GOI UNDERTAKES HOME DEMOLITIONS IN EAST JERUSALEM,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 006671

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG IS SETTLEMENTS
SUBJECT: GOI UNDERTAKES HOME DEMOLITIONS IN EAST JERUSALEM,
PARTIALLY REJECTS SASSON REPORT, AND ISSUES MORE TENDERS

REF: TEL AVIV 06579

Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d)

This is a joint Embassy Tel Aviv/Consulate General Jerusalem
cable.


1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 11.


2. (C) Summary and comment: Over the past several days, we
have received reports of GOI demolitions of at least ten Arab
homes in East Jerusalem for a lack of building permits.
Ha'aretz November 23 reported that the Justice Ministry
rejected four recommendations in the Talia Sasson report on
illegal outpost activity that were meant to prevent the
establishment of illegal outposts. In addition, the Israel
Lands Authority and the Ministry of Construction and Housing
published tenders for the construction of 671 housing units
in Alfe Menashe, Har Homa, and Ma'ale Adumim settlements.
Given these recent activities, we are concerned that the GOI
is beginning a trend of actions that appear to undermine its
commitments to the USG under the Weissglas-Rice exchange of
letters. We plan to approach the GOI with the points in
paragraph 10, and we seek Washington comments on this
approach. End summary and comment.

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Home Demolitions in East Jerusalem
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3. (C) Embassy econoff and ConGen poloff between November 22
and 24 spoke with Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human
Rights (RHR) and received an email from Angela Godfrey of the
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) regarding
GOI demolitions of Arab homes in East Jerusalem for a lack of
building permits. Both organizations reported that the
Jerusalem Municipality over the past four days has demolished
at least ten homes in the villages of Anata, Beit Hanina,
Issawiya, Silwan, al-Tur, Wadi al-Joz, and al-Wallajah. They
stressed that "this is only the beginning" because the
Jerusalem Municipality allegedly has NIS 1.5 million
(approximately $300,000) remaining in its demolition budget
to be used by the end of the year.


4. (C) RHR and ICAHD estimate that this $300,000 will pay
for another 65-70 demolitions by late December. ICAHD and
the NGO B'tselem claim that they know of at least 97
demolition orders that have been frozen but not canceled.
Danny Seidemann, attorney with the NGO Ir Amim, told econoff
that the municipality had suspended demolitions during
Ramadan, but the demolition orders have been "building up"
and he expects to see many more by the end of the year. He
estimated that this year so far there have been approximately
70 home demolitions, and last year the total figure was 160,
which he characterized as a "peak year." (Note: An
additional 70 in the next month and a half would raise the
figure up to 140. End note.)


5. (C) Ascherman of RHR recounted that a visiting delegation
of 400 rabbis from the U.S. met with Jerusalem Mayor
Lupolianski the week of November 7, and he reportedly told
the delegation that he did not believe in mass home
demolitions, and would not undertake them unless the homes
are in the way of the planned separation barrier. Boaz
Karni, Treasurer of the Economic Cooperation Foundation
(ECF),told econoff, however, that these demolitions "have
nothing to do with the separation barrier," and that the
houses are being demolished because they do not have the
proper permits. Karni pointed out, though, that Arabs in
East Jerusalem do not have permits because "no permits are
given for them to build" by Israeli authorities. Seidemann
agreed that the demolitions are unrelated to the barrier's
route, and made clear that he could find "no pattern, rhyme,
or reason" to why these houses were targeted. He said that
"it is virtually impossible for a Palestinian to get a
building permit in East Jerusalem" because the GOI wants to
maintain the demographic balance in the city and will not
help Arabs organize themselves to prepare the necessary town
plans to obtain the permits. (Note: Seidemann pointed to an
article he wrote in the Jerusalem Quarterly File in 1998
refuting then-Mayor Ehud Olmert's justifications for mass
home demolitions in his testimony to the Knesset Law
Committee in 1997. Seidemann offered a variety of statistics
to characterize GOI discrimination against Arabs in East
Jerusalem on this issue. End note.) Meir Margalit,
researcher for ICAHD, told poloff that the Jerusalem
Municipality has only issued 3,500 housing permits to Arabs
in East Jerusalem since 1967.


6. (C) Poloff visited the sites of some of the demolitions
and the owners of the houses told him that they had applied
for building permits, but had been denied. A couple of the
home-owners had been paying monthly fines of NIS 420-1,000
(approximately $95-225) to stave off the demolitions. A
woman in Silwan claimed not to have any advance notice that
the demolitions were taking place, while a man in Wadi al-Joz
was denied entrance to his house by the police even though he
had an injunction order from the court to stop the
demolition. ICAHD members told poloff that buildings built
by Israelis without permits, however, are still standing.
They gave the examples of a 5-story and a 7-story building
built by settlers in Silwan as examples of discrimination
against Arab homes.

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Justice Ministry Rejects
Part of Sasson Report
--------------


7. (U) In another disturbing development, Ha'aretz November
23 reported that the Justice Ministry (MOJ) has rejected four
of eight proposed amendments to security legislation
suggested by Talia Sasson in her March report on illegal
outpost activity in the West Bank. The recommendations that
were rejected are:

-- Setting a specific sentence for violating the law on
unauthorized structures, to include significant jail time and
a heavy fine.

-- Not authorizing the placement of a caravan on a location
in the West Bank unless the applicant presents a building
permit for the specific caravan at the targeted site; an
aerial photograph of the targeted site; a statement
explaining the need for the caravan; and a plan for setting
up the caravan signed by the engineer of the local authority.

-- Requiring any construction outside of the local council to
be approved by the defense minister.

-- Requiring West Bank land purchases by Israelis to be
approved by the Civil Administration in writing.

In the article, Sasson reacts to the ruling and defends her
recommendations by noting that imposing these limits on
caravans is meant to ensure they are not placed in illegal
outposts.


8. (C) Interior Minister Ofir Pines-Paz and Housing Minister
Yitzhak Herzog, both on Justice Minister Tzipi Livni's
inter-ministerial committee responsible for examining
Sasson's recommendations, were quoted in the press as saying
that they did not know that the MOJ had rejected the
suggestions until they were informed by Ha'aretz. Herzog
reportedly said that ignoring the need to close the holes in
law enforcement would abet the lawbreakers. Pines-Paz opined
that "this is another nail in the coffin of the Sasson
report." Boaz Karni of ECF cautioned econoff that this is
"the burial of the report" while "everyone is busy with Rafah
and other things." He blamed Livni personally, and suggested
that she did not feel enough pressure from the GOI political
echelon and the USG to adopt the report. Ha'aretz reported
November 24 that the MOJ spokesman said the existing
legislation appears sufficient for evacuating the outposts.
The GOI, in its response to a petition filed by Peace Now on
the removal of two outposts, said that political
considerations, such as the upcoming general elections, are
preventing the evacuation of illegal outposts, including
those on private Palestinian land.

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Tenders Issued
--------------


9. (U) Ha'aretz November 24 published tenders by the Israel
Lands Authority and the Ministry of Construction and Housing
for the construction of a total of 671 housing units in three
settlements in the West Bank. One tender was for 382 units
in the 07 neighborhood of Ma'ale Adumim, a figure higher than
the 350 originally expected (ref A). Three other tenders
were for 56 units in the Givat Tal expansion of Alfe Menashe,
198 units and commercial area in Har Homa, and an additional
35 units also in Har Homa. This brings the total of housing
units announced since November 17 to 684. The bids for
Ma'ale Adumim and Alfe Menashe are due on January 8, 2006,
and the bids for Har Homa are due on January 15, 2006.

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Comment
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10. (C) In light of intensifying home demolitions in East
Jerusalem, the failure of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni's
committee to fully adopt the Sasson report, and the
publication of tenders for 671 housing -- all in the last
week -- we are disturbed by what appears to be a pattern of
actions that intentionally or unintentionally undermine the
GOI commitments to the U.S. under the Weissglas-Rice exchange
of letters. At this point, we are unable to say that the
actions are being taken to take advantage of the current
turmoil in Israeli politics. In order to ensure that this
pattern of activity ceases, however, we intend to approach
the GOI with the following points:

-- We are concerned about recent reports of demolitions of
homes belonging to Arabs in the villages of Anata, Beit
Hanina, Issawiya, Silwan, al-Tur, Wadi al-Joz, and
al-Wallajah in East Jerusalem. Some NGOs in the area have
suggested to us that these demolitions will continue through
the end of the year, leaving many homeless.

-- Reports that the recommendations in the Sasson report were
not fully adopted are also troubling given that Sasson's
suggestions were meant to prevent the establishment of
illegal outposts and to impose deterrent sentences on
potential lawbreakers. We urge you to reconsider the
decision taken by the Ministry of Justice.

-- In addition, the recent publication of tenders for an
additional 671 housing units in Alfe Menashe, Har Homa, and
Ma'ale Adumim contravenes the GOI's commitment to the USG
under the Weissglas-Rice exchange of letters to freeze
settlement expansion.

-- The GOI actions of the past week are of significant
concern and may set back the momentum created by Secretary
Rice's recent visit.

-- We encourage you to consider the impact of these events,
and take the necessary steps to prevent any further actions,
such as the ones described, from taking place.


11. (C) Action request: Department comments on the above
approach.

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