US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV6333

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 006333 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/IPA AND EUR/AGS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2015 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, KPAL, IS, SZ, GOI EXTERNAL, ISRAELI SOCIETY, HUMANITARIAN AID 
SUBJECT: EMBLEM: GOI REJECTS MDA STATEMENT BUT WILL NOT 
CLARIFY TO CONFERENCE INVITEES 
 
REF: A. GREENE-WALLES E-MAIL 10/15/2005 
     B. GENEVA 02395 
 
Classified By: Richard H. Jones for reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT:  Israeli MFA Director for 
International Organizations and Human Rights Daniel Meron 
told poloff November 1 that the Government of Israel (GOI) 
has made clear to the Swiss its rejection of the widely 
disseminated oral statement by MDA Chairman Noam Yifrach, but 
has not specifically asked the Swiss to advise conference 
invitees of the GOI rejection.  Yifrach's September 27 oral 
statement in Geneva stipulated that once the MDA joins the 
Red Cross Movement its "geographical scope" will be "confined 
to the State of Israel within its internationally recognized 
borders." (ref A)  Meron passed to poloff the October 6 
letter from MFA Deputy Director General for International 
Organizations Affairs Aharon Leshno Yaar to Swiss Ambassador 
at Large for the Emblems of the Geneva Conventions Didier 
Pfirter, which states that Yifrach's oral statement is "not 
binding on or reflective of the position of the State of 
Israel."  Describing Yifrach's oral statement as "political 
dynamite" in Israel, Meron told poloff that the GOI has "no 
intention whatsoever to stop settlers receiving services from 
the MDA."  Meron, however, said he does not believe that 
Yifrach's oral statement will disrupt plans for the December 
5 conference on the Third Protocol, and insisted that 
"Yifrach will not repeat such statements in the future." 
Post notes that the GOI decision to leave it up to the Swiss 
to decide whether or not to communicate GOI opposition to 
Yifrach's oral statement, which the Swiss disseminated to 
conference invitees, may itself be "political dynamite" if it 
leads participants to attend the December 5 conference on the 
basis of false expectations about GOI willingness to accept a 
delimitation of MDA activities in the occupied territories. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
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IMPORTANT MEETINGS ALREADY CONVENED 
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2. (C) Meron reported that since the October 31 departure 
from Israel of Swiss FM Calmy-Rey, officials have begun 
"moving very quickly" to prepare for the conference.  He said 
that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
Representative in Israel has already convened meetings 
between the MDA and the PRCS.  In addition, Meron reported, 
Israeli Ministry of Defence Advisor BG (res) Baruch Spiegel 
met with the ICRC on November 1 to discuss how the GOI can 
lift restrictions on movement for PRCS ambulances in the West 
Bank and East Jerusalem. 
 
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YIFRACH'S ORAL STATEMENT IS "POLITICAL DYNAMITE" 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
3.  (C) Meron explained that he does not believe Yifrach's 
September 27 oral statement in Geneva will disrupt plans for 
the December 5 conference.  Swiss FM Calmy-Rey respected Yaar 
and Meron's request that she not raise the issue of Yifrach's 
oral statement during her meetings with Prime Minister Sharon 
and Foreign Minister Shalom. 
 
4.  (C) Meron also reiterated in strong terms the GOI 
position vis--vis the oral statement Yifrach delivered in 
Geneva.  While the GOI supports Yifrach's written statement 
of September 27 on behalf of MDA, Meron said, he stressed 
that "we have nothing to do with his oral statement," which 
Yifrach pronounced on the same date.  (ref B)  Describing 
Yifrach's oral statement as "political dynamite" in Israel, 
Meron insisted that the GOI has "no intention whatsoever to 
stop settlers receiving services from the MDA."  For the 
Jewish people in Israel and abroad, he explained, MDA is a 
"powerful symbol of unity."  Meron also confidently predicted 
that "Yifrach will not repeat such statements in the future." 
 
5.  (C) Meron cited the Oslo Agreements in explaining that 
the issue of health services in the occupied territories is 
to be resolved during final status negotiations.  Only the 
Palestinians have recently urged MDA to consider delimiting 
its area of operations, Meron said; no one else, he stressed, 
including the Europeans, has pressed the GOI on this issue. 
Meron also reported, however, his personal belief that the 
Swiss "dictated to Yifrach" the language he employed in his 
oral statement of September 27, which Ambassador Pfirter then 
transcribed and broadly circulated in a letter to other 
delegations on September 30.  (ref B)  The Swiss may have 
been motivated, Meron explained, by their fear that the 
states in the Organization of the Islamic Conference will 
seek to undermine any conference on the Third Additional 
Protocol. 
 
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OFFICIAL LETTER FROM YAAR TO PFIRTER 
------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (C) Meron passed to poloff the October 6 letter from Yaar 
to Swiss Ambassador Didier Pfirter, the full text of which 
follows: 
 
"It has been brought to my attention that at a meeting in 
Geneva on September 27, 205, Dr. Noam Yifrach, in his 
capacity as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Magen 
David Adom Society, signed a declaration on issues relating 
to the use of the emblem.  On the same occasion he made some 
oral remarks. 
 
"Dr. Yifrach has advised me that these oral remarks were made 
informally in a personal capacity, and so they do not 
necessarily reflect the position of the Magen David Adom 
Society in Israel.  It goes without saying that they are not 
binding on or reflective of the position of the State of 
Israel." 
 
7.  (C) Meron asked that the USG not share this text with 
outside parties.  Meron also said that the GOI has not asked 
FM Calmy-Rey to clarify either publicly, or in private 
communication with other participants in the planned December 
conference, the GOI position with regard to Yifrach's oral 
statement.  Nor, Meron said, does the GOI intend before the 
conference to comment, publicly or through channels, on 
Yifrach's oral statement. 
 
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