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RR RUEHSL
DE RUEHRL #0193/01 0501111
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 191111Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6577
INFO RUEHXP/ALL NATO POST COLLECTIVE
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0005
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0003
RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA 0122
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT 0128
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0606
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1802
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0926

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 000193 
  
 SIPDIS 
  
 E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2035 
 TAG PARM, PREL, NATO, IS, XF, GM 
 SUBJECT: ISRAELI DEPUTY FM FLAGS TOP CONCERN QME AND 
 MIDDLE EAST NUCLEAR FREE ZONE 
  
 Classified By: Political M/C George Glass for reasons 1.4 (b/d) 
  
 ¶1. (S) Summary.  During a February 6 meeting on the margins 
 of the Munich Security Conference, Israeli Deputy FM Ayalon 
 told U/S Tauscher that his country's top security concerns 
 were the Qualitative Military Edge (QME) and proposals for a 
 Middle East Nuclear Free Zone.  Ayalon also said that his 
 government would provide a response to a USG nonpaper on 
 elements for dealing with Egypt and Middle East issues at the 
 upcoming NPT Review Conference.  Tauscher emphasized the need 
 to engage with Egypt, but promised that the U.S. would not 
 put Israel on the spot in the course of its bilateral 
 discussions with Cairo.  Tauscher also suggested that the 
 P3 Israel first agree on the scope of an agreement and then, 
 perhaps, engage directly with Egyptian President Mubarak. 
 End Summary. 
  
 -------------------------------------------- 
 NPT Revcon and Middle East Nuclear Free Zone 
 -------------------------------------------- 
  
 ¶2. (S) Tauscher expressed concern about the prospects for a 
 successful 2010 NPT Review Conference in light of the row 
 over Iran's nuclear program and Egypt's controversial 
 proposals on Middle East nuclear issues.  In particular, 
 Tauscher noted that Egypt had repeatedly disrupted prior 
 RevCons over this issue without being made to pay a price. 
 This year, she said, the USG wanted to be proactive and has 
 begun engaging Egypt early in order to find a way forward. 
 However, Tauscher emphasized that the U.S. would consult with 
 Tel Aviv and not put Israel in a difficult position during 
 the course of bilateral talks with Cairo.  The goal, she 
 said, would be to convince Egypt to abandon its normal 
 approach to these issues and engage in a more productive 
 dialogue on issues of concern in the Middle East and support 
 U.S. objectives. 
  
 ¶3. (S) Ayalon lamented continuing recalcitrance by Egyptian 
 FM Aboul-Gheit on this issue and asked whether the U.S. had 
 taken up this discussion directly with President Mubarak. 
 Tauscher underscored that the U.S. had not yet engaged 
 actively with Mubarak in order to first come to agreement 
 with the P3 (U.S., UK, France) and Israel.  Drilling down on 
 tactics, Tauscher stressed that the U.S. did not intend to 
 offer Egypt a compromise solution all at once but, instead, 
 would offer different components contained in the elements 
 papers during the course of negotiations.  She also 
 emphasized the need to reach agreement among the P3 Israel by 
 the end of March -- at the latest.  April, Tauscher stressed, 
 would be too late to successfully engage with Egypt before 
 the NPT Revcon in May.  As a result, the USG hoped for 
 Israeli comments to its proposed negotiating strategy soon. 
 Ayalon thanked U/S Tauscher for the clarification on the U.S. 
 approach and promised to provide answers on the U.S. elements 
 paper.  He noted that Tel Aviv had been concerned that the 
 U.S. would provide the whole paper to Egyptian officials, who 
 could have pocketed those suggestions as an opening position. 
  
 --------------- 
 Missile Defense 
 --------------- 
  
 ¶4. (S) Ayalon asked for an update on U.S. missle defense 
 efforts as well as advances in MD in the Gulf states. 
 Tauscher noted the recent agreement by Romania to host U.S. 
 SM-3s as part of the Phased, Adaptive Approach and said the 
 USG was working on a location for radar.  Regarding MD in the 
 Gulf states, Tauscher noted that UAE was acquiring THAADs, 
 and that Kuwaiti, Bahraini, and Qatari had interest in 
 Patriot missiles.  Ayalon noted that Israel was working on 
 its MD technology as well. 
  
 -------------------------------------- 
 Russia Post START and Nuclear Treaties 
 -------------------------------------- 
  
 ¶5. (S) In response to questions about progress on concluding 
 a new START agreement, Tauscher said the U.S. and Russia were 
 about "95 percent" of the way there.  Specifically, she 
 noted, the technical annexes were cumbersome and were taking 
 longer than expected.  Tauscher also conveyed her expectation 
  
 BERLIN 00000193  002 OF 002 
  
  
 that post-START would likely be the only defense treaty 
 ratified by the U.S. in 2010.  The CTBT, she said would 
 likely meet with lukewarm support in Congress this year. 
 Meanwhile, Pakistan continued to block the start of FMCT 
 negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament. 
  
 ¶6. (U) This cable was cleared with U/S Tauscher. 
 Delawie