US embassy cable - 05AMMAN5931

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005931 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM AND NEA, GENEVA FOR RMA, USUN FOR ECOSOC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2015 
TAGS: PREF, OPDC, KPAL, KWBG, JO, UNRWA 
SUBJECT: NEW UNRWA COMGEN OUTLINES HER GAZA DISENGAGEMENT 
STRATEGY 
 
REF: STATE 127444 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b) an 
d (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: UNRWA's new Commissioner-General (ComGen) is 
modifying her agency's Gaza disengagement response plans as a 
result of meetings she has had with PA President Abbas and 
with Quartet Special Envoy for Disengagement James Wolfensohn 
since her appointment.  In an introductory July 20 meeting 
with the Charge, she said she had used her initial meeting 
with President Abbas to signal her growing concern that 
militant violence could force her to evacuate staff from 
Gaza.  However, she assured us that she wants to avoid 
repeating last year's extended evacuation of UNRWA's Gaza HQ 
to Jerusalem and has no current plans to approve such a 
relocation, despite the two-hour kidnapping of an Amcit 
activist and fatal shooting of two settlers July 23-24.  That 
said, the ComGen is likely to permanently assign her 
yet-to-be-identified Deputy to Jerusalem to promote closer 
cooperation with the Wolfensohn team and the PA officials 
engaged in Gaza post-disengagement planning.  Asked about the 
status of UNRWA's emergency food, job creation and housing 
programs in Gaza, the ComGen conceded that the recent settler 
protests had delayed UNRWA's plans to break ground on a 
Saudi-funded Rafah housing project but she was confident her 
agency would have sufficient freedom of movement to complete 
an ongoing July-August emergency food distribution for 
approximately 850,000 individuals in the Gaza Strip.  She is 
appealing to the IDF to extend the hours it is prepared to 
facilitate the movement of UN agencies during disengagement 
to ensure UNRWA can offload a USG-funded September-November 
distribution round scheduled to arrive in Ashdot Port in 
mid-August.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) Charge delivered the Secretary's congratulatory 
message (reftel) to Karen Abu Zayd, the  United Nations 
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 
East (UNRWA)'s new ComGen, at UNRWA's Amman HQ July 20.  Abu 
Zayd had met Palestinian Authority President Abass earlier 
that day and briefed the Charge on changes she is 
contemplating making to UNRWA's Gaza disengagement strategy 
as result of that meeting and other discussions she has held 
with Quartet Special Envoy James Wolfensohn since her 
appointment. 
 
RELOCATING SENIOR STAFF TO JERUSALEM TO SUPPORT WOLFENSOHN 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
3. (C) Abu Zayd told Charge that she had hoped to use her 
first post-appointment meeting with Abu Mazen (July 20) to 
discuss UNRWA's potential role in the post-disengagement Gaza 
development programs, as well as her obligation to review 
staff security in light of the recent up tic in militant 
violence.  However, security dominated her discussion after 
Abu Mazen told her flatly that the PA "can only manage to 
focus on security now."  Abu Zayd indicated that she is 
concerned that the current levels of violence could force her 
to repeat the decision her predecessor made last year to 
temporarily re-locate UNRWA's Gaza HQ to Jerusalem, but 
stressed that she wanted to avoid evacuating UNRWA staff.  In 
a subsequent July 24 telcon with refcoord, Abu Zayd confirmed 
that she has decided to maintain her agency's current Gaza 
staffing, noting that there was strong staff support at an 
internal July 22 UNRWA Security Management Committee meeting 
she chaired to remain in Gaza.  She noted that she had also 
taken this decision in close consultation with the UN's 
Department of Safety and Security following the two-hour 
kidnapping of an Amcit activist in the Gaza Strip and fatal 
shooting of two Israeli nationals near the Abu Kholi junction 
July 23-24. 
 
4. (C)  However, Abu Zayd suggested that she is planning to 
assign her yet-to-be-named Deputy ComGen to Jerusalem for six 
months, if not on a permanent basis, to ensure that UNRWA has 
consistent senior-level coordination with the Wolfensohn team 
and the PA.  On the ComGen Deputy search, she told the Charge 
that she and UN SYG Chef de Cabinet Mark Malloch Brown had 
agreed to finalize a Deputy UNRWA ComGen short list before 
July 26, and explained that identifying a candidate who could 
improve UNRWA's funding situation would be the driving factor 
in her selection.  Indeed, she revealed that she had already 
rejected two qualified internal candidates in favor of an 
outside candidate from the Gulf, Europe or Japan that would 
be more likely to spur additional voluntary contributions. 
(NOTE:  In a follow-up July 24 telcon, Abu Zayd told refcoord 
that her staff had consulted several regional governments 
over the last week, but had been unsuccessful in identifying 
an Arab candidate.  Without offering names, she said her 
current short list consisted of four candidates from Japan, 
Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.  She thought it unlikely 
that her deputy would be appointed ahead of disengagement, as 
only two of these four candidates had definite interest in 
the position, and only the Japanese candidate had the clear 
support of his government.  END NOTE.) 
 
5. (C)  In addition to re-locating her Deputy, Abu Zayd told 
refcoord June 24 that she will likely re-assign the agency's 
Director of Operations to Amman to "force that individual to 
work with all of UNRWA's fields and programs" but suggested 
that she would not force current Gaza Field Director/Director 
of Operations Lionel Brisson to relinquish his operations 
role before he is scheduled to retire later this year. 
 
DISRUPTIONS TO GAZA EMERGENCY PROGRAMMING 
----------------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) Abu Zayd told refcoord July 24 that she used a July 
21 meeting with Major General Yossef Mishlev to formally 
request that the IDF extend its plan to facilitate the 
movement of UN and other aid workers from 6 p.m. on Friday to 
6 p.m. Sunday during disengagement by an additional three 
hours on Fridays to help UNRWA avoid a break in its emergency 
food pipeline this fall.  (NOTE:  UNRWA needs to offload a 
September-November food distribution scheduled to arrive in 
Ashdot Port in August.  END NOTE)  Asked about UNRWA's 
current access to the Gaza Strip and its impact on its 
emergency food, job creation and housing projects, Abu Zayd 
said that recent settler protests had forced UNRWA to 
postpone a July 18 ceremony to lay the cornerstone of their 
Saudi-funded emergency Rafah re-housing project.  However, 
she was confident that UNRWA's ongoing July-August emergency 
food distribution (to approximately 145,000 households) would 
not be disrupted "for more than 48 hours at time" -- despite 
the fact that UNRWA is still facing the potential logistical 
problem of transporting food from its warehouses in Gaza City 
and Rafah to four camps located between the Abu Kholi and 
Netzarim junctions in central Gaza that are particularly 
vulnerable to closure. 
 
RECONSTRUCTION - UNRWA RAMPING UP MICRO-CREDIT LENDING 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
7. (SBU) Finally, Abu Zayd noted that UNRWA is preparing to 
use current funding to ramp up its micro-finance and housing 
projects in Gaza to support Wolfensohn's Rapid Action Plan. 
She explained that UNRWA has USD 15 million to implement its 
new 2005-2009 Medium Term Plan, and had decided to allocate 
it evenly to its five fields, noting that that decision had 
been well-received by senior Jordanian and Syrian officials 
concerned the agency would divert resources to Gaza.  Abu 
Zayd added that Wolfensohn had encouraged UNRWA to submit 
additional, longer-term reconstruction projects in the areas 
of micro-credit, camp development and education to his team 
this month.  (NOTE: UNRWA's External Relations Director 
backbriefed USAID West Bank/Gaza and regional refcoord on the 
reconstruction projects it has submitted to the Wolfensohn 
team (matrix emailed to PRM) in Tel Aviv, July 21.  END 
NOTE.) 
 
8. (U)  This message was cleared by Embassy Tel Aviv and 
Consulate General Jerusalem. 
HALE