US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV707

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000707 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR BURNS/SATTERFIELD 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KWBG, IS, SETTLEMENTS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS, GOI INTERNAL 
SUBJECT: RETROACTIVE APPROVALS FOR SETTLEMENT BUILDING 
COMMON 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  As reported septel, former head of the 
Civil Administration, Brigadier General (ret.) Dov "Fuffi" 
Sedaka, detailed the complex approval process for 
construction of settlements to Embassy economic officers in a 
January 30 meeting.  During the meeting, he also explained 
that the burdensome process is undermined by the fact that 
many of the required approvals can be granted after 
construction has begun or been completed, and related that 
when the government looked into all of the outposts and 
settlements in the West Bank in 1997, 97 percent lacked some 
of the official approvals necessary.  Sedaka continued that 
many projects have been approved in the past but could be 
sitting on shelves of the establishing bodies waiting for an 
opportune moment to begin construction.  He also admitted 
that a site's lack of official authorization does not 
necessarily prevent government ministries and local 
authorities from providing the same services and benefits 
that they provide to authorized construction.  End summary. 
 
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Retroactive Approvals Common 
---------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Former head of the Civil Administration and Economic 
Cooperation Foundation (ECF) consultant Brigadier General 
(ret.) Dov "Fuffi" Sedaka told Embassy economic officers on 
January 30 that the process for constructing settlements and 
new neighborhoods of settlements is lengthy and burdensome. 
He claims that, when followed, the procedures should make 
creation of a new settlement and/or neighborhood difficult, 
especially since it requires agreement by the whole 
government, particularly the Minister of Defense.  In 
practice, however, Sedaka said many of the approvals are 
given after construction has already begun.  He explained 
that new neighborhoods and outposts in the West Bank receive 
approvals after they have been established.  According to 
Sedaka, when the government looked into all of the outposts 
and new neighborhood construction in the West Bank in 1997, 
it found that 97 percent lacked some of the official 
approvals listed above. 
 
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GOI Can Provide Information On Approved Projects 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
3.  (C) In reference to the case of Nof HaSharon, the new 
settlement being constructed near the Green Line, Sedaka said 
that many projects that were approved in the past could be 
sitting on the shelves of the establishing bodies waiting for 
an opportune moment to begin construction.  Sedaka suggested 
that the USG ask for this data from the GOI, which he claims 
has easy access to it.  Sedaka explained that any project 
that is in the midst or has completed the process detailed in 
septel will be documented by the Civil Administration. 
Sedaka claimed that there should be no reason for surprises 
with respect to new neighborhoods or new settlements. 
 
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Lack of Oversight Leads to "Illegal" Development 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
4.  (C) According to Sedaka, the lack of oversight by the 
ministries distributing funds to local and regional councils 
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip contributes to unauthorized 
construction.  Sedaka said that funds transferred to a local 
or regional council by the government can easily be 
transferred to an illegal outpost or neighborhood.  For 
example, if the settlement of Bet El requests funds to build 
a new synagogue in the settlement, the Bet El Local Authority 
can take those funds and invest them in building a synagogue 
in a nearby outpost rather than in the settlement itself. 
Sedaka explained that residents of the outposts and illegal 
neighborhoods are treated by their local or regional councils 
as proper extensions of the settlements despite their lack of 
official authorization, and that they are counted in the 
population figures for budgetary purposes.  Citizens of the 
outposts and illegal neighborhoods pay taxes, rent, and serve 
in local committees just like those living in approved areas 
of the settlement.  According to Sedaka, the local and 
regional councils often ask government ministries to extend 
services to these sites (buses, mail, utilities, etc.) 
without anyone in the government checking to see if the sites 
are legal or not. 
 
5.  (C) Econoff inquired why the official list of settlements 
as reported by the GOI to U.S. officials does not list any of 
the settlements established after 1991 (Note:  according to 
data provided by Brigadier General (res) Baruch Spiegel, the 
last settlement established in the West Bank was Revava in 
1991.  End note).  Sedaka said that because of an agreement 
between the U.S. and Israel in the 1990s, the GOI has not 
approved any new settlements since that time, but he 
acknowledged that many new settlements, illegal 
neighborhoods, and outposts were constructed with government 
assistance. 
 
6.  (C) Sedaka related that the GOI established five Nahal or 
military settlements after 1991, but these were eventually 
made into civilian communities.  The five settlements were 
Tal Menashe, Rachelim, Negohot, Elisha, and Nahal Gevaot. 
Sedaka said the five IDF settlements began with religious 
soldiers, the soldiers then requested to bring their 
families, who then requested schools and civilian services, 
and then finally became settlements that are "illegal, but 
not illegally there." (Comment:  These settlements were 
listed by the GOI in its list of pre-March 2001 outposts 
delivered to the Embassy in July 2004, suggesting that 
whatever official function they once served has disappeared. 
End comment) 
 
7.  (C) Sedaka said that many of the other outposts benefited 
from assistance from government ministries and local and 
regional councils to establish themselves.  Sedaka charged 
that it would be impossible for the settlers themselves to 
carry out the development of many of these sites without 
government assistance.  Sedaka used the example of a mikvah, 
or religious bath:  settlers living in an outpost can appeal 
to the government on the basis of the humanitarian need to 
provide funding for a mikvah.  Without one, religious women 
cannot perform many of their activities so the Civil 
Administration will often provide this funding to the 
regional council, who will in turn provide it to the outpost. 
 If there are children present at the outpost, they will 
request an armored bus or funds to build a pre-school.  In 
addition, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) will provide security 
and fencing, and the Ministry of Infrastructure will provide 
the grading and paving of the road to allow security forces 
to get in and out of the outpost safely.  The local and 
regional authorities will ask utility companies to provide 
connections, and the trailers often used by the settlers to 
establish the outpost are termed unsafe so the MCH provides 
funding for permanent structures to replace the trailers and 
mobile homes.  Col. (ret.) Shaul Arieli from ECF showed 
econoffs 2001, 2003, and 2004 aerial photos of the Amonah 
outpost near Ofra as examples of this process, and the photos 
show nothing present in 2001, several containers and a road 
in 2003, and foundations for eight new permanent structures 
in 2004.  Sedaka explained that before long, a new 
settlement/outpost has been established with the assistance 
of the government. 
 
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Sasson Report Should Change Environment 
--------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (C) Sedaka opined that the report being drafted by 
attorney Talia Sasson for the Prime Minister should bring 
much of the information on these issues to the attention of 
the public and should provide some suggestions on how the 
Prime Minister can curb unauthorized settlement construction. 
 Sedaka did not believe that the Sasson report would result 
in the firing of ministry officials or local and regional 
council bureaucrats, even though he believes the report is 
expected to be quite specific in the roles played by these 
officials in authorizing illegal settlement construction and 
development over the past 13 years.  (Comment:  Sasson's 
mandate from the Prime Minister does not include 
prosecutorial power.  End comment.) 
 
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Defense Minister Has Final Say 
------------------------------ 
 
9.  (C) Boaz Karni, Treasurer of ECF, Arieli and Sedaka all 
agreed that the Defense Minister has the ultimate authority 
to decide on construction and development in the West Bank 
and Gaza Strip.  Sedaka detailed seven instances where the 
Defense Minister must personally sign off on the development 
of a new settlement and six instances where the Minister must 
approve new neighborhoods.  Arieli and Sedaka claim that the 
Minister can stop the project at any stage for no reason. 
Sedaka said that if the Minister chooses to stop the project 
after construction permits are issued, then it is possible 
that the MOD could be liable for compensation to the 
contractor. 
 
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