OLMERT ORDERS EVACUATION OF HEBRON, AMONA, AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000296

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG IS SETTLEMENTS GOI INTERNAL GOI EXTERNAL ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: OLMERT ORDERS EVACUATION OF HEBRON, AMONA, AND
POST-MARCH 2001 OUTPOSTS

REF: A. JERUSALEM 000189

B. TEL AVIV 000215

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

This cable has been cleared by Consulate General Jerusalem


1. (C) Summary: Alternate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on
Wednesday, January 18, instructed Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz to evacuate eight families from the outpost in the
Hebron market and to demolish the nine houses in Amona
outpost within the next two weeks. He also called on the
Ministry of Defense (MOD) to prepare a plan to evacuate
approximately 20 post-March 2001 outposts. (Note: The USG
counts 44 post-March 2001 outposts. End note.) Olmert's
announcement comes at the heels of the January 14 weekend
riots by settler youth against the planned evacuation of
eight settler families who have been squatting in the Hebron
market for the past four years (ref A),and the MOD's
decision to postpone the demolition of the houses in Amona
(ref B). The following is a cable on background information
regarding the Hebron market and Amona outposts. Embassy and
ConGen contacts also offered insights on why Olmert is
speaking out now against outposts. They surmise Olmert's
actions are intended to demonstrate his keeping of GOI
commitments to President Bush on removal of outposts, and the
Kadima cabinet's freedom from the constraints of the settler
constituency that hamstrung Sharon. Some here see Olmert's
action as his attempt to show he is his "own man," by going
further than many believe PM Ariel Sharon would have in this
circumstance. A few contacts expressed concern that Olmert
is justified in taking this action, but needs to modify his
rhetoric toward the settlers given the delicate political
situation he faces. Boaz Karni, treasurer of the Economic
Cooperation Foundation, suggested that the USG give Olmert
"quiet encouragement" to see more outpost dismantlements in
the future. End summary.

--------------
Background on Hebron Market
--------------


3. (C) Brig. Gen. (ret.) Ilan Paz, former head of the Civil
Administration (please protect),and Boaz Karni, Economic
Cooperation Foundation treasurer, told econoff January 19,
that the Hebron wholesale market area was in Jewish hands
throughout the 19th century until Jordan's capture of the
city in 1948. The land was transferred to the Jordanian
office responsible for absentee property, who allowed the
Hebron Municipality to build the market and buildings for
Palestinians to use in the 1950s or early 1960s. When the
GOI took over the area in 1967, it allowed Palestinians to
continue to use the market until February 1994, when the IDF
closed it down after Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians
in the Tomb of the Patriarchs. In 2001, a Palestinian sniper
killed an Israeli infant, Shalhevet Paz, and the IDF
commander of Hebron allowed Israeli settlers to set up a
summer day camp with the understanding that they would stay
no more than two weeks. Paz explained that the settlers
eventually stayed, took over Palestinian-owned shops, and
converted them into homes, creating what is now known as the
Avraham Avinu neighborhood.


4. (C) The Palestinian shop-owners petitioned the High Court
to ask that the settlers be evicted, and the High Court
agreed, but the settlers refused to recognize the Court's
decision and have remained in the market. The settlers went
to a special committee for appeals in the Civil
Administration, according to Paz, and the committee in 2003
-- two years later -- also decided the settlers should leave.
The committee, however, said that it might be possible for
the GOI, which now administers the land, to lease it to the
settlers and compensate the Palestinian shop-owners who own
the buildings, but advisors within the MOD decided this was
too "complicated." After more legal appearances, the High
Court in early 2005 ordered Mofaz to evacuate the settlers,
according to Paz. He said that Mofaz agreed but did not
commit to a date because it was dependent on the "security
situation." Paz noted that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz
in September 2005 told Mofaz he would no longer defend him in
court if Mofaz did not evacuate the settlers by the end of

2005. At this point, Mofaz with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen.
Dan Halutz announced that January 15, 2006, would be the
deadline for voluntary evacuations, and that settlers would
be removed by force starting February 15, 2006, according to
Paz. Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, head of the IDF's Central
Command, has been negotiating with the settlers, and press
reports indicate that he promised the settlers that if they
leave voluntarily, they will be able to return in a few
months. The settlers have refused the compromise, and
negotiations continue.


5. (C) Dror Etkes, settlement watch coordinator for Peace
Now, told Embassy econoff and ConGen poloffs on January 18,
that the State committed itself to evacuating the Hebron
market, so "every once in a while they have to prove they're
doing something." He said that theoretically the evacuation
is a legal issue, but added that realistically the evacuation
depends on when Olmert decides he wants it to take place.
Paz and Karni assessed that any evacuation of the market
would be very difficult because the struggle is with young
and very ideological settlers who do not recognize the State
of Israel. Pinchas Wallerstein and other members of the
YESHA council have less influence on the settlers in the
Hebron area than they do on settlers in the northern West
Bank because the settlers in Hebron "listen to the voice of
God before the voice of the government" and have their own
agenda. According to Karni, "they know they got where they
are by force and are ready for conflict." In response to
econoff's question on whether the settlers could use the
argument that the land belongs to Jews, even if the buildings
themselves belong to Palestinians, Karni and Paz both claimed
that the land actually now belongs to the GOI, and that the
GOI did not give the settlers permission to live there.

--------------
Delay in Amona
--------------


6. (C) With respect to Amona outpost, Paz told econoff that
the outpost was built in 1995 on private Palestinian land,
and reiterated that it is clearly Palestinian land, not
Israeli State land, despite what the settlers may say. He
said that Amona is illegal under the three categories the GOI
uses to make construction in the West Bank legal: it is on
private land; there was no government decision to build
Amona; and the settlers did not go through any of the
planning procedures required to build a settlement. Paz
continued that construction for the permanent houses slated
for demolition began in early 2004, and, on January 21, 2005,
Mofaz agreed to an MOD proposal to dismantle them. He
explained that the MOD decided to talk to the settlers,
however, and that they all agreed that the houses would
remain standing as long as no settlers were living in them.
According to Paz, Peace Now petitioned the court in July to
dismantle the houses since there were standing orders for the
demolitions, and the High Court agreed, instructing the IDF
to carry out its own demolition orders. Paz explained that
Mofaz then told the court in November that he would demolish
the houses by the end of January 2006. He simultaneously
received notice that several settler families had moved into
some of the houses despite the MOD's agreement with the
settlers not to inhabit the homes. Paz reported that the
settlers have since moved out, but said that the YESHA
Council is using some of the houses as offices for their
activities. Peace Now's Etkes confirmed that there are no
families living in the houses slated for demolition.


7. (C) Etkes said that the High Court's delay of the
demolition of nine permanent houses in Amona outpost near
Ofra settlement gives the settlers an opportunity to play for
time and get organized against the planned demolition.
During our meeting on January 18, he received a phone call
from Michael Sfard, Peace Now's lawyer, who told him that
Justice Aharon Barak had agreed to give the settlers one more
week to explain their case to the court. Etkes opined that
Barak was afraid of delegitimizing the court in the eyes of
the Israeli right, and was therefore going the "extra mile to
let them have a chance." He said that nothing could be done
until after January 25th when the settlers have had an
opportunity to explain their case. Paz and Karni commented
that Mofaz had decided to wait to demolish the houses until
after the Palestinian elections. Once the settlers have
exhausted their appeals to the High Court, the demolitions
will take place when Olmet gives the go-ahead.


8. (C) Karni and Paz said that the demolitions would be
difficult whenever they take place because the IDF has to go
through Ofra settlement -- home of Pinchas Wallerstein -- to
get to Amona. Karni explained that Wallerstein "will do his
best" to stop the demolitions, and that the IDF will need a
ratio of at least four soldiers to one settler to get the job
done. Paz recounted that three years ago he had attempted to
remove a water container from Amona, and it proved to be "a
disaster."

--------------
Why is Olmert Speaking Out Now?
--------------


9. (C) In response to econoff's question on why Olmert was
speaking out on evacuations and demolitions of outposts now,
Karni responded that "Olmert wants to score points" with the
USG and with the Israeli public. According to Karni, Olmert
is preparing "himself for his visit to the U.S. by saying
that the GOI is going to fulfill its commitment to the USG to
dismantle post-March 2001 outposts." Of the 20 or so
post-March 2001 outposts that Olmert called for
dismantlement, advocates for six have exhausted all of their
legal appeals, so it should not be difficult for Olmert to
evacuate them and "tell the President, 'look what I did,'"
according to Karni. Olmert can also score with the Israeli
public because he knows that by joining Kadima he lost the
"orange" constituency anyway -- referring to the Israeli
right-wing -- but he may gain votes from Meretz, Labor, or
Shinui, particularly if/after the Israeli public becomes
disenchanted with youth settler antics. Karni also mentioned
that Olmert is not like Ariel Sharon in that he does not have
a soft spot for settlers. "He hates them," according to
Karni. And, Olmert may also be influenced by his wife, a
long-time Meretz voter, and his four children, one of whom
"refuses to serve in the territories," speculated Karni. He
suggested that the USG give Olmert "quiet encouragement." In
addition, some here see Olmert's action as his attempt to
show he is his "own man," by going further than many believe
PM Ariel Sharon would have in this circumstance. A few
contacts expressed concern that Olmert is justified in taking
this action, but needs to modify his rhetoric toward the
settlers given the delicate political situation he faces.

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