Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
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05TELAVIV1853 | 2005-03-25 15:35:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Tel Aviv |
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available. |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001853 |
1. (C) Summary: Talia Sasson told emboffs that she encountered significant resistance to her information requests from government ministries when doing research for her report on unauthorized outposts. She explained on March 16 that the Settlements Division of the World Zionist Organization refused to give her the data she requested, and that some information from the Ministry of Construction and Housing later turned out to be wrong. Despite these obstacles, Sasson determined that the outposts picture is "horrible," and that there are at least 105 outposts. She also described an "open conspiracy" where settlers build outposts without approvals, and the IDF often ignores demolition orders approved by the High Court because there is no political will to enforce them. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon formed a ministerial committee on March 13 to review Sasson's recommendations on how to deal with the outposts, and Sasson will be meeting with the committee over the next three months to give them more context on her findings and suggestions. End Summary. -------------------------- Tough Job for One Person -------------------------- 2. (C) The author of the report on GOI support for unauthorized outposts, Talia Sasson, told Economic Counselor and econoff on March 16 that she did not have any resources to help her do research for her report on outposts. She worked alone, mentioning that she was not authorized funds to hire any support staff. If Sasson had hired someone to help her, she would have had to pay out of her own pocket for the staff's salaries and expenses. 3. (C) Sasson also said that she ran up against a great deal of resistance from the ministries and agencies from whom she requested information. Only staff at the Ministry of Defense (MOD), Ministry of Construction and Housing (MOCH), and the Settlements Division (SD) of the World Zionist Organization agreed to interviews, and even then, the SD refused to give her the data she requested despite constant letters and phone calls. The MOCH was also very resistant in the beginning, but it provided some information when Yitzhak Herzog became Minister. Sasson said, however, that the MOCH recently told her that the data it gave her may be wrong, and that it is double-checking its figures. In response to econoff's question, Sasson reported that there were probably other ministries involved in supporting the outposts even though she did not talk to any of their staff. She speculated that the Ministries of Education, Tourism, Infrastructure, Agriculture, and others had provided help to the outposts in the past. -------------------------- How Much Money Did They Spend? -------------------------- 4. (C) Sasson stated that she could not estimate how much the GOI had spent on unauthorized outposts. She said she had not received any funding information from any ministry besides MOCH, and she was convinced that even these figures were understated. Sasson told EconCouns that she had incorporated everything she knew about GOI expenditures into the report and had no additional figures. After reviewing Sasson's report, Embassy assesses the MOCH spent at least $25 million on outposts between 2000-2004. -------------------------- How Many Outposts? -------------------------- 5. (C) Sasson said that she counted at least 105 outposts. She characterized 71 as pre-March 2001 outposts and 24 as post-March 2001 outposts, but she could not determine the date of the establishment of the 10 others. Sasson opined that there are probably more than 105 outposts total but she did not know if that meant there was one more or twenty more. In response to econoff's question, Sasson replied that she determined the date of establishment from documents she received from the MOD. She was not aware that the GOI's figures on outposts are different from the USG's figures (note: the USG counts 55 pre-March 2001 outposts and 45 post-March 2001 outposts. End note). -------------------------- Building and Demolishing -------------------------- 6. (C) Sasson continued that she did not know why settlers picked the locations they did to establish outposts. She noted, however, that they did not worry about getting any approvals prior to moving their trailers into position. In her research, she determined that the settlers simply built outposts, let them grow and become established, and then got the approvals after the fact. On her findings that some outposts were built on private Palestinian land, Sasson commented that sometimes it was difficult to prove the land in fact belonged to Palestinians because they often did not have titles to it. She said, however, that some of the land the outposts was built on was clearly not State land, so the outposts are illegal regardless because the GOI cannot build on anything other than State land in the territories. 7. (C) On demolitions, Sasson assessed that the IDF would not demolish any outposts without direct orders from PM Sharon, even if the High Court approved the demolition orders. She said she thought that "political reasons" prevented the Prime Minister from evacuating any outposts. Therefore, the result is that the IDF ignores court orders to demolish outposts issued by the MOD because these orders do not have any backing from the GOI. Sasson characterized this as an "open conspiracy." -------------------------- The Ministerial Committee and Looking Ahead -------------------------- 8. (C) Sasson said that Sharon had wanted to adopt her report right away, and that the idea of forming a ministerial committee instead came from Attorney General Menachem Mazuz. She explained that Mazuz wanted Sharon's Cabinet to understand Sasson's recommendations, to think about them carefully, and to consider how to implement them. When asked if Mazuz was sincere or simply stalling until disengagement came around and everyone would forget about her report, Sasson replied that she was confident that Mazuz wants the committee members to really understand her recommendations and how to implement them. (Comment: Sasson implied that, since the GOI knew what was in her report before she published it, Israeli officials would not have let her publish the document in the first place if they intended to deep-six it later. End comment.) However, she opined that, while the committee is probably not trying to figure out a way to ignore her report, she was not sure exactly what they would do with it. Sasson also said that she will be meeting with the committee members over the next three months to give them more context on her findings and recommendations. 9. (C) When econoff asked Sasson when the final report would be published since her report was termed "interim," she responded that this was actually the final report and that she is not doing any more research. Sasson explained that she called it "interim" because she did not want people to think that "this is the whole story." She said, "the whole picture is so horrible, I didn't understand it." ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** KURTZER |