US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV706

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000706 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR BURNS/SATTERFIELD 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KWBG, IS, SETTLEMENTS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS 
SUBJECT: FORMER CIVIL ADMINISTRATION HEAD REVEALS 
SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION PROCESS 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  The former head of the Civil 
Administration, Brigadier General (ret.) Dov "Fuffi" Sedaka, 
detailed the complex approval process for construction of new 
settlements and settlement neighborhoods in a January 30 
meeting with Embassy economic officers.  He made clear that 
no matter what stage of construction the project is in, all 
new settlements or new building projects in the territories 
require several approvals from the Minister of Defense 
himself in order to gain official status.  Embassy will 
report septel how the burdensome process is undermined by 
retroactive approvals and how government ministries and local 
authorities provide the services and benefits to unauthorized 
construction.  End summary. 
 
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Former Civil Administration Head Details 
GOI Settlement Process 
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2.  (C) On January 30, economic officers met with Boaz Karni 
and Col. (ret.) Shauli Arieli of the Economic Cooperation 
Foundation (ECF), and former Civil Administration head and 
current ECF consultant BG (ret.) Dov "Fuffi" Sedaka, to 
discuss the settlement building process (Note:  Sedaka 
retired in October 2002.  End note).  Sedaka and Arieli gave 
a detailed description of the process by which settlements 
are established and developed in the West Bank and Gaza 
Strip.  Sedaka detailed a five-step process that includes 
many layers of review at both the lower bureaucratic and 
senior levels, including multiple reviews by the Defense 
Minister.  Sedaka also explained GOI involvement in 
supporting unauthorized construction of outposts (reported 
septel). 
 
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Phase 1:  Establishing a New Settlement 
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3.  (C) Sedaka said only two entities have the authority to 
establish new settlements in Israel, the Ministry of 
Construction and Housing (MCH) and the World Zionist 
Organization (WZO).  In the case of the West Bank and Gaza 
Strip, Sedaka said the fully GOI-funded Settlements Division 
(SD) of the WZO is the establishing authority along with the 
MCH in establishing new settlements.  According to Sedaka, 
the MCH or the SD locates a piece of land where they wish to 
establish a new settlement, determines what sort of community 
will be placed there (kibbutz, moshav, community-based town, 
etc.), and determines the size of the community.  According 
to a 1980 government resolution, Sedaka said the establishing 
authority must submit the plan to the Ministers' Committee on 
Settlement Issues, which in the West Bank and Gaza Strip must 
include the Defense Minister.  This committee prepares a 
proposal and presents it to the cabinet for authorization. 
If the cabinet approves the new settlement, it designates 
either MCH or SD to determine the specific location, build 
the infrastructure, and provide for utilities. 
 
4.  (C) According to Sedaka, the plan for a new settlement is 
then given over to the relevant IDF regional commander, who 
determines the municipal and jurisdictional boundaries of the 
settlement -- in the case of the West Bank it would be the 
commander of Central Command and in the case of the Gaza 
Strip it would be the commander of Southern Command. 
Jurisdictional boundaries enclose all the land designated as 
state land in proximity to the settlement.  Municipal 
boundaries define territory appropriate for development of 
the settlement.  Sedaka said that in many cases the municipal 
boundaries are not contiguous, which allows development of 
the settlement over a much larger area. 
 
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Phase II:  Permission for Planning 
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5.  (C) The next step, according to Sedaka, is for the group 
designated by the government to carry out the development of 
the settlement to request permission to begin planning from 
the Custodian of State Lands, a part of the Israel Lands 
Authority (ILA).  With the Custodian's approval, the new 
settlement plan goes to the head of the Civil Administration, 
who passes it to the head of the Coordinator of Operations in 
the territories, who then gives it to the Minister of Defense 
for approval.  With the Defense Minister's approval, the 
Civil Administration and the establishing authority -- either 
the MCH or SD -- then sign a "Permission to Plan" contract. 
When econoff inquired about what is the basis for approval of 
a project or why a project would be rejected, Sedaka replied 
that "it's been so long since we have rejected a project that 
I couldn't say."  He explained that the settlers' and GOI's 
policy was to build a lot of houses, put as many people as 
possible on the land, and to capture the area between major 
Palestinian cities because they thought they would stay there 
for many years. 
 
6.  (C) The establishing authority, according to Sedaka, 
prepares a "Town Building Plan" for the new settlement within 
the municipal boundaries established by the relevant IDF 
command.  The "Town Building Plan" is then submitted to the 
Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration.  The 
Higher Planning Committee is made up of the IDF, Ministry of 
Defense (MOD), relevant ministries such as Infrastructure and 
Transportation, and representatives of the regional 
settlement councils.  If the Higher Planning Committee 
approves the plan, it is then submitted to the Minister of 
Defense for approval. 
 
7.  (C) The submission of the "Town Building Plan" is also 
the first step in the planning and development of a new 
neighborhood within an existing settlement, according to 
Sedaka.  Sedaka said that the process for building a new 
neighborhood is identical to the steps for building a new 
settlement from this stage forward. 
 
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Phase III:  Permission for Deposition 
------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (C) Sedaka said that once the Defense Minister has 
approved the plan, the Higher Planning Committee submits the 
plan to its various subcommittees (roads, sewage, 
environmental, education, etc.).  The plan returns to the 
Higher Planning Committee with recommendations from the 
subcommittees for another approval.  If the Higher Planning 
Committee approves the plan again, it is submitted to the 
Defense Minister for approval of "Publication of Deposition." 
 The "Publication of Deposition" is the first opportunity for 
the public to respond to the plan, according to Sedaka. 
Sedaka said that according to the law, the plan must be 
published in two major Hebrew-language papers and one 
Arabic-language paper. 
 
9.  (C) Sedaka said that those who object to the plan have 
two weeks to submit objections to the Higher Planning 
Committee's Sub-committee for Objections.  If the 
Sub-committee determines that the objections have merit and 
alter the fundamental character of the plan, then the Higher 
Planning Committee sends the plan back to Phase II for the 
establishing authority to begin the planning process again. 
If the objections do not alter the fundamental nature of the 
plan, the Sub-committee can order the establishing authority 
to make the necessary adjustments to overcome the objections. 
 
10.  (C) According to Sedaka, the Higher Planning Committee 
will approve the deposition in the case of no objections or 
with the necessary adjustments made by the establishing 
authority.  The Higher Planning Committee then submits the 
plan to the Minister of Defense to be validated. 
 
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Phase IV:  Permission for Validity 
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11.  (C) Sedaka said the Defense Minister will look over the 
deposition documents and then sign an "Agreement for 
Validity."  According to Sedaka, objections to the "Agreement 
for Validity" can be submitted to the Higher Planning 
Committee within 60 days of when it was signed by the 
Minister.  The Higher Planning Committee has the authority to 
accept or reject any objections during the 60-day period, 
after which the committee also signs the "Agreement of 
Validity" and then passes it back to the Minister of Defense. 
 The Defense Minister then signs an "Announcement of 
Validity", which is published in the newspapers in the same 
format as "Publication of Deposition".  Sedaka said that 
objections to the "Announcement of Validity" must be 
submitted to the High Court of Justice within 15 days of the 
publication of the to the High Court of Justice; otherwise, 
the plan is validated. 
 
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Phase V: Permission For Development 
----------------------------------- 
 
12.  (C) Once the new project is validated, the establishing 
body can request a development contract from the Higher 
Planning Committee and the Custodian of State Land.  The 
Defense Minister must then approve the contents of the 
development contract before the Higher Planning Committee and 
the Head of the Infrastructure Division of the Civil 
Administration can sign the agreement with the establishing 
authority.  Once the development contract is signed by the 
three parties listed above, the local or regional authority 
can issue construction permits to a private company, or 
tenders for construction can be released by the MCH for 
public construction projects. 
 
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Infrastructure Can Begin Before Construction 
Permit Is Received 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
13.  (C) Sedaka said that the establishing authority often 
wants to begin construction before the project receives final 
approval, and therefore the system allows for the 
construction of infrastructure to begin after the "Agreement 
for Validity" if no objections have been stated during the 
first 45 days of the 60-day objection period.  A request to 
begin infrastructure construction is brought before the 
Higher Planning Committee and then the Defense Minister for 
approval.  If the request is approved, the establishing 
authority will sign a contract with the Higher Planning 
Committee and the Head of the Infrastructure Division of the 
Civil Administration to begin construction. 
 
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