, offering the Israelis his personal advice to take advantage of the Arab Peace Initiative and make a regional peace deal with the current generation of Arab leaders, since the next generation will in his estimation be more hostile toward Israel. Hadas and Gal got the strong impression, however, that Bin Alawi was MEETING them to check a box, without any intention of offering a tangible step forward. Bin Alawi reportedly said the Arab moderates are ready to move forward with Israel, but only after major progress toward a final status agreement with the Palestinians. ¶6. (C) Hadas was also alarmed by Bin Alawi's comments about Iran. Unlike the Moroccan representative, Bin Alawi urged the Israelis to "put themselves in the Iranians' shoes," noting that Iran is a regional power with a thousand year civilization that faces a threat of regime change from the United States and Israel. Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons therefore should be seen as essentially defensive. Bin Alawi discounted Egyptian and SAUDI concerns about Iran, stating TEL AVIV 00001565 002 OF 002 that Iran is the emerging power in the Gulf and the Arabs will "have to adjust." He also advised the Israelis not to take Ahmadinejad too seriously since he "will be gone in a few years" once the Iranian regime sorts out its internal "change of the guard." ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv ********************************************* ******************** CUNNINGHAM