The 2006 cable, leaked exclusively by Norwegian daily Aftenposten, said that "US businesses allege that corruption by Israeli officials at Karni crossing is impeding their access to the Gaza market." The cable was compiled from sources in both the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Jerusalem Consulate General.
According to the classified document, the US companies, including Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, Phillip Morris, Hewlett Packard, Dell and Motorola said that they had to wait three to four months to transfer 34 shipments of goods, worth $1.9 million, into the Gaza Strip.
The companies said that the Israeli officials asked them to pay special commissions that were "75 times the standard processing fee."
"The normal cost of shipping cargo is USD 600-650 ... and the standard processing fee at Karni is NIS (New Israeli shekel) 370 ($104) ... (Coca Cola distributor Joerg) Hartmann alleged that he has been asked to pay as much as NIS 13,000-15,000 ($3,672-4,237) per truckload. The AmCit Westinghouse general manager supplied FCS with invoices where he was charged NIS 14,000 ($3,954) and NIS 28,000 (7,909) per truckload," the cable reads.
According to the cable, US companies who pay the bribes are guaranteed the first place in line, or a spot near the front of the "Israeli line," which moves more quickly. Hartmann said that the bribery ring was headed by "a certain high-level official at the terminal."
The cable showed that the Israeli officials at Karni, during a meeting with the distributors and US Embassy officials, "did not address the issue of bribes, but suggested that the USG either push the Palestinian Authority to allow the businessmen to ship through Kerem Shalom (crossing) or fund the purchase of more conveyor belts at Karni."
The cable said frequent closures of the Karni crossing had "exacerbated the problem of access and appears to have forced up the cost of bribes" paid to Israelis.
The disclosures predate the 2007 armed takeover of the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, by Hamas. Israel has cited the Hamas threat in justifying a controversial blockade it has kept on Gaza, with Egyptian help.
The cable said Yossef Mishlev, the general in charge of Israel's Palestinian liaison unit at the time, had "acknowledged the problem (and that) corruption was the root cause of backlogged shipments waiting to cross into Gaza at Karni."
The liaison unit declined comment on the cable. The Israel Airports Authority, which the cable cited as having overall responsibility for Karni, denied any wrongdoing.
"There was an investigation at the time, and no accusations were leveled against any Authority officials. This problem may have been connected to the truck drivers at Karni," an Authority official said.
In a separate development, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the Israeli internal intelligence agency Shin Bet to investigate his senior aides for an alleged leak of sensitive information.
Israeli Army radio said that the Shin Bet investigated in recent months the National Security Adviser Uzi Arad, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, former Prime Minister's Bureau spokesman Nir Hefetz and other senior figures.
— With input from agencies
