ISRAELI, JORDANIAN, AND EGYPTIAN VIEWS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 002227

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG KISR JO EG IS
SUBJECT: ISRAELI, JORDANIAN, AND EGYPTIAN VIEWS ON
JERUSALEM TENSIONS

REF: TEL AVIV 2207 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: DCM Luis G. Moreno for reason 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: An Israeli official provided the official
view of the October 4 rise in tensions connected to the
Temple Mount, citing deliberate Palestinian escalation
despite advance understandings between the Waqf and Israeli
National Police. The Egyptian and Jordanian DCMs provided
contrasting perspectives from Israeli experts on the recent
increased tensions in Jerusalem, with Jordan calling for
improved Israeli coordination with the Waqf on the Temple
Mount/Haram al Sharif. Israeli experts believe the incidents
thus far have been successfully defused, but argue for
further improvements to be made to reduce tensions in
Jerusalem. Egyptian and Jordanian DCMs see a sharp rise in
the pan-Arab popularity of peace process rejectionist Sheikh
Raed Saleh, leader of the Islamic Movement,s northern branch
based in Israel and funded from abroad, as Al Jazeera,s
"Lion of Al-Aqsa." End summary

GOI: Usual Event with an Unusual Response
-------------- --------------

2. (C) David Segal, Chief of Staff to Deputy Foreign
Minister Ayalon, told PolOff on October 8 that the problem
was not Israeli provocations, which always occur this time of
year and are always controlled, but the decision by
Palestinians to escalate the events. When the Temple Mount
Faithful announced its annual plan to pray on the Temple
Mount just before the beginning of Yom Kippur September 27,
Segal said the Israel National Police (INP) affirmed they
would not allow this group onto the compound. This has
happened every year for many years, Segal explained, and
every year the INP stops them without major incident. He
added that the INP informed the Waqf in advance that they
would not permit the Temple Mount Faithful to enter the
Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif compound.

3. (C) Unlike other years, Segal said, this time there was a
large group of Palestinian protestors waiting near the
Mughrabi Gate on the compound (note: the majority of the
protestors were likely Israeli citizens and ID holders. End
note). The INP successfully kept the Temple Mount Faithful
away without difficulty, but the protestors mistook some
tourists for the Jewish group and began to riot and the
police were forced to respond to protect the tourists. Segal
added that it was clear the the protestors had been organized
in advance; the police keep the Temple Mount Faithful away
every year, and only this year did the Muslims decide to use
it as an opportunity to incite their population. Segal
believes that Hamas had a role in the planning, but that the
GOI also suspects some direct Palestinian Authority (PA)
involvement. At the very least, he said, the PA,s public
statements have not helped reduce tensions.
Egyptian and Jordanian Perspectives
-------------- --------------

4. (C) Egyptian DCM Sameh El-Souefi told PolCouns October 8
that one of the main Muslim clergy involved in claiming that
the Al-Aqsa mosque is being threatened by Jews and therefore
must be defended is Sheikh Raed Saleh, the head of the
northern branch of the Israeli Islamic Movement. (Reftel
reports that Sheikh Saleh was briefly arrested earlier this
week and then banned by a judge from entering Jerusalem for
thirty days.) El-Souefi said that Saleh has become a hero
throughout the Arab world due to Al-Jazeerah,s coverage of
his activities, noting that Jazeera now calls Saleh "the lion
of Al-Aqsa." Saleh, in his view, is using the tensions
surrounding the Haram and the heavy Arabic media coverage to
transform himself from the leader of half of the Israeli
Islamic Movement into a pan-Islamic figure. Asked how the
Waqf views Saleh, El-Souefi said the Waqf is uncomfortable
with Saleh,s incitement to violence, but at the same time
they value his collection of financial contributions from the
Gulf, much of which he reportedly donates to the Waqf. In
any event, the Waqf cannot challenge Sheikh Saleh since he is
now widely perceived by Arabs abroad as almost
single-handedly repelling Israel,s "designs" against Al-Aqsa.

5. (C) Jordanian Embassy DCM Daifallah Ali Al-Fayez told
PolOff in an October 8 meeting that the Jordanian Embassy and
Waqf officials had warned the Israeli National Police (INP)
of potential violence on the Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif,
but that the warnings were ignored. He said the warnings
began September 26, the day before Yom Kippur and that they
specifically asked the INP to close off the Haram to
non-Muslims. The Waqf also warned the INP of the 200-300
Muslim youths who had stayed overnight October3- 4, but that
on both occasions the INP refused to make the gesture of
closing the Mughrabi Gate to all visitors. Al-Fayez said the
Waqf informed the INP of rumors that the Temple Mount
Faithful would attempt to enter to pray in the Al Aqsa
Mosque, but that the Israeli response was that there were
always such rumors during the Jewish High Holy Days and that

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the sole gate for non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount
would remain open.

6. (C) According to the Israeli MFA,s video footage shown to
Al-Fayez, the youths assembled inside the Haram on October 4
threw objects at some of the first visitors who came through
the gate when it was opened at 0730 -- two French tourists.
The police then withdrew through the gate and re-entered in
riot gear. Many of the youths gathered inside the Haram came
to Jerusalem from northern Israel in response to a call to
"defend Al Aqsa" that was issued two days earlier by Sheikh
Raed Salah of the Islamic Movement,s northern branch in
Umm-el-Fahm during its annual "Jerusalem Day" conference.
Al-Fayez claimed that such groups that rejected the peace
process were gaining influence and credibility and that there
was a danger that such extremists would set the tone in
Jerusalem and throughout the Arab world, noting the
demonstrations that occurred in Jordan as well.

7. (C) Al-Fayez also complained that almost the entire
Jordanian/Israeli bilateral agenda was concerned with
Jerusalem and that the government of Israel was "fueling
tension" by its actions in Jerusalem. He cited the Minister
of Internal Security,s visit to the Haram, Silwan tunneling,
settlement expansion, Sheikh Jarrah, and Shepherd,s Hotel.
He said that relations between the Waqf, which is comprised
of more than 500 employees directly paid and managed by the
Ministry of Religion in Amman, and the GOI were characterized
by deep distrust. He complained of the INP,s sole control
over the Mughrabi Gate since 2003, whereas previously it had
been under joint control. Among other complaints were the
INP,s occasional denial of issuing permits to Waqf
employees, the detaining of Waqf employees, the denial of
entry for several hours to Waqf employees on October 4 as
well as the denial of exit to Waqf employees who were present
during the riots, and rumors that some Waqf employees had
been asked to sign agreements with the INP to inform on
activities within the Haram. Al-Fayez did note, however, that
the Waqf meets regularly with the INP and exchanges
information.

Israeli Perspectives
--------------

8. (C) Tel Aviv University professor Eyal Zisser, an expert
on Arab-Israeli relations, told PolOff in an October 8
meeting that the riots on the Temple Mount were only an issue
due to a slow media cycle and that he explained as much in
several televised interviews. He believed the INP handled the
riots surprisingly well this time, as no blood was shed,
unlike the five killed in 2000 or the 23 killed on the Temple
Mount during Sukkot in 1990.

9. (C) Zisser mentioned Jordan,s wish to return to the
pre-2000 arrangement where the Mughrabi Gate was controlled
by the Waqf, but noted that it had changed because the Waqf
kept the gate closed to non-Muslim visitors during 2000-2003.
In 2003, PM Sharon reopened the gate to all visitors and the
INP has exercised sole control of the gate since then. He
noted the INP,s consistent handling of any extremist Jewish
group attempting to enter onto the Temple Mount and
questioned whether the Waqf would be able to handle direct
contact with such groups and deny entry to visitors. He
further questioned both the need to prevent prayer by
non-Muslims on the Temple Mount and the legitimacy of closing
the area to non-Muslims.

10. (C) In contrast to the Egyptian and Jordanian DCMs,
views, Zisser assessed the attempt of the northern branch of
the Islamic Movement to incite the riots failed to enhance
Sheikh Saleh,s standing, which he said has been in decline
compared with the moderate southern branch of the Islamic
Movement. He noted that, unlike in neighboring Arab
countries, religious parties are legal in Israel. He believed
the police handled Sheikh Saleh,s arrest for incitement well
and that the court order releasing him but banning him from
Jerusalem for thirty days was a good demonstration of an
accountable democracy in action.

11. (C) Jerusalem Institute Director Yaacov Bar Siman Tov
assessed the situation similarly to PolOff, noting that
Sheikh Saleh held his yearly rally in Umm-el-Fahm to coincide
with the Jewish High Holidays specifically to incite crowds
to journey to Jerusalem expecting to clash with police to
protect the Haram al Sharif from any third Temple zealots.
The southern branch of the Islamic Movement, which accepts
the Oslo accords, also claimed publicly that Sheikh Saleh was
exploiting the issue for his personal aggrandizement. Hebrew
University of Jerusalem Professor Yitzhak Reiter detailed in
the press Saleh,s past actions of walking a fine line
between political activism and material support for
terrorism. He also noted Saleh,s limited following among
Muslims even when he has organized such bussed-in riot
operations in the past or when he paid for protestors to
stone vehicles in Umm-el-Fahm last year. Reiter noted that
Salah,s conspiracy rumors about the Mughrabi Gate were
successfully countered in 2007 by the authorities, live

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simulcasts of the Mughrabi Gate project that refuted Salah,s
claims. He argued that the GOI could have done more this time
to defuse tensions through such public education.

12. (C) According to the press, some 6500 Muslim worshipers
are assembling in Jerusalem to worship today on a day that
one Egyptian cleric called for as a "Day of Anger" in
response to last Sunday,s riots. Police allowed entrance
only to Israeli ID owners who were males over age 50, with no
restrictions on women worshipers. This evening begins the
Jewish celebration of Simchat Torah, the final event of the
Jewish High Holy Days. The INP remains on high alert
throughout Jerusalem.

CUNNINGHAM