This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001619 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/IPA AND PRM FOR PDAS RICHARD GREENE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PREF PGOV SZ IS ICRC HUMANITARIAN AID GOI EXTERNAL
SUBJECT: EMBLEM: FM LIVNI "CRACKED HEADS TOGETHER" TO 
CHANGE MDA STATUTES 
 
REF: A. TEL AVIV 1395 
 
     ¶B. TEL AVIV 1584 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  MFA officials report that an assertive FM 
Tzipi Livni April 23 instigated dramatic progress on, but not 
yet final approval of, the two most controversial among the 
four remaining MDA statute amendments (reftel A) necessary 
for MDA membership in the Red Cross / Crescent Movement.  The 
amendments require approval of both the MDA national council 
and the GOI.  Immediately following Livni's April 20 meeting 
with the Ambassador, during which he strongly urged her to 
take the lead on this pressing issue (reftel B), Livni phoned 
Health Minister Yaakov Edery to schedule an urgent, 
inter-ministerial meeting.  Livni brokered compromises at the 
meeting April 23 on the amendments addressing the MDA 
executive committee and the process for nominating the MDA 
president.  Both compromises still reflect, however, the 
insistence of Health Minister Edery and other government 
officials on continuing GOI involvement in MDA governance. 
If MDA officials approve the two compromise amendments, then 
Minister of Health Edery reportedly will approve the other 
two MDA statute amendments.  Two significant challenges 
remain:  (1) Even if MDA approves the compromises that Livni 
has brokered, it is unclear whether the degree of MDA 
autonomy embodied in the new amendments will be sufficient to 
meet ICRC demands.  (2) If MDA does not approve the 
compromise amendments, then the GOI and MDA will need to 
re-negotiate new amendments, and will not likely complete 
this process before the April 26 ICRC meeting in Geneva.  MFA 
Director of International Organizations Daniel Meron asked 
poloff to ensure that the Department does not/not communicate 
the details listed below to ICRC, IFRC, or MDA until MDA 
President Noam Yifrach has had a chance to address the new 
proposals with MDA officials.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
APRIL 24 STATUS OF THE FOUR CRITICAL AMENDMENTS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2.  (C) The MDA national council approved in 2005 versions of 
the first three of the four amendments listed below.  MFA 
officials could not clarify for poloff whether the first two 
amendments, in their new, compromise form, will once again 
require formal approval by the MDA national council.  The 
fourth amendment listed below still requires approval by the 
national council, and all four require approval by the 
minister of health, but that now appears to be a given 
assuming MDA accepts the proposed compromises. 
 
-- AMENDMENT TO CHANGE COMPOSITION OF MDA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 
 
¶3.  (C) The IFRC-ICRC Joint Statutes Committee requires that 
MDA amend its statutes in order to establish its autonomy 
from the GOI.  This autonomy must be reflected in the 
composition of the MDA executive committee and the process 
through which its members are appointed, but the IFRC-ICRC 
does not specify exact terms for such autonomy.  Current 
rules call for a 15-member executive committee with majority 
government representation.  The new compromise calls for 13 
members with a majority coming from MDA, but the sticking 
point is the review process.  MFA Assistant Legal Advisor Tal 
Becker told poloff April 23 that FM Tzipi Livni "cracked 
heads together" at the April 23 inter-ministerial meeting to 
forge a compromise on this, the most controversial amendment, 
although it remains uncertain at this point whether MDA 
officials will approve the compromise.  According to Becker, 
Livni cajoled officials from the Justice, Health, Foreign 
Affairs, and Finance ministries to accept inclusion of one 
MDA representative on the three-member government review 
panel that will determine suitability of candidates for the 
13-member MDA executive board. 
 
¶4.  (C) MFA Director of International Organizations Daniel 
Meron told poloff April 24 that MDA President Yifrach, who 
also attended the April 23 meeting, will now present this 
compromise proposal to members of the MDA executive committee 
and national council, as well as MDA legal advisors.  In 
order to assert their autonomy from the government, MDA 
officials have until now opposed retention of any sort of 
government review procedure, IFRC Representative Anna Segall 
told poloff April 11.  Segall said that ICRC and IFRC will 
only accept a review procedure that does not undermine MDA's 
autonomy, but she offered no specifics as to what constitutes 
undermining.  Meron implied that the compromise version 
successfully balances the need for both government 
supervision of MDA (demanded by the GOI State Comptroller 
(reftel B)) and MDA autonomy (demanded by ICRC and IFRC), but 
it is unclear whether Yifrach, MDA, ICRC, or IFRC will agree 
that the compromise strikes the appropriate balance.  MDA 
officials must now consider this compromise arrangement. 
 
-- AMENDMENT TO CHANGE PROCESS FOR NOMINATING MDA PRESIDENT 
 
¶5.  (C) ICRC and IFRC have demanded that the minister of 
health not play a part in the process of nominating the MDA 
president, whose appointment receives formal confirmation by 
the State President, and MDA supports this demand.  Health 
Minister Edery, however, has sought to retain control over 
the nomination process.  Meron reported that Livni brokered a 
compromise amendment in which the minister of health can 
neither nominate his own candidates nor "veto" MDA nominees, 
but can select from among three candidates nominated by MDA 
the individual whose name goes to the State President. 
Yifrach must now seek approval of this compromise by MDA 
officials. 
 
-- AMENDMENT TO CHANGE COMPOSITION OF MDA NATIONAL COUNCIL 
 
¶6.  (C) ICRC and IFRC require that the majority of the 
45-member MDA national council be representatives of MDA, and 
the amendment approved by the national council in 2005 meets 
this requirement.  The minister of health, however, has not 
yet approved this amendment.  According to Meron, Minister of 
Health Edery will continue to hold this amendment and the 
amendment that follows "hostage" until MDA agrees to accept 
the GOI proposal on the review procedure for approving 
members of the MDA executive committee.  "As soon as MDA 
agrees to a review procedure," Meron said, then Edery will 
sign the amendment stipulating a change in the composition of 
the national council. 
 
-- AMENDMENT TO ADOPT THE FUNDAMENTAL RED CROSS PRINCIPLES 
 
¶7.  (C) The IFRC and ICRC require that MDA adopt specific 
fundamental Red Cross/Red Crescent principles, which, for MDA 
means approval by both the 45-member national committee and 
the health minister.  The national council membership is 
currently incomplete, however, because the GOI has not 
appointed its 15 members, and other vacancies exist in the 
45-member body.  Meron said that the GOI will press for a 
consensus among government and MDA officials and legal 
advisors that the 23 existing national council members 
consitute a sufficient quorum to approve the amendment to 
adopt the fundamental Red Cross / Red Crescent principles. 
Meron added that Health Minister Edery has agreed to sign 
this amendment as soon as the national council approves it -- 
if MDA agrees to his demand on composition of the review 
panel for executive committee nominees noted in paragragh 3. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
MERON: DO NOT MENTION YET TO ICRC, IFRC or MDA 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8.  (C) Meron asked poloff to ensure that the Department does 
not/not communicate these details to ICRC, IFRC, or MDA until 
Yifrach has had a chance to address the compromise proposals 
with MDA officials. 
 
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