VZCZCXRO9643
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUCNDT #0072/01 0301942
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 301942Z JAN 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5725
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000072 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2019 
TAGS: EG IR IS KPAL KWBG LE PAL SY UNSC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RICE'S MEETING WITH ISRAELI AMBASSADOR 
SHALEV 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Rice, For Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  Israeli Permanent Representative to the 
United Nations Gabriela Shalev on January 28 welcomed 
Ambassador Rice to her new post during their initial meeting. 
During the hour-long meeting, Shalev stressed Israel's 
commitment to the peace process while isolating Hamas and 
ending smuggling to Gaza; her hope of broadening Israel's 
engagement with the UN; and Israel's assessment of the 
potential dangers of possible U.S. outreach to Iran.  End 
Summary. 
 
Gaza and the Peace Process 
 
 ¶2. (C) In Ambassador Rice,s initial meeting with Israeli PR 
Gabriella Shalev on January 28, Shalev stressed that Israel 
still believes that a peaceful outcome to the Gaza crisis and 
the implementation of the two-state solution are achievable 
goals.  Referring to the upcoming elections in Israel, she 
said that the resulting coalition, regardless of its makeup, 
would continue negotiations with the Palestinian Authority 
and would not talk with Hamas in any case.  Ambassador Rice 
noted that the President was already making good on his 
promise to engage early on the peace process by naming 
Senator George Mitchell as special envoy.  Mitchell was in 
the region right now, and his first challenge would be to 
work to advance a durable ceasefire. 
 
¶3. (C) Ambassador Shalev said she had recently met with John 
Holmes, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian 
Affairs, and with Karen AbuZayd, the Commissioner-General for 
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine 
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), with whom she said the 
Israeli Mission had "open and good" relations.  Ambassador 
Shalev underlined that Israel currently allows humanitarian 
and reconstruction supplies into Gaza and wants to expand its 
deliveries, but is hesitant to broaden its list of goods 
allowed into Gaza to include items such as cement because of 
fears that Hamas will appropriate them.  Ambassador Shalev 
said Israel's entire operation in Gaza will have been in vain 
if smuggling into Gaza is not stopped, and she highlighted 
the Memorandum of Understanding signed between former 
Secretary of State Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Livni, 
which aims to stem the flow of smuggled weapons and 
explosives into Gaza, as an important step.  Ambassador Rice 
said she understood Israel's dilemma in delivering supplies 
to Gaza, and said that UNRWA appears to have a good record of 
getting its supplies to the intended recipients.  Rice said 
she too had recently met with John Holmes and Karen AbuZayd 
and emphasized that their key points to her were that border 
crossings need to be opened--while preventing smuggling and 
resupply of arms-- in order to increase the volume of trucks 
and supplies to Gaza, and that the list of permissible goods 
needs to be expanded.  She added that she had been with 
President Obama when he visited Sderot last July, and had 
seen firsthand the complex topography, geography, and the 
complexity and difficulty of the situation. 
 
¶4. (C) Shalev said that the goals of the military operation 
in Gaza were to achieve the release of imprisoned Israeli 
soldier Gilad Shalit and to stop the rocket attacks into 
Israel.  She stressed that peace and security cannot be 
forced upon Israel or decided by anyone else; they must be 
decided by the parties in the context of peace negotiations. 
Israel cannot accept any international pressure to replace 
the negotiations between the parties, she said, noting that 
Israel preferred not to have any Security Council products 
coming out of meetings on the Middle East because the 
Security Council cannot take the place of actions and 
progress on the ground.  She then said that she was speaking 
confidentially, but wanted to note that during the 
negotiations surrounding the drafting of Resolution 1860 
(which calls for "an immediate, durable and fully respected 
cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces 
from Gaza"), the Israeli delegation,s experience was that 
the UK and France were not trustworthy and that the U.S. was 
a more helpful and honest friend of Israel. 
 
Broadening Israel's Role in the UN 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ambassador Shalev said one of her priorities when 
she arrived in New York in September, and one of the Israeli 
Mission's core goals, was to move the Israeli delegation 
beyond being what she called a "one-issue mission," which was 
perceived as focusing only on the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict.  However, she said her arrival coincided with a 
host of Middle East issues, including Gaza, which undermined 
her goal of broadening Israel's work in the UN.  Israel has 
felt an increase in its isolation at the UN in recent months, 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000072  002 OF 002 
 
 
Shalev stated, but still hopes to change that and hopes to 
offer assistance to African nations and cooperate with the UN 
on a range of issues. She recognized that the U.S. is often 
placed in a difficult position by supporting Israel at the UN 
and expressed her appreciation for our continued support and 
friendship.  Ambassador Rice responded that the U.S. attaches 
great importance to its relationship with Israel, and that we 
share Israel's goals of expanding cooperation at the UN and 
believe there will be opportunities coming up on a broad 
range of issues, including energy and climate change. 
 
Iran 
 
¶6. (C) Ambassador Shalev said she recognized the Obama 
administration's desire to consider opening dialogue with 
Iran. She emphasized, however, that Iran supports Hamas to 
Israel's south and Hizballah to Israel's north, and with 
regard to its potential for nuclear weapons, Israel would be 
Iran's first target.  Ambassador Rice said a nuclear-armed 
Iran would be a grave security threat to the region, the 
U.S., and the world, and that the U.S. will continue to work 
to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 
Nonetheless, she said the Obama administration does not 
accept the view that there are can be only two outcomes 
regarding Iran's nuclear program -- a nuclear-armed Iran or a 
war to keep that from happening.  Either of those would be a 
very bad outcome, and we want to work to avoid them. 
Although there are currently no plans for outreach with Iran, 
she said, any effort would combine pressure with diplomacy, 
including the possibility of direct diplomacy, working with 
the P5 1. Ambassador Rice was quick to assert that the USG is 
realistic that any dialogue with Iran would be difficult, and 
success was far from assured. 
RICE 
Rice