US embassy cable - 05MADRID1139

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 001139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015 
TAGS: PREL, IS, SP 
SUBJECT: ISRAELI DIPLOMAT ON SPAIN-ISRAEL RELATIONS 
 
 
Classified By: Poloff Ricardo Zuniga; reason 1.4 (B) 
 
1. (C) Israeli Embassy Political Counselor Alona Fisher met 
with poloff on March 22 to discuss Israeli views on recent 
efforts by Foreign Minister Moratinos to improve Spanish 
relations with Israel.  Fisher said bilateral relations have 
improved markedly in the last few months, after a "very 
difficult" period immediately following President Zapatero's 
electoral victory.  Fisher faulted Moratinos and Zapatero for 
"remaining in campaign mode long after it was useful."  She 
said Moratinos did little to moderate his pro-Arab leanings 
in this early period, but that he soon came to believe that 
Spain could not have good relations with the USG without 
improving his standing with Israel. 
 
2. (C) Fisher said Moratinos' two visits to Tel Aviv were 
directly related to the Zapatero government's late-2004 
effort to repair ties with Washington.  She described 
Arafat's death as another critical factor, since Moratinos' 
good personal relations with Arafat had acted as a brake on 
Moratinos' readiness to reach out to Israel.  According to 
Fisher, Moratinos does not have especially good relations 
with Palestinian Authority President Abbas, especially in 
comparison to the warm ties he enjoyed with Arafat. 
Regardless of Spain's motivations, Fisher said Israel was 
pleased with the progress made since the latter half of 2004. 
 In particular, Israel appreciated Spain's designation of a 
Holocaust Rememberance Day and Moratinos' organization of the 
June 8-9 Conference on Anti-Semitism in Cordoba. 
 
3. (C) Within the Middle East, Fisher said Israel views FM 
Moratinos as having particular influence with Syria, more so 
than other European political figures.  (NOTE: March 23 press 
reports indicate Syrian President Bashar sought a bilateral 
meeting with President Zapatero on the Margins of the Arab 
League meeting in Algiers.  Zapatero agreed to a "five-minute 
encounter" during which Zapatero expressed support for 
Syria's measures to comply with UN resolution 1559.  END 
NOTE.)  At one point, Moratinos volunteered his good offices 
to Tel Aviv to help stimulate Israeli-Syrian talks, but 
Israel declined both because they felt the timing was not 
right for talks with Damascus and because they did not want 
Spain as an interlocutor.  "Even if we could overlook 
Moratinos' pro-Arab instincts, the fact is that Spain is not 
France or the UK and cannot bring the same weight to bear if 
necessary," said Fisher. 
 
4. (C) Israel has higher regard for Moratinos' influence 
within the EU.  Fisher said Israel assumes EU leaders consult 
regularly with Moratinos on Arab-Israeli issues and probably 
defer to his judgment.  Tel Aviv is therefore obliged to pay 
attention to him in his personal role, even if Spain itself 
does not have the standing of other European powers.  Tel 
Aviv sees Moratinos and Spain as an impediment to the EU's 
designation of Hizballah as a terrorist organization. 
Moratinos recently told Israeli FM Shalom that Spain wanted 
the EU to defer any decision on Hizballah until after the 
Lebanese parliamentary elections, which Fisher described as a 
"cover" for Spain's underlying reluctance to formally 
identify Hizballah as a terrorist group. 
MANZANARES