CODEL LIEBERMAN'S NOV 16 MEETING WITH PRIME

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002525

SIPDIS

H PASS TO CODEL LIEBERMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR SY TU KWBG IS
SUBJECT: CODEL LIEBERMAN'S NOV 16 MEETING WITH PRIME
MINISTER NETANYAHU

Classified By: Ambassador James B. Cunningham, Reason 1.4 (b) (d)


1. (C) Summary. While in Israel participating in the Saban
Forum, CODEL Lieberman met with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on November 16 in Jerusalem. They discussed the
PM's recent meeting with President Obama in Washington,
restarting negotiations with the Palestinians, and regional
issues with Iran, Syria and Turkey. The PM cast the
Washington meeting with the President in a positive light and
expressed his appreciation for what he said was a frank and
honest meeting. The PM outlined the positive steps he
believed the GOI has taken in order to re-launch negotiations
and cast the Palestinian Authority as the recalcitrant party.
Specifically, he complained about their setting of
preconditions, Erekat's attempt to open a back channel
rather than formal talks, and their handling of the Goldstone
Report. Finally, the PM briefly discussed Iran, saying that
the "crunch time" was now. End Summary.


2. (SBU) The CODEL included Senator Joe Lieberman, Senator
Ted Kaufman, Senator Lindsey Graham, Chairwoman Nita Lowey,
Chairman Howard Berman, Representative Henry Waxman,
Representative Susan Davis, and Representative Jane Harman.
The Ambassador, Mrs. Lieberman, Mrs. Waxman, Dr. Harmon,
CODEL staffers, CODEL MilEscort, Ambassador's Staff Aide and
CONOFF (notetaker) also attended the meeting. Ari Harow, the
PM's Bureau Manager, and Mark Regev, Foreign Media Advisor,
joined on the Israeli side.

--------------
Recapping the Obama - Netanyahu meeting
--------------


3. (C) The PM briefly recapped his November 9 meeting with
President Obama in the White House, saying it had been the
best of their several discussions. The Prime Minister said
that early in the U.S. Presidential campaign he met with
then- Senator Obama in Washington, and had enjoyed a frank
and honest discussion. At that meeting Obama stated that
although people attach a lot of "ideological baggage" to the
PM and himself, both of them are pragmatic problem solvers.
At the conclusion, Netanyahu said he had predicted that
Senator Obama would win the general election. The PM
regretted that until November 9, their subsequent discussions
had not been of the same nature.


4. (C) The PM reported that the meeting with the President
was "open and honest." The Prime Minister was impressed by
how "unbelievably informed" the President was of the
situation in Israel. The PM reported that he had assured the
President that he was ready for negotiations, and serious
about reaching an agreement. He had relayed to the President
three specific steps that he had taken in the seven months
that he had been in office: 1) he endorsed the two-state
solution in his speech at Bar Ilan University; 2) he and his
government have eliminated more roadblocks and checkpoints in
the West Bank in seven months than have been removed since
the Second Intifada; and 3) his administration has taken
unprecedented steps on restraining the growth of settlements.
The PM stated that there are 2,600 units under construction
in existing settlements and 500 recently proposed new units.
He stated that after all these were complete, that they were
"prepared to stop - for a while" in order to support the
prospects for negotiations. He said that the rate of
construction was the "lowest it had been" and that they were
willing to "restrain" further growth. He also told the
President that he "can deliver the bulk of the Israeli
public." Finally, he said that he told the President that he
had "one and two" on board for negotiations, referring to
Israel and the US, but asked the President if he had "three"
- referring to the Palestinians.

--------------
Getting to Negotiations with the PA
--------------


5. (C) The PM expressed to the CODEL his frustration with the
Palestinian Authority. "What have they done?" he asked, and
then answered himself: "Precondition upon precondition." He
also stated that the Palestinians have tried to damage Israel


by using the Goldstone Report, which he described as an
"affront to truth and decency." Finally, he mentioned that
the Palestinians are now talking about a unilateral
declaration of statehood. (NOTE: The PM talked about
unilateral moves in his speech at the Saban Forum, but did
not say anything more about this in his meeting with the
CODEL. END NOTE.) The PM accused the Palestinians of using
"the stereotype that Netanyahu is a peace obstructionist."
The CODEL relayed that PA official Saeb Erekat stated in
their meeting with him that he "has gone to the Israelis
three times to negotiate and each time was told no." The PM
said that Erekat had requested a meeting with National
Security Adviser Uzi Arad three times, but these offers were
for back channel discussions "behind closed doors." The PM
does notQant to hold secret discussions via Erekat, but
rather a formal negotiating process. He added that the
Palestinians "have to decide what they want to do. They rely
on a reflexive response. They assumed that the U.S. will
deliver Israel. They have made conditions that cannot be
fulfilled by any Israeli government and they know that.
There is no legal way to stop ongoing construction nd they
know this but don't care. We want to neotiate; they don't."


6. (C) The PM suggested tw reasons why the Palestinian
Authority does not ant to negotiate: the "internecine
rivalries between Hamas and Fatah" and the prospect of
election. The PM acknowledged it is much easier to
negoiate after elections than before or during them. he PM
stated that "they have inflated expectatios about what the
U.S. will and will not do for them. So they go to the UN."


7. (C) Responding to several questions about Abbas, the PM
said that Abbas was sulking and that sulking is "not good
policy." He stated that the PA's stance on settlements was
illogical, and that he did not understand why a settlement
freeze has become a precondition when it had not been in the
past. Regarding the Fatah concerns about the release of
prisoners to Hamas, the PM said, "I used the release of
twenty women prisoners to get full validation of Shalit's
health." He stated that after he came into office, he
changed the team working on Shalit, brought in a German
mediator, and worked to get Hamas to provide Shalit on film
to prove he was alive. He thought the price of the tape was
"relatively inexpensive" with no political intention.


8. (C) The PM said that six months ago Fayyad initiated an
effort to have the International Criminal Court investigate
Israel for war crimes in Gaza. The PM said that he sent a
message to Abbas that this would kill the peace process.
Nonetheless, the Palestinians moved forward. Then came Abbas'
handling of the Goldstone Report. The PM noted that
Goldstone could result in Barak, Livni and Olmert being
treated as war criminals. "And Barak was just stopped in
London. No PM will agree to this. We will take risks for
peace but we won't be suckers for peace."

--------------
A Kitchen Cabinet that Does Not Leak
--------------


9. (C) The PM joked: "What is the difference between on and
off the record in Israel?" He paused then answered, "Two
weeks." He said there has been an exception: his inner
cabinet does not leak. He described his kitchen cabinet as a
group with widely diverse and passionately held views. He
said that despite this diversity and seeming division among
the cabinet members, they meet and discuss the issues, track
their thoughts on a low-tech white board and work to gain
consensus. He said it is a transparent process and the only
notes taken are on the erasable white board. He said that
while there is a difference as to where the group thinks a
negotiation will go, all agree that the government should
negotiate with the PA, and all but him agree that the best
Israel can get at this point is an interim agreement. "But I
am the sole dissenter. I believe we can bring a total
package, and prefer to go all the way." The PM said he told
President Obama, "Once you have confidence with what you are
going to do, we will do it." The PM concluded that he was
opposed to arguments for buying time, and assured the CODEL
he wants to get on with the peace process and dealing with

Iran.

--------------
Iran, Syria, and Turkey
--------------


10. (C) Turning to other regional issues, the PM stated that
"Assad says he wants to re-launch negotiations without
preconditions. Then he says we have plans to tear down
Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem." He questioned the bone fides
of Turkey as an intermediary between Syria and Israel,
suggesting that given Prime Minister Erdogan's rhetoric and
attacks on Israel in Turkey, Turkey's good faith is
questionable. He relayed that when Erdogan recently met with
Sudanese President Omar Bashir, a man charged with war
crimes, Erdogan reportedly had stated that he "would rather
meet with Bashir than with Netanyahu."


11. (C) Regarding Iran, the PM said that he told President
Obama that the crunch is now. Iran's failed elections changed
the regime's international image. "Ahmadinejad a man of the
people?" the PM asked rhetorically, "What people?" The PM
mentioned that the "exposure of the Qom facility" and the P-5
plus ONE offer on enriched uranium should serve to clarify
the situation. He said that the Iranians' response has been
confused, but that "the threat of sanctions hangs in the
air." (NOTE: This discussion was cut short as the CODEL
needed to depart for Senator Lieberman's chairing of a panel
at the Saban Forum. END NOTE)


12. (U) CODEL Lieberman's party has cleared this cable.
CUNNINGHAM