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.

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ACAP: GOI Economic Initiative Has Started And It's Not Good
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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.

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Israeli-Arab Voices from the North and South
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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).

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