MAALE ADUMIM MAYOR: NEXT PHASE OF E-1 CONSTRUCTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002060 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2017 TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS SUBJECT: MAALE ADUMIM MAYOR: NEXT PHASE OF E-1 CONSTRUCTION IS 1200 HOUSING UNITS REF: JERUSALEM 2032 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Maale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel told Poloffs September 25 that the E-1 police station is "finished, except for the road" and the next step is to construct 1200 housing units. Kashriel said he is frustrated with American resistance to the expansion of Maale Adumim into E-1 and the reluctance of neighboring Palestinian villages and Jericho to agree to joint projects with the settlement. End Summary 1200 Housing Units Planned Next -------------- ¶2. (C) Maale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel told PolOffs September 25 that construction of the police station in E-1, between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem, is "finished, except for the road" and will be the headquarters for all Israeli West Bank police. (Note: Per reftel, PolOffs subsequently observed that construction is nearly complete. End Note) Kashriel said the next phase of E-1 development is to construct 1200 housing units around the police station as part of the larger plan to build 3500 homes. ¶3. (C) According to the Mayor, Maale Adumim has 36,000 residents (8600 homes),who consider the settlement a neighborhood of Jerusalem and of whom 60 percent work in Jerusalem. He noted that some 2,000 Jerusalemites commute to work in Maale Adumim. The settlement has a mall, movie theatre, and Ace Hardware store. America "Only Listens to Palestinians on this Issue" -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Kashriel angrily told PolOffs "you Americans already know everything (about Maale Adumim) with your satellites and aerial photography." He said it is a "myth" that developing E-1 would impede Palestinian movement. Kashriel said developing the settlement is difficult now; whereas from 1992 to 2000, he was told he could build, but quietly. Kashriel noted that he wrote to Secretary Rice seeking to discuss Maale Adumim and counter "Palestinian views," which he said Americans blindly accept, but he had no response. He said "Rice only listens to Palestinians on this issue," and he believes the Americans are "boycotting" him. He urged the Ambassador or Consul General to visit Maale Adumim "to see the truth." Settlement-Palestinian Initiatives -------------- ¶5. (C) Mayor Kashriel complained that Palestinians in the neighboring villages of Abu Dis and Azeriyah and nearby Jericho have rejected joint sewage and solid waste disposal project proposals. He said "they are afraid of Hamas" and described PA service delivery as "non-functional." Kashriel said Mishor Adumim, the settlement's industrial area, currently employs 2,000 Palestinians and wants to form a joint industrial zone with Jericho that would employ 4,000 more Palestinians. WALLES