US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV1457

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001457 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2015 
TAGS: IS, KPAL, PREL, XF, GOI INTERNAL, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT: (S)  ISRAELI READOUT ON MUBARAK-MOFAZ MEETING IN 
SHARM EL-SHEIK 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (S)  BG Eitan Dangott, Military Secretary of Defense 
Minister Mofaz, briefed the Ambassador March 11 on the 
meeting held the previous day in Sharm between Mofaz and 
Egyptian President Mubarak, with the participation of Defense 
Minister Tantawi and Intelligence Chief Sulayman.  Dangott 
said the atmosphere and substance of the extended meetings 
were excellent, and progress was achieved on all issues. 
 
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Palestinian Issues 
------------------ 
 
2.  (S)  Dangott said that Mofaz briefed Mubarak on the 
responsibility of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), based in 
Damascus, for the February 25 terror attack in Tel Aviv. 
Mofaz also told Mubarak that PIJ has been trying incessantly 
to organize additional acts of terrorism.  In the last 24 
hours, Israeli security forces rounded up a group of 8 PIJ 
terrorists who were in the final planning phase of a suicide 
bombing. 
 
3.  (S)  Mofaz also briefed Mubarak on the steps Israel is 
taking to ease Palestinian living conditions and fulfill the 
understandings reached at the Sharm el-Sheik summit.  For 
example, the number of Palestinian workers entering Israel 
has been increasing almost daily and has almost reached the 
target of 35,000 per day.  In response to specific requests 
from President Abbas, Mofaz had agreed to release a 
significant number of Palestinian vehicles, to expand the 
list of VIP travel, to increase the number of businessmen who 
can travel daily to Israel, and to give priority to family 
reunification issues between Gaza and the West Bank.  The 
prisoners committee will meet on Monday to start working on 
the next release of 400 prisoners.  And Mofaz had agreed that 
41 of the 49 Palestinians deported from Bethlehem to Gaza 
after the Church of the Nativity takeover would be permitted 
to return to Bethlehem.  Dangott noted that Abbas was unhappy 
that 8 of the deportees would not be permitted to return, but 
Mofaz had told Abbas that these 8 had "blood on their hands" 
and would not be permitted to go to Bethlehem at this time. 
 
4.  (S)  Dangott said Mofaz had also brought Mubarak up to 
date on the status of the Palestinian-Israeli security 
negotiations (septel).  Mofaz asked Mubarak's help in 
persuading Abbas to authorize his negotiators to conclude a 
deal soon on the transfer of security in Jericho and Tulkarm. 
 
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Egypt-Israel Issues 
------------------- 
 
5.  (S)  Dangott said Mofaz and Mubarak had "solved" all the 
problems related to the deployment of 750 Egyptian border 
guards to the Egypt-Gaza border.  Military teams would meet 
over the next few weeks to work up a detailed agreement, 
which would be signed by generals from the two sides. 
Dangott specified that all of the issues on which the two 
sides had previously been divided were now agreed, including 
the type of arms and vehicles, the method for bilateral 
evaluation of the deployment, and the authorization of 
commanders in the field to liaise and coordinate directly. 
 
6.  (S)  Mofaz raised the need for Egypt to deal 
comprehensively with the issue of smuggling into Gaza by 
stemming the flow of weapons even before they reach the Gaza 
border.  Mubarak said that weapons smuggling is a threat to 
him and the Egyptian regime and said that both Israel and 
Egypt need to do a better job in confronting this problem. 
Mofaz also briefed Mubarak on the issue of tunnels under the 
Philadelphi strip.  Dangott said that Mubarak appeared 
unaware of the magnitude and sophistication of the tunnel 
problem.  Mofaz also provided to Tantawi the name of the 
person the Israelis believe is one of the master smugglers in 
Sinai. 
 
7.  (S)  Dangott said that substantial progress was also 
registered on a number of military-military issues, including: 
 
-- Mubarak agreed on cooperation between the Egyptian and 
Israeli military on terrorism, specifically relating to 
intelligence sharing on terrorism matters. 
 
-- Mubarak agreed that Egypt and Israel should plan and hold 
a search and rescue exercise relating to humanitarian issues. 
 Dangott said the impetus for this was the uncoordinated 
response to the terror attack in Taba. 
 
-- Mubarak reportedly said that air and sea cooperation could 
improve over time, but he said he needed first to "prepare" 
the Egyptian population. 
 
-- A hotline will be established between the two Ministies of 
Defense. 
-- Egypt has agreed to facilitate additional searches for 
Israeli missing in action in Sinai and Egypt. 
 
 
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