ISRAEL STILL CONSIDERING UNODC MAJOR DONOR STATUS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L UNVIE VIENNA 000100

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2023
TAGS: PREL SNAR KCRM
SUBJECT: ISRAEL STILL CONSIDERING UNODC MAJOR DONOR STATUS,
SEEKING SUPPORT FOR PARTICIPATION IN CONSULTATIVE GROUPS

REF: A. UNVIE VIENNA 00652

B. SECSTATE 07017

Classified By: Ambassador Gregory L. Schulte for reasons 1.4 (c) and (e
)


1. (C) Summary. At a meeting on March 11, DCM and MsnOff
met with Israeli Anti-Drug Authority Deputy Director Eitan
Gorni and Israeli MFA Director of the International
Organizations Department Tibor Shalev-Shlosser to discuss
Israeli participation in the CND and UNODC as well as
consultative groups for those organizations. Shalev-Shlosser
noted that Israel seeks a role in the WEOG at the CND and
UNODC and asked for U.S. support at both fora. He also said
that UNODC Executive Director Costa's visit to meet with
Israeli and Palestinian authorities was delayed until May
because of the Gaza conflict. Israel sought additional
information on the utility of the Major Donors group since
Jerusalem is still considering whether to boost its funding
to UNODC, a decision made more difficult by the world
economic slowdown given the significant increase this would
be from Israel's current contribution. End Summary.


2. C) At a meeting on March 11, DCM and MsnOff met with
Israeli Anti-Drug Authority Deputy Director Eitan Gorni and
Israeli MFA Director of the International Organizations
Department Tibor Shalev-Shlosser to discuss Israeli
participation in the CND and UNODC as well as consultative
groups for those organizations. Shalev-Shlosser said that
Israel sought greater participation in the WEOG at both the
CND and UNODC and was not satisfied with the difficulties
Israel has had in becoming a regular part of these fora. He
noted that the EU had given its consent for Israeli
participation in the Western group at the CND, but that
"nothing really happened practically." The Israeli DCM said
that Israel had become a part of the forum because the
Turkish WEOG President had sent a letter that received no
response from the other members of the group. She took this
as a "positive" response and allowed Israeli participation.
Israel is hoping for a similar "practical approach" to its
participation at the WEOG in Vienna and
that they will be invited to any meetings or consultations
related to the group. However, they were disheartened by a
response by the French in Vienna that they should keep their
status quiet and not push for formal inclusion. The DCM
assured Israel that the U.S. still supports Israeli
participation in the WEOG and described our extensive efforts
to encourage Israel's inclusion in the WEOG at the IAEA. The
group is much less active, and less relevant, in other Vienna
multilateral fora.


3. (C) Shalev-Shlosser also noted that Israel was still
considering participation in the Major Donor's group (ref A),
adding that the MFA DG's office had requested that his office
deliver a recommendation on becoming a major donor, but that
he needed to be able to justify the significant financial
increase to his government given current economic conditions.
He felt that the financial outlay was possible if the right
arguments were made and asked how Israel would benefit from
increasing its contribution. A conversation with the
Cairo-based UNODC representative regarding Russia's exclusion
from the Major Donor's group had worried Israel that even
with an increased contribution, Israel may not have
additional influence because meetings are often ad hoc. The
DCM reviewed ref B guidance regarding U.S. support for
Israel's increased involvement in UNODC. He also noted the
importance of the Major Donor's group in a donor-driven
organization like UNODC and discussed Executive Director
Costa's personal focus on issues of international importance,
which is in part colored by the opinions of major donors.


4. (C) Looking forward to the planned visit of Costa to
Israel in May, Shalev-Shlosser noted that Costa is focused on
relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Although this
is important to Israel, Jerusalem has more global concerns
and wants to contribute more to global efforts to combat
drugs and crime in Europe, the Mediterranean, and beyond.
Gorni recalled Israel's role in seizing containers of cocaine
traveling from South America to Europe to highlight Israel's
ability to play a more prominent role.


5. (C) Shalev-Shlosser asked for continued U.S. input on
the question of Israel's involvement in UNODC and, in
particular, hoped for greater assurance from Washington that
the USG would outwardly support Israel if it decided to
become a Major Donor. He understood that USG views would
have an important impact on Israel's consideration of support
for the UNODC General Purpose Fund and reiterated that he
would welcome U.S. arguments to favor a greater role in the
organization. In addition, he noted his favorable impression
of ED Costa's presentation at the UN Commission on Narcotic

Drugs.


6. (C) DCM noted that it was likely that Iran would become
the next chair of the CND in order to gauge Israeli opinion.
The Israeli officials seemed unfazed by the possibility and
the Israeli DCM shared her opinion that Iranian Ambassador
Soltanieh is professional and "won't play." Gorni also noted
that he thought Iran was doing a good job in combating the
drug problem, both in its counternarcotics efforts and its
prevention programs.
SCHULTE