READOUT OF SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MEETING WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000111 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2020 TAGS: PREL KPKO KPAL KWBG UNSC IS LE IR SUBJECT: READOUT OF SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MEETING WITH ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER Classified By: Ambassador Alex Wolff for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: The Secretary-General met with Israeli Defense Minister Barak in New York on February 24. According to a UN staff readout, UN colleagues were disappointed that Barak did not come with anything new on Gaza for the Secretary-General, who had hoped to get GOI concurrence to move materials through the crossings for UN projects in Gaza. Barak, according to both UN and Israeli Mission readouts, largely attributed continued Israeli restrictions on Gaza crossings to Gilad Shalit's detention. Barak thanked the Secretary-General for his report to the General Assembly in response to the Goldstone resolution. While the Secretary-General pressed Barak on Israeli overflights of Lebanon and the need to withdraw from northern Ghajar, Barak called on the UN to focus on strategic violations of UNSCR 1701, especially arms smuggling, though he did not provide the Secretary-General with any evidence. The Secretary-General said he hoped there would be an agreement, before the next Quartet meeting, on holding proximity talks and said GOI actions on Israeli heritage sites in the West Bank and against houses in Silwan were not helpful. Barak called for decisions to be made on Iran and asked for the Secretary-General's support. The Secretary-General replied that the matter was up to the P5 1 and the Security Council. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The Secretary-General met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in New York on February 24. PolOff received readouts of the meeting from UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) Senior Political Officer Lee O'Brien (please protect) and Israeli Mission to the UN Political Counselor Amir Weissbrod. Both noted that part of the meeting was one-on-one and neither had yet received a readout. Gaza -------------- ¶3. (C) O'Brien said that she and her UN colleagues were disappointed by the meeting because Barak "did not come with anything on Gaza." They had expected him, at minimum, to respond to the Secretary-General's request to move forward on the UN's proposed projects in Gaza, especially those related to the use of the USD 10.5 M payment from Israel in response to the Gaza Board of Inquiry findings. Weissbrod said that Barak gave a long briefing on Gaza and confirmed that his ministry was working with the UN through COGAT. After approving the delivery into Gaza of sheets of glass, he announced that they would next allow in aluminum frames. O'Brien said that Barak attributed the lack of significant progress on opening the crossings to the continued detention of Gilad Shalit which she found odd since the GOI had told the UN when it appeared that Shalit's release was imminent that his release would not make a difference on their operation of the crossings. Weissbrod confirmed Barak's stress of the Shalit issue as a significant block for the GOI, as well as concerns that items allowed into Gaza could be used militarily by Hamas. Nevertheless, he said that Barak noted the GOI's continued willingness to move forward with previously approved projects, including sewage and water projects. Goldstone -------------- ¶4. (C) O'Brien noted that Barak did thank the Secretary-General for his report to the General Assembly in response to the Goldstone resolution. Weissbrod shared that the Secretary-General said he would likely be submitting another report to the GA in five months, given the General Assembly's likely upcoming action, and that he hoped for transparency in the investigations, to which Minister Barak responded with a discussion of asymmetric warfare, the Palestinian resort to "lawfare," and the threat this posed to democracies fighting terrorism. Lebanon -------------- ¶5. (C) According to Weissbrod, the Secretary-General voiced concern about the escalating rhetoric in the region but noted Barak's helpful statements. The Secretary-General raised overflights and Ghajar, noting the UN/GOI meetings this week on a possible Israeli withdrawal from northern Ghajar. Barak responded by underscoring the need for the UN to deal with the strategic violations under UNSCR 1701, such as arms smuggling, since Israel only conducts overflights to monitor the situation. Weissbrod said that Barak stressed that Hizballah has more equipment than most armies in the region and the UN needs to tackle the issue of Hizballah's disarmament. O'Brien noted that Barak did not offer any concrete evidence of arms smuggling to the Secretary-General. USUN NEW Y 00000111 002 OF 002 Peace Process -------------- ¶6. (C) Weissbrod reported that the Secretary-General told Barak that he was encouraged that Abu Mazen had agreed to move to proximity talks but understood that he is still asking clarifying questions to the USG. The Secretary-General also said he planned to attend the Quartet meeting in March and hoped there would be a firm agreement to begin proximity talks before then. Weissbrod also relayed that the Secretary-General told Barak that the GOI's announcement on Israeli heritage sites in the West Bank and actions towards houses in Silwan were not helpful. Iran -------------- ¶7. (C) Weissbrod said that Barak raised Iran with the Secretary-General and said it was time to take decisions since a nuclear Iran will change the Middle East and he called for the Secretary-General's support. The Secretary-General, according to Weissbrod, said he was worried and that the issue must be dealt with by the P5 1 and the Security Council. RICE