US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV4619

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 004619 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ELAB, ECON, EAID, KWBG, KPAL, IS, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT, GOI INTERNAL 
SUBJECT: STAFFDEL TALWAR DISCUSSES DISENGAGEMENT AND 
ISRAELI POLITICS WITH AMIR PERETZ 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (B 
) and (D). 
 
1. (C) Summary: Staffdel Talwar met with Histadrut labor 
federation leader and candidate for head of the Labor Party 
Amir Peretz on July 11 to discuss disengagement, the peace 
process and Israeli politics.  Peretz expressed support for 
disengagement, but was suspicious that the GOI is 
intentionally increasing tension to alleviate international 
pressure for additional steps in the West Bank.  Calling 
social issues the key to peace, he suggested that the USG 
could further assist the peace process by providing 
additional economic assistance to Israel and hinted that 
applying diplomatic pressure could be useful.  Addressing 
internal Israeli politics, Peretz accused Labor Party leaders 
of stealing the leadership race from him and called the 
Knesset bill that would prohibit anyone from holding a 
parliamentary seat while serving as the head of Histadrut a 
"targeted killing."  He insisted that he is the best 
candidate in Labor to advance a social agenda, which he said 
is only way the party can attract right-wing voters.  End 
summary. 
 
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Support for Disengagement and a Palestinian State 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
2. (C) Noting that he lives in Sderot, the town in Israel 
most often targeted by Qassam rockets from Gaza, Peretz said 
he supports disengagement even though it leaves his home 
vulnerable to further attacks.  He said he is "a little 
suspicious" that the GOI wants to provoke a national trauma 
with disengagement in order to shield itself from outside 
pressure on West Bank settlements and the security barrier. 
In his view, ending the disengagement process after Gaza 
would be "disastrous" and result in another Intifada.  The 
GOI will need broad public support to take the next big step, 
addressing the West Bank settlements. 
 
3. (C) According to Peretz, the majority of Israelis support 
the peace process.  He first espoused an independent 
Palestinian state in 1984, because it "is in Israel's 
interests."  He called President Mahmud Abbas a "very good 
partner" worthy of Israeli support.  He noted that he had met 
regularly with Palestinian officials from Tunis while serving 
as mayor of Sderot, even though his contacts had resulted in 
his children facing abuse at school.  Peretz called social 
issues the key to attaining peace.  He said that when 
bulldozers start destroying Israeli settlements, he will tell 
voters "they are burying your future" and stress the large 
sum of money wasted on the settlements.  He suggested that 
the USG could further assist the peace process by providing 
additional economic assistance to Israel and hinted that 
diplomatic pressure could be useful. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Social Issues Key to Labor Leadership and Elections 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
4. (C) Peretz complained that he had been poised to win the 
leadership of the Labor Party a few weeks ago when other 
Labor politicians postponed the vote and "stole the election 
from me."  He called the Knesset bill which would prohibit 
anyone from holding a parliamentary seat while serving as the 
head of the Histadrut labor federation, a "targeted killing" 
designed to complicate his leadership bid.  He claimed the 
bill would have ultimately have little effect, because it 
could be challenged easily before the Supreme Court. 
 
5. (C) Maintaining that he is the only Labor leader capable 
of attracting Likud voters with a social agenda during the 
general election, Peretz joked, "you need Jesus for the 
Annunciation."  He noted that he had been mayor of Sderot, 
normally a stronghold for parties on the right of the 
political spectrum. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Histadrut in Comparison to U.S. Unions 
-------------------------------------- 
 
6. (C) Peretz explained what he sees as the differences 
between U.S. and Israeli labor unions.  As the head of the 
main umbrella organization for labor unions in Israel with 
700,000 members, he has the legal authority to sign all labor 
agreements.  Histadrut receives all dues and distributes them 
to the member unions, further increasing its influence. 
Contracts signed by Histadrut are binding for all workers in 
Israel, he said, not just members of its unions. 
 
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Biographic Notes 
---------------- 
 
7. (C) Speaking English, but frequently reverting to Hebrew, 
Peretz sought help from his aides.  On several occasions, he 
quarreled with them over the translations, saying he was 
looking for a different word.  Peretz joked that he had often 
met Ariel Sharon on weekends, when he would ride his bicycle 
around Sderot and Sharon would be on his ranch with a 
four-wheel ATV.  Peretz was born in Morocco in 1952 and moved 
to Israel at the age of four.  He was severely wounded in 
1974 while serving in the IDF in the Sinai.  After a lengthy 
rehabilitation, he was mayor of Sderot from 1983-1988.  First 
elected to the Knesset in 1988 on the Labor ticket, he formed 
his own workers party in 1999 before rejoining Labor in 2004. 
 He is one of the leading candidates for the Labor leadership. 
 
8. (U) This cable was cleared by staffdel. 
 
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