US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV5055

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 005055 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, IS, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS, SETTLEMENTS, GAZA DISENGAGEMENT 
SUBJECT: SPIEGEL UPDATES AMBASSADOR ON BORDER CROSSINGS AND 
WORKING WITH THE PALESTINIANS DURING DISENGAGEMENT 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Brigadier General (res.) Baruch Spiegel, 
Ministry of Defense (MOD) advisor, told the Ambassador on 
August 12 that the MOD continues to work with the UN's Office 
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to agree on the 
definition and number of roadblocks in the West Bank (WB). 
He explained that the evacuated region in the northern WB 
will remain under "Area C" status after disengagement so the 
IDF has the freedom to respond to terror attacks.  On 
disengagement itself, Spiegel asserted that the GOI security 
forces are ready and will coordinate all troop movements with 
the Palestinian Authority (PA).  GOI-PA coordination on the 
post-disengagement management and operation of border 
crossings remains under discussion.  Spiegel also told the 
Ambassador that it will be difficult for the GOI to remove 
illegal outposts after disengagement because the government 
may not have the political strength to do it.  End summary. 
 
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Working with OCHA on Roadblock Figures 
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2.  (C) Brigadier General (res.) Baruch Spiegel, Ministry of 
Defense (MOD) advisor, told the Ambassador on August 12 that 
officials from COGAT and the Central Command continue to meet 
with the UN's Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
(OCHA) to deconflict the definitions and figures of 
roadblocks in the West Bank.  According to Spiegel, a member 
of the Wolfensohn mission, OCHA Director David Shearer, and 
GOI security officials will meet on August 17 to decide on a 
common map, and to find a way to improve internal movements 
and access.  Spiegel recognized that the number of roadblocks 
between Tulkarm and Nablus has increased since the Netanya 
attack, but he did not provide a current figure.  In the 
northern West Bank, where four settlements are to be 
evacuated this week, Spiegel reported that an official from 
the Task Force on Project Implementation (TFPI) is working as 
a liaison with COGAT in Janin to improve internal movements 
in the area. 
 
3.  (C) In response to the Ambassador's question on the 
rationale behind leaving the evacuated region under "Area C" 
status, Spiegel replied that the GOI is currently studying 
how to make it "Area B" instead.  When the Ambassador 
suggested changing it to "Area A" status to reduce the 
possibility of friction between Palestinians and IDF 
soldiers, Spiegel responded that the IDF wants to maintain 
operational freedom and flexibility to respond to terror 
attacks.  He conceded, however, that there is an ongoing 
internal GOI debate on the issue. 
 
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Working with the Palestinians During Disengagement 
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4.  (C) Spiegel commented that the evacuations from the 
settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank will be 
coordinated with the Palestinian Authority (PA).  He said 
that two operations centers have been set up, in a UN 
building at Erez for the Gaza Strip and near Janin for the 
West Bank, to coordinate troop movements and intelligence 
during the disengagement.  Spiegel said that the centers will 
be open around the clock, and added that the PA and the GOI 
will have daily meetings if necessary to update each other on 
how the process is going. 
 
5.  (C) Spiegel continued that the IDF and the police are 
ready, and have taken their preparations for the evacuations 
very seriously.  He made clear that disengagement is going to 
work, but the only question is at what price because of the 
possibilities of Palestinian attacks or settler violence.  In 
response to the Ambassador's question on why the IDF did not 
close off the Gaza Strip sooner to prevent settler 
infiltrations, Spiegel replied that many youngsters snuck 
into Gaza in car trunks, and other settlers or 
settler-supporters went in when there were no restrictions 
and simply overstayed their permits. 
 
6.  (C) Spiegel questioned the PA's readiness to deal with a 
post-disengagement Gaza, however.  While he acknowledged that 
the Palestinians have "done a lot in the last weeks," and he 
has seen a serious attempt to give orders, he admitted that 
he has very low expectations that the PA will be able to 
maintain control in the future.  Spiegel explained that the 
biggest issues with the PA are law and order, chain of 
command, and institution-building. 
 
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Border Crossings in the Gaza Strip 
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7.  (C) With respect to border crossings, Spiegel told the 
Ambassador that the GOI prefers a crossing at Kerem Shalom, 
and that it sent a team last Thursday to check on the 
possibility of building a passage there.  He said the GOI is 
working on other alternatives, but emphasized the preference 
for the Kerem Shalom option.  Spiegel mentioned that the 
Palestinians are "sometimes listening, and they ask questions 
because of the customs union, so something may have moved." 
 
8.  (C) On the Sufah crossing, Spiegel noted that it is 
currently open for raw materials and aggregates, but that 
perhaps in the future it will function as an agricultural 
passage.  He reported that a subcommittee on agriculture will 
meet this week with the involvement of the Israeli and 
Palestinian private sectors, and that they will decide on the 
location and volume of a future agricultural passage. 
 
9.  (C) Spiegel admitted that the GOI had three meetings last 
week on the management of Karni, and that the government is 
having internal problems because the Israeli Airports 
Authority, which currently runs the crossing, is very 
"defensive" about its work.  Spiegel said that there cannot 
be dramatic management changes until the MOD fully takes over 
-- it may take up to a year -- but that the GOI will continue 
to meet to determine what operating standards, hours, and 
technologies it will use.  He also noted that the GOI has 
ordered more scanners. 
 
10.  (C) Regarding Erez, Spiegel mentioned that the GOI is 
working unilaterally because PA Interior Minister Muhammad 
Dahlan has not ordered his people to work on issues related 
to this crossing.  According to Spiegel, "it is a must" that 
the Palestinians do something on their side because the GOI 
connects Palestinian progress and performance on the ground 
to changing the transport system from back-to-back to 
door-to-door.  He said that while the infrastructure at Erez 
will be more advanced than at Karni, the management and 
operation may not be. 
 
11.  (C) Recognizing that moving to a door-to-door regime is 
a process, the Ambassador asked if the GOI has a study to 
show the Palestinians the necessary steps to achieve this 
goal.  Spiegel responded that the GOI will have two meetings 
this week, with the Wolfensohn mission and with the 
Palestinians, to determine how to move forward.  He added, 
however, that it will take time and that while it may seem 
simple, like the convoy system from Gaza to the West Bank, 
there are a lot of interagency issues to deal with and the 
GOI needs to study the matter fully.  Spiegel continued that 
the GOI would start a convoy pilot program after 
disengagement for goods and prisoner families, and that the 
International Committee for the Red Cross and Israeli police 
would escort the buses. 
 
12.  (C) Spiegel noted that on Thursday there was "some 
better news" on the PA and the GOI agreeing to use more of 
the $50 million for technology upgrades, and less for 
infrastructure and service.  He said the meetings would 
continue on August 15, but stressed that time is an important 
factor because any delay in the acquisition of technology for 
the passages could affect the efficiency on the ground. 
 
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Passages and the Separation Barrier in the West Bank 
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13.  (C) Spiegel reported that in the next two months the GOI 
will be opening a few more passages along the separation 
barrier in the Jerusalem/Bethlehem area, in Jalameh, and in 
Qalandiya.  He explained that the process of opening passages 
would coincide with the construction of the barrier, and said 
that the GOI is approximately halfway through this 
construction.  Regarding Christian properties that lie in the 
path of the barrier around Jerusalem, Spiegel noted that the 
GOI continues to have meetings with churches to coordinate 
the route of the barrier.  He reported that the GOI is still 
checking the status of the police station in Ma'ale Adumim, 
and that it is in the advanced stages of detailed plans for 
the barrier around the Gush Etzion bloc. 
 
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Outpost Removals 
---------------- 
 
14.  (C) The Ambassador queried whether the GOI would discuss 
removing illegal outposts with the USG after disengagement, 
and Spiegel predicted that it would be very difficult because 
the government may not have the strength to do so after 
pulling out of Gaza and the northern West Bank.  Spiegel 
confided that, while outposts should be removed for the 
"substance" of it, politics would likely prevent it.  He 
expressed frustration that it has taken his office more than 
a year to assemble files on outposts and settlements because 
"no one in the GOI has done this since probably the Six Day 
War."  He remarked that there had been no typical files like 
a government official would have in his office to check on 
the status of whatever issue arises that day, but now the GOI 
takes overhead pictures every two months to keep the data 
up-to-date.  Spiegel said he did not want to pass judgment on 
why the government had not kept any of this information, but 
added that he knows many times one part of the Israeli 
government does not know what other parts are doing regarding 
outposts.  Spiegel reported that Education Minister Limor 
Livnat's interministerial committee on the Sasson Report has 
prepared some legislation to implement the report's 
recommendations, but the committee has yet to publish its 
findings or the legislation. 
 
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