YONATAN BASSEY ON THE CHALLENGES OF DISENGAGEMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001208

SIPDIS

NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2015
TAGS: PREL KWBG IS GAZA DISENGAGEMENT ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS SETTLEMENTS
SUBJECT: YONATAN BASSEY ON THE CHALLENGES OF DISENGAGEMENT

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


1. (C) Summary: Yonatan Bassey, head of the Disengagement
Authority (SELA),reported on February 23 that a few settlers
are beginning to make preparations for disengagement. He
explained that SELA has final contracts with about 63
families and is negotiating with many others. Unfortunately,
settlers from Netzarim and Neve Dekalim are still holding
out. Bassey predicted that less than one-third of settlers
will still be in the Gaza Strip on the day of disengagement.
Bassey expressed concern for settlement assets but said it
may be better to wait until disengagement is closer to decide
on their fate because settlers may damage the assets if they
think they will be transferred to Palestinians. He said that
he had not heard of any settlers planning to move to the West
Bank, but noted that "as the fence puts Gush Etzion in Israel
with U.S. blessings," it was hard for him to tell settlers
not to go there. He also said that the allegation that the
GOI is putting up new buildings in Gush Katif is "nonsense."
End Summary.

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Lessons from 9/11
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2. (C) Yonatan Bassey, head of the Disengagement Authority
(SELA),compared himself and the disengagement plan to the
situation faced by Kenneth Feinberg -- whom he had met the
previous day -- and the victims of the 9/11 tragedy. Bassey
noted that the U.S. Congress passed a law to pay $12 billion
in compensation to the victims of 9/11 and their families, of
which $7 billion has been paid out thus far, but that the
process was initially highly charged and people held Feinberg
responsible. In the end, however, they "got their checks and
went home," and Bassey predicted that this would be the case
with disengagement in Israel.

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Recent News from the Settlers
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3. (C) According to Bassey, a lot has changed in the past
few weeks and settlers are beginning to understand that they
need to make preparations for their departure. They are
finally focusing on issues such as where to live, where to
work, and what schools their children will go to, and some
have been in contact with SELA to negotiate moving as
communities. Bassey said, however, that some are making
unreasonable demands such as having the state pay for them to
be relocated near Tel Aviv. This is impossible because the
land around Tel Aviv is expensive and most of it is privately
owned.


4. (C) Bassey reported that a number of villages who had
previously avoided SELA are now negotiating, and explained
that Kfar Darom is no longer holding out and has started
talking with Bassey through a mediator. Unfortunately,
Netzarim and Neve Dekalim -- the largest settlement with more
than 500 families, equivalent to one-third of the entire
settlement population slated for evacuation -- are still not
talking to SELA. According to Bassey, SELA has final
contracts with about 63 families, some from Peat Sadeh, and
is in negotiations with the rest.


5. (C) Bassey explained that it is hard to gauge SELA's
success, however, because a lot of settlers may move on their
own in the end. The key was SELA's approach of going and
speaking personally to all involved Gaza families, which was
convincing them to plan ahead (Note: Bassey also sent out a
letter to settler families on February 27 offering SELA's
assistance with relocation and personal issues. End note).
Bassey also thought that the approval of the disengagement
compensation legislation boded well: its average 30 percent
increase in compensation levels from the original levels had
probably induced more settlers to leave Gaza peacefully.
Moreover, the increased compensation will allow many more
settlers to feel they have received "fair" value for their
holdings. The new school year was also a key motivating
factor: Bassey believed that 90 percent of Gaza settlers
would move out between the first and twenty-first of July to
relocate before school began. In the end, Bassey opined that
less than one-third of the settlers will remain in Gaza on
disengagement day, or perhaps they will move out beforehand.
Bassey warned, however, that the father of settler families
may return on the day of disengagement to declare "they are
fighting."

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Settlement Assets
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6. (C) Bassey was clearly occupied with the subject of
settlement assets. He noted that he had spoken to Vice Prime
Minister Shimon Peres about developing options to pay for
agricultural assets, primarily greenhouses. Peres was
looking at finding a third party to mediate the assets. His
first concern was helping the Palestinians get on their own
two feet because, long-term, the donors could not support the
entire Gaza community. Peres felt the key was to bring
industry into Gaza, according to Bassey. Bassey's own
opinion about the assets in general was that it would be
counterproductive to destroy them. His team, made up of Shin
Bet and IDF personnel, agreed. One major problem was the
lack of a decision by the Palestinians themselves as to
whether they wanted the assets. "Dahlan still thinks it's
better to destroy assets because the Palestinians need the
land. Settler houses are not suitable for Palestinian
families." In any case, Bassey felt it would probably be
wiser to make a final decision on assets closer to
disengagement day, as settlers were likely to destroy the
assets if they knew they would end up in Palestinian hands.
Bassey was confident the GOI would find a solution to the
problem at the end of the day -- perhaps it could employ
private guards to protect the assets between disengagement
day and Palestinian take over.

-------------- --
Because U.S. Recognized Gush Etzion as Part of
Israel, We Can't Stop Settlers from Going There
-------------- --


7. (C) In response to a question from Economic Counselor,
Bassey said that he had not heard of any settlers planning to
move to the West Bank. He noted, however, that "as the fence
puts Gush Etzion in Israel with U.S. blessings," it was hard
for him to tell settlers not to go there.

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Bassey Discounts New Settler Construction in Gaza
-------------- ---


8. (C) Bassey said the allegation that settlers were putting
up new buildings in Gush Katif was "nonsense." The contracts
for them were signed a long time ago, he maintained, so
construction was continuing on old projects. He was
uncertain how many such contracts were outstanding, but
estimated the amount at NIS 40 million. He was surprised
that this issue had hit the press now, since the Exceptions
Committee had held the meeting on the subject 2-3 months ago.
In any case, he said there was nothing new going on
vis-a-vis construction; it would be ridiculous for the GOI to
finance new construction knowing full well disengagement was
to occur in a matter of months.

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Financial Issues
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9. (C) Bassey said that the GOI would not pay out
compensation until the end of March, although the point was
fairly academic since few were coming in at this point. He
said that SELA had not yet made a decision on the final day
appraisals could be made for settler assets, but he felt this
would not be a problem since the appraisals were fairly
straightforward.

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