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