VZCZCXRO3560
OO RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTC #0830 1041110
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 141110Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5413
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 2846
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0811

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000830 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAL KWBG GZ IS NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/PALESTINIAN ASSISTANCE:  NO AID TO OR 
THROUGH HAMAS 
 
REF: A. STATE 56323 
     ¶B. THE HAGUE 701 
     ¶C. "POLITICS IN THE NL" 4/12-4/13/2006 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  The Dutch support channeling Palestinian 
assistance through non-Hamas channels, but worry that 
existing aid organizations do not have the absorptive 
capacity to handle a large cash influx.  The Director of the 
Dutch MFA's Department of Middle Eastern and North African 
Affairs hopes to discuss this question and other issues when 
she visits the U.S. April 19-21.  The GONL rejects the 
conclusions of a recent paper by a government-sponsored think 
tank advocating establishing contacts with Hamas and 
Hizballah.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Dutch government will reject contacts with Hamas 
and Hamas-led Palestinian entities as long as the 
organization refuses to recognize Israel, renounce violence 
and terror, and accept previous international obligations, 
according to Henriette van Lynden, Director of the Department 
of Middle East and North African Affairs at the Dutch MFA. 
On April 13, POLCOUNS delivered ref a points on the USG's new 
strategy for Palestinian Assistance, as well as the text of 
the Secretary's April 7 statement, State Department fact 
sheet, and transcript of A/S Welch's press conference to van 
Lynden and MFA Senior Policy Expert Roger van Laak.  Van 
Lynden and van Laak stressed that the new U.S. strategy was 
consistent with the Dutch national approach and that of the 
EU. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Although van Lynden and van Laak agreed that more 
aid should be channeled through non-Hamas channels, they 
questioned whether UNRWA and other assistance organizations 
had sufficient absorptive capacities to handle the 
anticipated increase in funding.  POLCOUNS suggested that 
this was a technical matter rather than a policy question, 
and should be taken up in the appropriate fora.  Van Lynden 
agreed, and said she hoped to have an opportunity to discuss 
this question and other related issues with USG interlocutors 
during her upcoming visit to Washington and New York April 
19-21. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Referring to press reports, POLCOUNS asked how the 
government planned to respond to a recently released 
Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) paper 
advocating that the GONL establish contacts with "political" 
elements within Hamas and Hizballah (ref c).  Noting that 
Foreign Minister Bot had already forcefully rejected the 
notion of such ties (refs and c), van Laak confirmed that the 
GONL was required by law to respond in parliament to the WRR 
report within the next several weeks.  (Note:  The WRR is a 
government-funded think tank but operates independently; its 
mandate includes producing provocative, "outside the box" 
recommendations which frequently challenge existing GONL 
policies.  End Note.)  While the paper, entitled "Dynamism in 
Islamic Activism, Leads for Democracy and Human Rights," 
covered many different subjects, van Laak continued, he had 
no doubt that the formal GONL response would reject its calls 
for establishing contact with terrorist groups like Hamas and 
Hizballah.  Politically, he said, there was "absolutely no 
flexibility" on this point within the GONL, and he strongly 
doubted that public opinion would favor such a step either. 
 
BLAKEMAN