US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV6671

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 006671 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KWBG, IS, SETTLEMENTS 
SUBJECT: GOI UNDERTAKES HOME DEMOLITIONS IN EAST JERUSALEM, 
PARTIALLY REJECTS SASSON REPORT, AND ISSUES MORE TENDERS 
 
REF: TEL AVIV 06579 
 
Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d) 
 
This is a joint Embassy Tel Aviv/Consulate General Jerusalem 
cable. 
 
1.  (U) This is an action request.  Please see paragraph 11. 
 
2.  (C) Summary and comment:  Over the past several days, we 
have received reports of GOI demolitions of at least ten Arab 
homes in East Jerusalem for a lack of building permits. 
Ha'aretz November 23 reported that the Justice Ministry 
rejected four recommendations in the Talia Sasson report on 
illegal outpost activity that were meant to prevent the 
establishment of illegal outposts.  In addition, the Israel 
Lands Authority and the Ministry of Construction and Housing 
published tenders for the construction of 671 housing units 
in Alfe Menashe, Har Homa, and Ma'ale Adumim settlements. 
Given these recent activities, we are concerned that the GOI 
is beginning a trend of actions that appear to undermine its 
commitments to the USG under the Weissglas-Rice exchange of 
letters.  We plan to approach the GOI with the points in 
paragraph 10, and we seek Washington comments on this 
approach.  End summary and comment. 
 
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Home Demolitions in East Jerusalem 
---------------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) Embassy econoff and ConGen poloff between November 22 
and 24 spoke with Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human 
Rights (RHR) and received an email from Angela Godfrey of the 
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) regarding 
GOI demolitions of Arab homes in East Jerusalem for a lack of 
building permits.  Both organizations reported that the 
Jerusalem Municipality over the past four days has demolished 
at least ten homes in the villages of Anata, Beit Hanina, 
Issawiya, Silwan, al-Tur, Wadi al-Joz, and al-Wallajah.  They 
stressed that "this is only the beginning" because the 
Jerusalem Municipality allegedly has NIS 1.5 million 
(approximately $300,000) remaining in its demolition budget 
to be used by the end of the year. 
 
4.  (C) RHR and ICAHD estimate that this $300,000 will pay 
for another 65-70 demolitions by late December.  ICAHD and 
the NGO B'tselem claim that they know of at least 97 
demolition orders that have been frozen but not canceled. 
Danny Seidemann, attorney with the NGO Ir Amim, told econoff 
that the municipality had suspended demolitions during 
Ramadan, but the demolition orders have been "building up" 
and he expects to see many more by the end of the year.  He 
estimated that this year so far there have been approximately 
70 home demolitions, and last year the total figure was 160, 
which he characterized as a "peak year."  (Note:  An 
additional 70 in the next month and a half would raise the 
figure up to 140.  End note.) 
 
5.  (C) Ascherman of RHR recounted that a visiting delegation 
of 400 rabbis from the U.S. met with Jerusalem Mayor 
Lupolianski the week of November 7, and he reportedly told 
the delegation that he did not believe in mass home 
demolitions, and would not undertake them unless the homes 
are in the way of the planned separation barrier.  Boaz 
Karni, Treasurer of the Economic Cooperation Foundation 
(ECF), told econoff, however, that these demolitions "have 
nothing to do with the separation barrier," and that the 
houses are being demolished because they do not have the 
proper permits.  Karni pointed out, though, that Arabs in 
East Jerusalem do not have permits because "no permits are 
given for them to build" by Israeli authorities.  Seidemann 
agreed that the demolitions are unrelated to the barrier's 
route, and made clear that he could find "no pattern, rhyme, 
or reason" to why these houses were targeted.  He said that 
"it is virtually impossible for a Palestinian to get a 
building permit in East Jerusalem" because the GOI wants to 
maintain the demographic balance in the city and will not 
help Arabs organize themselves to prepare the necessary town 
plans to obtain the permits.  (Note:  Seidemann pointed to an 
article he wrote in the Jerusalem Quarterly File in 1998 
refuting then-Mayor Ehud Olmert's justifications for mass 
home demolitions in his testimony to the Knesset Law 
Committee in 1997.  Seidemann offered a variety of statistics 
to characterize GOI discrimination against Arabs in East 
Jerusalem on this issue.  End note.)  Meir Margalit, 
researcher for ICAHD, told poloff that the Jerusalem 
Municipality has only issued 3,500 housing permits to Arabs 
in East Jerusalem since 1967. 
 
6.  (C) Poloff visited the sites of some of the demolitions 
and the owners of the houses told him that they had applied 
for building permits, but had been denied.  A couple of the 
home-owners had been paying monthly fines of NIS 420-1,000 
(approximately $95-225) to stave off the demolitions.  A 
woman in Silwan claimed not to have any advance notice that 
the demolitions were taking place, while a man in Wadi al-Joz 
was denied entrance to his house by the police even though he 
had an injunction order from the court to stop the 
demolition.  ICAHD members told poloff that buildings built 
by Israelis without permits, however, are still standing. 
They gave the examples of a 5-story and a 7-story building 
built by settlers in Silwan as examples of discrimination 
against Arab homes. 
 
------------------------ 
Justice Ministry Rejects 
Part of Sasson Report 
------------------------ 
 
7.  (U) In another disturbing development, Ha'aretz November 
23 reported that the Justice Ministry (MOJ) has rejected four 
of eight proposed amendments to security legislation 
suggested by Talia Sasson in her March report on illegal 
outpost activity in the West Bank.  The recommendations that 
were rejected are: 
 
-- Setting a specific sentence for violating the law on 
unauthorized structures, to include significant jail time and 
a heavy fine. 
 
-- Not authorizing the placement of a caravan on a location 
in the West Bank unless the applicant presents a building 
permit for the specific caravan at the targeted site; an 
aerial photograph of the targeted site; a statement 
explaining the need for the caravan; and a plan for setting 
up the caravan signed by the engineer of the local authority. 
 
-- Requiring any construction outside of the local council to 
be approved by the defense minister. 
 
-- Requiring West Bank land purchases by Israelis to be 
approved by the Civil Administration in writing. 
 
In the article, Sasson reacts to the ruling and defends her 
recommendations by noting that imposing these limits on 
caravans is meant to ensure they are not placed in illegal 
outposts. 
 
8.  (C) Interior Minister Ofir Pines-Paz and Housing Minister 
Yitzhak Herzog, both on Justice Minister Tzipi Livni's 
inter-ministerial committee responsible for examining 
Sasson's recommendations, were quoted in the press as saying 
that they did not know that the MOJ had rejected the 
suggestions until they were informed by Ha'aretz.  Herzog 
reportedly said that ignoring the need to close the holes in 
law enforcement would abet the lawbreakers.  Pines-Paz opined 
that "this is another nail in the coffin of the Sasson 
report."  Boaz Karni of ECF cautioned econoff that this is 
"the burial of the report" while "everyone is busy with Rafah 
and other things."  He blamed Livni personally, and suggested 
that she did not feel enough pressure from the GOI political 
echelon and the USG to adopt the report.  Ha'aretz reported 
November 24 that the MOJ spokesman said the existing 
legislation appears sufficient for evacuating the outposts. 
The GOI, in its response to a petition filed by Peace Now on 
the removal of two outposts, said that political 
considerations, such as the upcoming general elections, are 
preventing the evacuation of illegal outposts, including 
those on private Palestinian land. 
 
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Tenders Issued 
-------------- 
 
9.  (U) Ha'aretz November 24 published tenders by the Israel 
Lands Authority and the Ministry of Construction and Housing 
for the construction of a total of 671 housing units in three 
settlements in the West Bank.  One tender was for 382 units 
in the 07 neighborhood of Ma'ale Adumim, a figure higher than 
the 350 originally expected (ref A).  Three other tenders 
were for 56 units in the Givat Tal expansion of Alfe Menashe, 
198 units and commercial area in Har Homa, and an additional 
35 units also in Har Homa.  This brings the total of housing 
units announced since November 17 to 684.  The bids for 
Ma'ale Adumim and Alfe Menashe are due on January 8, 2006, 
and the bids for Har Homa are due on January 15, 2006. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
10.  (C) In light of intensifying home demolitions in East 
Jerusalem, the failure of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni's 
committee to fully adopt the Sasson report, and the 
publication of tenders for 671 housing -- all in the last 
week -- we are disturbed by what appears to be a pattern of 
actions that intentionally or unintentionally undermine the 
GOI commitments to the U.S. under the Weissglas-Rice exchange 
of letters.  At this point, we are unable to say that the 
actions are being taken to take advantage of the current 
turmoil in Israeli politics.  In order to ensure that this 
pattern of activity ceases, however, we intend to approach 
the GOI with the following points: 
 
-- We are concerned about recent reports of demolitions of 
homes belonging to Arabs in the villages of Anata, Beit 
Hanina, Issawiya, Silwan, al-Tur, Wadi al-Joz, and 
al-Wallajah in East Jerusalem.  Some NGOs in the area have 
suggested to us that these demolitions will continue through 
the end of the year, leaving many homeless. 
 
-- Reports that the recommendations in the Sasson report were 
not fully adopted are also troubling given that Sasson's 
suggestions were meant to prevent the establishment of 
illegal outposts and to impose deterrent sentences on 
potential lawbreakers.  We urge you to reconsider the 
decision taken by the Ministry of Justice. 
 
-- In addition, the recent publication of tenders for an 
additional 671 housing units in Alfe Menashe, Har Homa, and 
Ma'ale Adumim contravenes the GOI's commitment to the USG 
under the Weissglas-Rice exchange of letters to freeze 
settlement expansion. 
 
-- The GOI actions of the past week are of significant 
concern and may set back the momentum created by Secretary 
Rice's recent visit. 
 
-- We encourage you to consider the impact of these events, 
and take the necessary steps to prevent any further actions, 
such as the ones described, from taking place. 
 
11.  (C) Action request:  Department comments on the above 
approach. 
 
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