VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2798/01 3501144
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151144Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9598
INFO RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 1005
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7821
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0603

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002798 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KWBG UN IS
SUBJECT: UN Rapporteur Falk Denied Entry Into Israel 
 
¶1. (U) On the night of December 14, Israel denied entry at Ben 
Gurion airport to AmCit Richard Falk.  Falk, who was attempting to 
enter on his U.S. tourist passport, is the UN Human Rights 
CommitteeQs Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in 
the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967.  Israeli officials 
have informed the Embassy that their decision to deny entry to Falk 
was based on the fact that Israel believed the intention of his 
visit to be official UN business inconsistent with a tourist visa. 
His detention overnight at Ben Gurion before being returned to the 
United States will be reported to CA septel. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Eviatar Manor, MFA Deputy Director General for 
International Organizations (A/S IO equivalent) told A/DCM on 
December 15 that the final decision to deny Falk entry was made 
December 13 by MFA IO Division in consultation with the North 
America Division and IsraelQs mission in Geneva.  Manor said the 
Israeli Mission in Geneva informed the UNHRC  on December 11 that 
Falk would not be granted a visa on either his UN Laissez-Passer or 
his U.S. passport.  Manor said that based on this information, the 
GOI assumed Falk was aware that he would not be admitted if he 
arrived in Israel. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)   According to Manor, the decision to deny entry was based 
on FalkQs stated views, his Human Rights Committee mandate, and his 
actions following his last visit to Israel in June/July 2008. 
During that visit, Manor said that Falk arranged with the Israeli 
government to enter on his U.S. tourist passport solely to speak at 
a West Bank University and not in his official UN capacity. 
However, after returning to New York, Falk made a report to the 
Human Rights Committee based on his visit.  Manor commented that the 
MFA felt that Falk had abused the agreement whereby he was permitted 
to enter Israel and the West Bank.  NOTE: Falk made a report to the 
Third Committee of the 63rd General Assembly during its meetings on 
September 22nd and 23rd meetings.  In his report, he said that the 
information in his report Qrelied on the best available open 
sources, as well as on observations gathered during a private visit 
to Israel in July 2008, which included a short trip to Ramallah, as 
well as nearby Israeli settlements. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) COMMENT: Richard Falk has frequently stirred controversy 
as an author, academic, and member of the UN Human Rights Inquiry 
Commission for the Palestinian territories in 2001.  He has compared 
the State of Israel to Nazi Germany, said that Israel has Qgenocidal 
tendenciesQ and is approaching a holocaust of the Palestinian 
people, and publicly supported the Palestinian Qright of 
resistance.Q  Israel has interpreted his support of the Qright of 
resistanceQ to mean he is in favor of terror against civilians, 
since the Arabic version of this phrase, QHaqq al-Muqawama,Q is a 
commonly used euphemism in Arabic for terrorist attacks, although 
Falk has denied that he intended to convey support for terrorist 
attacks.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶5.  (U) Also on December 15, the MFA passed a white paper to Embassy 
officials with their official explanation.  Please see full text 
below. 
 
BEGIN TEXT 
 
As part of Israel's well established policy of constructive 
engagement in international scrutiny and dialogue, and its 
cooperation with various international mechanisms, Israel has 
welcomed in the past 3 years the visits of seven special rapporteurs 
of the UN Human Rights Council, one special representative of the UN 
Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. 
 
However, in the case of Prof. Falk, beyond the imbalance inherent in 
his mandate, the bias is further exacerbated by the highly 
politicized views of the Rapporteur himself, in legitimizing Hamas 
terrorism and drawing shameful comparisons to the Holocaust . In 
light of his vehement publications in the past, it is hard to square 
his appointment with the requirements of the Council's own internal 
procedures which call for the appointment of mandate holders who are 
impartial, objective and possess the quality of personal integrity. 
 
 
Hence, Israel has made clear, that Mr. Falk was not invited, nor 
would be welcome in Israel, under his capacity as special 
rapporteur. Notwithstanding Israel's reservation, it has 
nevertheless facilitated Mr. Falk's visit to Israel in June 2008 
under his personal capacity, in order to attend an academic event. 
However, this visit was abused by him for the purpose of presenting 
an imbalanced report before the Third Committee during the 63rd 
session of the UN General Assembly this year. 
Mr. Falk's recent attempt to arrive uninvited under his capacity as 
special rapporteur, fully aware of Israel's clear reservation, 
stands in marked contras to the Manual of Operations of the Special 
Procdures of the Human Rights Council, adopted in June2008, which 
stresses the necessity of consent andcoordination with the state 
concerned, and was terefore denied. 
END TEXT. 
 
CUNNINGHAM