US embassy cable - 05NASSAU332

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 000332 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2025 
TAGS: PREL, PINR, PGOV, IS, BF, Bahamian Politics 
SUBJECT: BAHAMIAN FOREIGN MINISTER EQUATES ISRAEL WITH 
WHITE SOUTH AFRICA 
 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Robert M. Witajewski, Reasons 1. 
5 b and d 
 
SUMMARY 
 ------- 
 
1. (C)  Visiting non-resident Israeli Ambassador David Dadonn 
was not given a meeting with Bahamian Prime Minister Perry G. 
Christie during his current visit to Nassau.  Ambassador 
Dadonn also reported that his first meeting with Foreign 
Minister Fred Mitchell ended abruptly after five minutes 
after FM Mitchell equated Israeli actions in Palestine with 
white South Africans racist policies opposing black majority 
rule in that country.  Mitchell later sent a message to 
Dadonn that he "regretted" his statements.  Dadonn also 
reported that he believed that Caricom had already made a 
decision not to support the candidacy of former Salvadoran 
President Francisco Flores as OAS Secretary General, although 
he was unsure if they could agree whether or not to vote as a 
bloc for either the Mexican or Chilean candidate. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
 
Prime Minister Again Plays Hard to Get 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2. (C)  Visiting Israeli Ambassador David Dadonn expressed 
dismay to Ambassador and DCM during a private meeting prior 
to a dinner February 15 hosted by the Ambassador for the 
visiting Israeli that he had been unable to see Bahamian 
Prime Minister Perry Christie during his visit to The 
Bahamas.  Ambassador Dadonn, the non-resident Israeli 
Ambassador, is stationed in Mexico City.  A clearly 
frustrated Dadonn complained to the Ambassador that his 
meeting with the Prime Minister had been repeatedly 
re-scheduled and then canceled.  (Dadonn's problems are 
similar to those encountered by former Salvadoran President 
Francisco Flores in scheduling his February 14-15 visit to 
Nassau to promote his candidacy for the OAS Secretary 
Generalship.  Flores first encountered difficulty obtaining a 
meeting time with the Prime Minister. Then, while he was 
airborne on his way to Nassau from El Salvador, the meeting 
was arbitrarily moved up to start prior to his scheduled 
landing time.  In Flores' case, however, the meeting 
eventually occurred and lasted about 45 minutes.) 
 
 
Mitchell Equates Israel with White South Africa 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
3. (C)  The focus of Ambassador Dadonn's unease, however, was 
his report of his February 14 meeting with Bahamian Foreign 
Minister Fred Mitchell.  According to Dadonn, his Monday 
meeting with Mitchell was tense and abrupt.  A "curt" FM 
Mitchell, related Dadonn, entered the Foreign Ministry 
reception room for the meeting and proceeded to equate 
Israeli "oppression" of the Palestinian people in the Gaza 
with "white South Africans oppression of the country's black 
majority" prior to majority rule.  Dadonn told the Ambassador 
that he felt, at this point, no option except to abruptly end 
the meeting and walk out after only about five minutes. 
 
4. (C)  Apparently realizing what he had done, Ambassador 
Dadonn said that FM Mitchell passed a message through the 
Ministry's number two official, Permanent Secretary Dr. 
Patricia Rogers, to the Israeli Honorary Consul in The 
Bahamas, Ralph Seligman, that any offense that he might have 
conveyed was "unintended" and "regretful."  Dadonn said that 
the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Rogers, scheduled a meeting for 
the following day -- one that lasted 50 minutes -- during 
which the Permanent Secretary said that the Minister's views 
had been "personal" and "did not reflect (Bahamian) 
Government policy." 
 
5. (C)  Asked by Dadonn for his analysis of Mitchell's 
behavior, the Ambassador responded that there seemed, at 
times, to be "two Fred Mitchell's," the polite and polished 
public Mitchell and the more private -- but more revealing -- 
Mitchell.  The Ambassador agreed with Dadonn that The Bahamas 
had not been helpful to the U.S. in several UNGA votes this 
past year, citing the Sudan and anti-Israel UNGA resolutions. 
The Ambassador also noted that The Bahamas continued to not 
be as publicly helpful on Haiti as they could be considering 
the massive U.S. assistance provided to The Bahamas in 
illegal drug and migrant interdiction. 
 
6. (C)  Ambassador Dadonn agreed that The Bahamas had not 
been supportive in the UNGA.  He cited an example where The 
Bahamian PermRep in New York delayed supporting an Israeli 
request to petition the Secretary General for a special 
session to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation 
of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz until after enough other 
countries had already submitted requests to carry the 
proposal.  At that point, Dadonn observed dryly, "the 
Bahamian action was of no value." 
 
7. (C)  Asked for his analysis of the construction of a large 
new mosque in Nassau, Ambassador Dadonn responded that he had 
expressed concern about it to Bahamian officials but that 
they indicated that they could do nothing about its 
construction.  (The mosque is reportedly being constructed 
with Saudi government funds.)  Dadonn promised to forward any 
additional information about the mosque, its programs, or its 
funding that became available to him. 
 
 
Caricom Unlikely to Support Flores 
---------------------------------- 
 
8. (C)  Asked by DCM for his analysis of the OAS Secretary 
General race, Ambassador Dadonn said that he believed that 
Caricom had already taken a decision not to support former 
Salvadoran President Francisco Flores' candidacy.  What 
Dadonn was unsure of, he continued, was whether Caricom at 
its current Heads of State meeting in Surinam could reach a 
positive decision about whom to support as a bloc. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
9. (C)  The Israeli Ambassador was clearly taken aback by FM 
Mitchell's comments equating Israel with racist South African 
policies.  He stated that such rhetoric isn't even heard in 
the Arab world anymore.  We note that when demarched last 
fall about a series of UNGA votes, FM Mitchell explained to 
us that The Bahamian position as one of not supporting 
country-specific resolutions...except in the case of Israel. 
Mitchell's candid outburst to the visiting Israeli Ambassador 
probably reflects the "real" Fred Mitchell much more than his 
deliberately calculated, polished "Foreign Minister" image. 
 
ROOD