FORMER CIVIL ADMINISTRATION HEAD REVEALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000706

SIPDIS

NEA FOR BURNS/SATTERFIELD
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2015
TAGS: PREL KWBG IS SETTLEMENTS ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: FORMER CIVIL ADMINISTRATION HEAD REVEALS
SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION PROCESS


Classified By: DCM Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: The former head of the Civil
Administration, Brigadier General (ret.) Dov "Fuffi" Sedaka,
detailed the complex approval process for construction of new
settlements and settlement neighborhoods in a January 30
meeting with Embassy economic officers. He made clear that
no matter what stage of construction the project is in, all
new settlements or new building projects in the territories
require several approvals from the Minister of Defense
himself in order to gain official status. Embassy will
report septel how the burdensome process is undermined by
retroactive approvals and how government ministries and local
authorities provide the services and benefits to unauthorized
construction. End summary.

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Former Civil Administration Head Details
GOI Settlement Process
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2. (C) On January 30, economic officers met with Boaz Karni
and Col. (ret.) Shauli Arieli of the Economic Cooperation
Foundation (ECF),and former Civil Administration head and
current ECF consultant BG (ret.) Dov "Fuffi" Sedaka, to
discuss the settlement building process (Note: Sedaka
retired in October 2002. End note). Sedaka and Arieli gave
a detailed description of the process by which settlements
are established and developed in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip. Sedaka detailed a five-step process that includes
many layers of review at both the lower bureaucratic and
senior levels, including multiple reviews by the Defense
Minister. Sedaka also explained GOI involvement in
supporting unauthorized construction of outposts (reported
septel).

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Phase 1: Establishing a New Settlement
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3. (C) Sedaka said only two entities have the authority to
establish new settlements in Israel, the Ministry of
Construction and Housing (MCH) and the World Zionist
Organization (WZO). In the case of the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, Sedaka said the fully GOI-funded Settlements Division
(SD) of the WZO is the establishing authority along with the
MCH in establishing new settlements. According to Sedaka,
the MCH or the SD locates a piece of land where they wish to
establish a new settlement, determines what sort of community
will be placed there (kibbutz, moshav, community-based town,
etc.),and determines the size of the community. According
to a 1980 government resolution, Sedaka said the establishing
authority must submit the plan to the Ministers' Committee on
Settlement Issues, which in the West Bank and Gaza Strip must
include the Defense Minister. This committee prepares a
proposal and presents it to the cabinet for authorization.
If the cabinet approves the new settlement, it designates
either MCH or SD to determine the specific location, build
the infrastructure, and provide for utilities.


4. (C) According to Sedaka, the plan for a new settlement is
then given over to the relevant IDF regional commander, who
determines the municipal and jurisdictional boundaries of the
settlement -- in the case of the West Bank it would be the
commander of Central Command and in the case of the Gaza
Strip it would be the commander of Southern Command.
Jurisdictional boundaries enclose all the land designated as
state land in proximity to the settlement. Municipal
boundaries define territory appropriate for development of
the settlement. Sedaka said that in many cases the municipal
boundaries are not contiguous, which allows development of
the settlement over a much larger area.

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Phase II: Permission for Planning
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5. (C) The next step, according to Sedaka, is for the group
designated by the government to carry out the development of
the settlement to request permission to begin planning from
the Custodian of State Lands, a part of the Israel Lands
Authority (ILA). With the Custodian's approval, the new
settlement plan goes to the head of the Civil Administration,
who passes it to the head of the Coordinator of Operations in
the territories, who then gives it to the Minister of Defense
for approval. With the Defense Minister's approval, the
Civil Administration and the establishing authority -- either
the MCH or SD -- then sign a "Permission to Plan" contract.
When econoff inquired about what is the basis for approval of
a project or why a project would be rejected, Sedaka replied
that "it's been so long since we have rejected a project that
I couldn't say." He explained that the settlers' and GOI's
policy was to build a lot of houses, put as many people as
possible on the land, and to capture the area between major
Palestinian cities because they thought they would stay there
for many years.


6. (C) The establishing authority, according to Sedaka,
prepares a "Town Building Plan" for the new settlement within
the municipal boundaries established by the relevant IDF
command. The "Town Building Plan" is then submitted to the
Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration. The
Higher Planning Committee is made up of the IDF, Ministry of
Defense (MOD),relevant ministries such as Infrastructure and
Transportation, and representatives of the regional
settlement councils. If the Higher Planning Committee
approves the plan, it is then submitted to the Minister of
Defense for approval.


7. (C) The submission of the "Town Building Plan" is also
the first step in the planning and development of a new
neighborhood within an existing settlement, according to
Sedaka. Sedaka said that the process for building a new
neighborhood is identical to the steps for building a new
settlement from this stage forward.

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Phase III: Permission for Deposition
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8. (C) Sedaka said that once the Defense Minister has
approved the plan, the Higher Planning Committee submits the
plan to its various subcommittees (roads, sewage,
environmental, education, etc.). The plan returns to the
Higher Planning Committee with recommendations from the
subcommittees for another approval. If the Higher Planning
Committee approves the plan again, it is submitted to the
Defense Minister for approval of "Publication of Deposition."
The "Publication of Deposition" is the first opportunity for
the public to respond to the plan, according to Sedaka.
Sedaka said that according to the law, the plan must be
published in two major Hebrew-language papers and one
Arabic-language paper.


9. (C) Sedaka said that those who object to the plan have
two weeks to submit objections to the Higher Planning
Committee's Sub-committee for Objections. If the
Sub-committee determines that the objections have merit and
alter the fundamental character of the plan, then the Higher
Planning Committee sends the plan back to Phase II for the
establishing authority to begin the planning process again.
If the objections do not alter the fundamental nature of the
plan, the Sub-committee can order the establishing authority
to make the necessary adjustments to overcome the objections.


10. (C) According to Sedaka, the Higher Planning Committee
will approve the deposition in the case of no objections or
with the necessary adjustments made by the establishing
authority. The Higher Planning Committee then submits the
plan to the Minister of Defense to be validated.

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Phase IV: Permission for Validity
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11. (C) Sedaka said the Defense Minister will look over the
deposition documents and then sign an "Agreement for
Validity." According to Sedaka, objections to the "Agreement
for Validity" can be submitted to the Higher Planning
Committee within 60 days of when it was signed by the
Minister. The Higher Planning Committee has the authority to
accept or reject any objections during the 60-day period,
after which the committee also signs the "Agreement of
Validity" and then passes it back to the Minister of Defense.
The Defense Minister then signs an "Announcement of
Validity", which is published in the newspapers in the same
format as "Publication of Deposition". Sedaka said that
objections to the "Announcement of Validity" must be
submitted to the High Court of Justice within 15 days of the
publication of the to the High Court of Justice; otherwise,
the plan is validated.

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Phase V: Permission For Development
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12. (C) Once the new project is validated, the establishing
body can request a development contract from the Higher
Planning Committee and the Custodian of State Land. The
Defense Minister must then approve the contents of the
development contract before the Higher Planning Committee and
the Head of the Infrastructure Division of the Civil
Administration can sign the agreement with the establishing
authority. Once the development contract is signed by the
three parties listed above, the local or regional authority
can issue construction permits to a private company, or
tenders for construction can be released by the MCH for
public construction projects.

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Infrastructure Can Begin Before Construction
Permit Is Received
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13. (C) Sedaka said that the establishing authority often
wants to begin construction before the project receives final
approval, and therefore the system allows for the
construction of infrastructure to begin after the "Agreement
for Validity" if no objections have been stated during the
first 45 days of the 60-day objection period. A request to
begin infrastructure construction is brought before the
Higher Planning Committee and then the Defense Minister for
approval. If the request is approved, the establishing
authority will sign a contract with the Higher Planning
Committee and the Head of the Infrastructure Division of the
Civil Administration to begin construction.

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