US embassy cable - 04VATICAN2949

C O N F I D E N T I A L  VATICAN 002949 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE: LEVIN; NEA/IPA; IO/UNP; EUR/OHI: BRAUM; 
DRL/IRF: ABRAMSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2013 
TAGS: IS, KIRF, KPAL, PREL, VT, UNGA 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL: VATICAN PESSIMISTIC ON SOURING RELATIONS 
 
REF: A. VATICAN 2934 
 
     B. VATICAN 1445 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Jim Nicholson for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C) Holy See Country Director for the Middle East Coppola 
elaborated on his foreign minister's frustrations with 
Vatican-Israel relations July 22, pointing to stalled 
negotiations on issues related to the 1994 Fundamental 
Agreement between the two governments as the main source of 
contention.  Coppola was pessimistic about the next round of 
talks scheduled for September and warned that Israel's stance 
endangered the future of the Christian community in the Holy 
Land.  He also criticized the construction of Israel's 
security barrier, suggesting a parallel between what the Holy 
See regards as intransigence on that issue and the problems 
in bilateral relations with the Vatican.  End Summary. 
 
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Frustration Not Surprising 
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2. (C) Holy See Country Director for the Middle East 
Monsignor Franco Coppola expressed frustration with the state 
of Holy See-Israel relations in a July 22 meeting.  Coppola 
expanded on criticisms of the GOI leveled by Holy See Foreign 
Minister Giovanni Lajolo during a July 17 meeting with 
visiting Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) (ref a).  Coppola said 
he was not surprised that Lajolo became animated in his 
description of current ills in Vatican-Israel relations, as 
he has seen what the Vatican considers Israeli insincerity in 
negotiations "for some time now." 
 
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Coppola: Catholics Not Trying to Avoid Fair Share 
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3. (C) Coppola agreed with Lajolo that frustrations between 
the Holy See and Israel had reached a new level with the 
controversy surrounding the July 5 negotiating session 
between delegations from the two governments.  A number of 
issues that formed part of the 1994 Fundamental Agreement 
that established full diplomatic relations between the two 
governments remain unresolved, including some related to 
taxation, property, and visas for religious workers (ref b). 
Coppola insisted that Catholic groups in Israel were not 
simply trying to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. 
Rather, the rates Israel is demanding are in many cases much 
higher than similar taxes paid in Europe.  Further, he 
claimed, the government of Israel was demanding funds from 
institutions that had little or no income, such as churches 
that did not charge tourists or others for entry.  As a 
result, some institutions had been withholding tax payment 
for about two years.  The situation was untenable, Coppola 
said, and threatened the future of the Christian community in 
the Holy Land. 
 
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September Talks 
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4. (C) The Israelis now claim to have completed some of the 
technical work on outstanding aspects of the Fundamental 
Agreement and maintain that they are simply awaiting 
government clearance to move forward, Coppola said.  But he 
did not seem convinced that this would translate into 
progress when negotiations resumed in September.  "You cannot 
predict it," Coppola concluded.  "No one can say what's in 
their minds." 
 
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Security Barrier 
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5. (C) Coppola implied a connection between Israel's 
inflexibility on issues with the Holy See, and what the 
Vatican sees as the GOI's obstinate position on the security 
barrier.  "Of course no one doubts the right of the Israelis 
to defend themselves," he said.  "But they cannot just build 
a wall in disputed territory."  According to Coppola, Israel 
can automatically count on U.S. support, and is able to stand 
against the international community partially because of this 
backing.  He emphasized that world opinion had to count for 
something in a case like this.  "Look at the UN vote (on the 
opinion of the International Court of Justice) --  150 in 
favor and six against," he said.  "It's no accident that 
 
opinion is so one-sided on this issue." 
 
NICHOLSON 
 
 
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 2004VATICA02949 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL