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.

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Comment
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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.

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