VZCZCXRO9870
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #0302/01 0401618
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 091618Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5397
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 02 TEL AVIV 000302 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM SY IS
SUBJECT: DRUZE DEPUTY MINISTER PROMOTING GOLAN DRUZE 
CONTACTS WITH SYRIA 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James B. Cunningham, Reason 1.4 (b) (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary.  Deputy Minister for the Development of the 
Negev and Galilee  and member of Knesset Ayoub Kara briefed 
the Ambassador February 9 on his projects promoting closer 
ties between residents of the Golan Heights and Syria.  Kara, 
a Likud Party member who is also Druze and the only Arab 
member of the Netanyahu government, took credit for an 
initiative to open the Golan border with Syria once a month, 
claiming that 600 Golan residents have visited Syria in the 
past year, including 50 women.  Kara also said he has been 
approached by unidentified Syrian representatives interested 
in providing irrigation water to the Golan.  The Druze on the 
Golan reportedly export apples to Syria, which the Syrians in 
turn re-export to the Gulf.  The additional water would 
enable Druze farmers to expand their apple production, and to 
grow additional produce.  Kara argued that expanded human 
contact and economic  ties between the Golan Druze and Syria 
would help create a more conducive atmosphere for 
Israeli-Syrian ne 
gotiations.  Noting that Prime Minister Netanyahu supports 
his efforts but does not want to push too hard due to the 
opposition of other ministers, Kara requested that the U.S. 
Embassy in Damascus convey U.S. support for the water idea to 
the Syrian government.  The Ambassador made no commitment but 
said we would report his request.  Kara also made an 
impassioned plea on behalf of the residents of Ghajar, 
arguing that it made no sense to divide the village, whose 
residents have no desire to become Lebanese and whose 
territory should not have been divided by the UN.  He warned 
that proceeding with the UN solution would lead to tension in 
the area.  The Ambassador replied that we recognize that the 
villiage is in a difficult situation, but we support 
implementation of UNSCR 1701 and that the UN proposal being 
discussed with Israel is a good faith effort to find a 
solution.   End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara, accompanied by his 
office director Mendi Safadi and an Israeli academic, Effi 
Lahav, called on the Ambassador February 9.  PolCouns also 
attended the meeting.  In a previous meeting with PolCouns, 
Kara described himself as the Israeli Arabs' channel to the 
Netanyahu government.  As a Druze, Kara takes a strong 
interest in the well-being of the Druze on the Golan Heights, 
and has also presented himself as representing the interests 
of the Alawite residents of the divided village of Ghajar on 
the border between the Golan and Lebanon. 
 
¶3.  (C) Kara claimed that since becoming deputy minister 
about a year ago, he has taken the initiative to arrange the 
monthly transit of Druze residents, including religious 
leaders, from the Golan to visit their families and Druze 
religious congregations in Syria.  According to Kara, about 
600 Golan residents have been able to visit Syria as a 
result, including the first fifty women to visit Syria from 
the Golan.  Kara also said he had secured GOI permission for 
16 Druze university students who had studied in Damascus to 
return to the Golan.  Kara said that in addition to the 
humanitarian aspect, he hopes to establish economic links 
between the Golan and Syria that will help calm the 
atmosphere between Israel and Syria.  Kara said Prime 
Minister Netanyahu supports his efforts, but Netanyahu does 
not want to push too hard since other members of the 
coalition, in particular Foreign Minister Lieberman, are 
opposed to facilitating contact between the Golan Druze and 
Syria.  Since both the Israeli and Syrian governments are 
"afraid" of such contacts, Kara said the project needs 
support from the outside, especially the U.S. 
 
¶4.  (C) Kara said he had heard that Syria may be interested 
in providing water for irrigation to Druze apple farmers on 
the Golan.  Druze farmers currently export apples to Syria, 
which the Syrians re-export to the Gulf, and with additional 
water they could expand their cultivation.  Kara claimed 
Minister of Agriculture Simhon supports this idea, and Kara 
wants to send a delegation of Druze to Syria to explore 
Syrian interest.  He appealed for U.S. support, noting that 
while a water deal would be good for Israel, the GOI is 
"afraid to take further steps."  The Ambassador noted it 
would help if the overall Israeli-Syrian atmosphere were more 
positive.   Kara mistakenly commented that the U.S. has 
returned its ambassador to Syria, and suggested that the U.S. 
ambassador could convey a supportive message on the water 
issue to the Syrian government.  The Ambassador explained 
that we have not yet announced our ambassador-designate, but 
we do maintain a political dialogue.  He noted that while the 
ICRC is supporting humanitarian visits to Syria by Golan 
Druze, economic cooperation such as the water project would 
require the support of the Israeli and Syrian governments. 
He assured Kara that he would inform Embassy Damascus and the 
State Department of Kara's activities. 
 
TEL AVIV 00000302  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5.  (C) On Ghajar, Kara said he is in close contact with the 
residents and noted that they are opposed to the UNIFIL plan. 
 Kara said the UN had made a serious error in 2000 when it 
based the Blue Line on the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916, 
when none of the current states in the area existed, so that 
the UN-drawn Blue Line cut through the middle of the village. 
 Kara noted that while the Ghajar residents received Israeli 
citizenship after 1967, they are Syrian Alawites who have 
never considered themselves Lebanese and have no connection 
to Lebanon.  Kara said the best solution would be to adjust 
the border between the Golan and Lebanon so that Ghajar could 
remain united.  He cautioned that the Ghajar residents may 
resist UNIFIL and that imposing the UNIFIL plan will raise 
tensions in the area.  The Ambassador recongnized the 
difficulties facing the village but noted U.S. support for 
implementation of UNSCR 1701.  The UNIFIL plan under 
discussion with Israel is a good-faith effort to find a 
workable solution. 
 
¶6.  (C) Comment:  We are skeptical about the prospects for a 
water agreement of the sort Kara mentioned, but his promotion 
of closer human contacts between the Golan Druze and 
relatives in Syria appears to us to be both a positive 
humanitarian development and a small step toward confidence 
building. 
Cunningham