US embassy cable - 05PARIS7439

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 007439 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PINR, IS, FR 
SUBJECT: ISRAELI FM SHALOM VISITS PARIS, TOULOUSE 
 
REF: PARIS 7398 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT, FOR REAS 
ONS 1.4 B/D 
 
1. (C) Summary: Israeli FM Sylvan Shalom concluded a 3-day 
visit to France on Saturday, October 29 after visiting Paris 
and Toulouse.  Although Shalom's visit was planned as the 
latest in a series of bilateral efforts to improve the 
Israeli-French relationship, international issues 
predominated, especially after the Iranian President's widely 
condemned remarks calling for Israel to be "wiped off the 
map" (reftel).  In a private meeting with Douste-Blazy, 
Shalom forcefully argued against the inclusion of Hamas in 
the Palestinian political process, a demarche that a French 
diplomat called "disappointing."  End summary. 
 
2. (C) Shalom arrived on October 27 and, while in Paris, met 
with FM Douste-Blazy, Senate President Christian Poncelet and 
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.  A local Israeli Embassy 
contact told Poloff October 26 that Shalom's visit should be 
seen as a follow-up to Prime Minister Sharon's visit to 
France in July and FM Douste-Blazy's visit to Israel in 
September.  The Israeli and French governments are working to 
upgrade their cultural and educational ties, said the Israeli 
diplomat. 
 
3. (C) On October 28, Poloff met with Herve Besancenot, the 
MFA's DAS-equivalent for Egypt and the Levant, and discussed 
Shalom's visit.  Besancenot said Douste-Blazy and Shalom 
discussed a range of current issues in their private meeting, 
including the Middle East Peace Process, the political 
process in Gaza, Iran nuclear challenges and the Iranian 
President's widely condemned remarks.  According to 
Besancenot, Shalom criticized Palestinian PM Abbas for 
failure to reign in militants and urged France to support the 
political isolation of Hamas.  Besancenot said France had 
expected a more moderate line from Shalom, and feared that 
the Israeli government was engaged in a process of 
"Arafatization" of Abbas.  In addition, France had hoped, 
said Besancenot, that Shalom would be more pragmatic 
regarding Hamas' participation in the Palestinian political 
process.  Nevertheless, France was pleased that Shalom 
appeared more open to the idea of an EU-led mission to 
monitor the Gaza/Egypt border, said Besancenot. 
 
4. (C) On Iran, Shalom praised France's condemnation of 
Ahmadi-Nejad's remarks, although he said nobody should be 
surprised by what Ahmadi-Nejad said.  Shalom said 
Ahmadi-Nejad was following the same line as that of former 
President Rafsanjani, although Ahmadi-Nejad was less 
sophisticated.  Besancenot also said Shalom praised 
French/U.S. cooperation on Syria/Lebanon.  Iraq was not 
discussed. 
 
5. (C) At the tail end of Shalom's visit, he and Douste-Blazy 
addressed a regional umbrella group of Jewish organizations 
(CRIF-Toulouse) in Toulouse.  According to APP Toulouse, 
Shalom reprised the same themes he had focused on in official 
meetings in Paris.  He emphasized that Hezbollah should be 
viewed in the same light as al-Qaida and discussed Israeli 
efforts to upgrade relations with moderates in the Muslim 
world.  Shalom also praised French efforts as exemplary in 
fighting anti-Semitism. 
 
6. (SBU) In his follow-on speech, Douste-Blazy focused on the 
need to assist Gaza in building its rule of law and political 
stability, and raised the continued importance of the Road 
Map with regards to the Middle East Peace Process.  Straying 
from his prepared remarks, Douste-Blazy said that at first, 
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon had not impressed him. 
However, said Douste-Blazy, his opinion of Sharon changed 
after a long conversation with him in which the Israeli PM 
said he was tired of war and had become a man of peace. 
Douste-Blazy said he came away from that meeting very 
impressed with Sharon. 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
White