US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV5663

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 005663 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KWBG, IS 
SUBJECT: TERMINAL CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY AT QALANDIYA 
CHECKPOINT 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b 
 
) and (d) 
 
This is a joint Embassy Tel Aviv/Consulate General Jerusalem 
cable 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Embassy and Consulate General officers 
visited the Qalandiya crossing on August 31 and September 7 
to observe the ongoing construction taking place at the 
long-existing and always much-contended checkpoint there. 
Brigadier General (res.) Baruch Spiegel, Ministry of Defense 
advisor, told the officers during the September 7 visit that 
the terminal the GOI is building will be the largest of 12-14 
facilities planned for crossings in the Jerusalem area.  The 
current budget is some NIS 40 million, but Spiegel and his 
team were uncertain whether that sum included all the 
technological equipment that they hope to install to speed 
inspections.  The facility will include two parking lots for 
private and public vehicles, six pedestrian lanes, and four 
vehicular lanes covering approximately 70 dunams.  Spiegel 
said that two or three lanes will be operational in about two 
months, at which time the separation barrier that runs along 
the northern part of the terminal will be removed.  Drivers 
of private cars should be able to stay with their vehicles 
during inspection, while riders on public transportation will 
disembark and use pedestrian terminals.  Israeli and 
Palestinian contacts have expressed their concern that 
Qalandiya terminal, six kilometers past the Green Line, looks 
like a permanent border crossing, dividing Jerusalem, as 
defined by Israel in 1967, from the West Bank.  They also 
registered concerns about the checkpoint's impact on local 
Palestinian communities.  Spiegel acknowledged that the 
crossing is neither on the Green Line, nor on the boundaries 
of the unilaterally-expanded Jerusalem city limits.  The new, 
higher-capacity terminal is, he said, a temporary solution to 
improve both pedestrian/vehicle movement and security at the 
existing, high-volume crossing until final political 
decisions are made.  Building on the current location, he 
said, reflects the availability of the current site, thereby 
precluding the need for additional land confiscation, 
existing established traffic flows, and the ability, once the 
new facility is completed and the nearby separation barrier 
is re-routed, to allow unimpeded passage from Ramallah to 
al-Ram.  End summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) After receiving Palestinian reports that vehicular 
access had been shut down for at least two days at Qalandiya 
checkpoint amid major construction work, ConGen poloff 
visited the crossing on August 31.  Based on his observation 
of apparently significant construction, Emboffs and 
ConGenoffs requested a joint briefing by GOI officials. 
 
--------- 
GOI Plans 
--------- 
 
3.  (C) Brigadier General (res.) Baruch Spiegel, Ministry of 
Defense (MOD) advisor, and two MOD officials gave Embassy and 
ConGen officers a tour of the terminal's construction on 
September 7.  Spiegel said that the terminal for vehicles and 
passengers will be operational in approximately two months, 
with the entrances in al-Ram in the south and Kfar Aqab in 
the north.  He explained that the crossing will have two 
parking lots for private and public vehicles, four vehicular 
lanes running north-south from the opening in Kfar Aqab to 
Jerusalem, and six pedestrian lanes with magnetometers and 
explosives "sniffers."  The MOD official from the MOD's 
Construction Center said that of the four vehicular lanes, 
one will be for VIPs and ambulances, and of the six 
pedestrian lanes, five will be for entrance into Jerusalem 
and the other for exit.  If drivers of private cars have all 
documents in order and are not considered to require 
additional inspection, they can stay with their vehicles, 
while passengers on public transportation will disembark and 
use the pedestrian terminal.  Drivers of private vehicles who 
require additional inspection will park their vehicles in a 
designated lot and go to an appropriate ministry office to 
provide additional documentation or information before being 
allowed to cross through the terminal. 
 
4.  (C) Spiegel said that there will be representatives from 
various government ministries and departments located at 
Qalandiya terminal, among these a post office, a District 
Coordination Office, and the Ministries of Labor and 
Education.  He reported that the government offices are 
expected to "immediately answer people who have problems," 
and that the new terminal and proximity of ministry offices 
should generally reduce congestion of people and traffic, 
which he characterized as currently a "mess."  Spiegel said 
that people needing to visit the government offices but not 
to cross into Jerusalem will go through a separate passenger 
lane. 
 
5.  (C) Spiegel envisioned a fully computerized ID system, 
maybe including biometric ID, for pedestrians walking through 
the six pedestrian lanes.  He contrasted it to the current 
manual check-in process through one lane, and said that now 
the "standard level is very low."  Once the pedestrians pass 
through the turnstiles and magnetometers, they will walk to 
the southern parking lot, where buses and taxis will be 
located.  He commented that the issues with the technology to 
put in place at the crossing are budgetary and that the GOI 
lacks manpower, but he added that at least two or three lanes 
will be operational in two months. 
 
6.  (C) Spiegel noted that the concrete barrier that runs 
along the northern part of the checkpoint will be removed as 
construction is completed.  In the plans the MOD officials 
showed the Embassy/ConGen team, a fence runs, instead, 
through the center of the checkpoint, separating the northern 
parking lot from the pedestrian lanes.  They estimated that 
the entire terminal would cover approximately 70 dunams:  50 
dunams for the parking lots and 20 dunams for the passenger 
lanes and waiting area complex.  The MOD officials also 
reported that the al-Ram checkpoint will be dismantled when 
the Qalandiya terminal is completed, and that Palestinians 
will be able to go directly from al-Ramt Rmllahon the 
perimeter road that surrounds the compound without going 
through the terminal or any further checks.  Spiegel said 
that the MOD plans to run the barrier through southern 
al-Ram, to keep the Rosary Sisters and Coptic schools, Greek 
Orthodox and Franciscan housing projects, and World 
Bank/IMF/Norwegian Representative Office institutions on the 
southern, or Israeli, side of the barrier.  (Note:  The 
barrier will nonetheless impede the heretofore strong social 
and economic connections between al-Ram and Bayt 
Hanina/Shufat, which would comprise a seamless urban unit of 
north Jerusalem were it not for the barrier.  End note.) 
 
7.  (C) Spiegel said that Qalandiya will be the largest of 
12-14 terminals planned for the Jerusalem area.  He noted 
that thousands of Palestinians currently cross through 
Qalandiya each day, from students and workers to medical 
patients, and that the GOI is hoping to offer high standards 
of technology and management services to improve efficiency 
of passage.  He continued that, for now, the terminal will be 
run by special border units from the Israeli National Police, 
but that the GOI will slowly transition to private 
inspection/security personnel.  According to Spiegel, the 
gradual hand-over will take place as the barrier is 
constructed, and the construction timeline depends on the 
High Court.  (Note:  The MOD officials during the tour said 
they expect the High Court's decision on the barrier's route 
in al-Ram and other areas adjacent to the checkpoint in late 
October.  End note.) 
 
---------------- 
Is it Permanent? 
---------------- 
 
8.  (C) Israeli and Palestinian contacts have noted to ConGen 
poloff that the Qalandiya terminal resembles the permanent 
structures for inspection and transfer of people and goods 
set up at Baytuniya cargo and Bethlehem checkpoints. 
Jerusalem attorney Danny Seidemann, citing sources in the 
Jerusalem Municipality and GOI Ministry of Interior, said 
that "Qalandiya will shortly have all the trappings of a 
border crossing, complete with customs inspection as well as 
security and permit screening."  (Note:  Israel in the past 
has used inspections at Qalandiya crossing for customs 
enforcement to regulate the movement of items such as 
cigarettes and cash.  End note.)  Fatah's Secretary General 
for Jerusalem, Salah Zukaykah, said that Palestinians in East 
Jerusalem see the new construction as a sign that GOI-imposed 
obstacles between Jerusalem and the West Bank, originally 
justified as temporary security measures, are becoming 
permanent.  Spiegel acknowledged that the crossing is neither 
on the Green Line, nor on the boundaries of the 
unilaterally-expanded Jerusalem city limits.  The new, 
higher-capacity terminal, he said, is a temporary solution to 
improve both pedestrian/vehicle movement and security at the 
existing, high-volume crossing until a final political 
decision on borders is made.  Building on the current 
location, he said, reflects both the availability of the 
current site, thereby precluding the need for additional land 
confiscation, existing established traffic flows, and the 
ability, once the new facility is completed and the nearby 
separation barrier is re-routed, to allow unimpeded passage 
from Ramallah to al-Ram.  Spiegel said that, for now, the 
Qalandiya terminal is the best option to increase 
Palestinians' freedom of movement while ensuring Israel's 
security. 
 
ConGen officers will follow up with further observations on 
the ground and discussions with local contacts. 
 
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