US embassy cable - 04TELAVIV6563

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 006563 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR S/CT -- KINCANNON/MCCUTCHAN 
STATE FOR TTIC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, KCRM, EFIN, KHLS, KPAL, KPAO, KWBG, GZ, IS, COUNTERTERRORISM, GOI INTERNAL, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS, GOI EXTERNAL 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL: 2004 ANNUAL TERRORISM REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 245841 
 
This cable has been cleared with ConGen Jerusalem. 
 
1.  (SBU) Post provides below additional information to be 
used in preparation of the 2004 "Patterns of Global 
Terrorism" report. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Israel has been among the staunchest supporters of 
the global war against terrorism (GWOT), and in 2004 the GOI 
continued to engage in numerous activities jointly with the 
U.S. to increase preparedness and to identify suspects. 
Israel is working with U.S. law enforcement agencies to 
purchase and install equipment to read and share biometric 
fingerprint information with the United States and has 
carried out numerous joint training exercises with U.S. 
security and military personnel.  The GOI has also made 
known, both through its contacts with the United Nations 
Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and through its bilateral 
relationships, its willingness to share its expertise in 
counter-terrorism with other countries.  Israel and United 
States are also working on 22 joint projects in 2004 to 
develop improved security-related technology under the TSWG 
program.  The USG and the GOI regularly share intelligence on 
terror suspects and organizations. 
 
------------------------------- 
Major Counter-Terrorism Actions 
------------------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) As it has been for many years, but in particular 
since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, host 
nation law enforcement is heavily engaged in identifying and 
thwarting terrorist attacks.  Public support for government 
efforts to combat domestic terrorism remain consistently 
high.  In 2004, the GOI continued construction of the 
separation barrier between the West Bank and Green Line 
Israel, with Israeli security agencies reporting a notably 
lower number of terror attacks inside Israel as a result of 
its construction and a simultaneous improvement in 
coordination among security forces.  Although the route of 
the barrier remains controversial, and has been changed in 
response to Israeli High Court rulings, Israeli public 
opinion remains strongly supportive of its construction. 
 
4.  (SBU) The IDF, the Israeli Border and National Police 
Forces, and Shin Bet all operate throughout Israel and the 
Occupied Territories to gather and coordinate intelligence, 
and then to physically counter prospective terrorist attacks, 
particularly suicide bombings inside Israel.  Once 
intelligence indicates that a terrorist is making his way 
towards Israel in order to carry out an attack, Israeli 
police mobilize all necessary actors to track, isolate, and 
capture or kill the terrorist before he can strike his 
target.  Israel also continued its policy of targeted 
killings of Palestinian militants.  In March, helicopter 
gunships successfully targeted the founder and spiritual 
leader of Hamas, Shaykh Ahmad Yasin, as he was leaving a 
mosque in the Gaza Strip.  The following month, Israeli 
helicopter gunships fired missiles that killed Yasin's 
successor, Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi, while he was traveling by 
car in Gaza. 
 
5.  (SBU) In February 2004, the IDF and the Israeli Security 
Agency (Shin Bet) bypassed both GOI internal mechanisms and a 
GOI-Palestinian coordination mechanisms established in 2003 
and raided the West Bank offices of the Arab Bank and the 
Cairo-Amman Bank, seizing some $9 million in funds that the 
GOI claimed were destined for terrorist groups.  Much of 
these funds originated from Hizballah, according to GOI 
claims.  The GOI stated that it resorted to the raid only 
after the PA had failed to act on earlier actionable 
intelligence, and that Israeli law does not allow seizure of 
funds via correspondent bank accounts in Israel.  The funds 
remain seized by order of an Israeli court until their 
disposition can be determined. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Legal and Law Enforcement Capabilities 
-------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) Israel has a range of laws in place that allow the 
GOI to combat terrorism and prosecute those accused of 
committing terrorist acts, including several laws regulating 
terrorist finance.  Palestinians accused of security-related 
offenses are generally tried in Israeli military courts; 
serious offenses are tried before a three-judge panel and 
lesser offenses before a single judge.  Occasionally, 
individuals accused of carrying out terrorist attacks are 
tried in Israeli civil court in the jurisdiction where the 
attack occurred.  In March 2004, Marwan Barghuti was 
convicted in Tel Aviv District Court, after a two-year 
detention and trial period, on three charges of murder 
involving terror attacks that took the lives of five Israelis 
and a fourth charge of attempted murder.  Barghuti was 
sentenced to five consecutive life terms, plus 40 years in 
prison.  Although Barghuti's charge sheet included alleged 
actions as the head of both Tanzim and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' 
Brigades in the West Bank and all of the terrorist acts these 
groups had carried out from 2000-2002, he was acquitted on 33 
of the 39 charges against him because prosecutors failed to 
make the case that he had had a specific personal connection 
to them.  Barghuti argued that the court lacked jurisdiction 
and therefore refused to rebut the specific allegations. 
 
7.  (SBU) Israeli security forces have the authority to tap 
phones or otherwise monitor private communication only when 
granted by a court order, although publicized investigations 
have uncovered several instances of unauthorized 
wire-tapping.  When granted, the court order allows for the 
information to be used in court.  The prosecution must 
justify closing the proceedings to the public in security 
cases, and the Attorney General determines the venue.  Courts 
may hear secret evidence in security cases that is not 
available to the defendant or his attorney.  While a 
conviction may not be based solely on such evidence, it 
reportedly may influence the judge's decision.  The law 
prohibits the admission of forced confessions as evidence. 
Most confessions in security cases before Israeli courts, 
however, were made well before legal representation was made 
available to the defendant. 
 
8.  (SBU) Israeli Military Order 1507 (applicable to 
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza) permits the IDF to 
detain people for up to 10 days during which detainees are 
barred from seeing a lawyer or appearing before a court. 
Individual administrative detention orders can be issued for 
up to six-month periods and can renewed indefinitely. 
Israeli Military Order 1369 (applicable to Palestinians in 
the West Bank and Gaza) provides for a seven-year prison term 
for anyone who does not respond to a special summons issued 
to anyone suspected of involvement in or with knowledge of 
security offenses.  A detainee may not have contact with a 
lawyer until after interrogation, a process that may last 
days or weeks.  According to Israeli law in the occupied 
territories, a person's family must be notified of that 
person's arrest within 48 hours, although a military 
commander may delay that notification for up to 12 days.  As 
of December 2004, there were some 8,152 Palestinian security 
detainees and an additional 930 Palestinians were held in 
administrative detention. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
Background Information on Designated Terrorist Organizations 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
9.  (SBU) Palestinian terrorist groups continue to focus 
their attention on the Palestinians' historical conflict with 
Israel, attacking Israel and Israeli interests within Israel 
and the Palestinian territories, rather than engaging in 
operations worldwide.  In 2004, a notable increase occurred 
in joint operations by terrorist organizations carrying out 
attacks against Israel and Israelis. 
 
10.  (U) The following is background information on 
Designated Foreign Terrorist Groups.  Embassy Tel Aviv has 
cleared on ConGen language for the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, 
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and 
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General 
Command (PFLP-GC). 
 
-- Hamas: Formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the 
Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Various Hamas 
elements have used both violent and political means -- 
including terrorism -- to pursue the goal of establishing an 
Islamic Palestinian state in Israel.  Hamas is loosely 
structured, with some elements working clandestinely and 
others openly through mosques and social service institutions 
to recruit members, raise money, organize activities, and 
distribute propaganda.  Hamas's strength is concentrated in 
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.  In 2004, Hamas has been 
the primary initiator of Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza 
Strip against Israeli targets. 
 
-- Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ): Originated among militant 
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the late 1970's. 
Committed to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and 
the destruction of Israel through holy war.  Also opposes 
moderate Arab governments that it believes have been tainted 
by Western secularism.  PIJ operates in the West Bank, Gaza 
and Israel; its leadership resides in Syria and Lebanon as 
well as other parts of the Middle East. 
 
-- Kahane Chai/Kach: Stated goal is to restore the biblical 
state of Israel.  Kach (founded by the late radical 
Israeli-American rabbi, Meir Kahane) and its offshoot Kahane 
Chai, which means "Kahane Lives," (founded by Meir Kahane's 
son Binyamin following his father's assassination in the 
United States) were declared terrorist organizations in March 
1994 by the Israeli Cabinet under the 1948 Terrorism Law. 
This designation followed the groups' statement in support of 
Dr. Baruch Goldstein's deadly attack on Muslim worshipers in 
February 1994 on al-Ibrahimi Mosque -- Goldstein was 
affiliated with Kach -- and the group's verbal attacks on the 
Israeli government.  Palestinian gunmen killed Binyamin 
Kahane and his wife in a drive-by shooting in December 2000 
in the West Bank. 
 
 
********************************************* ******************** 
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. 
********************************************* ******************** 
KURTZER