DEMOLITION OF PERMANENT HOMES IN AMONA OUTPOST

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 000215

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG IS SETTLEMENTS ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: DEMOLITION OF PERMANENT HOMES IN AMONA OUTPOST
DELAYED

REF: 2005 TEL AVIV 04471

Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) Israeli press reports indicate that yesterday, on
January 12, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided to postpone
the demolition of nine permanent homes in Amona outpost,
approximately 1 kilometer east of Ofra, for one or two more
weeks (see reftel). The GOI had promised last year to
demolish the homes by the end of January 2006, but settlers
on Wednesday, January 11, submitted a petition to the High
Court to have another debate on the issue. The High Court
agreed to the hearing, reportedly scheduled for next
Wednesday, January 18.

Timeline:

-- October 2004: The Civil Administration issued demolition
orders for nine permanent homes in Amona; the orders were
never carried out.

-- early July: Peace Now filed a petition against the houses
in the outpost and the outpost itself.

-- late July: The High Court issued a decision that the GOI
should evacuate the families and demolish the houses, and
prevent the occupation of the houses with "all means at their
disposal." Reports emerged that the GOI had agreed with the
settlers not to demolish the houses if the settlers left
peacefully, and YESHA Council leader Pinchas Wallerstein
promised the GOI that settlers would not move into the homes.

-- early August: The GOI said the evacuations and
demolitions would take place after the implementation of
disengagement from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. At
some point in August, the Civil Administration realized some
of the houses are occupied.

-- early November: Mofaz promised the High Court that the
IDF would demolish the homes by late December or January 2006.

-- late November: The High Court ordered Mofaz to submit
plans for the evacuations and demolitions; the IDF was
reportedly negotiating with the settlers living in the houses
for peaceful solution.


2. (C) Brigadier General (ret.) Baruch Spiegel, Ministry of
Defense advisor, told econoff January 13 that Mofaz postponed
the evacuations and demolitions because the High Court
ordered the government to delay. Since the settlers filed
the petition, the Court decided to hear their case to try to
"finish the debate between the authorities and the settlers,"
according to Spiegel. (Comment: Spiegel was likely
referring to the reported negotiations taking place in
November. End comment.) He said the settlers told the Court
that they "have nowhere else to go" and for this reason, the
Court has "to listen to them," and re-evaluate, he explained.
He also remarked that negotiations in the High Court may
take more than a week. Spiegel assured econoff that the IDF
had in fact begun preparations three days ago to evacuate the
homes in Amona, however, along with three other outposts near
Bracha, Elon More, and Yitzhar settlements. He said these
outposts are near locations where Palestinian olive trees
were destroyed, and concluded the IDF "won't let them
continue," implying the evacuations were a punishment for
settlers committing crimes in the West Bank.


3. (C) Comment: If confirmed, IDF interest in dismantling
the outposts near Nablus as a punishment for settler
vandalism is welcome news, even though the IDF should not
need an excuse to dismantle illegal outposts. In addition,
it appears that in the case of Amona outpost, the MOD/IDF has
finally begun preparations for the evacuation and demolition
of the permanent homes. For example, Spiegel told EconCouns
that soldiers had been reassigned from Nablus security to
take part in the evacuations. Although we have yet to see
the outcome of this new debate in the High Court, the Court's
zig-zagging on its will not encourage GOI efforts to
dismantle illegal outposts in the future. End comment.

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