SPIEGEL ON ELECTION OBSERVERS, FENCE, JAYYUS, AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 006374

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG IS SETTLEMENTS ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS GAZA DISENGAGEMENT
SUBJECT: SPIEGEL ON ELECTION OBSERVERS, FENCE, JAYYUS, AND
DISENGAGEMENT


Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)
.


1. SUMMARY: GOI coordinator for separation barrier issues
BG (res) Baruch Spiegel (protect) spoke to POL/C December 14
about the apparent lack of GOI preparations to handle
international election monitors, his team's efforts to
document outpost and settlement activity, the apparent new
responsiveness within the bureaucracy and IDF to PM Sharon's
initiatives on disengagement and on easing restrictions on
Palestinians, and the land dispute in Jayyus. END SUMMARY.

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ELECTIONS MONITORING
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2. (C) GOI coordinator for the separation barrier and
outpost/settlement issues BG (res) Baruch Spiegel (protect)
told POL/C December 14 that he has been urging GOI officials
to establish immediately a coordinated, centralized mechanism
to assist international observers coming to the Palestinian
areas for the January 9 Palestinian Authority presidential
election. Spiegel said that while the issue is outside his
current purview, his experience as Israel's elections
coordinator in 1996 demonstrates that handling several
hundred international monitors is a massive undertaking
requiring the collaboration of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, IDF, MOD and many other agencies. Issues of
security, travel, checkpoints, communications and logistics
require thorough planning, he said, and if "two presidents"
show up, the task will be huge.


3. (C) Spiegel said that for the 1996 elections, the GOI
established a central headquarters to coordinate activities
by both Israeli and non-governmental players. The GOI issued
special rose-colored documents for observers, trained Israeli
civilians and IDF personnel, provided briefings on
checkpoints and Israeli procedures, set up specialized
communications to ensure rapid contact and dissemination of
information, and engaged in major contingency planning.
Imagine, he said, what would happen now if Hamas kidnapped an
election observer in Khan Yunis. With only three-plus weeks
until the elections, he added, no such entity has yet been
established, and these elections are "more complex" than the
1996 process. Spiegel said he had suggested that Amir
Maimon, whom he said is the MFA coordinator for foreign
observers, quickly talk to all those who handled the 1996
elections and review the voluminous files. Spiegel suggested
that in light of a probable American contingent participating
in the election monitoring, the Embassy should initiate
contacts as soon as possible with Maimon, followed by talks
with MOD official Amos Gilad and COGAT chief MG Mishlev in
order to avoid problems.


4. (C) Note: NDI resident representative Shannon O'Connell
told AIDoff December 15 that MFA officials held an initial
meeting last week with observer representatives and will hold
another late December 15. The first meeting included
personnel from NDI, the European observation team, and UNDP,
which is coordinating international observer efforts for the
Palestinian Central Elections Commission. The GOI team was
led by MFA director for Palestinian affairs Oded Ben Haim and
included personnel from the MFA legal counsel's office and
the emergency operations directorate. O'Connell said the GOI
is mandating a laborious credentialing process that O'Connell
termed burdensome but not insurmountable, and plans to issue
accreditation documents for observers at ports of entry. The
GOI will issue special stickers and permits for observer
vehicles, but local staff will all need to go through the
current process to secure travel permits. GOI officials
reportedly told the observer reps that the safety of Israelis
would come first in all cases, and made no commitments to
freedom of movement for observers. A planned meeting this
week between PA Minister Saeb Erakat and PM advisor Dov
Weissglas to discuss elections was postponed as a result of
the Rafah bombing. END NOTE.

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OUTPOSTS AND SETTLEMENTS
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5. (C) Spiegel said his team is pressing ahead on efforts to
update and compile information on outposts and settlements,
and is generating a "one-button" database from which they can
call up comprehensive data on every site. He acknowledged
that, since much of the data has not been updated since 1967,
the task is large and likely to require several more months
to complete. He added, however, that the database will be
useful even before completion, and that legal advisor Talia
Sasson is making significant progress on the full range of
legal issues surrounding outposts and settlements. Asked
about outpost numbers and removals, Spiegel said that the USG
and the GOI differ in their definitions of outposts, then
acknowledged offering without specifics that while several
uninhabited outposts have been dismantled, little has been
done to any inhabited outposts.
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DISENGAGEMENT, CHECKPOINTS AND ATTACKS
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6. (C) Spiegel voiced confidence that the bureaucracy is
getting on board to implement PM Sharon's disengagement plan
and relaxation of restrictions on Palestinians. He asserted
that COS Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon has issued clear orders all
the way down through the ranks and has ensured that all the
commanders are personally involved in the process. That
clarity of orders has improved the bureaucracy's response to
his own taskings, Spiegel said, noting that he was at the
moment awaiting the imminent arrival of a comprehensive list
of West Bank checkpoints from which to identify points for
possible relaxations. Other personnel are working on
measures to, for instance, ease access to Bethlehem for
Christmas, he said. Spiegel voiced real concern, however,
that new Palestinian attacks, such as the recent Rafah
checkpoint bombing, are apt to cripple the efforts to ease
restrictions on Palestinians. He expressed dismay that
militant factions are targeting Gaza crossing points that are
so critical to Palestinian well-being.

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SEPARATION BARRIER
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7. (C) Referring to a wall map of the West Bank, Spiegel
said that he had sent to PM Sharon three options for
re-routing the separation barrier to ease the hardship on
Palestinians in compliance with the High Court's decision.
He hoped for a decision on the final route soon, but noted
that the Prime Minister is heavily engaged in coalition
negotiations right now. He added that, with the completion
of the barrier and the crossing points, the IDF will be able
to remove several major checkpoints throughout the northern
part of the northern West Bank, leaving a full contiguous
area that he claimed will be bigger than the Gaza Strip.

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JAYYUS LAND DISPUTE
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8. (C) Spiegel told POL/C that he currently had a team in
the field to investigate the land and access dispute
surrounding Israeli land clearance and construction
activities on land claimed by Palestinians west of the
separation barrier at Jayyus. Spiegel said that so-far
incomplete reports from the team indicate that the dispute
involves the implications for Palestinian landowners of
Israeli construction on a plot of land west of the barrier
that allegedly had been purchased from a separate
Palestinian. Among perhaps other issues, the Israeli
construction would apparently block remaining Palestinian
landowners in that area from accessing their plots west of
the separation barrier. Spiegel said he had ordered a halt
to all clearance and construction activities until resolution
of all the issues, and that the case is now to go before the
High Court (apparently at the request of the Palestinian
landowners).

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EU ELECTION OBSERVERS
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9. (C) In a separate meeting December 13, Jan Thesleff, an
aide to EU Envoy Marc Otte, told POL/C that he anticipated a
combined "European" observer delegation, headquartered in
Ramallah, consisting of the groups noted below. Thesleff
said the European contribution to the Presidential elections
process would be 4.8 million Euros.

-- 32 "long-term" observers who would deploy to the region
around December 14, with two personnel covering each of the
PA's election districts.

-- 120 short-term observers who would arrive around January 4.

-- 30 to 40 European parliamentarians.

-- 20 Canadians.

-- 20 Swiss.

-- 15 to 20 Norwegians.

-- plus an unspecified number of logistical, media, security
and other support staff.

Thesleff said he also anticipated a 100-person observer group
from the United States that would include personnel from NDI
and the Carter Center, including former President Carter.

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