US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV4842

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 004842 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PTER, IS, ISRAELI SOCIETY 
SUBJECT: ISRAELI-ARAB LEADERS BLAME JEWISH EXTREMIST'S 
FATAL ATTACK ON ISRAEL'S "RACIST ATMOSPHERE" 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: The GOI quickly spun into action to contain 
a potentially volatile atmosphere in Israeli-Arab communities 
after the August 4 shooting attack by an extremist Jewish 
settler on a bus in the Arab city of Shfaram that killed four 
Israeli Arabs.  Prime Minister Sharon called the attack by 
the 19-year-old settler -- subsequently killed by an angry 
crowd -- "a sinful act by a bloodthirsty terrorist," quickly 
contacted Israeli-Arab leaders to condemn the act, offered 
condolences to the families of the slain, and instructed the 
GOI to make an investigation into the attack a "top 
priority."  Hundreds of police were diverted from 
disengagement-related duty near Gaza to the north, where the 
attack took place.  While demonstrations in Israeli-Arab 
cities on August 5 were peaceful, police are concerned that 
the situation could still ignite.  Israeli-Arab MK Mohammed 
Barakeh, himself a resident of Shfaram, told Poloff August 5 
that he does not foresee any escalation of these 
demonstrations into violent riots over the coming days.  MK 
Barakeh and other Israeli-Arab leaders are blaming right-wing 
Jewish leaders for having created a "racist" atmosphere 
conducive to such attacks.  Israeli Arabs are expressing 
concern that the concentration of GOI security forces in the 
south to grapple with anti-disengagement protesters is 
leaving their communities vulnerable to future extremist 
attacks.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) Israel's media was saturated with photographs and 
reports of the August 4 bus attack by 19-year-old Eden Natan 
Zada, a newly-religious settler, who managed to kill two 
young women passengers, the bus driver, and an older male 
passenger, and injure at least 12 persons, in the 
Israeli-Arab city of Shfaram, before he was disarmed and 
killed by an angry crowd.  Zada had gone AWOL from the IDF in 
June, and had not been located by the IDF despite reported 
pleas from his mother to find him and to take his weapon away 
from him.  Zada reportedly left his home in a suburb of Tel 
Aviv, became religious, and joined the West Bank settlement 
of Tapuach, known to be the home of members of the outlawed 
extreme-right Kach movement.  Zada was reportedly detained 
and questioned several months ago in Jerusalem on suspicion 
of intending to forcibly enter the Temple Mount.  Police 
arrested August 5 three Tapuach youths who associated with 
Zada, and who police suspect may have known about Zada's 
plans to carry out the attack. 
 
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Barakeh: Attack Was not Act of One Madman 
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3.  (C) Israeli-Arab MK Barakeh told Poloff August 5 that PM 
Sharon told him that he had instructed the Israeli Security 
Agency (Shin Bet) to address the threat of right-wing Jewish 
extremist groups.  Barakeh stressed that he does not see this 
incident as the actions of one madman.  Rather, he blames the 
attack on right-wing Jewish extremist groups emboldened by an 
atmosphere of "racism" in Israel against Israeli-Arabs.  This 
atmosphere, he said, was created by right-wing Jewish 
political leaders who have made "inciteful and racist" 
statements against Israeli Arabs.  Israeli-Arab MK Ahmed Tibi 
echoed these views in public statements.  According to Tibi, 
the attack resulted from "anti-Arab incitement and racism, 
which are spreading in Israeli society.  Jewish politicians 
treat Arab citizens as enemies and anti-Arabism translates 
here to the murder of innocent Arabs." 
 
4.  (C) Rania Laham, of the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab 
Citizens of Israel, herself a resident of Shfaram and regular 
rider of the bus that Zada attacked, told Poloff August 5 
that "no one was expecting something like this" to occur in 
Shfaram, a mixed-city of some 35,000 residents that includes 
Druze, Muslim and Christian Arabs.  Laham said that Mossawa 
had petitioned Attorney General Menachem Mazuz several times 
to take action against several Jewish politicians who made 
racist statements against Arabs.  Laham noted that the 
incident was shocking for Shfaram residents, who "all get 
along peacefully... and who have pulled together so well" in 
the aftermath of the attack. 
 
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Arab Sector Holds General Strike, Peaceful Demonstrations 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
5.  (C) Relative calm held in Israeli-Arab communities near 
Shfaram, while the Israeli-Arab Follow-Up Committee announced 
a general strike and held a demonstration in the Israeli-Arab 
city of Nazareth.  The police have reportedly sent hundreds 
of reinforcements to the north to keep the calm.  Israeli 
Arab and Jewish leaders have called for calm, citing the need 
to avoid a repetition of the October 2000 riots that erupted 
in Israeli-Arab communities after the outbreak of the second 
intifada, during which Israeli police killed 12 Israeli-Arab 
citizens and one Palestinian.  (Note: After a three-year 
investigation into police conduct during the riots and 
general GOI treatment of the Israeli-Arab sector, the 
government-mandated Orr Commission concluded that certain 
police and government officials were at fault, and that the 
Israeli-Arab community suffered from historic governmental 
and societal discrimination and neglect.  End note.) 
 
6.  (C) MK Barakeh seemed confident that violence or riots 
would not ensue from the demonstrations currently taking 
place in Israeli-Arab communities, and he expressed 
satisfaction with the way in which police were handling the 
demonstrations, noting that they had not entered Israeli-Arab 
communities.  He also seemed satisfied with his discussion 
with PM Sharon about the situation, and that Sharon was 
acting to address threats by extremist groups.  He noted, 
however, that the general atmosphere of racism in Israel 
against Israeli Arabs had marred the Israeli-Arab community's 
relationship with the police and the government in general. 
 
7.  (C) Laham, however, noted that residents of Shfaram feel 
vulnerable and angry.  She said that some members of the 
Druze community are calling on Druze soldiers to leave the 
IDF.  (Note: Druze are the only Israeli Arabs who have 
historically been required to serve in the IDF.  End note.) 
She stressed that "there is a big feeling of vulnerability" 
among the community, since many believe that the police will 
not be able both to facilitate disengagement and protect 
Israeli-Arab communities from extremists like Zada.  Ha'aretz 
reported August 5 that Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said 
that police forces dealing with anti-disengagement protesters 
in the south had been diverted to the north.  Karadi 
asserted, however, in an August 4 television interview, that 
"the police have sufficient forces to handle this incident as 
well as the disengagement.  However, the situation forces us 
to take on more (responsibility) than we have so far."  The 
Knesset will discuss the attack in an already scheduled 
special recess session August 10. 
 
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KURTZER