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RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
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S E C R E T CAIRO 003503
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2017
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM KPAL EG IS
SUBJECT: REPAIRING EGYPTIAN-ISRAELI COMMUNICATIONS
REF: A. CAIRO 3263
B. CAIRO 3400
C. CAIRO 3260
D. CAIRO 3262
E. CAIRO 3369
F. CAIRO 3376
Classified By: Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
1.(S) Summary/Introduction: Egyptian-Israeli communications have suffered because of Egypt's management of the Gaza
border, its contacts with Hamas and the impact of both issues on Congressional action to impose conditions on Egypt's
FMF. The Israelis charge that Cairo is soft on Hamas and not just tolerating, but complicit in smuggling. The Egyptians
insist that they are doing their best to stem smuggling and claim national interests, including security, require them
to sustain communications with Hamas. They also blame Israel for the Congressional debate over conditioning USD 200
million of FMF on improvements in Gaza border security, and call this a "hostile act." The Egyptians are so aggrieved
that they now welcome U.S. mediation in their discussions with the Israelis. Each side appears seriously to misjudge the
other's national security and political interests at stake over Gaza/Hamas, and much else. We believe our offer to help
get things back on track by joining Egyptian-Israeli border security discussions should remain on the table. The offer
alone may help repair the seriously strained Egyptian-Israeli bilateral dialogue and thereby enable more cooperation.
End summary and introduction.
Relations sour over smuggling -----------------------------
2. (S) Although we have no intelligence to support Israeli claims that heavy weaponry moves through the tunnels, even
GOE officials privately admit that their anti-smuggling efforts remain insufficiently effective. The GOE still destroys
only tunnel openings, and does not exploit or destroy the primary tunnel network. After the Secretary's intervention on
October 16, Minister Tantawi relented and permitted a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) team to assess the border
situation. Tantawi has responded to that assessment with a Letter of Request for robots to explore the tunnels and
sensors to detect digging, among a total of USD 23 million in specialized equipment and training for border security.
The USACE experts were careful to warn, however, that the Gaza border situation represents a "worst case" situation for
tunneling, and that equipment is only part of the solution.
3. (S) A serious political commitment, supported by dedicated and properly trained personnel, is key to progress. The
Egyptians claim that they respond aggressively to Israeli intelligence leads, while both sides bicker over whether and
how Egypt could deploy more Border Guard Forces. Meanwhile, the Egyptians continue to offer excuses for the problem they
face: the need to "squeeze" Hamas, while avoiding being seen as complicit in Israel's "siege" of Gaza. Egyptian General
Intelligence Chief Omar Soliman told us Egypt wants Gaza to go "hungry" but not "starve." Minister of Defense Field
Marshal Tantawi and the Director of Military Intelligence MG Mowafy both pressed recently for the return of EUBAM
monitors to oversee the crossing between Gaza and Egypt of Palestinians with urgent humanitarian circumstances. In their
moments of greatest frustration, Tantawi and Soliman each have claimed that the IDF would be "welcome" to re-invade
Philadelphi, if the IDF thought that would stop the smuggling.
...worsen over Hamas --------------------
4. (S) On September 30, the Egyptians abetted the passage of 84 alleged Hamas members into Gaza through the Philadelphi
Corridor. Although the Egyptians denied Israeli claims that the group included Iran-trained terrorists, they said they
had tried unsuccessfully to coordinate the Palestinians' return with the Israelis, and could not have a "refugee camp"
in Sinai.
5. (S) Egypt's early December decision to allow approximately 2,000 Hajj pilgrims to enter Egypt at Rafah made matters
worse. Both the Israelis and the PA complained bitterly about apparent Egyptian and Saudi complicity in arranging the
pilgrims' passage, which evidently involved obtaining Saudi visas for the Hajj in Cairo. The Egyptians remind us that
they warned us, the Israelis and the PA that if they did not facilitate the pilgrims' passage, Hamas would blow a hole
in the wall and the Egyptians would not be able to control the influx that ensued (Ref B). They say they chose the least
bad option, and that they are determined to avoid Hamas' exploitation of Egypt by the pilgrims' return journeys later
this month. Whatever the justification, the Egyptians' failure to coordinate their actions with the Israelis or the PA
caused considerable political resentment all around.
...and turn "hostile" over conditioning Egypt's FMF --------------------------------------------- ------
6. (S) Egypt's belief that Israel encouraged Congress to condition a portion of FMF on improved border security has
further heightened tension. The Egyptians were stung by the distribution of an Israeli-MFA paper, and a subsequent
letter from Israeli parliamentarian Yuval Steinitz, criticizing Egypt's counter-smuggling effort on Capitol Hill just as
the budget debates heated up. Although Israeli diplomats here downplayed the MFA paper as unauthorized, Soliman
repeatedly characterized perceived Israeli lobbying as a "hostile act." FM Aboul Gheit did not get the apology he
expected from FM Livni when he met her in Lisbon in November (Ref C). Presidential Advisor Soliman Awad told the
Ambassador that when Mubarak complained to PM Olmert on November 24 that Israel was hurting Egypt on the Hill, Olmert
claimed to have no idea and appeared to blame Defense Minister Barak. (Mubarak had welcomed Barak's interest in coming
to Cairo, and took offense when Barak canceled, evidently under political pressure from Olmert. Amos Gilad is expected
in Cairo on December 17.)
7.(C) Ignoring serious USG and Congressional concerns about human rights, border security, and judicial independence,
the Egyptians have concluded that Israel will be responsible should the U.S. condition a portion of FMF, either in
pending FY08 legislation or in our upcoming FY09 request. They also draw a straight line from the U.S. decision to
increase Israel's FMF (breaking the traditional 3/2 Israeli-Egyptian FMF formula) to Israeli ambivalence about both
Egyptian aid levels and conditionality.
Repairing Egyptian-Israeli Communications -----------------------------------------
8. (S) The Egyptians are surprised and alarmed at the turn their relations with both the U.S. and Israel have taken in
recent months. Mubarak and his security chiefs viscerally want Hamas "to fail." They thought their self-interest in this
objective was so obvious to us, to Abu Mazen, and to the Israelis -- as it is to Mubarak's domestic opposition -- as to
be beyond all question. They are looking for a way to get things back on track with the U.S. and the Israelis and to do
all they can to thwart Hamas, but the GOE is intensely uncomfortable at squeezing the people of Gaza in the face of
opposition charges that Mubarak, as America's tool, is supporting Israel's "siege of Gaza." Also, it is unclear whether
the MOD can get a full grip on the fundamental security concerns in the Sinai, especially smuggling, given the practical
restraints of troop limits and the generally poor performance of the Egyptian armed forces overall. The GOE wants
regular openings at Rafah, when circumstances allow, to reduce the economic pressure that sustains smuggling and to ease
the Gazans' humanitarian crisis while keeping Hamas under pressure. They also want their discussions with the United
States, particularly when it comes to Egypt's FMF, not to pass through a perceived "Israeli filter" (Ref D). Meanwhile,
the Egyptians show no grasp of Israeli outrage at continuing mortar and rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza -- mirroring
the Israeli failure to comprehend the GOE's dilemma over Gaza and Hamas.
9. (S) DASes Danin and Kimmitt made important inroads in Cairo in helping GOE security chiefs understand that their
failure to stop Hamas' exploitation of the Gaza-Egypt border is of direct concern to the U.S, and not merely an artifice
contrived by the Israelis. The Egyptians also now understand that we expect them to cooperate more effectively with
Israel and the PA on this issue, and they seem eager to prove to us that they are doing their part. The fact that the
Egyptians now welcome a trilateral meeting to deal with Gaza border issues (Refs A,D-F) indicates how worried they are
about the strain in their relations with Israel and with us. The sources of greatest tension -- smuggling, Hamas, and
debates over Egypt's FMF -- will persist. We recommend that trilateral meetings (and perhaps eventually multilateral
meetings, with the PA and EUBAM) could only help. Ricciardone