MFA LEGAL ADVISOR REAFFIRMS GOI POLICY NOT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 000561 SIPDIS NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2015 TAGS: PREL PHUM KWBG IS JE ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS GOI INTERNAL SUBJECT: MFA LEGAL ADVISOR REAFFIRMS GOI POLICY NOT TO SEIZE NEIGHBORHOODS IN EAST JERUSALEM THROUGH ABSENTEE LAW REF: A. (A) TEL AVIV 518 ¶B. (B) JERUSALEM 299 Classified By: DCM Gene A. Cretz for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Following up on a January 30 Ha'aretz article implying that the GOI intended to utilize the amended Absentee Property Law (APL) to make large-scale seizures of Palestinian property, MFA Legal Advisor Ehud Kanaan restated the GOI's intention not to do so. Unfortunately, the additional details Kanaan provided on the GOI decision to change application of the law in East Jerusalem, raised more questions than they answered. While Kanaan noted that he was a member of the GOI committee responsible for authorizing such transfers, he admitted that even he had not known of the change in the law. He was also unable to state unequivocally that the GOI had not made a political decision to authorize such transfers. Our conversation with Kanaan reinforces our view that Washington should obtain a clear political statement from the GOI that it will not use the law to make large-scale seizures of Palestinian land. End Summary. ¶2. (C) D/ECON called Kanaan in reaction to a January 30 article in Ha'aretz that revealed further details of the July 2004 GOI decision amending the APL. The article quotes from the decision itself, which defines its purpose as removing "... all doubt that the Custodian (of Absentee Property) has the authority ... to transfer, sell or lease real estate property in East Jerusalem to the Development Authority." Asked whether this did not imply that the decision was explicitly aimed at allowing the GOI to develop significant amounts of "absentee land," Kanaan maintained (as he did in a January 26 conversation described in Ref a) that the decision was not aimed at large-scale expropriations. Rather, it was an effort by the then-Custodian of Absentee Property to take off the "bureaucratic handcuffs" that had made his duties more complicated than necessary. "I assure you, the Custodian did not have the objective of transferring whole neighborhoods..." to the GOI, Kanaan maintained. ¶3. (C) Unfortunately, Kanaan was unable to state unequivocally that the GOI had not used the amended law to seize neighborhoods. A member of what he called the GOI's "Special Committee to Release Property, which he claimed was in part responsible for such decisions," Kanaan could only say that "To the best of my understanding, no such political decision to seize Palestinian neighborhoods has been made." Kanaan admitted that there was no clear locus for where such a decision would be made, however: "The Custodian does not have the power to make such a decision. It would have to be made at a higher level, including by the Special Committee, by the Prime Minister, by the Minister of Finance..." ¶4. (C) Kanaan stressed that the decision was "a headache that we (the GOI) don't need. It's been raised by the U.S, by the UN, and by the Europeans." He said the GOI was now considering "freezing" implementation of the amended law, but doubted there would be a formal legal decision to that effect. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) Kanaan's categorical assertions about the intent of the decision to amend the APL need to be put in the context of one key fact he revealed in this most recent conversation: Although the MFA's Legal Advisor, and although a member of the "Special Committee to Release Property," Kanaan admitted that even he had not been informed about the decision to amend the APL until this year, five months after the decision had been taken. In view of the secretiveness with which this decision was taken, the tremendous powers it gives the GOI to take land in East Jerusalem from West Bank Palestinians, and the murkiness about real GOI intent, Mission believes Washington should obtain a clear political statement from the GOI that it will not use this law for large-scale seizures of Palestinian land. ********************************************* ******************** 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