US embassy cable - 05JERUSALEM3528

C O N F I D E N T I A L  JERUSALEM 003528 
 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR GREENE/LOGERFO/WATERS; 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/MUSTAFA; TREASURY FOR MILLS/NUGENT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2015 
TAGS: ECON, PGOV, KCOR, KTFN, KWBG, IS 
SUBJECT: PA MINISTER ASKS USG TO HELP COMBAT GROWING HAMAS 
POPULAR SUPPORT 
 
Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Abu 
Libdeh told Staffdel Savit on July 28 that the Palestinian 
Authority (PA) is working to fight terrorism and beat Hamas 
at its own game by establishing several schemes to protect 
the vulnerable segments of Palestinian society and "keep 
youth in Gaza out of trouble."  He urged the U.S. to invest 
in countering Hamas and protecting Palestinian society from 
fundamentalism.  On the topic of corruption, Abu Libdeh 
conceded that the PA needed to clean up its own act.  He said 
he had initiated changes but his programs were not generating 
much attention.  He acknowledged that the PA was notoriously 
bad at advertising its good works and asked for U.S. support 
to improve PA public relations, emphasizing the importance of 
getting the news of PA reform out to the people.  End summary. 
 
PA COMPETES WITH HAMAS TO PROVIDE FOR DISADVANTAGED 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
2.  (C) In a July 28 meeting, Minister of Social Affairs and 
Labor Hasan Abu Libdeh told Staffdel Savit and Econoffs that 
he was personally dedicated to strengthening the PA social 
safety net and to beating Hamas at its own game.  Abu Libdeh 
complained that Hamas leaders project themselves as 
liberators, providers of the social safety net, and 
protectors of the poor and needy.  Hamas has the resources to 
target the poor, he said, and, through spending small amounts 
of money, the faction gains widespread support.  Abu Libdeh 
noted Hamas's announcement that it would sponsor a mass 
wedding for 450 couples in Nablus at a cost of approximately 
USD 1500 each and grumbled that Hamas would win tremendous 
support within the community as a result.  He pointed out 
that, in contrast, the June 22 PA Cabinet decision to spend 
USD 40 million in Nablus on infrastructure projects and 
improving internal security had generated little attention. 
 
3.  (C) Abu Libdeh referred to several PA programs underway, 
including unemployment subsidies and a temporary work 
program, which target the poorest ten percent of the 
population.  Participants qualify by meeting specific 
conditions, such as keeping their children in school.  In 
addition, he mentioned that the PA's new social safety net 
program would be launched August 1 with USD 60 million from 
the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF).  He also referred to a 
disengagement-related program targeting approximately 20,000 
youth in Gaza to keep them "out of trouble" by having them go 
door-to-door in an attempt to convince Gazans not to cause 
trouble during the Israeli disengagement. 
 
"MR. BUSH MUST COME TO FIGHT TERRORISM HERE IN PALESTINE" 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
4.  (C) Abu Libdeh said that although Hamas membership is 
relatively small, it is increasing and is now the most 
dangerous strategic threat to the historically secular nature 
of the Palestinian people.  He asked that the U.S. invest in 
protecting Palestinian society from fundamentalism.  "The 
country is at a crossroads," he said, adding, "we are a 
secular society being pushed toward fundamentalism; don't 
underestimate this."  He suggested that the USG and PA 
together should establish a "replacement fund" of USD 500 
million to one billion to support activities that maintain 
secularism and wipe out Hamas.  "We are not getting support 
from our Arab brothers," he said, and added that 
unfortunately they were mostly supporting Hamas.  "Mr. Bush 
must come to fight terrorism here in Palestine," he concluded. 
 
CRACKING DOWN ON CORRUPTION - INSIDE AND OUT 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C) Abu Libdeh conceded that the PA needed to clean up 
its own act in terms of corruption, productivity and 
effectiveness.  "We need to operate an effective social 
safety net and buy out the target audience of Hamas" he said. 
He stressed that he is personally encouraging people to set 
up local corruption monitoring teams and has made a deal with 
the labor unions to offer rewards for catching people who 
receive government unemployment checks but are employed.  In 
addition, Abu Libdeh noted that he had spent USD 15,000 on a 
July campaign to publish the names of PA welfare recipients 
and to establish an anonymous tip line the public could call 
to report unemployment fraud.  Unfortunately, he said, only 
100 calls were received.  The Palestinians do not have a 
culture of stakeholding, he conceded, and explained that, 
although there is definitely corruption within the PA, 
private Palestinians are also cheating the system.  He 
emphasized that the PA needs a national database and 
approximately 100 computers to track the distribution of 
benefits, noting that Hamas pays the people in a "nice, 
clean, efficient way" and the PA must do the same. 
 
PROBLEMS OF INCENTIVES 
---------------------- 
 
6.  (C) Lack of resources, unproductive public sector 
employees and dilapidated infrastructure do nothing to help 
win the confidence of the people, Abu Libdeh affirmed.  He 
added that even if the state of the facilities and the 
efficiency of the employees in Ramallah are up to standard, 
most Palestinians do not see what goes on in Ramallah.  He 
grumbled that the 2,200 employees working in the Ministries 
of Labor and Social Affairs are working at approximately 30 
percent productivity.  Going forward, Abu Libdeh stated that 
he wants to establish a task force of 50 energetic people to 
work on these issues and urged the USG to push the PA and 
help with money, access to expertise, and other resources 
necessary to start making changes. 
 
PUBLIC RELATIONS IS A PRIORITY FOR PEACE AND SURVIVAL 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
7.  (C) Abu Libdeh remarked that the recent cancellation of 
the cultural festival in Qalqilya by the newly-elected Hamas 
municipal council was waking up the local population to the 
social realities of their political choice to put Hamas in 
charge.  He said he had instructed his own Ministry staff to 
refrain from working with the Qalqilya municipal council and 
to shift programs away from the municipality, implementing 
them instead through the governor's office, a PA presidential 
appointee.  Abu Libdeh mentioned he was implementing a major 
publicity campaign to highlight PA activities and had doubled 
the benefits going into Qalqilya.  Abu Libdeh said the USG 
should fund an "event management company" (PR firm) to assist 
the PA in highlighting to Palestinians the dividends that 
come from the peace process and what the PA has done for 
them.  EconChief noted that USAID had started to work with 
the PA in this area. 
 
8.  (C) In a separate meeting July 28 Minister of Planning 
Ghassan al-Khatib echoed the importance of PA leadership in 
combating poverty, pointing out the statistical correlation 
between increasing poverty and increasing radicalization and 
highlighting the dire situation the PA will inherit in Gaza 
following the Israeli withdrawal.  According to al-Khatib, 
one third of Gazans are unemployed and two thirds are living 
below the poverty line. 
 
9.  (U) Staffdel Savit did not/not have the opportunity to 
clear on this cable. 
 
WALLES