VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #2282 2471221
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041203Z SEP 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 9263
INFO RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 3106
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 2992
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 5591

UNCLAS STATE 092282 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC CVIS KPAL PREF PREL IS
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE - LIMITATIONS ON ENTRY/EXIT TO ISRAEL 
FOR AMCITS 
 
REF: A. A. JERUSALEM 1324 
     ¶B. B. STATE 82689 
     ¶C. C. TEL AVIV 1840 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request.  See paragraph 2. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Action Request: The Department requests that Embassy 
Tel Aviv approach the GOI at the highest appropriate level to 
parallel Department approaches regarding the limitations that 
the GOI has placed on certain Amcit travelers as reported in 
ref A.  Tel Aviv should draw upon the objectives provided in 
paragraph 4 (ref B) to formulate this message. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Background:  The Department continues to receive 
reports of Amcits experiencing problems traveling to and from 
Jerusalem and the West Bank.  Open source reporting continues 
to focus on problems encountered by travelers to Israel, 
including reports in major media outlets.  Congressional and 
community inquiries are increasing, which echo reports from 
ConGen Jerusalem, the PLO Office in Washington and NGOs that 
Amcits are provided with a stamp limiting travel to "PA Areas 
Only."  Also, similar reports note the provision to some 
travelers at Ben Gurion Airport of a form that restricts 
those travelers from entering the West Bank.  This has 
hampered our ability to inform the American traveling public 
of exactly when these restrictions are used and when they are 
not. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ref C reports on an initial demarche made by Embassy 
Tel Aviv to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  The 
Department continues to await a complete answer from the GOI. 
 The Department understands that the GOI is now discussing 
this entry/exit problem at the highest levels of the 
government.  As such, the Department requests that Embassy 
Tel Aviv raise the level of approach to reinforce with senior 
GOI officials the USG's interest in this issue. These 
restrictions have already been raised in meetings between 
senior Department officials and high ranking Israeli 
officials. The U.S. expects all Amcits to be treated equally 
by the GOI, including Amcits of Palestinian and Arab origin. 
In concurrence with higher level approaches in Tel Aviv, the 
Department will continue to press the GOI at the highest 
levels on this issue. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Objectives: 
 
-- Press the GOI to end restrictions targeting certain 
American citizen travelers to Israel, Jerusalem and the West 
Bank.  The GOI has not been specific on the circumstances and 
types of traveler that are being subjected to the new entry 
stamp and the new entry restriction form being employed at 
Allenby and Ben Gurion. 
 
-- Remind the GOI that it is the expectation of the USG that 
all Amcits are treated equally, regardless of their national 
origin or other citizenships.  GOI restrictions that unfairly 
impact Palestinian American or Arab American travelers are 
not acceptable. 
 
-- Request that employees of the Coordinating Office for 
Government Activities in the Occupied Territories (COGAT) be 
instructed not/not to require a letter or fax or any other 
kind of statement or support from the Embassy or Consulate 
General when individuals made subject to these restrictions 
apply for permission to enter areas of the PA from Israel or 
to enter Israel from PA controlled areas.  The fact that an 
individual is a U.S. citizen, and bears a U.S. passport, is 
sufficient evidence of the USG's interest in that 
individual's free passage.  Refer the GOI to the notation on 
the first page of all U.S. passports, which states, "The 
Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby 
requests all whom it may concern to permit the 
citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass 
without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all 
lawful aid and protection."  Requests for additional 
statements of support should not be necessary. In addition, 
since such letters have never resulted in COGAT granting an 
exception to the restrictions, COGAT's purpose in requesting 
them seems only to be only an attempt to avoid responsibility 
for denying an exception. 
CLINTON