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FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS BE

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002060 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAL EAID PGOV
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST: U.S. OBJECTIVES FOR THE AD-HOC 
LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING, SEPTEMBER 22 
 
REF: SECSTATE 95980 
 
¶1. (SBU) EconCouns discussed the upcoming Ad Hoc Liaison 
Committee meeting with MFA Deputy Director General for 
Economic Affairs Irit Ben Abba on September 16.  Ben Abba 
said the GOI was still unclear on why the meeting could not 
have been postponed, though the Israelis welcome the fact 
that it will be held at the sub-ministerial level. Ben Abba 
said she would be heading the Israeli delegation and will be 
accompanied by working-level officials from the Ministery of 
Defense, The Coordinator for Government Activity in the 
Territories (COGAT), the Ministry of Finance, and the 
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On support for the PA's recurrent budget deficit, 
Ben Abba pointed out that there had been few disbursements to 
date of the funds pledged at the last AHLC meeting in Oslo. 
She said it would be important that this AHLC meeting 
underscore the need for more rapid disbursement.  She said 
that on assistance to Gaza, the GOI will have nothing more to 
put on the table pending conclusion of the ongoing 
negotiations for the release of IDF hostage Gilad Shalit. She 
noted in particular that phase one of the Serry Plan was on 
hold, though UNSCO and MOD/COGAT continue to talk at the 
working level in order to be ready to move projects forward 
as soon as the Netanyahu Government gives the go-ahead. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ben Abba asked for USG views on Prime Minister 
Fayyad's announced two-year plan.  EconCouns stressed the 
importance of the plan as a statement of what needs to be 
done if the PA is to be ready to run a modern state. Ben Abba 
said the content of the declaration was of less concern to 
the GOI than the implied two-year deadline, which she 
characterized as "unrealistic and presumptuous" both from the 
political and practical points of view.  In response to the 
talking point on avoiding politicization of the plan through 
public GOI criticism, Ben Abba said that if avoiding 
politicizaion of issues were a serious concern, the meeting 
would have been postponed.  In the same vein, BenAbba said 
the GOI fully expects to have to endur highly politicized 
discussion of the Goldstone eport at the AHLC meeting. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ben Abba said that the GOI expects little positive 
result fro next week's meeting, but said it might possiblyhelp set the stage for a ministerial meeting later in the 
year, linked to resumption of negotiations.  In any case, she 
added, the GOI intends to use the meeting to highlight the 
positive impact of recent GOI policy changes on the 
Palestinian economy, and has produced a 33-page brochure on 
the subject (PDF version emailed to NEA/IPA). 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
********************************************* ******************** 
CUNNINGHAM