US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV6760

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 006760 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/IPA AND EUR/AGS, PRM FOR ACTING A/S GREENE, L 
FOR BELLINGER, NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA, NSC FOR 
ABRAMS, H, L 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/02/2015 
TAGS: IS, PGOV, PREF, PREL, SZ, GOI EXTERNAL, ISRAELI SOCIETY 
SUBJECT: EMBLEM: GOI LISTS NATIONS MAYBE WILLING TO SPEAK 
OUT IN FAVOR 
 
REF: GENEVA 02903 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  MFA Director for International 
Organizations and Human Rights Daniel Meron asked poloff 
December 2 to pass to the Department a list of nations that 
the GOI believes might be willing to speak publicly before or 
during the diplomatic conference in favor of adopting the 
Third Additional Protocol.  Meron also said that the Egyptian 
delegation in Geneva is leading efforts to re-open the 
protocol for discussion, a move that Meron said the GOI 
adamantly opposes.  ICRC Head of Delegation Dominik Stillhart 
reported December 1 ICRC and Swiss Government concern that 
the Syrians and other OIC countries have already proposed 
over 10 amendments to the protocol, and said he expects they 
will propose many more.  Their concern about Syria led Swiss 
government officials, Meron reported, to arrive uninvited at 
MDA President Noam Yifrach's private residence in Tel Aviv 
late December 1 to convince him to fly immediately to Geneva 
to speak to Syrian Red Crescent Society (SRCS) President Abdu 
Rahman Attar, who arrived in Geneva the same day.  Meron said 
he is confident that Yifrach will not fly to Geneva to speak 
to Attar, and said that instead Yifrach will fly to Geneva on 
Sunday night "on the same flight that I am taking" in order 
to attend Monday's diplomatic conference.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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NATIONS THAT MAY BE WILLING TO SPEAK OUT IN FAVOR 
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2.  (C) Meron provided poloff a list of countries that the 
GOI believes might be willing to speak publicly before or 
during the diplomatic conference in favor of adopting the 
Third Additional Protocol. 
 
- Africa: Kenya. 
- Australia. 
- Asia: Japan and South Korea. 
- Europe: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, 
Holland, Italy, Sweden, Romania, United Kingdom. 
- Middle East: Jordan is favorable but cannot speak out. 
- North America: Mexico and Canada. 
 
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GOI OPPOSES RE-OPENING THE PROTOCOL 
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3.  (C) Meron reported that the Egyptian delegation in Geneva 
has led efforts to re-open the protocol for discussion, a 
move that Meron said the GOI adamantly opposes.  He said GOI 
officials are disappointed that Swiss Ambassador at Large for 
the Emblems of the Geneva Conventions Didier Pfirter has 
worked to accommodate the demand of the Syrian government 
that the SRCS reach an agreement with MDA prior to the 
conference. 
 
4.  (U) ICRC Head of Delegation Dominik Stillhart called 
poloff December 1 to report ICRC and Swiss Government concern 
that the Syrians and other OIC countries have already 
proposed 10 to 12 amendments to the Third Additional 
Protocol, and said he expects many more amendments will be 
proposed before and during the conference.  He said that 
emblem opponents who can no longer base opposition to the 
emblem conference on the claim that the timing is not right 
have begun instead to focus on the substance of the protocol 
itself. 
 
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GOI DOES NOT WANT YIFRACH TO SPEAK TO THE SYRIANS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
5.  (U) Stillhart also said that MDA President Noam Yifrach 
told him December 1 that he does not plan to leave Israel in 
the next few days.  Stillhart said he suspects the GOI has 
pressed Yifrach not to return to Geneva prior to the 
conference, where he would have the opportunity to speak to 
SRCS President Abdu Rahman Attar (reftel).  As of early 
December 2, Stillhart reported that Swiss officials had not 
been able to convince Yifrach to return to Geneva. 
 
6.  (C) Meron told poloff December 2 that Swiss government 
officials arrived uninvited at Yifrach's private residence in 
Tel Aviv late December 1 to convince him to fly immediately 
to Geneva to speak to Attar, who arrived in Geneva the same 
day.  Meron said he is confident Yifrach will not fly to 
Geneva to speak to Attar, and that instead Yifrach will fly 
to Geneva on Sunday night "on the same flight that I am 
taking" in order to attend Monday's diplomatic conference. 
 
7.  (U) Meron said he was concerned about Israel TV Channel 
10 news reports December 1 claiming that Syrian and Israeli 
government officials planned to discuss humanitarian issues 
related to the Golan Heights.  Channel 10 said that the GOI 
refuted this report, according to Meron, who also said PM 
Sharon denied GOI contact with Syrian officials during a news 
conference December 1. 
 
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JONES