VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJM #4511/01 2891228
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161228Z OCT 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5404
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 004511 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR 
WILLIAMS/SHAMPAINE/STEINGER; NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS; 
TREASURY FOR SZUBIN/LOEFFLER/NUGENT/HIRSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PREL PGOV ETRD KWBG IS
SUBJECT: PALESTINIANS SEEK PROGRESS ON RAFAH/KEREM SHALOM 
AMA IMPLEMENTATION 
 
REF: JERUSALEM 4472 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: ConGenoffs, accompanied by USSC, USAID and 
Embassy Tel Aviv representatives, met October 12 with 
Palestinian negotiators from the previous PA government who 
were involved in the negotiation of the Agreement on Access 
and Movement (AMA).  The informal meeting, the second in a 
series of preliminary brainstorming discussions intended to 
reinvigorate AMA implementation efforts, focused exclusively 
on the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings with Egypt. 
The Palestinian team pressed for Rafah to be open for Gazan 
exports into Egypt; GOI signature of the Customs Protocol; 
clearance of commercial cargo imports at Kerem Shalom by PA 
and Israeli customs inspectors; expansion of the categories 
of travelers able to use the Rafah passenger crossing; and 
regular access of the EU-BAM monitors to the Rafah crossing 
and of all parties to the Joint Liaison Office.  End summary. 
 
Rafah needs to open for exports 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Palestinians, led by representatives of the 
PLO's Negotiations Support Unit (NSU) and including former PA 
Planning Minister Ghassan al-Khatib, raised the need for the 
export of goods from Gaza through the Rafah crossing.  Except 
for a March 14 shipment of three truckloads of Palestinian 
goods for a trade show in Cairo, commercial cargo has not 
been exported through the Rafah crossing.  The Palestinians 
noted Egyptian President Mubarak's positive comments to PA 
President Abbas on the subject and stressed that the flow of 
commercial cargo exports would be a significant boost to the 
Gazan economy.  They urged the USG to press Cairo to send the 
necessary instructions to the Egyptian crossing at Rafah for 
the start of commercial exports, even if only for transit 
shipments through Egypt to third country destinations, using 
the March 14 arrangement. 
 
Lack of signature on Customs Protocol; 
no clearance of commercial cargo imports 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Palestinian team reminded USG representatives 
that the Kerem Shalom crossing, per the AMA, should be a 
temporary crossing for imports into Gaza from Egypt.  Per the 
AMA, after 12 months of PA customs officials clearing 
incoming cargo at Kerem Shalom under the supervision of 
Israeli customs agents, a third party would review the PA's 
customs capacity and make a joint decision regarding future 
arrangements.  The Palestinian team noted the GOI's refusal 
to sign the Customs Protocol or to acknowledge via letter to 
the USG its applicability at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom 
crossings.  As a result, there have been no commercial 
imports to Gaza via Kerem Shalom since the AMA was concluded. 
 A Palestinian contractor working for the European 
Commission-funded ASYCUDA customs database implementation 
project said the Palestinian side had submitted a proposal on 
how to work at the Kerem Shalom crossing under the 
supervision of Israeli customs agents but had not received a 
response to date from the GOI.  Though some humanitarian 
cargo has been cleared at Kerem Shalom by Israeli customs, 
Palestinian customs agents are not present and have not 
received any data on the humanitarian cargo clearances, 
according to the contractor. 
 
Rafah -- successful passenger crossing 
but want broader use 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Palestinian team noted that the EU-BAM has 
favorably commented on the Palestinian operation of the Rafah 
passenger border crossing, the only area in which the 
Palestinians have been given the opportunity to demonstrate 
their capability.  The Palestinian team raised two proposals 
to expand operations at Rafah: (1) open the crossing to all 
travelers, possibly with a 48-hour notification period for 
non-Palestinian identity card holders, or (2) expand the 
categories of travelers able to use Rafah to include 
journalists and third country nationals of Palestinian 
heritage, who do not hold a Palestinian identity card. 
(Note: Per the AMA, only Palestinian identity card holders 
and the four categories of travelers requiring 48-hour 
pre-notification (diplomats, foreign representatives of 
recognized international organizations, investors, and 
humanitarian cases) can cross at Rafah.  End note.)  The NSU 
 
advisors also highlighted the need for the GOI to provide the 
PA with complete information concerning Palestinian ID 
holders outside of the country, as called for in the AMA. 
They noted that they have examples of Palestinian ID holders 
who are not on the original list that the GOI shared with the 
PA.  (Note: Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in 
the Territories (COGAT) Major General Mishlev gave PA Civil 
Affairs Minister Dahlan a digital copy of the Palestinian 
population registry on November 24, 2005.  The Palestinian 
side continues to note that the registry was not complete and 
they are aware of specific names that are not included on the 
registry but should be.  End note.) 
 
Access of EU-BAM monitors to Rafah and 
access by all to Joint Liaison Office 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Palestinian team raised again the issue of 
access to the Rafah crossing by the EU-BAM monitors, noting 
that EU-BAM monitors can only access Rafah through the Kerem 
Shalom crossing that the GOI controls.  Even if the EU-BAM 
monitors accessed Rafah through the Egyptian side, the 
Palestinian team noted that Israeli control of the Kerem 
Shalom crossing could prevent operations at the Joint Liaison 
Office (JLO) at Kerem Shalom.  EconChief raised the 
possibility of a back-up JLO, should there be a problem with 
the main office at Kerem Shalom.  The Palestinian team noted 
that there had been no discussion to date of a back-up site 
for the JLO. 
WALLES