RETROACTIVE APPROVALS FOR SETTLEMENT BUILDING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000707

SIPDIS

NEA FOR BURNS/SATTERFIELD
NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2015
TAGS: PREL KWBG IS SETTLEMENTS ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS GOI INTERNAL
SUBJECT: RETROACTIVE APPROVALS FOR SETTLEMENT BUILDING
COMMON


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


1. (C) Summary. As reported septel, former head of the
Civil Administration, Brigadier General (ret.) Dov "Fuffi"
Sedaka, detailed the complex approval process for
construction of settlements to Embassy economic officers in a
January 30 meeting. During the meeting, he also explained
that the burdensome process is undermined by the fact that
many of the required approvals can be granted after
construction has begun or been completed, and related that
when the government looked into all of the outposts and
settlements in the West Bank in 1997, 97 percent lacked some
of the official approvals necessary. Sedaka continued that
many projects have been approved in the past but could be
sitting on shelves of the establishing bodies waiting for an
opportune moment to begin construction. He also admitted
that a site's lack of official authorization does not
necessarily prevent government ministries and local
authorities from providing the same services and benefits
that they provide to authorized construction. End summary.

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Retroactive Approvals Common
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2. (C) Former head of the Civil Administration and Economic
Cooperation Foundation (ECF) consultant Brigadier General
(ret.) Dov "Fuffi" Sedaka told Embassy economic officers on
January 30 that the process for constructing settlements and
new neighborhoods of settlements is lengthy and burdensome.
He claims that, when followed, the procedures should make
creation of a new settlement and/or neighborhood difficult,
especially since it requires agreement by the whole
government, particularly the Minister of Defense. In
practice, however, Sedaka said many of the approvals are
given after construction has already begun. He explained
that new neighborhoods and outposts in the West Bank receive
approvals after they have been established. According to
Sedaka, when the government looked into all of the outposts
and new neighborhood construction in the West Bank in 1997,
it found that 97 percent lacked some of the official
approvals listed above.

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GOI Can Provide Information On Approved Projects
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3. (C) In reference to the case of Nof HaSharon, the new
settlement being constructed near the Green Line, Sedaka said
that many projects that were approved in the past could be
sitting on the shelves of the establishing bodies waiting for
an opportune moment to begin construction. Sedaka suggested
that the USG ask for this data from the GOI, which he claims
has easy access to it. Sedaka explained that any project
that is in the midst or has completed the process detailed in
septel will be documented by the Civil Administration.
Sedaka claimed that there should be no reason for surprises
with respect to new neighborhoods or new settlements.

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Lack of Oversight Leads to "Illegal" Development
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4. (C) According to Sedaka, the lack of oversight by the
ministries distributing funds to local and regional councils
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip contributes to unauthorized
construction. Sedaka said that funds transferred to a local
or regional council by the government can easily be
transferred to an illegal outpost or neighborhood. For
example, if the settlement of Bet El requests funds to build
a new synagogue in the settlement, the Bet El Local Authority
can take those funds and invest them in building a synagogue
in a nearby outpost rather than in the settlement itself.
Sedaka explained that residents of the outposts and illegal
neighborhoods are treated by their local or regional councils
as proper extensions of the settlements despite their lack of
official authorization, and that they are counted in the
population figures for budgetary purposes. Citizens of the
outposts and illegal neighborhoods pay taxes, rent, and serve
in local committees just like those living in approved areas
of the settlement. According to Sedaka, the local and
regional councils often ask government ministries to extend
services to these sites (buses, mail, utilities, etc.)
without anyone in the government checking to see if the sites
are legal or not.


5. (C) Econoff inquired why the official list of settlements
as reported by the GOI to U.S. officials does not list any of
the settlements established after 1991 (Note: according to
data provided by Brigadier General (res) Baruch Spiegel, the
last settlement established in the West Bank was Revava in

1991. End note). Sedaka said that because of an agreement
between the U.S. and Israel in the 1990s, the GOI has not
approved any new settlements since that time, but he
acknowledged that many new settlements, illegal
neighborhoods, and outposts were constructed with government
assistance.


6. (C) Sedaka related that the GOI established five Nahal or
military settlements after 1991, but these were eventually
made into civilian communities. The five settlements were
Tal Menashe, Rachelim, Negohot, Elisha, and Nahal Gevaot.
Sedaka said the five IDF settlements began with religious
soldiers, the soldiers then requested to bring their
families, who then requested schools and civilian services,
and then finally became settlements that are "illegal, but
not illegally there." (Comment: These settlements were
listed by the GOI in its list of pre-March 2001 outposts
delivered to the Embassy in July 2004, suggesting that
whatever official function they once served has disappeared.
End comment)


7. (C) Sedaka said that many of the other outposts benefited
from assistance from government ministries and local and
regional councils to establish themselves. Sedaka charged
that it would be impossible for the settlers themselves to
carry out the development of many of these sites without
government assistance. Sedaka used the example of a mikvah,
or religious bath: settlers living in an outpost can appeal
to the government on the basis of the humanitarian need to
provide funding for a mikvah. Without one, religious women
cannot perform many of their activities so the Civil
Administration will often provide this funding to the
regional council, who will in turn provide it to the outpost.
If there are children present at the outpost, they will
request an armored bus or funds to build a pre-school. In
addition, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) will provide security
and fencing, and the Ministry of Infrastructure will provide
the grading and paving of the road to allow security forces
to get in and out of the outpost safely. The local and
regional authorities will ask utility companies to provide
connections, and the trailers often used by the settlers to
establish the outpost are termed unsafe so the MCH provides
funding for permanent structures to replace the trailers and
mobile homes. Col. (ret.) Shaul Arieli from ECF showed
econoffs 2001, 2003, and 2004 aerial photos of the Amonah
outpost near Ofra as examples of this process, and the photos
show nothing present in 2001, several containers and a road
in 2003, and foundations for eight new permanent structures
in 2004. Sedaka explained that before long, a new
settlement/outpost has been established with the assistance
of the government.

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Sasson Report Should Change Environment
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8. (C) Sedaka opined that the report being drafted by
attorney Talia Sasson for the Prime Minister should bring
much of the information on these issues to the attention of
the public and should provide some suggestions on how the
Prime Minister can curb unauthorized settlement construction.
Sedaka did not believe that the Sasson report would result
in the firing of ministry officials or local and regional
council bureaucrats, even though he believes the report is
expected to be quite specific in the roles played by these
officials in authorizing illegal settlement construction and
development over the past 13 years. (Comment: Sasson's
mandate from the Prime Minister does not include
prosecutorial power. End comment.)

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Defense Minister Has Final Say
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9. (C) Boaz Karni, Treasurer of ECF, Arieli and Sedaka all
agreed that the Defense Minister has the ultimate authority
to decide on construction and development in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip. Sedaka detailed seven instances where the
Defense Minister must personally sign off on the development
of a new settlement and six instances where the Minister must
approve new neighborhoods. Arieli and Sedaka claim that the
Minister can stop the project at any stage for no reason.
Sedaka said that if the Minister chooses to stop the project
after construction permits are issued, then it is possible
that the MOD could be liable for compensation to the
contractor.

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