ARAD COMMENTS ON SILWAN DINNER, ASSURES USG OF GOI

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002168 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2019 TAGS: PREL KWBG IS SUBJECT: ARAD COMMENTS ON SILWAN DINNER, ASSURES USG OF GOI TRANSPARENCY Classified By: Ambassador James B. Cunningham, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) On September 30, Embassy heard from NGO and Consulate General Jerusalem colleagues that Elad, a right wing religious Zionist group dedicated to asserting Jewish claims to Jerusalem was hosting a tunnel opening ceremony and dinner that evening at a new tunnel site. According to these reports, Elad had invited Prime Minister Netanyahu and Likud Knesset members, and Netanyahu planned to attend. NGO's and journalists suggested that the PM's reported plans to attend constituted a deliberate provocation of the Palestinians, particularly given elevated levels of tension in Jerusalem. ¶2. (C) In an October 1 telephone conversation, National Security Adviser Uzi Arad told the Ambassador that the occasion had been blown out of proportion. According to Arad, the PMO staff decided to have dinner at a restaurant in the City of David archeological site in Silwan, invited the Prime Minister and his wife to join them, and made preparations in case Netanyahu could attend. In the end, the dinner was cancelled, or at least most of the PMO staff could not stay, because the PM called an urgent meeting of the inner cabinet to review the Goldstone events in Geneva and decide on next steps. ¶3. (C) Arad said that the reports to which we and others had responded with concern were the work of Palestinian and NGO "provocateurs" who were deliberately trying to provoke a reaction. Jerusalem was a sensitive issue, and provocateurs would use any occasion to inflame the international community. Arad urged that we check on such reports rather than take them at face value. There had been nothing political planned, Arab reported, other than a special evening for the PM's staff in a special location. The Ambassador told Arad that we had not taken the reports at face value, had called to check them, and that others like the Elad organization may also have had an interest in exploiting the dinner. Arad said they "know exactly who is responsible for the erroneous reports." ¶4. (C) Arad said that the GOI understands the need for transparency with the USG. "Both sides" needed to overcome some suspicions from the past, and Netanyahu wanted "complete credibility through full transparency" with the Obama Administration. Arad said that they would have alerted us were they planning an event which would have political import and be of concern. Arad was emphatic that if they were planning anything like the actions they were charged with, they would have told us. The Ambassador noted that such openness would be a good way to proceed, and that he welcomed that approach. CUNNINGHAM