NOF HASHARON WALKS, TALKS, AND ACTS LIKE A NEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000659

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2015
TAGS: PREL KWBG IS SETTLEMENTS ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: NOF HASHARON WALKS, TALKS, AND ACTS LIKE A NEW
SETTLEMENT, NOT A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD

REF: A. TEL AVIV 06649


B. TEL AVIV 00511

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


1. (C) Summary. In recent conversations in Washington, PM
Advisor Dov Weissglas has asserted that the construction of
the new community of Nof HaSharon does not constitute
building a new settlement, but instead is construction of a
"new neighborhood" of Alfe Menashe, a settlement in the West
Bank. Embassy Tel Aviv believes that this analysis does not
hold up under scrutiny for the following reasons: Nof
HaSharon is too far from the mother settlement; there are two
sections of the seamline barrier between the two settlements
and no direct road between them; Nof HaSharon will have to
rely on an Israeli town within the Green Line for municipal
services; and residents of the Israeli town do not want to be
connected to the settlement. No natural political, economic,
or geographic connection exists between Alfe Menashe and Nof
HaSharon. End summary.

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Far From the Mother Settlement
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2. (C) Nof HaSharon will be located approximately three
kilometers from its purported mother settlement of Alfe
Menashe. The GOI claims that Nof HaSharon is a "new
neighborhood" located within the municipal boundaries of Alfe
Menashe; however, the section of the municipal boundary where
the new community will be established is disconnected from
the municipal boundary surrounding the built-up area around
Alfe Menashe.

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Barrier in Between, No Connecting Roads
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3. (C) Several Palestinian villages, including Habla, Ras
Atiya, and Ras al-Tira, are located between Nof HaSharon and
Alfe Menashe. In addition, Nof HaSharon is separated from
Alfe Menashe by two sections of the 50-meter wide seamline
barrier due to the barrier's snake-like pattern in the area.
Nof HaSharon residents would have to travel into Green Line
Israel along a circuitous 20-25 minute route to reach Alfe
Menashe because there is currently no direct road between the
settlement and the "new neighborhood." Residents of Nirit
showed Embassy economic officers a map given to them by the
Alfe Menashe Regional Council that depicted a planned road
and new neighborhood connecting the settlement and Nof
HaSharon. This road, if constructed, however, would enclose
the West Bank Palestinian village of Habla within a seamline
barrier enclave.

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Reliance on Israeli Town for Municipal Services
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4. (C) Based on Nof HaSharon's distance from Alfe Menashe,
it would be forced to rely on Nirit, an Israeli town west of
the Green Line, for municipal services, roads, and utilities,
even though it would be politically connected to Alfe
Menashe. Dror Ginatt, the Secretary General of Nirit,
explained to econoffs that separate laws would govern the new
settlement, making administration difficult.

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Nirit Residents Resisting
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5. (C) Residents of Nirit strongly object to being connected
to this new settlement on the basis that its construction
appears to violate Israel's commitments to the U.S. not to
build new settlements and to restrict growth to within the
built-up areas of existing settlements. According to Peace
Now's General Secretary, Yariv Oppenheimer, the mayor of Alfe
Menashe told him he did not want Nof HaSharon to be
administratively connected to his settlement because
providing services and support to this remote community would
be cumbersome for Alfe Menashe.

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Comment
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6. (C) Comment: Nof HaSharon's establishment creates a
precedent for accepting building outside of built-up areas of
existing settlements, and acknowledges the disconnected
municipal boundaries established by settlers to expand
settlements. Nof HaSharon's location far away from its
mother settlement, its remoteness from that settlement, and
its dependence on another community's municipal services
suggests that Nof HaSharon is a new settlement, and not a
"new neighborhood" of the existing settlement of Alfe
Menashe. End comment.

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KURTZER