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FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6987
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 1455
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 0502

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 002215 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2017 
TAGS: PREL KWBG EAID WE IS GZ CA
SUBJECT: CANADIAN CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PALESTINIAN SECURITY 
 
Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary.  In November 28-29 meetings with senior 
Canadian officials, U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC) for the 
Israel-Palestinian Authority Lt. General Keith Dayton 
expressed his high appreciation for Canadian contributions to 
his staff and asked for additional assistance on staff and 
project funding.  Canadian officials expressed optimism about 
Canada's ability to make further contributions, again showing 
itself to be a generous partner in building peace and 
combating terrorism.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Lt General Keith Dayton, U.S. Security Coordinator 
(USSC) for the Israel-Palestinian Authority, met with 
Canadian officials November 28-29 on the heels of the 
Annapolis peace conference.  In all meetings, General Dayton 
expressed thanks and appreciation for Canada's contribution 
of six Canadians to his Tel Aviv-based staff, which also 
includes approximately 20 Americans and one Briton.  General 
Dayton stressed that Canada's contribution to his team was 
vital not only because Canada provided outstanding people, 
but also because his Canadian staff members were able to 
travel freely to Palestinian areas including Gaza, while he 
and his U.S. staff faced travel restrictions.  He described 
his Canadian staff members as his "eyes and ears" in his 
team's mission to establish and train Palestinian security 
forces. 
 
¶3. (C) Increasing Canadian staff:  In separate meetings with 
Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay and Chief of 
Defense Staff General Rick Hillier, General Dayton asked for 
additional Canadian staff, notably Canadian Forces (CF) 
officers with logistical experience.  Dayton stated that 
additional staff members would be especially important in the 
coming months because, beginning in January 2008, he expected 
to have access to the USD 86 million that Congress had 
allocated to the USSC.  Minister MacKay told Dayton that 
Canada likely could provide the USSC with four additional CF 
officers.  General Hillier said that the four Canadians 
(three officers and one non-commissioned officer) would 
likely arrive in late January. 
 
¶4. (C) Additional funding:  Separately, Dayton asked Foreign 
Minister Maxime Bernier, International Cooperation Minister 
Beverly Oda, and Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister's 
Office Ian Brodie to consider funding Palestinian security 
projects, which Canada could announce at the December 17 
Paris donors' conference.  General Dayton admitted that it 
was difficult to convince donors to contribute to Palestinian 
security because the only visual that taxpayers might 
immediately see would be "Arabs with guns."  He commented 
that donors were more interested in funding projects such as 
schools and hospitals, but underscored that such projects 
could not succeed without first establishing security. 
 
¶5. (C) Setting priorities:  General Dayton cited two security 
projects as most urgent: establishing penal and judicial 
systems in the West Bank city of Nabulus, and providing the 
Palestinian Authority with money for pensions for older 
security officers.  He stated that Palestinian PM Salam Fayad 
had sent a Palestinian security force to Nabulus -- formerly 
one of the most violent cities in the West Bank -- to crack 
down on criminals and gangs in an effort to establish Nabulus 
as a model for security in the West Bank.  General Dayton 
said that this effort had been surprisingly successful, but 
noted that, in order for the project to succeed fully, Fayad 
Qnoted that, in order for the project to succeed fully, Fayad 
needed funds for penal and judicial systems so that the 
authorities could try and incarcerate criminals after arrest. 
 Regarding pensions, General Dayton explained that the USSC 
could not effectively train Palestinian security forces until 
after hiring new, younger officers.  He said this would only 
be possible when older Palestinian security officers retired, 
which would not happen until they were able to receive 
pensions.  General Dayton said that he recognized this would 
be a politically difficult project for a Western country to 
fund, since some could equate it to paying off former 
terrorists, and suggested instead that Canada could help urge 
Arab countries to fund this project. 
 
¶6. (C) Canadian willingness:  Foreign Minister Bernier 
expressed strong agreement with the emphasis on security in 
the West Bank, and predicted that Canada would likely be able 
to contribute funds to security projects in the Palestinian 
territories.  Bernier had already concluded that funding 
security was a precondition for successful economic and 
social projects, based on Canada's experience in Afghanistan. 
 International Cooperation Minister Beverly Oda also promised 
seriously to consider General Dayton's suggestions. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Comment:  Once again, Canada is showing itself as a 
generous partner in building peace and combating terrorism, 
 
OTTAWA 00002215  002 OF 002 
 
 
with its likely additional contributions of staff for USSC 
and funding for priority projects in Palestinian territories. 
 
 
Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap 
 
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