US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV1078

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 001078 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/CT AND NEA/IPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, KPAL, KWBG, IS, COUNTERTERRORISM, GOI EXTERNAL, U.S.-ISRAEL RELATIONS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT: ACTING COORDINATOR POPE DISCUSSES COUNTERTERRORISM 
ISSUES WITH ISRAELI OFFICIALS 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Norm Olsen; Reasons: 1.4 (B) and (D) 
. 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  In a series of meetings February 9-12, 
Israeli officials told Acting Counterterrorism Coordinator 
William Pope that Hizballah is the GOI's top CT priority. 
They requested USG assistance to convince President Chirac 
that the group should be placed on the EU's list of terrorist 
organizations.  The Israelis stressed the "central role" of 
the Joint Counterterrorism Working Group (JCG) in the 
bilateral CT dialogue and asked for the sub-working groups to 
be expanded.  The Israeli MFA sought assistance in 
establishing better contacts with the Department of Homeland 
Security.  Israeli military analysts briefed PDAS Pope on 
successful efforts to interdict funding for HAMAS and on the 
evolving global threat of "jihadist" groups.  An Israeli 
academic predicted that the number of suicide bombings will 
decrease if the Palestinian Authority (PA) successfully 
manages the peace process.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) Acting Counterterrorism Coordinator William Pope and 
S/CT desk officer Michael Miller visited Israel February 9-12 
for discussions with Israeli counterterrorism experts.  At 
the MFA, PDAS Pope met with Deputy Director General for North 
America Yoram Ben-Zeev, Deputy Director General for Strategic 
Affairs Jeremy Issacharoff, Counterterrorism Director Yehuda 
Yaakov, Counterterrorism desk officer Avivit Bar-Ilan, Head 
of the Military Intelligence World Jihad Branch Lt. Col Yoav 
Peleg, and military intelligence analyst Capt. Ayal 
Paskovich.  PDAS Pope later met in Tel Aviv with a group that 
included Israeli National Security Council Counterterrorism 
Director General Danny Arditi, NSC CT Deputy for 
International Cooperation Amnon Zehavi, NSC Advisor for 
Terrorism Finance Lt. Col. Udi Levi, and NSC Advisor for 
Intelligence Uzi Shaya. 
 
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Israeli Focus is on EU Designation of Hizballah 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
3. (C) Ben-Zeev cautioned that Hizballah is utilizing its 
"deadly combination" of state-sponsorship, money, and 
ideology ... to kill disengagement and the peace process." 
Noting that Hizballah is Israel's top CT priority, 
Issacharoff said the GOI had formally asked the EU to 
designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization and has 
demarched at high levels in Brussels, EU capitals, Tel Aviv, 
and Jerusalem.  Issacharoff provided a copy of a classified 
paper titled "legal reference concerning Hizballah terrorist 
organization," which Israel hopes will satisfy EU requests 
for legal documentation to justify a designation.  PDAS Pope 
noted the USG's strong support on this issue. 
 
4. (C) According to Issacharoff, CT talks with the French 
have focused on Hizballah, where the GOI sees Paris as "the 
head of the snake" resisting EU designation.  He said his 
French colleagues had told the GOI that the Lebanese 
government had asked President Chirac to oppose adding 
Hizballah to the EU terrorism list.  Issacharoff stressed 
that changing Chirac's mind is "the key" to success on this 
issue.  He added that the GOI is providing additional 
intelligence to Paris and telling French officials that if 
they are serious about wanting an EU role in the peace 
process, then "they have to step up to the plate and swing." 
Issacharoff thanked the USG for support on the Hizballah 
issue and requested additional U.S. engagement with Chirac. 
Yaakov noted the importance of the UK, complaining that 
London was taking a "calculated risk" that might result in 
the EU designating only a part of Hizballah as a terrorist 
organization. 
 
5. (C) Peleg said that most of Hizballah's recruitment in the 
territories is focused on Fatah members and takes place 
during the hajj.  Ben-Zeev asked how Israel should respond to 
provocation without risking an end to the peace progress. 
PDAS Pope urged the Israelis not to let terror dictate their 
actions and to stick to their pledge to move ahead with 
disengagement. 
 
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Importance of the JCG and other CT Fora 
--------------------------------------- 
 
6. (C) Issacharoff stressed the "central role" of the Joint 
Counterterrorism Working Group (JCG) in the bilateral CT 
dialogue.  He said Israel has much to offer the USG and state 
governments in the CT field.  PDAS Pope agreed, noting that 
the next session of the JCG could take place after the White 
House names a replacement for S/CT Coordinator Cofer Black. 
Issacharoff emphasized the importance of the JCG working 
groups, especially the Technical Support Working Group 
(TSWG).  Both Ben-Zeev and Issacharoff favored the creation 
of a separate homeland security working group under the JCG. 
Yaakov urged the USG to consider an additional working group 
focused on legal and "diplomatic" issues.  Ben-Zeev asked if 
the USG would consider adding terrorism to other bilateral 
dialogues, as well, including the forum raised by FM Silvan 
Shalom during his meeting with the Secretary on February 6. 
Note: Ben-Zeev later told the Ambassador that the MFA wants 
CT included in lower-level talks, not the D-level dialogue 
that the GOI is pushing.  End note. 
 
7. (C) Both Issacharoff and Ben-Zeev asked for assistance in 
establishing better contacts with the Department of Homeland 
Security, including on biometrics.  They claimed that the GOI 
is frustrated by its inability to establish a more productive 
relationship with DHS.  They offered to brief S/CT on Israeli 
projects currently underway with other USG departments and 
individual state governments, suggesting that these efforts 
could be better coordinated in a homeland security working 
group under the JCG.  PDAS Pope noted that the creation of a 
DHS liaison office in S/CT would also help to improve the 
situation.  Yaakov noted that the GOI will discuss El Al's 
plans to install flares and other countermeasures on its 
aircraft with the USG at a meeting on April 7.  He suggested 
that the USG and Israel expand the MANPADS dialogue to 
include all uses of rocketry by terrorists. 
 
8. (C) Issacharoff said that Israel has increased its 
counterterrorism contacts over the past two years with other 
states, including India, Spain, Canada, Norway, Argentina, 
Russia, Australia, Germany, France, and the UK.  He added 
that the GOI is also hoping to restart the joint CT/arms 
control dialogue with the Chinese that was suspended during 
the Phalcon dispute.  Addressing multilateral CT efforts, 
Yaakov requested USG support for at least one of the two 
Israeli candidates running for legal and law enforcement 
expert positions on the UN's Counterterrorism Executive 
Directorate (CTED). 
 
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Israeli Briefings on HAMAS and Jihadist Groups 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
9. (C) Paskovich said U.S., EU, Saudi, and Israeli efforts 
have left HAMAS finances "in the worst shape ever."  Peleg 
warned of "increasing" contacts between Tehran and the 
military wing of HAMAS, which Paskovich claimed receives USD 
$3-4 million of Iranian assistance per year.  Paskovich 
stressed the importance of cutting off other funding from the 
Gulf states and Europe, as well as the need for an 
alternative charity-distribution system in the West Bank and 
Gaza.  He maintained that HAMAS still receives support 
through groups in France and through the INTERPAL 
organization based in the UK.  Yaakov expressed concern that 
the EU will ease pressure on HAMAS if further progress is 
made in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. 
 
10. (C) Peleg listed several characteristics of the 
"jihadist" movement: a hatred of "the west;" the "paradox of 
success," whereby attacks lead to disruptions in leadership 
and organizational structures; a desire to increase the 
number and scope of attacks; the development of local 
infrastructures; the exploitation of "holes in the GWOT," 
such as Syria and Iran; and the persistence of a 
15,000-50,000 cadre of terrorists.  Peleg said such groups 
are exploiting "jihadist arenas" such as Iraq, adopting bin 
Laden's agenda to what were formerly local groups, and 
building "home-grown" infrastructure.  He predicted that 
these trends will lead to growing decentralization, new 
command structures, and "new foci of instability" around the 
globe. 
 
11. (C) PDAS Pope agreed that successful attacks on al-Qaida 
have led to a diffusion of terrorist command structures and 
organization.  He briefed the Israelis on the Riyadh 
counterterrorism conference, noting that delegates had agreed 
that there is no excuse for terrorism.  He said that the 
Saudis see al-Qaida as "an existential threat."  Issacharoff 
expressed hope that further progress on the 
Israeli-Palestinian talks will result in closer cooperation 
with the Gulf states, whose rulers he said are also 
threatened by al-Qaida. 
 
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An Israeli Academic's Analysis of Suicide Bombers 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
12. (C) In a lunch hosted by Issacharoff, PDAS Pope discussed 
the motives of suicide bombers with Yoram Schweitzer, a 
terrorism expert at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Affairs. 
Schweitzer, who has interviewed numerous prisoners 
apprehended before they could commit bombings or after 
attacks had failed, credited Israeli security services with 
decreasing the number of bombings.  He maintained that the 
Palestinians realize that such attacks are ineffective and 
said even HAMAS is "rethinking its course."  Schweitzer 
listed three conditions for a further reduction in attacks: 
the PA must provide Palestinians with hope; obtain a 
reduction of Israeli pressure, such as checkpoints; and limit 
anti-Semitic incitement.  He cautioned, however, that peace 
talks may not decrease the number of Palestinian volunteers, 
noting the large number of suicide attacks that occurred 
during what he termed the last "quiet" period in 
Israeli-Palestinian relations. 
 
13. (C) Schweitzer claimed that outside the territories 
bombers are not motivated by the Arab-Israeli conflict, but 
by humiliation vis-a-vis the "West" and by the desire to 
overthrow local governments by attacking their "Western" 
supporters.  He said al-Qaida is a separate case; bin Laden 
wants to control Saudi Arabia, obtain an "Islamic bomb," and 
"liberate" areas such as Andalusia.  In Schweitzer's opinion, 
only Islamic religious authorities can deal with the root 
causes of hostility towards the "West." 
 
14. (U) Acting Coordinator Pope has cleared this message. 
 
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