VZCZCXRO3658
OO RUEHROV
DE RUCNDT #0111/01 0570009
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 260009Z FEB 10
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8234
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000111 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2020 
TAGS: PREL KPKO KPAL KWBG UNSC IS LE IR
SUBJECT: READOUT OF SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MEETING WITH 
ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Alex Wolff for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: The Secretary-General met with Israeli 
Defense Minister Barak in New York on February 24.  According 
to a UN staff readout, UN colleagues were disappointed that 
Barak did not come with anything new on Gaza for the 
Secretary-General, who had hoped to get GOI concurrence to 
move materials through the crossings for UN projects in Gaza. 
 Barak, according to both UN and Israeli Mission readouts, 
largely attributed continued Israeli restrictions on Gaza 
crossings to Gilad Shalit's detention.  Barak thanked the 
Secretary-General for his report to the General Assembly in 
response to the Goldstone resolution.  While the 
Secretary-General pressed Barak on Israeli overflights of 
Lebanon and the need to withdraw from northern Ghajar, Barak 
called on the UN to focus on strategic violations of UNSCR 
1701, especially arms smuggling, though he did not provide 
the Secretary-General with any evidence.  The 
Secretary-General said he hoped there would be an agreement, 
before the next Quartet meeting, on holding proximity talks 
and said GOI actions on Israeli heritage sites in the West 
Bank and against houses in Silwan were not helpful.  Barak 
called for decisions to be made on Iran and asked for the 
Secretary-General's support.  The Secretary-General replied 
that the matter was up to the P5 1 and the Security Council. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) The Secretary-General met with Israeli Defense 
Minister Ehud Barak in New York on February 24.  PolOff 
received readouts of the meeting from UN Department of 
Political Affairs (DPA) Senior Political Officer Lee O'Brien 
(please protect) and Israeli Mission to the UN Political 
Counselor Amir Weissbrod.  Both noted that part of the 
meeting was one-on-one and neither had yet received a readout. 
 
Gaza 
---- 
¶3.  (C) O'Brien said that she and her UN colleagues were 
disappointed by the meeting because Barak "did not come with 
anything on Gaza."  They had expected him, at minimum, to 
respond to the Secretary-General's request to move forward on 
the UN's proposed projects in Gaza, especially those related 
to the use of the USD 10.5 M payment from Israel in response 
to the Gaza Board of Inquiry findings.   Weissbrod said that 
Barak gave a long briefing on Gaza and confirmed that his 
ministry was working with the UN through COGAT.  After 
approving the delivery into Gaza of sheets of glass, he 
announced that they would next allow in aluminum frames. 
O'Brien said that Barak attributed the lack of significant 
progress on opening the crossings to the continued detention 
of Gilad Shalit which she found odd since the GOI had told 
the UN when it appeared that Shalit's release was imminent 
that his release would not make a difference on their 
operation of the crossings.  Weissbrod confirmed Barak's 
stress of the Shalit issue as a significant block for the 
GOI, as well as concerns that items allowed into Gaza could 
be used militarily by Hamas.  Nevertheless, he said that 
Barak noted the GOI's continued willingness to move forward 
with previously approved projects, including sewage and water 
projects. 
 
Goldstone 
--------- 
¶4.  (C) O'Brien noted that Barak did thank the 
Secretary-General for his report to the General Assembly in 
response to the Goldstone resolution.  Weissbrod shared that 
the Secretary-General said he would likely be submitting 
another report to the GA in five months, given the General 
Assembly's likely upcoming action, and that he hoped for 
transparency in the investigations, to which Minister Barak 
responded with a discussion of asymmetric warfare, the 
Palestinian resort to "lawfare," and the threat this posed to 
democracies fighting terrorism. 
 
Lebanon 
------- 
¶5.  (C) According to Weissbrod, the Secretary-General voiced 
concern about the escalating rhetoric in the region but noted 
Barak's helpful statements.  The Secretary-General raised 
overflights and Ghajar, noting the UN/GOI meetings this week 
on a possible Israeli withdrawal from northern Ghajar.  Barak 
responded by underscoring the need for the UN to deal with 
the strategic violations under UNSCR 1701, such as arms 
smuggling, since Israel only conducts overflights to monitor 
the situation.  Weissbrod said that Barak stressed that 
Hizballah has more equipment than most armies in the region 
and the UN needs to tackle the issue of Hizballah's 
disarmament.  O'Brien noted that Barak did not offer any 
concrete evidence of arms smuggling to the Secretary-General. 
 
 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000111  002 OF 002 
 
 
Peace Process 
------------- 
¶6.  (C) Weissbrod reported that the Secretary-General told 
Barak that he was encouraged that Abu Mazen had agreed to 
move to proximity talks but understood that he is still 
asking clarifying questions to the USG.  The 
Secretary-General also said he planned to attend the Quartet 
meeting in March and hoped there would be a firm agreement to 
begin proximity talks before then.  Weissbrod also relayed 
that the Secretary-General told Barak that the GOI's 
announcement on Israeli heritage sites in the West Bank and 
actions towards houses in Silwan were not helpful. 
 
Iran 
---- 
¶7.  (C) Weissbrod said that Barak raised Iran with the 
Secretary-General and said it was time to take decisions 
since a nuclear Iran will change the Middle East and he 
called for the Secretary-General's support.  The 
Secretary-General, according to Weissbrod, said he was 
worried and that the issue must be dealt with by the P5 1 and 
the Security Council. 
RICE