US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV1208

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001208 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KWBG, IS, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS, SETTLEMENTS 
SUBJECT: YONATAN BASSEY ON THE CHALLENGES OF DISENGAGEMENT 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Yonatan Bassey, head of the Disengagement 
Authority (SELA), reported on February 23 that a few settlers 
are beginning to make preparations for disengagement.  He 
explained that SELA has final contracts with about 63 
families and is negotiating with many others.  Unfortunately, 
settlers from Netzarim and Neve Dekalim are still holding 
out.  Bassey predicted that less than one-third of settlers 
will still be in the Gaza Strip on the day of disengagement. 
Bassey expressed concern for settlement assets but said it 
may be better to wait until disengagement is closer to decide 
on their fate because settlers may damage the assets if they 
think they will be transferred to Palestinians.  He said that 
he had not heard of any settlers planning to move to the West 
Bank, but noted that "as the fence puts Gush Etzion in Israel 
with U.S. blessings," it was hard for him to tell settlers 
not to go there.  He also said that the allegation that the 
GOI is putting up new buildings in Gush Katif is "nonsense." 
End Summary. 
 
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Lessons from 9/11 
----------------- 
 
2.  (C) Yonatan Bassey, head of the Disengagement Authority 
(SELA), compared himself and the disengagement plan to the 
situation faced by Kenneth Feinberg -- whom he had met the 
previous day -- and the victims of the 9/11 tragedy.  Bassey 
noted that the U.S. Congress passed a law to pay $12 billion 
in compensation to the victims of 9/11 and their families, of 
which $7 billion has been paid out thus far, but that the 
process was initially highly charged and people held Feinberg 
responsible.  In the end, however, they "got their checks and 
went home," and Bassey predicted that this would be the case 
with disengagement in Israel. 
 
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Recent News from the Settlers 
----------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) According to Bassey, a lot has changed in the past 
few weeks and settlers are beginning to understand that they 
need to make preparations for their departure.  They are 
finally focusing on issues such as where to live, where to 
work, and what schools their children will go to, and some 
have been in contact with SELA to negotiate moving as 
communities.  Bassey said, however, that some are making 
unreasonable demands such as having the state pay for them to 
be relocated near Tel Aviv.  This is impossible because the 
land around Tel Aviv is expensive and most of it is privately 
owned. 
 
4.  (C) Bassey reported that a number of villages who had 
previously avoided SELA are now negotiating, and explained 
that Kfar Darom is no longer holding out and has started 
talking with Bassey through a mediator.  Unfortunately, 
Netzarim and Neve Dekalim -- the largest settlement with more 
than 500 families, equivalent to one-third of the entire 
settlement population slated for evacuation -- are still not 
talking to SELA.  According to Bassey, SELA has final 
contracts with about 63 families, some from Peat Sadeh, and 
is in negotiations with the rest. 
 
5.  (C)  Bassey explained that it is hard to gauge SELA's 
success, however, because a lot of settlers may move on their 
own in the end.  The key was SELA's approach of going and 
speaking personally to all involved Gaza families, which was 
convincing them to plan ahead (Note:  Bassey also sent out a 
letter to settler families on February 27 offering SELA's 
assistance with relocation and personal issues. End note). 
Bassey also thought that the approval of the disengagement 
compensation legislation boded well: its average 30 percent 
increase in compensation levels from the original levels had 
probably induced more settlers to leave Gaza peacefully. 
Moreover, the increased compensation will allow many more 
settlers to feel they have received "fair" value for their 
holdings.  The new school year was also a key motivating 
factor: Bassey believed that 90 percent of Gaza settlers 
would move out between the first and twenty-first of July to 
relocate before school began.  In the end, Bassey opined that 
less than one-third of the settlers will remain in Gaza on 
disengagement day, or perhaps they will move out beforehand. 
Bassey warned, however, that the father of settler families 
may return on the day of disengagement to declare "they are 
fighting." 
 
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Settlement Assets 
----------------- 
 
6.  (C) Bassey was clearly occupied with the subject of 
settlement assets.  He noted that he had spoken to Vice Prime 
Minister Shimon Peres about developing options to pay for 
agricultural assets, primarily greenhouses.  Peres was 
looking at finding a third party to mediate the assets.  His 
first concern was helping the Palestinians get on their own 
two feet because, long-term, the donors could not support the 
entire Gaza community.  Peres felt the key was to bring 
industry into Gaza, according to Bassey.  Bassey's own 
opinion about the assets in general was that it would be 
counterproductive to destroy them.  His team, made up of Shin 
Bet and IDF personnel, agreed.  One major problem was the 
lack of a decision by the Palestinians themselves as to 
whether they wanted the assets.  "Dahlan still thinks it's 
better to destroy assets because the Palestinians need the 
land.  Settler houses are not suitable for Palestinian 
families."  In any case, Bassey felt it would probably be 
wiser to make a final decision on assets closer to 
disengagement day, as settlers were likely to destroy the 
assets if they knew they would end up in Palestinian hands. 
Bassey was confident the GOI would find a solution to the 
problem at the end of the day -- perhaps it could employ 
private guards to protect the assets between disengagement 
day and Palestinian take over. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Because U.S. Recognized Gush Etzion as Part of 
Israel, We Can't Stop Settlers from Going There 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
7. (C) In response to a question from Economic Counselor, 
Bassey said that he had not heard of any settlers planning to 
move to the West Bank.  He noted, however, that "as the fence 
puts Gush Etzion in Israel with U.S. blessings," it was hard 
for him to tell settlers not to go there. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Bassey Discounts New Settler Construction in Gaza 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
8. (C) Bassey said the allegation that settlers were putting 
up new buildings in Gush Katif was "nonsense."  The contracts 
for them were signed a long time ago, he maintained, so 
construction was continuing on old projects.  He was 
uncertain how many such contracts were outstanding, but 
estimated the amount at NIS 40 million.  He was surprised 
that this issue had hit the press now, since the Exceptions 
Committee had held the meeting on the subject 2-3 months ago. 
 In any case, he said there was nothing new going on 
vis-a-vis construction; it would be ridiculous for the GOI to 
finance new construction knowing full well disengagement was 
to occur in a matter of months. 
 
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Financial Issues 
---------------- 
 
9.  (C) Bassey said that the GOI would not pay out 
compensation until the end of March, although the point was 
fairly academic since few were coming in at this point.  He 
said that SELA had not yet made a decision on the final day 
appraisals could be made for settler assets, but he felt this 
would not be a problem since the appraisals were fairly 
straightforward. 
 
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