Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05TELAVIV4842
2005-08-05 12:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

ISRAELI-ARAB LEADERS BLAME JEWISH EXTREMIST'S

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PTER IS ISRAELI SOCIETY 
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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 004842 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER IS ISRAELI SOCIETY
SUBJECT: ISRAELI-ARAB LEADERS BLAME JEWISH EXTREMIST'S
FATAL ATTACK ON ISRAEL'S "RACIST ATMOSPHERE"

Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for reasons 1.4 (b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 004842

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER IS ISRAELI SOCIETY
SUBJECT: ISRAELI-ARAB LEADERS BLAME JEWISH EXTREMIST'S
FATAL ATTACK ON ISRAEL'S "RACIST ATMOSPHERE"

Classified By: Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer for reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The GOI quickly spun into action to contain
a potentially volatile atmosphere in Israeli-Arab communities
after the August 4 shooting attack by an extremist Jewish
settler on a bus in the Arab city of Shfaram that killed four
Israeli Arabs. Prime Minister Sharon called the attack by
the 19-year-old settler -- subsequently killed by an angry
crowd -- "a sinful act by a bloodthirsty terrorist," quickly
contacted Israeli-Arab leaders to condemn the act, offered
condolences to the families of the slain, and instructed the
GOI to make an investigation into the attack a "top
priority." Hundreds of police were diverted from
disengagement-related duty near Gaza to the north, where the
attack took place. While demonstrations in Israeli-Arab
cities on August 5 were peaceful, police are concerned that
the situation could still ignite. Israeli-Arab MK Mohammed
Barakeh, himself a resident of Shfaram, told Poloff August 5
that he does not foresee any escalation of these
demonstrations into violent riots over the coming days. MK
Barakeh and other Israeli-Arab leaders are blaming right-wing
Jewish leaders for having created a "racist" atmosphere
conducive to such attacks. Israeli Arabs are expressing
concern that the concentration of GOI security forces in the
south to grapple with anti-disengagement protesters is
leaving their communities vulnerable to future extremist
attacks. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Israel's media was saturated with photographs and
reports of the August 4 bus attack by 19-year-old Eden Natan
Zada, a newly-religious settler, who managed to kill two
young women passengers, the bus driver, and an older male
passenger, and injure at least 12 persons, in the
Israeli-Arab city of Shfaram, before he was disarmed and
killed by an angry crowd. Zada had gone AWOL from the IDF in
June, and had not been located by the IDF despite reported
pleas from his mother to find him and to take his weapon away
from him. Zada reportedly left his home in a suburb of Tel
Aviv, became religious, and joined the West Bank settlement
of Tapuach, known to be the home of members of the outlawed

extreme-right Kach movement. Zada was reportedly detained
and questioned several months ago in Jerusalem on suspicion
of intending to forcibly enter the Temple Mount. Police
arrested August 5 three Tapuach youths who associated with
Zada, and who police suspect may have known about Zada's
plans to carry out the attack.

--------------
Barakeh: Attack Was not Act of One Madman
--------------


3. (C) Israeli-Arab MK Barakeh told Poloff August 5 that PM
Sharon told him that he had instructed the Israeli Security
Agency (Shin Bet) to address the threat of right-wing Jewish
extremist groups. Barakeh stressed that he does not see this
incident as the actions of one madman. Rather, he blames the
attack on right-wing Jewish extremist groups emboldened by an
atmosphere of "racism" in Israel against Israeli-Arabs. This
atmosphere, he said, was created by right-wing Jewish
political leaders who have made "inciteful and racist"
statements against Israeli Arabs. Israeli-Arab MK Ahmed Tibi
echoed these views in public statements. According to Tibi,
the attack resulted from "anti-Arab incitement and racism,
which are spreading in Israeli society. Jewish politicians
treat Arab citizens as enemies and anti-Arabism translates
here to the murder of innocent Arabs."


4. (C) Rania Laham, of the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab
Citizens of Israel, herself a resident of Shfaram and regular
rider of the bus that Zada attacked, told Poloff August 5
that "no one was expecting something like this" to occur in
Shfaram, a mixed-city of some 35,000 residents that includes
Druze, Muslim and Christian Arabs. Laham said that Mossawa
had petitioned Attorney General Menachem Mazuz several times
to take action against several Jewish politicians who made
racist statements against Arabs. Laham noted that the
incident was shocking for Shfaram residents, who "all get
along peacefully... and who have pulled together so well" in
the aftermath of the attack.

-------------- --------------
Arab Sector Holds General Strike, Peaceful Demonstrations
-------------- --------------


5. (C) Relative calm held in Israeli-Arab communities near
Shfaram, while the Israeli-Arab Follow-Up Committee announced
a general strike and held a demonstration in the Israeli-Arab
city of Nazareth. The police have reportedly sent hundreds
of reinforcements to the north to keep the calm. Israeli
Arab and Jewish leaders have called for calm, citing the need
to avoid a repetition of the October 2000 riots that erupted
in Israeli-Arab communities after the outbreak of the second
intifada, during which Israeli police killed 12 Israeli-Arab
citizens and one Palestinian. (Note: After a three-year
investigation into police conduct during the riots and
general GOI treatment of the Israeli-Arab sector, the
government-mandated Orr Commission concluded that certain
police and government officials were at fault, and that the
Israeli-Arab community suffered from historic governmental
and societal discrimination and neglect. End note.)


6. (C) MK Barakeh seemed confident that violence or riots
would not ensue from the demonstrations currently taking
place in Israeli-Arab communities, and he expressed
satisfaction with the way in which police were handling the
demonstrations, noting that they had not entered Israeli-Arab
communities. He also seemed satisfied with his discussion
with PM Sharon about the situation, and that Sharon was
acting to address threats by extremist groups. He noted,
however, that the general atmosphere of racism in Israel
against Israeli Arabs had marred the Israeli-Arab community's
relationship with the police and the government in general.


7. (C) Laham, however, noted that residents of Shfaram feel
vulnerable and angry. She said that some members of the
Druze community are calling on Druze soldiers to leave the
IDF. (Note: Druze are the only Israeli Arabs who have
historically been required to serve in the IDF. End note.)
She stressed that "there is a big feeling of vulnerability"
among the community, since many believe that the police will
not be able both to facilitate disengagement and protect
Israeli-Arab communities from extremists like Zada. Ha'aretz
reported August 5 that Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said
that police forces dealing with anti-disengagement protesters
in the south had been diverted to the north. Karadi
asserted, however, in an August 4 television interview, that
"the police have sufficient forces to handle this incident as
well as the disengagement. However, the situation forces us
to take on more (responsibility) than we have so far." The
Knesset will discuss the attack in an already scheduled
special recess session August 10.

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