LEAKED PURPORTED FEASIBILITY STUDY ON GAZA

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 002356

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2014
TAGS: PREL KWBG IS GAZA DISENGAGEMENT ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS SETTLEMENTS
SUBJECT: LEAKED PURPORTED FEASIBILITY STUDY ON GAZA
SETTLEMENT WITHDRAWAL CATALOGUES SETTLEMENT STATISTICS

Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.


1. (C) Y-Net, the website affiliated with mass-circulation
Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, on April 22 published a leaked
version of a reportedly Israeli NSC-drafted feasibility study
on Gaza settlement relocation. The document is less than the
title promises; it is not so much a feasibility study as it
is a cataloguing of Gaza settlements and settlers. The
document includes many tables of information categorizing
settlements by type (communal, moshav, agricultural, urban),
and offering demographic breakdowns of the settler
population, including of secular or religious affiliation.
The document offers a preliminary distillation of these
figures with a view to determining how best to manage the
settlers' absorption into other communities, whether as
individuals or collectively. The document has not been
finalized; indeed the budget section has been left completely
blank. Nonetheless, the Y-Net report indicated that it was
being prepared for cabinet consideration on April 25.
Embassy has emailed a PDF version of the Hebrew article to
NEA/IPA, along with an informal translation provided to the
Embassy by an outside party.


2. (SBU) Following is the Table of Contents of the leaked
report:
Begin Text:
1 Introduction

2. Size of Gaza Region settlement
2.1 Settlements and population
2.2 Agricultural Settlement in the Gaza Region
2.3 Industrial zones in Gaza Strip
3 Assumptions for examining feasibility
3.1 Personal preferences vs. public initiative
3.2 National priority areas
3.3 Adjusting the proposal to the settlers'
characteristics
4 Settlement alternatives
4.1 Reinforcing settlements or building new settlements
4.2 The government plan to build new settlements
4.3 The possibilities for absorbing agricultural
settlement
4.3.1 Reinforcement and supplementation of agricultural
settlements in Shalom Region
4.3.2 Reinforcement and supplementation of agricultural
villages in Ramat Hanegev
4.3.3 New agricultural settlement in Shalom Region
4.4 The possibilities of absorbing communal settlements
4.4.1 Nisanit
4.4.2 Neveh Dekalim and other communal settlements
4.5 The stock of plans in the Negev settlement expansions
4.6 Availability of new residential neighborhoods in
Negev cities
4.7 Alternatives for industrial zones
5 Availability and timetable
6 An administration for organizing, planning and
developing the alternative settlements
7 Cost and budget estimate
8 Government decisions, regulations and law amendments
End Text.

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KURTZER