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DE RUEHTV #2227/01 2821433
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O 091433Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3754
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 002227 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG KISR JO EG IS
SUBJECT: ISRAELI, JORDANIAN, AND EGYPTIAN VIEWS ON 
JERUSALEM TENSIONS 
 
REF: TEL AVIV 2207 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: DCM Luis G. Moreno for reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: An Israeli official provided the official 
view of the October 4 rise in tensions connected to the 
Temple Mount, citing deliberate Palestinian escalation 
despite advance understandings between the Waqf and Israeli 
National Police. The Egyptian and Jordanian DCMs provided 
contrasting perspectives from Israeli experts on the recent 
increased tensions in Jerusalem, with Jordan calling for 
improved Israeli coordination with the Waqf on the Temple 
Mount/Haram al Sharif. Israeli experts believe the incidents 
thus far have been successfully defused, but argue for 
further improvements to be made to reduce tensions in 
Jerusalem. Egyptian and Jordanian DCMs see a sharp rise in 
the pan-Arab popularity of peace process rejectionist Sheikh 
Raed Saleh, leader of the Islamic Movement,s northern branch 
based in Israel and funded from abroad, as Al Jazeera,s 
"Lion of Al-Aqsa." End summary 
 
GOI: Usual Event with an Unusual Response 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶2.  (C) David Segal, Chief of Staff to Deputy Foreign 
Minister Ayalon, told PolOff on October 8 that the problem 
was not Israeli provocations, which always occur this time of 
year and are always controlled, but the decision by 
Palestinians to escalate the events.  When the Temple Mount 
Faithful announced its annual plan to pray on the Temple 
Mount just before the beginning of Yom Kippur September 27, 
Segal said the Israel National Police (INP) affirmed they 
would not allow this group onto the compound.  This has 
happened every year for many years, Segal explained, and 
every year the INP stops them without major incident.  He 
added that the INP informed the Waqf in advance that they 
would not permit the Temple Mount Faithful to enter the 
Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif compound. 
¶3.  (C) Unlike other years, Segal said, this time there was a 
large group of Palestinian protestors waiting near the 
Mughrabi Gate on the compound (note: the majority of the 
protestors were likely Israeli citizens and ID holders. End 
note).  The INP successfully kept the Temple Mount Faithful 
away without difficulty, but the protestors mistook some 
tourists for the Jewish group and began to riot and the 
police were forced to respond to protect the tourists.  Segal 
added that it was clear the the protestors had been organized 
in advance; the police keep the Temple Mount Faithful away 
every year, and only this year did the Muslims decide to use 
it as an opportunity to incite their population.  Segal 
believes that Hamas had a role in the planning, but that the 
GOI also suspects some direct Palestinian Authority (PA) 
involvement.  At the very least, he said, the PA,s public 
statements have not helped reduce tensions. 
Egyptian and Jordanian Perspectives 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶4.  (C) Egyptian DCM Sameh El-Souefi told PolCouns October 8 
that one of the main Muslim clergy involved in claiming that 
the Al-Aqsa mosque is being threatened by Jews and therefore 
must be defended is Sheikh Raed Saleh, the head of the 
northern branch of the Israeli Islamic Movement.  (Reftel 
reports that Sheikh Saleh was briefly arrested earlier this 
week and then banned by a judge from entering Jerusalem for 
thirty days.)   El-Souefi said that Saleh has become a hero 
throughout the Arab world due to Al-Jazeerah,s coverage of 
his activities, noting that Jazeera now calls Saleh "the lion 
of Al-Aqsa."  Saleh, in his view, is using the tensions 
surrounding the Haram and the heavy Arabic media coverage to 
transform himself from the leader of half of the Israeli 
Islamic Movement into a pan-Islamic figure.  Asked how the 
Waqf views Saleh, El-Souefi said the Waqf is uncomfortable 
with Saleh,s incitement to violence, but at the same time 
they value his collection of financial contributions from the 
Gulf, much of which he reportedly donates to the Waqf.  In 
any event, the Waqf cannot challenge Sheikh Saleh since he is 
now widely perceived by Arabs abroad as almost 
single-handedly repelling Israel,s "designs" against Al-Aqsa. 
¶5. (C) Jordanian Embassy DCM Daifallah Ali Al-Fayez told 
PolOff in an October 8 meeting that the Jordanian Embassy and 
Waqf officials had warned the Israeli National Police (INP) 
of potential violence on the Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif, 
but that the warnings were ignored. He said the warnings 
began September 26, the day before Yom Kippur and that they 
specifically asked the INP to close off the Haram to 
non-Muslims. The Waqf also warned the INP of the 200-300 
Muslim youths who had stayed overnight October3- 4, but that 
on both occasions the INP refused to make the gesture of 
closing the Mughrabi Gate to all visitors. Al-Fayez said the 
Waqf informed the INP of rumors that the Temple Mount 
Faithful would attempt to enter to pray in the Al Aqsa 
Mosque, but that the Israeli response was that there were 
always such rumors during the Jewish High Holy Days and that 
 
TEL AVIV 00002227  002 OF 003 
 
 
the sole gate for non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount 
would remain open. 
¶6. (C) According to the Israeli MFA,s video footage shown to 
Al-Fayez, the youths assembled inside the Haram on October 4 
threw objects at some of the first visitors who came through 
the gate when it was opened at 0730 -- two French tourists. 
The police then withdrew through the gate and re-entered in 
riot gear. Many of the youths gathered inside the Haram came 
to Jerusalem from northern Israel in response to a call to 
"defend Al Aqsa" that was issued two days earlier by Sheikh 
Raed Salah of the Islamic Movement,s northern branch in 
Umm-el-Fahm during its annual "Jerusalem Day" conference. 
Al-Fayez claimed that such groups that rejected the peace 
process were gaining influence and credibility and that there 
was a danger that such extremists would set the tone in 
Jerusalem and throughout the Arab world, noting the 
demonstrations that occurred in Jordan as well. 
¶7. (C) Al-Fayez also complained that almost the entire 
Jordanian/Israeli bilateral agenda was concerned with 
Jerusalem and that the government of Israel was "fueling 
tension" by its actions in Jerusalem. He cited the Minister 
of Internal Security,s visit to the Haram, Silwan tunneling, 
settlement expansion, Sheikh Jarrah, and Shepherd,s Hotel. 
He said that relations between the Waqf, which is comprised 
of more than 500 employees directly paid and managed by the 
Ministry of Religion in Amman, and the GOI were characterized 
by deep distrust. He complained of the INP,s sole control 
over the Mughrabi Gate since 2003, whereas previously it had 
been under joint control. Among other complaints were the 
INP,s occasional denial of issuing permits to Waqf 
employees, the detaining of Waqf employees, the denial of 
entry for several hours to Waqf employees on October 4 as 
well as the denial of exit to Waqf employees who were present 
during the riots, and rumors that some Waqf employees had 
been asked to sign agreements with the INP to inform on 
activities within the Haram. Al-Fayez did note, however, that 
the Waqf meets regularly with the INP and exchanges 
information. 
 
 Israeli Perspectives 
----------------------------- 
¶8. (C) Tel Aviv University professor Eyal Zisser, an expert 
on Arab-Israeli relations, told PolOff in an October 8 
meeting that the riots on the Temple Mount were only an issue 
due to a slow media cycle and that he explained as much in 
several televised interviews. He believed the INP handled the 
riots surprisingly well this time, as no blood was shed, 
unlike the five killed in 2000 or the 23 killed on the Temple 
Mount during Sukkot in 1990. 
¶9. (C) Zisser mentioned Jordan,s wish to return to the 
pre-2000 arrangement where the Mughrabi Gate was controlled 
by the Waqf, but noted that it had changed because the Waqf 
kept the gate closed to non-Muslim visitors during 2000-2003. 
In 2003, PM Sharon reopened the gate to all visitors and the 
INP has exercised sole control of the gate since then. He 
noted the INP,s consistent handling of any extremist Jewish 
group attempting to enter onto the Temple Mount and 
questioned whether the Waqf would be able to handle direct 
contact with such groups and deny entry to visitors. He 
further questioned both the need to prevent prayer by 
non-Muslims on the Temple Mount and the legitimacy of closing 
the area to non-Muslims. 
¶10. (C) In contrast to the Egyptian and Jordanian DCMs, 
views, Zisser assessed the attempt of the northern branch of 
the Islamic Movement to incite the riots failed to enhance 
Sheikh Saleh,s standing, which he said has been in decline 
compared with the moderate southern branch of the Islamic 
Movement. He noted that, unlike in neighboring Arab 
countries, religious parties are legal in Israel. He believed 
the police handled Sheikh Saleh,s arrest for incitement well 
and that the court order releasing him but banning him from 
Jerusalem for thirty days was a good demonstration of an 
accountable democracy in action. 
¶11. (C) Jerusalem Institute Director Yaacov Bar Siman Tov 
assessed the situation similarly to PolOff, noting that 
Sheikh Saleh held his yearly rally in Umm-el-Fahm to coincide 
with the Jewish High Holidays specifically to incite crowds 
to journey to Jerusalem expecting to clash with police to 
protect the Haram al Sharif from any third Temple zealots. 
The southern branch of the Islamic Movement, which accepts 
the Oslo accords, also claimed publicly that Sheikh Saleh was 
exploiting the issue for his personal aggrandizement. Hebrew 
University of Jerusalem Professor Yitzhak Reiter detailed in 
the press Saleh,s past actions of walking a fine line 
between political activism and material support for 
terrorism. He also noted Saleh,s limited following among 
Muslims even when he has organized such bussed-in riot 
operations in the past or when he paid for protestors to 
stone vehicles in Umm-el-Fahm last year. Reiter noted that 
Salah,s conspiracy rumors about the Mughrabi Gate were 
successfully countered in 2007 by the authorities, live 
 
TEL AVIV 00002227  003 OF 003 
 
 
simulcasts of the Mughrabi Gate project that refuted Salah,s 
claims. He argued that the GOI could have done more this time 
to defuse tensions through such public education. 
¶12. (C) According to the press, some 6500 Muslim worshipers 
are assembling in Jerusalem to worship today on a day that 
one Egyptian cleric called for as a "Day of Anger" in 
response to last Sunday,s riots. Police allowed entrance 
only to Israeli ID owners who were males over age 50, with no 
restrictions on women worshipers. This evening begins the 
Jewish celebration of Simchat Torah, the final event of the 
Jewish High Holy Days. The INP remains on high alert 
throughout Jerusalem. 
 
CUNNINGHAM