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 001730 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2016 
TAGS: PTER ECON ETRD KWBG KPAL ASEC EG IS PEL ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS HUMANITARIAN AID
SUBJECT: MAY 1 UPDATE ON CROSSINGS ISSUES 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 ¶1. (C) Summary:  Brig. Gen. (res.) Baruch Spiegel on May 1 
briefed the Ambassador, USSC Head General Dayton, and EU-BAM 
head of Mission General Pistolese on his recent trip to 
Washington.  Spiegel said the GOI will issue a formal 
position on which assistance projects can continue.  He said 
the GOI remains interested in tunnel detection technology and 
noted suspicious activity near Kerem Shalom and an Egyptian 
report of an underground tunnel near Rafah.  The Ambassador 
said that such instances underscore the urgency of moving 
forward on a tunnel detection system.  Spiegel said that 
discussions regarding a customs protocol are ongoing at the 
highest political levels of the GOI.  General Dayton said it 
is important to get a formal GOI decision on whether Israeli 
officials will join a meeting of the AMA's Security Working 
Group if the Palestinian side is represented by officials 
from the Office of the PA President on the new Border 
Crossing Administration under his control.  Dayton noted that 
donors are strongly supportive of strengthening the PA 
President and entities under his control. End summary. 
 
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TRIP TO WASHINGTON 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (C) On May 1, Brig. Gen. (res.) Baruch Spiegel briefed the 
Ambassador, USSC Head General Keith Dayton, and EU-BAM head 
of Mission Lt. Gen. Pietro Pistolese on his recent trip to 
Washington.  He said that a team of seven-eight Israelis was 
invited by the Brookings Institute to Washington.  They also 
met with members of Congress, DAPNSA Elliott Abrams, and 
State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary 
David Welch.  Spiegel said that the GOI is still analyzing 
which foreign assistance projects should continue.  After the 
analysis is complete, he said, the GOI will issue a formal 
position.  Spiegel said the Israeli Ambassador in Washington 
will be in contact with U.S. officials on this matter. 
 
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TUNNEL DETECTION 
---------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Spiegel said that the GOI remains interested in 
tunnel detection technology and hopes to meet with a U.S. 
expert who will be visiting Amman in the near future. 
General Dayton said that he would also soon travel to Amman 
and would encourage the security expert to visit Israel. 
Spiegel said the GOI still wants to send a team of security 
experts to the U.S. to check out tunnel detection systems; 
the Israeli Ambassador and Defense Attach in Washington are 
handling this issue.  He noted that Israeli officials are 
investigating suspicious activity near Kerem Shalom (which 
may or may not be a tunnel) and that Egyptian officials have 
reported that there is a tunnel near Rafah.  The Ambassador 
interjected that such cases underscore the urgency of moving 
forward on a tunnel detection system. 
 
¶4. (C) Spiegel noted the well-publicized incidents in which 
Palestinian police prevented a terrorist attack at Karni last 
week.  While the Israeli government applauds the actions of 
the Palestinian police, he said, it is nonetheless concerned 
by the fact that the owner of the stolen car used in the 
attack had not been detained.  Spiegel said that close to one 
ton of explosives were in the car and, despite press reports 
to the contrary, none of the five terrorists involved in the 
incident were apprehended.  He said that the GOI would like 
to see the USSC-organized security meetings at Erez continue 
and would like to isolate all the crossings from security 
threats.  General Dayton said that he would also like to see 
the security meetings, like the one held in Erez a month ago, 
continue.  Moreover, Dayton said he wants to organize a 
meeting of the Security Working Group called for in the 
Agreement on Movement and Access.  He would, however, first 
like to know whether Israeli officials will meet with 
Palestinian officials from the Office of President Abbas or 
the Border Crossing Administration, which is under his 
control.  Spiegel replied that this was a policy matter well 
above his pay grade, but he undertook to forward it to the 
incoming GOI for a decision.  (FYI: MFA CoS Yaki Dayan told 
the Ambassador May 2 that he had already received Spiegel's 
report on the meeting and would brief his minister on 
Dayton's request.) 
 
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NEW BORDER AGENCY 
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¶5. (C) EU-BAM Head of Mission Lt. General Pietro Pistolese 
said that the new Border Crossing Administration under Abbas 
officially has been formed, but may exist only on paper. 
General Dayton said that the border agency has an 
administrator and claims to have 1,600 employees.  He said 
that before funding, training, or equipping such a force, he 
wants to do a thorough assessment of the organization. 
Pistolese said that the presidential guard currently at the 
Rafah crossing may not be getting a regular salary.  He 
suggested that Rafah could be self-financing or there may be 
a way to provide funding directly to the agency.  The 
Ambassador said that perhaps the BCA could make Rafah 
self-supporting through user fees. 
 
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CUSTOMS PROTOCOL 
---------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Pistolese said that the Egyptians are ready to accept 
exports from Gaza at Rafah, but do not want to proceed 
without the Israelis being on board.  Spiegel said that the 
Egyptian Ambassador told him that Egypt is waiting first for 
the GOI and the PA to reach an agreement.  He noted that the 
Ambassador had been working to help the two sides reach a 
customs protocol.  Spiegel said that the customs protocol is 
being discussed at the highest political level of the Israeli 
government, and the GOI may have something ready by next 
week.  The Ambassador said that the customs agreement is 
another aspect of the issue of whether the GOI can deal with 
Mahmud Abbas separately from the Hamas-led PA. 
 
¶7.  (C) General Dayton briefed the group on the donors 
meeting in London on April 27.  He said that the more than 12 
organizations in attendance strongly support strengthening 
the PA presidency and entities under the president, as well 
as oppose doing anything with Hamas.  General Dayton said 
that he has plans to build the capacity of the presidential 
guard and the border agency as well as encourage the 
Palestinian security forces to move into northern Gaza to 
deal with the Kassam rockets, moves which the donors strongly 
support.  It would be helpful, however, General Dayton said, 
to know if the GOI objects strongly to such plans.  He said 
the goal is to create a force that could help with security 
at the crossings, and not pose a threat to Israel.  General 
Dayton said he would talk to Israeli General Kaplinsky before 
proceeding with any plans.  Spiegel said that the IDF would 
continue working "professionally" with Palestinian contacts, 
at the "working level" until the new GOI set its policy. 
 
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INCREASE IN EU-BAM PERSONNEL 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Pistolese said that he has asked for more monitors. 
He said that by the end of May EU-BAM monitors and armed 
security personnel should total 79.  Currently, the monitors 
work for 11 hours each day, but should increase that to 15 
and then 18 hours when all the new personnel are in place. 
(However, Pistolese told the Ambassador on May 2 that 
operations would remain limited to daylight hours for the 
time being in light of a terrorist threat against the EU/BAM 
reported by Egypt.) 
 
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