NGO'S HOPE GOI PLANS FOR NEGEV AND GALILEE WILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 004281 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/2015 TAGS: ECON PREL SENV PGOV PHUM EFIN IS ISRAELI SOCIETY ECONOMY AND FINANCE GOI INTERNAL SUBJECT: NGO'S HOPE GOI PLANS FOR NEGEV AND GALILEE WILL ADDRESS CONCERNS OF ISRAELI ARABS REF: A. 04 TEL AVIV 0874 ¶B. 05 TEL AVIV 2540 ¶C. 05 TEL AVIV 2537 ¶D. 05 TEL AVIV 3973 ¶E. 05 TEL AVIV 3151 ¶F. 04 TEL AVIV 3085 ¶G. 04 TEL AVIV 3393 ¶H. 05 TEL AVIV 4066 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b ) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Israeli and Israeli-Arab NGO's have expressed growing concern about GOI plans for economic development in the Galilee and Negev. The Chairman of the Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP) stated that the core goal of the government's plan is to give land to the Jewish population, increase support for existing Jewish settlements in the Negev, and affect a demographic shift in favor of Jews. The Director of the Arab Business Club struck the same tone, saying the GOI must address economic issues of the Arab sector in the Galilee region where the economy is not doing well. Officials from the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development expressed their concerns that GOI planning should include the Bedouin in the planning and execution stages. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- ACAP: GOI Economic Initiative Has Started And It's Not Good -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Dr. Hanna Swaid of the Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP),an NGO dealing with land and planning issues affecting Israeli Arabs told Econoff July 6 that the next phase of GOI economic development for the Galilee and the Negev has already started in the Galilee region (Ref A). He said GOI housing loans and grants to Galilee residents are part of the GOI economic development plan. Swaid stated that the GOI recently provided financial assistance to 30 towns in the Galilee. All of these towns, he said, with the exception of Nazareth, are populated by Jewish residents. This is discrimination, Swaid said, disguised under the umbrella of economic development, because it only provides assistance to non-Arabs (Ref B). ¶3. (C) Swaid said another example of targeted assistance is the establishment of a university in Carmiel. He said the city of Carmiel predominantly inhabited by Jewish Israelis, where the university is established will benefit from having it there. If this is a reflection of the economic development thrust, Swaid says, then he suspects that other plans following this concept will most likely be targeted to benefit only Jewish communities in Israel. -------------- Israeli-Arab Voices from the North and South -------------- ¶4. (C) Econoff met with Dr. Ramzi Halaby, Director of the Arab Business Club in the Galilee, and Amal Elsana - Alhjooj of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED) accompanied by Ruth Paz, Yehudah Paz, and Vivian Silver on July 7. Interlocutors from both organizations voiced concerns over the GOI economic initiative for the Galilee and the Negev (Refs C, D). ¶5. (C) Halaby told Econoff that the economic situation for the Israeli-Arab community in the Galilee region is not good. He said he has taken steps to talk with leading business figures from cities and towns with mixed Arab and Jewish populations to find solutions to help the Israeli Arabs. He said he has been talking to GOI officials as well and is hopeful that something good will come of these meetings. ¶6. (C) Alhjooj said that in recent meetings with GOI officials and the private firms of Daroma and McKinsey, contracted by the GOI to assist in overall planning for the GOI economic initiative for the Negev, discussions have been disappointing (Ref E). She said development planning for the Negev does not include the Bedouin as a contributing partner (Ref F). During the last four meetings with Daroma, she said, the consultants avoided hearing NISPED's perspective and focused on telling NISPED what they thought the Bedouin needed. ¶7. (C) Yehudah Paz said that GOI officials tasked with planning of the economic initiative will be submitting a plan to the government for discussion and consideration on September 29. He said the Bedouin should be included fully in the planning and execution stages of projects targeting the Negev. The GOI has historically approached the Bedouin as a problem, he stated, adding that this must change for progress to take place between Israeli Arabs and Jews. He said GOI "benign neglect," or "patronizing development" will also not solve the problem. The Bedouin should not be seen as a burden, but rather part of the solution for developing the Negev. Home demolitions remain a concern, he said, which creates a barrier between the Bedouin and the GOI (Refs G, H). ********************************************* ******************** 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