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Viewing cable 06TELAVIV391, SHIMON PERES ON THE PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TELAVIV391 2006-01-27 17:04 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tel Aviv
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000391 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL IS PINR KPAL ETRD EG JO KISL ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS GOI EXTERNAL
SUBJECT: SHIMON PERES ON THE PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS 
PREDICAMENT 
 
1. Former Vice Premier Shimon Peres discussed Hamas with 
Senator Joseph R. Biden, SFRC Democratic Staff Director 
Antony Blinken and SFRC Professional Staff Member Puneet 
Talwar on January 25.  Commenting before the vote tallies 
were in, Peres put a positive spin on the Palestinian 
elections, which he described as "the first real elections in 
Arab society.  No single leader or one-party state 
overshadowed these elections." 
 
2.  Peres responded to Senator Biden's query about the role 
of Hamas post-elections with a question:  "what are Hamas to 
do with a victory?  If they win, they face a dilemma.  If 
they enter the government, they must change or (risk) 
endangering other Palestinians.  They won't get the financial 
support they need to deliver results if they don't stop 
terror.  That will put pressure on them to moderate."  Peres 
predicted a possible paradox: the more Hamas wins, the 
stronger the position of Fatah in Palestinian politics. 
Peres stressed that post-election dilemmas would be primarily 
on the Palestinian side. 
 
3.  Peres intimated that Israeli policymakers faced a simpler 
situation:  If Hamas remains a terrorist organization; the 
GOI will not work with them.  Even so, he rued what he viewed 
as excessive criticism of Palestinian President Abbas, 
suggesting that Israeli pundits would do better to criticize 
Israeli politicians rather than the absence of strong 
Palestinian leadership:  "They don't have a Ben Gurion or a 
Lincoln, but the Palestinians are still a people." 
 
4.  Turning to Israeli politics, Peres reaffirmed his 
appreciation of Ehud Olmert's "impressive entry" as Sharon's 
successor.  Commenting on Sharon's legacy, Peres said that 
Sharon had brought an end to the Right in Israeli politics by 
creating a centrist party with a strong base.  Senator Biden 
expressed his appreciation for this achievement of Sharon and 
Peres. 
 
Peres' Vision:  Focus on Economics 
---------------------------------- 
 
5.  Peres described his vision of regional economic 
integration "from the Red Sea to the Syrian border," 
undaunted by the obstacles preventing Israeli-Palestinian 
cooperation.  Regional cooperation between Israel, Jordan and 
the Palestinians is essential to economic survival.  In his 
view, Israel had made a mistake in stepping forward to 
provide security by itself for regional joint ventures; this 
made Israeli ventures targets.  Peres also suggested that 
exporting Gazan produce via Israel is "a blessing that has 
become a curse:  We must x-ray every tomato.  Why should we 
torture them?"  Peres said he would prefer that Gaza export 
its produce via the Egyptian Sinai at El-Arish.  Peres 
encouraged Gaza-Egypt and West Bank-Jordan cooperation as 
better alternatives to Israeli-Palestinian initiatives. 
 
6.  Senator Biden asked whether such alternatives were viable 
and, in particular, whether the market was large enough to 
attract investment.  Peres responded that Israeli, Saudi and 
Palestinian billionaires are interested in investing in such 
ventures.  He stressed that the Saudis are becoming more 
pragmatic as they realize how important Jordan is as a buffer 
state with an Iraq dominated by the Shi'a.  The DCM asked why 
the GOI had not done more after disengagement to unfetter the 
Gazan economy.  Peres blamed the lack of movement on 
Palestinian rocket fire, but offered no suggestions for 
overcoming such spoiler moves by extremists.  Senator Biden 
then asked what could be done to prevent the disintegration 
of the Gazan economy.  Peres commended former PA Finance 
Minister Fayyad as the best attribute of the PA, but offered 
another possible panacea:  Jordanian administrators could be 
called in to run the West Bank economy while Egyptians could 
run Gaza.  Palestinians need to understand that they can make 
money from business as well as from corruption -- "you make 
wine from grapes as well as from water." 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv 
 
You can also access this site through the State Department's 
Classified SIPRNET website. 
********************************************* ******************** 
JONES