US embassy cable - 04TELAVIV2261

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2009 
TAGS: KWBG, KPAL, PGOV, PREL, GZ, IS, GOI EXTERNAL, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT: PERES TELLS CODEL ISSA "NO GUARANTEE THE FUTURE 
WILL IMPROVE" 
 
Classified By: DCM Richard LeBaron, per 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary: Labor leader Shimon Peres told CODEL Issa 
April 16 that the United States should be promoting 
modernization in the Middle East -- rather than 
democratization -- as the best means for furthering the U.S. 
agenda in the region.  Peres recommended using business and 
investment as key tools, adding that elections now in places 
like Saudi Arabia would only serve to usher in regimes that 
would oppose U.S. goals.  Peres cautioned against trying to 
end terrorism by the eradication of terrorists alone, and 
stressed the need to address terrorism's underlying causes. 
On PM Sharon's proposed unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and 
some West Bank settlements, Peres opined that the plan does 
not go far enough, as the political costs to the government 
would be the same.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) Labor leader Shimon Peres met April 16 with 
Congressman Darrell Issa and House International Relations 
Committee staff member Hillel Weinberg.  Peres welcomed PM 
Sharon's proposed unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and some 
settlements in the West Bank, but added that pushing the 
Palestinians out of the negotiating equation would be a 
mistake.  Although the U.S. clearly hoped to foster new 
leadership among the Palestinians, Peres cautioned that it 
was not possible to order it.  It is essential that both 
Israel and the U.S. "deal with the Palestinians as they are 
and not how we might wish them to be" if progress is to be 
made.  Sharon's proposed withdrawal plan is an opening, but 
not a guarantee that the future would improve. 
 
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"Israel Needs to go Further" 
---------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) Saying that FinMin Benyamin Netanyahu had lost the 
support of the poor that had been the traditional base of 
Likud support by his harsh imposition of economic reform, 
Peres added that now Likud had given up territory as well. 
Peres opined that Israel should agree to take bigger steps, 
as the political cost will be the same for large steps as for 
small ones with regard to settlements.  Stressing that Sharon 
was his personal friend, Peres said that Sharon does not have 
enough courage to engage the Palestinians; instead he chooses 
to act alone and disengage.  Peres took exception with the 
GOI's stance that the Palestinians must completely end 
terrorism before Israel is obligated to enact its obligations 
under the roadmap.  Without some simultaneous reciprocal 
actions on Israel's part, Palestinian moderates are 
undermined before they could even begin.  It is impossible, 
Peres concluded, to end terrorism without first addressing 
its root causes.  The GOI is mistaken if it thinks that it 
can end terrorism by simply killing all the terrorists. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
"Focus on Modernization, not Democratization" 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Peres said he disagreed with the United States' 
Greater Middle East plan, as it lumps strict Muslim countries 
together with more moderate ones such as Morocco and Jordan. 
Furthermore, "democracy is a danger," Peres said, and terror 
and democracy do not mix.  If elections were held tomorrow in 
Saudi Arabia for example, conservatives would undoubtedly 
win.  Results in Pakistan and even Morocco could be equally 
disadvantageous to the United States.  The West needs to talk 
about modernization and not democratization, Peres stressed, 
and the U.S. should use its economic clout to get the message 
out.  For example, if money now going to foreign aid would 
instead go to support U.S. companies, those companies could 
then go out and establish what Peres called "zones of 
excellence" in the Middle East.  "Bring private enterprise 
into diplomacy," Peres recommended, "because diplomacy never 
succeeded in bringing in private enterprise."  Giving people 
hope for a better life for themselves and their families 
would have far more impact than anything else the United 
Sates could do in the Middle East, Peres asserted.  No 
regime, he added, could continue to support forever the high 
and growing levels of unemployment currently facing Arab 
countries. 
 
5.  (U) CODEL Issa did not have an opportunity to clear the 
message. 
 
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