Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05TELAVIV5009
2005-08-12 13:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

(SBU) THE ARREST OF SAADIA HERSHKOP: A

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 005009 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/OCS/ACS/NESA
DS/IP/NEA, DS/ISI/CIL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC GZ KPAL PTER IS GAZA DISENGAGEMENT ISRAELI SOCIETY ISRAEL RELATIONS
SUBJECT: (SBU) THE ARREST OF SAADIA HERSHKOP: A
BAROMETER FOR GOI RESPONSE TO DISENGAGEMENT FOES

REF: A) 03 JERUSALEM 4024 B) TEL AVIV 4895 C) TEL
AVIV 4949 D) TEL AVIV 4861 E) TEL AVIV 4970

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 005009

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/OCS/ACS/NESA
DS/IP/NEA, DS/ISI/CIL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC GZ KPAL PTER IS GAZA DISENGAGEMENT ISRAELI SOCIETY ISRAEL RELATIONS
SUBJECT: (SBU) THE ARREST OF SAADIA HERSHKOP: A
BAROMETER FOR GOI RESPONSE TO DISENGAGEMENT FOES

REF: A) 03 JERUSALEM 4024 B) TEL AVIV 4895 C) TEL
AVIV 4949 D) TEL AVIV 4861 E) TEL AVIV 4970


1. SUMMARY: The well-publicized arrest of Saadia
Hershkop (DPOB:04-Mar-1987 NY) provides a window into
the measures the Government of Israel is willing to
take to ensure that Disengagement moves forward, the
treatment American citizens may receive if arrested as
part of anti-Disengagement activities, and the profile
of one Amcit protester with at least a two-year history
of right-wing activism. END SUMMARY.


2. Hershkop has been in Israel for an unspecified
amount of time as a student at a yeshiva in Kfar
Chabad, which is known as a center for anti-
Disengagement planning and activity. His family still
lives in New York City, where he was raised. He speaks
fluent Hebrew (his father is Israeli-American) and
appears to have been in and out of Israel for at least
several years, at times participating in political
activism. (Note: Ref A is a report of his 2003 arrest
for the "distribution of illegal propaganda for an
illegal organization, Kahane." Kahane is a right-wing
group affiliated with Kach, which has been designated
as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the USG. End
Note.) His lawyer, whom he describes as "excellent,"
was supplied by Chanenu, an organization that has
provided pro bono counsel to other Amcit anti-
Disengagement arrestees.


3. Hershkop was arrested on August 7 at his yeshiva by
two undercover security agents posing as students. He
claims he asked them to produce a warrant for his
arrest, but they replied that since he was just being
taken in for interrogation, no warrant was necessary.
He said that he was later told that he was being held
under "Administrative Detention," a process under which
arrestees are outside of the normal judicial procedures
and can be held without due process. In the majority
of such cases, neither the defendant nor the
defendant's counsel is privy to the evidence against
him. Such appears to be the case for Hershkop, who
claims that in his August 9 hearing before a judge, a
security official behind a curtain passed secret
evidence to the judge. On the advice of his lawyer,

Hershkop accepted an agreement by which he would
voluntarily leave Israel at his own expense for at
least 50 days, a period that can be extended
indefinitely. This departure has been erroneously
reported in the Israeli media as a deportation.


4. During his interview with conreps, Hershkop
asserted that the Israeli government controls the
media, and that he and his group were being watched
closely, including via electronic surveillance. He
said that the government's worries about him primarily
centered around three issues -- the claim that he
personally knew the IDF soldier who shot up a bus full
of Israeli Arabs (Ref D) on August 4 killing four
individuals, the suspicion that he is a danger to both
Israeli Arabs and the Israeli security forces, and the
suspicion that he is a danger to the GOI's plans to
evacuate Gaza.


5. Hershkop referred to the August 4 incident as "when
that soldier was killed in Shfaram," making no
reference to the fact that Natan Zada, the AWOL
soldier, was killed by an angry mob after emptying the
magazine of his rifle into the bus, killing four
passengers. He says he barely knew Zada, and had only
met him three or four times. Hershkop nonetheless went
on to relate to conreps detailed information about Zada
that a mere acquaintance presumably would not know. He
also denied Israeli media charges that he is a member
of Kach, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
He went on to say that he could not be a member, since
Kach no longer existed, and "has no office, no phones,
no president."


6. Prior to his August 10 morning departure from
Israel, Hershkop was held at Ashmoret prison, a small
facility near Netanya. In his discussion with conreps,
he described the GOI as having gone to great lengths to
hush up both his arrest and the arrests of some of his
associates, to do so when media were not present, and
to disperse them to separate facilities around the
country. He said he has received treatment designed to
single him out and punish him, such as substandard
kosher food for the first day of his detention, a one-
night placement in a cell full of smokers despite his
bronchial infection, the withholding of his
prescription medicine, and lack of access to his
lawyer.

7. Hershkop ended his discussion with conreps with the
ominous warning that "there will be more Americans
arrested soon, many more," and that, "with God's help,
we will stop Disengagement."


8. Comment: Such complaints about prison conditions
are not unique to Hershkop and do not, in conoff's
opinion, constitute unusual treatment. The fact that,
except for the first night, he was held in a solitary
cell in the "Separation Wing" of Ashmoret Prison, is
unusual and does seem to lend credibility to his
claims. End comment.


KURTZER