US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV659

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000659 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KWBG, IS, SETTLEMENTS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT: NOF HASHARON WALKS, TALKS, AND ACTS LIKE A NEW 
SETTLEMENT, NOT A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD 
 
REF: A. TEL AVIV 06649 
 
     B. TEL AVIV 00511 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  In recent conversations in Washington, PM 
Advisor Dov Weissglas has asserted that the construction of 
the new community of Nof HaSharon does not constitute 
building a new settlement, but instead is construction of a 
"new neighborhood" of Alfe Menashe, a settlement in the West 
Bank.  Embassy Tel Aviv believes that this analysis does not 
hold up under scrutiny for the following reasons:  Nof 
HaSharon is too far from the mother settlement; there are two 
sections of the seamline barrier between the two settlements 
and no direct road between them; Nof HaSharon will have to 
rely on an Israeli town within the Green Line for municipal 
services; and residents of the Israeli town do not want to be 
connected to the settlement.  No natural political, economic, 
or geographic connection exists between Alfe Menashe and Nof 
HaSharon.  End summary. 
 
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Far From the Mother Settlement 
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2.  (C) Nof HaSharon will be located approximately three 
kilometers from its purported mother settlement of Alfe 
Menashe.  The GOI claims that Nof HaSharon is a "new 
neighborhood" located within the municipal boundaries of Alfe 
Menashe; however, the section of the municipal boundary where 
the new community will be established is disconnected from 
the municipal boundary surrounding the built-up area around 
Alfe Menashe. 
 
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Barrier in Between, No Connecting Roads 
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3.  (C) Several Palestinian villages, including Habla, Ras 
Atiya, and Ras al-Tira, are located between Nof HaSharon and 
Alfe Menashe.  In addition, Nof HaSharon is separated from 
Alfe Menashe by two sections of the 50-meter wide seamline 
barrier due to the barrier's snake-like pattern in the area. 
Nof HaSharon residents would have to travel into Green Line 
Israel along a circuitous 20-25 minute route to reach Alfe 
Menashe because there is currently no direct road between the 
settlement and the "new neighborhood."  Residents of Nirit 
showed Embassy economic officers a map given to them by the 
Alfe Menashe Regional Council that depicted a planned road 
and new neighborhood connecting the settlement and Nof 
HaSharon.  This road, if constructed, however, would enclose 
the West Bank Palestinian village of Habla within a seamline 
barrier enclave. 
 
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Reliance on Israeli Town for Municipal Services 
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4.  (C) Based on Nof HaSharon's distance from Alfe Menashe, 
it would be forced to rely on Nirit, an Israeli town west of 
the Green Line, for municipal services, roads, and utilities, 
even though it would be politically connected to Alfe 
Menashe.  Dror Ginatt, the Secretary General of Nirit, 
explained to econoffs that separate laws would govern the new 
settlement, making administration difficult. 
 
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Nirit Residents Resisting 
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5.  (C) Residents of Nirit strongly object to being connected 
to this new settlement on the basis that its construction 
appears to violate Israel's commitments to the U.S. not to 
build new settlements and to restrict growth to within the 
built-up areas of existing settlements.  According to Peace 
Now's General Secretary, Yariv Oppenheimer, the mayor of Alfe 
Menashe told him he did not want Nof HaSharon to be 
administratively connected to his settlement because 
providing services and support to this remote community would 
be cumbersome for Alfe Menashe. 
 
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Comment 
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6.  (C) Comment:  Nof HaSharon's establishment creates a 
precedent for accepting building outside of built-up areas of 
existing settlements, and acknowledges the disconnected 
municipal boundaries established by settlers to expand 
settlements.  Nof HaSharon's location far away from its 
mother settlement, its remoteness from that settlement, and 
its dependence on another community's municipal services 
suggests that Nof HaSharon is a new settlement, and not a 
"new neighborhood" of the existing settlement of Alfe 
Menashe.  End comment. 
 
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KURTZER