US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV816

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000816 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR NEA/IPA, CA/OCS/ACS/NESA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC, SOCI, KWBG, IS, SETTLEMENTS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS, ISRAELI SOCIETY 
SUBJECT: ANOTHER WEST BANK AMCIT SETTLER'S ACCOUNT 
 
Ref:  (A) TEL AVIV 000346 
 
1.   (SBU) On 24 Jan 2005 Conoff spoke with an American 
citizen resident of the West Bank settlement of Elkana.  The 
American citizen was at the Embassy in Tel Aviv renewing the 
U.S. passports of her children and was willing to discuss 
the subject of life in Elkana. 
 
2.   (SBU) The American citizen is the mother of five U.S. 
citizen children.  Her husband is an Israeli.  Two months 
ago, the family moved from Jerusalem to the West Bank 
settlement of Elkana.  Elkana is located about four 
kilometers east of the Green Line and due east of Tel Aviv. 
She said the settlement has a population of about 750 
families. 
 
3.    (SBU) When asked why the family chose to move to a 
settlement at this time, she cited pragmatic reasons nearly 
identical to those cited by the subject of reftel A.  She 
said the family could afford a large house with a yard in 
Elkana, whereas in Jerusalem, they could only afford a small 
apartment.  Again, as did the subject of reftel A, she 
pointed approvingly to the close communal atmosphere of the 
settlement and cited the "quality people" of Elkana, most of 
whom, she said, are college graduates.  (Comment:  The 
observation that settlement residents are "nice" is a 
recurring one.  One American citizen resident of the West 
Bank settlement Karnei Shomron compared these communities to 
small towns in the American mid-west.) 
 
4.   (SBU) Furthermore, she said that Elkana has all the 
conveniences one might expect in a developed Israeli town, 
including a big supermarket and an excellent public library. 
Echoing the sentiment of the subject in reftel A, she said 
that Elkana is a suburb of Tel Aviv, with convenient access 
to the new north-south toll road, Highway 6.  Evidently in 
an effort to emphasize this point, she professed not to be 
certain that Elkana is indeed east of the Green Line at all. 
Elkana is, however, on the Israeli side of the separation 
barrier, a fact that she acknowledged is very important to 
her. She is worried that the route may be altered to 
Elkana's detriment. 
 
5.     (SBU) A significant advantage to life in Elkana, in 
her opinion, is the quality education her children receive 
in the settlement schools.  She said the religious schools 
her children attend are publicly funded and "always better" 
than secular public schools. 
 
6.    (SBU) She denied having personal ideological reasons 
for moving to Elkana.  Her husband, on the other hand, was 
primarily motivated by ideology.  Her husband and children 
faithfully attend anti-disengagement protests and rallies. 
She said the Elkana schools provide the children with free 
busing to these events. 
 
KURTZER