US embassy cable - 04AMMAN2165

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 002165 
 
SIPDIS 
 
INFO ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, KISL, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: SHEIKH YASSIN'S KILLING COMPLICATES JORDAN-ISRAEL 
TIES 
 
REF: AMMAN 1971 
 
Classified By: DCM David Hale for reasons 1.5 (b and d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C)  A visibly upset FonMin Muasher told us March 22 
that Israel's killing of HAMAS spiritual leader Sheikh 
Ahmad Yassin just days after King Abdullah's meeting with 
Prime Minister Sharon in Israel embarrassed the King, whose 
government has recently come under intense criticism for 
continued contact with Israel.  The King met Sharon as 
members of Parliament rejected a no-confidence motion 
against three ministers who participated in the recent 
commemoration of a joint Israeli-Jordanian research 
center.  Although there were few concrete results from the 
meeting with Sharon, it represented a step towards 
repairing tense relations between Israel and Jordan and 
might have set the stage for future exchanges, including a 
possible rescheduling of the visit to Jordan by Foreign 
Minister Silvan Shalom.  However, Sheikh Yassin's 
assassination has personally embarrassed the King and 
shaken advocates of the relationship, who may now question 
Israel's commitment to its ties with Jordan and make it 
more difficult for the GOJ to explain why contact with 
Israel is in Jordan's interest.  The killing also will 
embolden the anti-normalization movement in Jordan.  End 
Summary. 
 
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FRESH FROM ISRAEL VISIT, KILLING EMBARRASSES KING 
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2.  (C)  Israel's assassination of HAMAS leader Sheikh 
Ahmad Yassin (who was released from Israeli jail in 1997 
upon the late King Hussein's intercession) (fuller reaction 
septel) comes on the heels of King Abdullah's March 18 
meeting with Prime Minister Sharon in Israel.  A visibly 
upset Foreign Minister Muasher told the Ambassador March 22 
that the assassination personally embarrassed the King and 
Jordan, and would affect how Jordan interacts with Israel 
in the future. 
 
3.  (C)  Ashraf Zeitoon, officer in charge of Israel and 
peace process issues in FonMin Muasher's private office, 
told PolOff on March 21 that the three-hour meeting did not 
produce any breakthroughs, but was a prelude to future 
engagement on other bilateral issues, including a possible 
visit from Foreign Minister Shalom to Jordan in the near 
future.  He said the visit was timed to precede the King's 
(and Sharon's) upcoming visit to Washington in April.  The 
two leaders covered a wide range of bilateral issues, but 
mostly discussed Israel's plans to withdraw from Gaza. 
Sharon did not divulge the specifics of his plans, but King 
Abdullah shared the Jordanian position, insisting that the 
withdrawal must be within the context of the roadmap, not 
leave open a power vacuum for militants to fill, and not 
involve relocating settlers to the West Bank.  (FonMin 
Muasher told the Ambassador that Sharon said the roadmap 
was "dead.") 
 
4.  (C)  On other matters, Zeitoon reported that the 
Israelis tried to allay Jordanian concerns about the 
separation barrier.  The King also asked for the release of 
remaining Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails.  However, 
the Jordanians received no concrete Israeli commitments on 
either score.  Without divulging specifics, Zeitoon 
lamented that Israel is often willing to make promises to 
Jordanian officials privately but fails to follow up with 
public commitments that could help solidify the GOJ's 
position against rising anti-Israeli sentiment among 
Jordan's population. 
 
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GOJ ALREADY UNDER FIRE FOR ISRAELI-JORDANIAN PROJECT 
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5.  (SBU)  The King's visit to Israel occurred despite the 
brewing controversy over the newly commemorated 
Jordanian-Israeli Bridging the Rift research facility 
(ref).  Though the King supported the project -- he hosted 
a reception for the group upon its opening March 9 -- he 
hardly advertised the fact.  Critics in Parliament led by 
Islamic Action Front MPs focused their wrath on his 
ministers in attendance at the commemoration, calling for a 
vote of no-confidence for Planning Minister Bassam 
Awadallah, Education Minister Khaled Toukan, and Minister 
of Higher Education Issam Zaabalawi.  However, 78 of 82 MPs 
present on March 20 rejected the no-confidence motion.  The 
vote came after 18 MPs walked out of the session to protest 
the Prime Minister's decision to hold the meeting behind 
closed doors, revealing the government's anxiety that this 
issue could get wider traction among the public. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali sought to put a 
positive spin on the vote, saying before the meeting was 
adjourned that "the development is an indicator that 
democracy is a deep-rooted practice in Jordan."   Later, 
four ministers held a press conference reiterating that the 
GOJ has the right to meet Israeli officials under the 
auspices of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty and that it 
is in Jordan's interest to do so.  FonMin Muasher said such 
meetings are essential to defend Jordan's national 
interests, noting that recent prisoner releases would not 
have happened without direct contact with Israel. 
 
7.  (U)  Asked whether the vote signals a worsening in 
relations between the GOJ and Parliament, Minister of 
Political Development and Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad 
Daoudiyeh said the vote "speaks for itself," adding: "We 
could call this a renewal of the confidence in the 
government if you like."  Government spokesperson Asma 
Khader said the GOJ looks at the no confidence motion as 
"political opposition" and not an attack on the ministers 
themselves.  "We have to remember here that the 
Jordan-Israeli peace treaty is an effective law passed by 
the Parliament.  This is not the first time that ministers 
or officials meet Israeli officials and will not be the 
last."  She added that such meetings do not indicate that 
the GOJ has no "sensitivities against the Israeli practices 
and do not mean that the government is content with what 
Israel is doing." 
 
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COMMENT 
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8.  (C)  Yassin's assassination could not have come at a 
worse time for the GOJ and King Abdullah, just fresh from a 
meeting with Sharon and just prior to the Arab League 
summit, as he looks complicit in the killing.  While there 
is no love lost for HAMAS in the GOJ, most Jordanians view 
HAMAS as a legitimate Palestinian resistance organization 
and do not view Yassin as a terrorist; the killing could 
boost public support for the militant group.   The killing 
challenges the credibility of GOJ officials who have 
publicly defended Jordanian-Israeli ties and will make it 
less likely that senior Jordanian officials will risk 
visible, high-level meetings with Israelis in the near 
term.  FonMin Muasher said this move will effectively 
silence his and other moderates' efforts to ensure 
productive handling of the Israeli-Palestinian issue at the 
Arab League summit.  The killing also will embolden the 
anti-normalization movement in Jordan, given emotional 
public reaction and the defensiveness of proponents of the 
Jordan-Israel relationship. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman or access the site 
through the State Department's SIPRNET home page. 
GNEHM