US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV1524

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001524 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KWBG, IS, SETTLEMENTS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS, GOI INTERNAL 
SUBJECT: CABINET DECIDES TO REMOVE 24 OUTPOSTS BUT DOESN'T 
ADOPT SASSON REPORT 
 
REF: TEL AVIV 01430 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b 
) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary/Comment:  Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's 
Cabinet on March 13 decided to remove the 24 post-March 2001 
outposts mentioned in Talia Sasson's report, but not until 
after implementation of the disengagement plan.  Israeli 
officials said that the GOI is "busy" with disengagement and 
that the IDF's attention should not be diverted from it.  The 
Cabinet also set up a ministerial committee, headed by 
Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni, to make recommendations on 
the other 81 unauthorized outposts mentioned in the report, 
and to recommend an overhaul of procedures needed to 
establish new outposts.  The Cabinet only approved the 
principle that the rule of law should be obeyed, but not the 
report itself, and Sharon dismissed calls to dismantle the 
Settlements Division of the World Zionist Organization.  The 
media and politicians are characterizing the establishment of 
the committee, which has 90 days to report back to the 
Cabinet, as "foot-dragging" and a "diversionary maneuver." 
End Summary and Comment. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Dismantle 24 Outposts...  But When? 
----------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet on March 13 
decided to remove the 24 post-March 2001 outposts mentioned 
in Talia Sasson's report.  According to press reports, 
Sharon told his Cabinet that "Israel is obligated under the 
roadmap, which was approved by a cabinet decision and which 
in its first phase calls on Israel to dismantle the 
unauthorized outposts that were established since March 2001, 
and Israel will live up to its commitments."  The Cabinet, 
however, did not set a timeline for the evacuations, despite 
the fact that the report said there were no legal hurdles to 
prevent dismantling six of the 24 outposts.  Sasson's report 
also recommended that another 15 outposts built on private 
Palestinian land should be evacuated immediately.  Defense 
Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Ambassador on March 14 that 
none of the outposts would be evacuated until after 
implementation of the disengagement plan, and at the Cabinet 
meeting he reportedly said that the IDF's attention should 
not be diverted from disengagement.  In addition, Sharon 
reportedly told UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that Israel 
will evacuate the 24 outposts, "but not just now" because the 
GOI is "busy" implementing disengagement. 
 
----------------- 
And the Other 81? 
----------------- 
 
3.  (C) The Cabinet left the fate of the remaining 81 
outposts mentioned in Sasson's report undecided (Note:  71 
are pre-March 2001 outposts and Sasson could not determine 
when the other 10 were erected.  End note).  According to 
press, the Cabinet set up a special committee, which Justice 
Minister Tzipi Livni will head, "to recommend organizational 
changes and an overhaul of the procedures necessary to obtain 
permission to establish new outposts."  The committee, 
however, will not have the authority to order the evacuation 
of any outposts.  Other committee members include the 
Ministers of Construction and Housing, Defense, 
Infrastructure, Internal Security, Agriculture, Education, 
Health, and Interior.  Mofaz told the Ambassador that they 
will report their recommendations to the Cabinet in 90 days. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Cabinet Decision Falls Short in Other Respects 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
4.  (U) In addition to postponing the evacuation of the 
post-March 2001 outposts, the Cabinet decided to adopt "only 
the principle that the rule of law should be obeyed," and not 
the report itself.  Attorney General Menachem Mazuz allegedly 
said that the Cabinet could not adopt the report in its 
entirety until its conclusions are examined more closely. 
The Cabinet passed a resolution that said the report's 
findings and recommendations are "important," and that "the 
government accepts the basic principles of the report -- that 
there is a need to be careful and ensure that the allocation 
of land, the planning, the establishment and populating the 
settlements, existing and new ones in Judea and Samaria, is 
done according to law and according to government decisions." 
 
5.  (U) According to press, Sharon also dismissed calls to 
dismantle the Settlements Division of the World Zionist 
Organization, reportedly saying that "the time had not yet 
come." 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
6.  (C) Israeli pundits and Labor members are already 
commenting that the creation of the Cabinet's ministerial 
committee to determine how to implement Sasson's 
recommendations is merely "foot-dragging" and one of Sharon's 
"diversionary maneuvers."  They claim that, in the end, 
nothing will happen and no outposts will be dismantled.  Of 
more importance, however, is the committee's mandate to look 
into "an overhaul of the procedures necessary to obtain 
permission to establish new outposts."  In effect, this could 
mean that not only will no outposts be dismantled, but in 
fact, that the committee could find a way to retroactively 
approve most of the outposts mentioned in the report, and 81 
unauthorized outposts will turn into "authorized" facts on 
the ground.  End comment. 
 
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