VZCZCXRO0445
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0724 1200853
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 290853Z APR 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1312
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
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NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR 
GOLDBERGER/SHAMPAINE/SACHAR; NSC FOR ABRAMS/PASCUAL; 
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DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE/MEA:MCCLOUD/BORODIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2018 
TAGS:              
SUBJECT: FAYYAD TO DONORS:  ISRAEL "GROSSLY UNDERMINING" PA 
EFFORTS 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
 1.  (SBU) Summary.  PM Fayyad used the final Ramallah 
gathering of donors before the May 2 AHLC meeting to argue 
that the GOI has not met its commitments to improve access 
and movement in the West Bank.  At the same time, he said, 
the IDF's continued security operations undermine his efforts 
to deploy PA security forces (PASF) to improve law and order 
in the West Bank.  Fayyad condemned Hamas' recent terror 
attacks on the Gaza crossing points and said the situation 
would be reversed only by re-opening the crossings under PA 
control.  End Summary. 
 
GOI has "not shown up" 
---------------------- 
 
 2. (SBU) On April 24, Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime 
Minister Salam Fayyad told donor representatives in Ramallah 
that the upcoming Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) needs to 
address Israel's "failure" meet the commitments it made at 
last September's AHLC in New York.  Where the PA and the 
donor community had "by and large" met their obligations to 
undertake meaningful fiscal reform and provide substantial 
budget assistance, respectively, the GOI, he said, had done 
"nothing to little" to ease access and movement in the West 
Bank. 
 
 3. (SBU) Fayyad said that the effort started in New York, 
Annapolis and Paris "has three legs, and cannot stand on two 
alone."  He said that in this "tripartite framework of 
accountability," increased donor funding in 2008 is 
substituting for private sector-led growth that can only 
occur with fewer restrictions on access and movement.  Fayyad 
said the GOI is "the one party that has not shown up."  "This 
point should be made at the AHLC," he urged. 
 
 4. (SBU) Fayyad told donors that the recent GOI removal of 
roadblocks was "insignificant" and took place "mostly on 
backroads."  The impact of the removal for Palestinians, he 
said, "did not come close" to the publicity surrounding the 
announcement.  Fayyad explained that he is frustrated by the 
PA's inability to make any progress on movement and access 
issues with the GOI.  "So we will talk about other things," 
he said.  The PA's priorities, he told donors, are to address 
Israel's "noncompliance" with its Roadmap commitments on 
settlements and security issues, including the situation in 
Gaza. 
 
IDF Raids in the West Bank 
Undermine PA Credibility 
-------------------------- 
 
 5. (SBU) Fayyad said that the GOI's security actions in the 
West Bank "grossly undermine" the PA's efforts to improve 
security.  IDF raids, he claimed, undermine the credibility 
of PA security services in the eyes of Palestinians and, if 
continued, will prevent the PA from fully assuming its 
security responsibilities. 
 
Opening the crossings only way 
to break Gaza's cycle of violence 
--------------------------------- 
 
 6. (SBU) Fayyad also told donors that the PA intended to use 
the AHLC to advance its proposal to re-open Gaza crossings. 
He condemned Hamas, recent attacks on the Nahal Oz and Kerem 
Shalom crossing points "in the strongest terms."  He 
suggested that the international community needs to give 
Gazans "something to lose" in order to break out of the 
"negative dynamic." The only thing that will work, he 
claimed, is to re-open the crossing points under PA control. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 7. (C) In closing, Fayyad told donors that he had "a very 
negative assessment" on the status of negotiations and on the 
prospects for implementation of the Roadmap.  "I increasingly 
see us as in a corner," he said.  Following this bleak 
assessment, the informal reaction among donors and 
international organization representatives who were in 
Fayyad's audience was that the AHLC should be used to press 
Israel on both access and movement and Gaza. 
WALLES