Israeli in secret cable: Turks aid Iran nukes

My access to Wikileaks has been restored as of this afternoon.

Israelis accuse Turks of aiding Iran's nuclear program. Israel accused its sometime ally Turkey of permitting nuclear materials headed for Iran's weapons program to be shipped via Turkey with the "full knowledge" of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, according to a secret State Department cable copied from the Wikileaks web site.

Urged by French Premier Nicolas Sarkozy to launch an independent invesitgation of reported Israeli military abuses in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly refused, the document says.

Here is a copy:

S E C R E T PARIS 001461

SIPDIS NOFORN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL IS TU SY FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE-ISRAEL STRATEGIC DIALOGUE COVERS TURKEY, PEACE PROCESS, SYRIA
REF: PARIS 1418 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Kathy Allegrone, Reasons 1.4(b),(d).

¶1. (S/NF) SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND: French participants in the second annual Franco-Israeli Strategic Dialogue on October 28 noted profound disquiet among the Israelis about Turkey, according to Frederic Bereyziat, Senior MFA Desk Officer for Israel and the Peace Process. Bereyziat told poloff October 29 that the Israelis claimed the Turks have allowed weapons-related material for Iran's nuclear program to transit Turkey, with Prime Minister Erdogan's full knowledge.

In the lead up to this Strategic Dialogue, Bereyziat reported, President Sarkozy called Prime Minister Netanyahu directly on October 26, to urge him to establish an independent investigation into the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza conflict. Sarkozy told Netanyahu that such a step would decrease pressure on Israel and its allies stemming from the Goldstone Report, but Netanyahu responded briskly: "No way."

Franco-Israeli discussions on the status of the peace process stumbled over a "profound difference on tactics," according to Bereyziat, who also reported the French intention to introduce a Resolution in the U.N. General Assembly designed to prevent the Goldstone Report from returning to the Security Council.

Finally, Bereyziat described a division within the Israeli delegation about Syria's openness to the west, with some on the delegation discounting benefits that might accrue to Israel through the re-launching of negotiations, and others supporting the French claim that Israel would put Syria in a bind by suddenly expressing openness to negotiations over the Golan.