VZCZCXRO3004
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #1049/01 1021652
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 121652Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4567
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001049 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MEPN KPAL PHUM EG IS
SUBJECT: ALLEGATIONS OF POW KILLINGS DURING 1967 WAR 
CONTINUES TO BE A SOURCE OF IRRITATION 
 
REF: CAIRO 624 
 
Classified by ECPO Counselor Catherine Hill-Herndon for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) The controversy sparked by an Israeli documentary 
film alleging that 250 Egyptian POWs were killed by the IDF 
at the end of the 1967 war has dropped from the front pages, 
but remains close to the surface and will likely continue as 
a source of irritation in the bilateral relationship with 
Israel for some time.  Strong denials by the Israeli minister 
at the center of the controversy, along with admissions by 
the film director that he erroneously described Palestinian 
commandos as Egyptians helped to reduce the severity of the 
Egyptian reaction.  However, additional allegations of 
Israeli mistreatment of Egyptian POWs in other conflicts, 
along with general public discontent over failure to settle 
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, have kept the issue alive. 
Public pressure is cited as the primary motive behind 
Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit's request that Israel 
provide clarifications on the issue, and that the 
International Committee of the Red Cross investigate.  It 
remains unclear whether the ICRC has been formally approached 
by the Egyptians to pursue the matter.  End summary. 
 
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Shaked Documentary Roils Feathers and More 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (C) Charges leveled in a recent Israeli documentary film 
that Israeli soldiers killed Egyptian POWs in Sinai at the 
close of the 1967 war (ref A) continue to serve as a point of 
serious irritation in the bilateral relationship between 
Israel and Egypt.  The Egyptian media, members of Parliament, 
and the Egyptian public have reacted with furor over the 
film's allegations, shown on Israeli television in late 
February.  Neither the strong denials by the Israeli 
commander who headed the IDF unit portrayed in the film, nor 
public admission by the film's director, Ran Edelist, that 
the film mistakenly portrays Palestinian commandos who were 
killed as "Egyptians" has quelled public outrage, due in part 
to Egyptian media's failure to focus on Edelist's admissions. 
 Also, numerous other accounts alleging cruel treatment of 
Egyptian POWs at the hands of Israeli soldiers during other 
conflicts have surfaced and are fueling continued calls for 
investigations and retribution.  Caught in the middle - 
wanting to protect the key bilateral relationship with Israel 
while strongly defending Egyptian pride and security - is the 
Egyptian government, particularly the Foreign Ministry. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
GOI Minister, Close to Egypt, Strongly Denies 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, 
commander in June 1967 of the Shaked Force at the center of 
the controversy, has strongly denounced accusations leveled 
in the film, insisting that the 250 "soldiers" killed by 
Israeli forces near El Arish were not Egyptian soldiers but 
rather Palestinian "fedayeen" commandos based out of Gaza. 
Egypt's newspaper of record Al Ahram - interestingly the 
first to print news of the Israeli documentary film, 
published an exclusive telephone interview with Eliezer on 
March 5, in which he asserts that no Egyptian soldiers were 
in the area at the time.  In the interview, he describes the 
battle against the Palestinians and asserts that the Israeli 
who appeared in the documentary stating that Egyptians were 
killed, mistakenly assumed that the troops were Egyptians 
since Gaza was under Egypt's administrative control at the 
time. 
 
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Egyptian Official Views 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Following up on the issue, poloff on April 12 
discussed the POW/film controversy with MFA Palestinian 
Affairs Director Randa Labib and Cabinet Staff Member Ahmed 
Hafez.  Labib said that the GOE had taken a political 
decision to try and contain the situation early after the 
story broke.  She noted that within the MFA questions were 
raised about the story being first reported by Al Ahram 
newspaper, Egypt's official paper of record.  She speculated 
that many in the senior ranks of the Egyptian media, official 
papers included, harbored deep resentment towards Israel and 
its treatment of the Palestinians and other Arabs.  She said 
that FM Aboul Gheit was "crucified" by the Parliament and 
media after he rejected calls to break relations with Israel, 
 
CAIRO 00001049  002 OF 002 
 
 
and demanded that Israel clarify the factual content of the 
film's allegations.  The minister's anger over the situation 
was evident during a March 20 meeting with visiting Assistant 
Secretary Welch, to whom he complained vigorously about the 
 
SIPDIS 
Israeli side causing the flap.  He admitted that Israeli FM 
Livni, in a clearly unusual move, had called Egyptian 
Intelligence Chief Soliman earlier that day to request he 
help tone down Aboul Gheit's public discourse on the topic. 
 
¶5.  (C) Asked what impact the flap had had on Egypt-Israel 
ties, Labib noted that a planned visit by Eliezer to Egypt 
had been cancelled and that other possible senior-level 
visits for the time being would be difficult.  The people in 
the street are outraged, she said, even if the film maker 
admitted mistakes and Eliezer denies the story.  The damage 
is done, whether intended by the Israelis, or not, she said. 
Asked for details about the historical events at the center 
of the controversy, she said that according to the written 
transcript of the film (translated into Arabic by the 
Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv), the fighters - whether 
Palestinian or Egyptian - were shot by IDF forces from 
helicopters and not killed in cold blood.  She said the 
killings took place after Israel had taken control of the 
Sinai, at the very end of the 7-day war (consistent with 
Eliezer's Ahram assertions).  Any Palestinians in the Sinai 
then, she said, would have been from Gaza and would not have 
had Egyptian citizenship or residency status.  Egypt was 
administratively responsible for Gaza until the conclusion of 
the war, so would have had close ties with any Palestinian 
forces in the region.  They would not have been wearing 
Egyptian military uniforms, she asserted. 
JONES