ISRAEL ENACTS LAND EXPROPRIATION IN EAST JERUSALEM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002259 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2017 TAGS: KWBG PGOV PREL PTER IS KDEM SUBJECT: ISRAEL ENACTS LAND EXPROPRIATION IN EAST JERUSALEM REF: A. JERUSALEM 01664 (1995) ¶B. STATE 120375 (1995) ¶C. TEL AVIV 7799 (1995) ¶D. JERUSALEM 02020 (2007) ¶E. TEL AVIV 03088 (2007) Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Ir Amim Executive Director Amos Gil confirmed to PolOff press reports that in March 2007 the GoI implemented an expropriation order for 30 dunums of East Jerusalem olive orchards, part of a 40 dunum property known as Karam ha-Mufti. Ten dunums were not expropriated. Following the expropriation, Ateret Cohanim (AC) leased the land and, according to Jerusalem attorney Danny Seidemann, intends to develop the area into a Jewish neighborhood. Seidemann and Gil said this land acquisition is part of AC's efforts to settle Israelis in East Jerusalem. AC spokesman Daniel Luria acknowledged that AC wanted to construct a neighborhood on the property, but said the Municipality has not approved plans. End summary. EXPROPRIATION OF KARAM HA-MUFTI -------------- ¶2. (C) Amos Gil, Executive Director of Ir Amim, confirmed to PolOff on October 29 press reports that in March 2007 the GoI expropriated 30 dunums of olive orchard (roughly 7.5 acres), part of the 40 dunum property known as Karam ha-Mufti (the Mufti's Orchard) in East Jerusalem. (Note: Ten dunums of Karam ha-Mufti were not expropriated. End note.) According to Gil, the GoI announced the intention to expropriate Karam ha-Mufti in 1968 but did not execute the expropriation until requested by the Israel Lands Authority (ILA) in early 2007. Gil said this is the first instance he is aware of in which the GoI expropriated land decades after the announcement. ¶3. (C) Jerusalem attorney Danny Seidemann told PolOff that expropriation is a two-step process. First, the Minister of Finance determines that a property is required for public use, and the GoI announces its intention to expropriate the land. Second, the GoI executes the expropriation, bringing the land under the control of the ILA. The landowner can appeal the decision after the announcement, Seidemann said, but appeals rarely reverse expropriation orders in East Jerusalem. ATERET COHANIM INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY -------------- ¶4. (C) Gil and Seidemann separately confirmed to PolOff that immediately following the confiscation Ateret Cohanim (AC) leased Karam ha-Mufti from the ILA for agricultural purposes at the "unrealistically low" price of 42.5 shekels (roughly USD 10) per dunum. Gil told PolOff that the lease was signed in April 2007, but its retroactive terms started in September ¶2006. He said the ILA did not issue a tender for the property and leased it to AC without considering other bidders. Seidemann and Gil questioned AC's involvement in agriculture because AC's mandate is the development of new Jewish areas in Jerusalem. ¶5. (C) Seidemann told PolOff that since at least 1992, AC has planned a residential complex of over 200 housing units in Karam ha-Mufti in connection with AmCit Irving Moskowitz. He said AC's plan is part of an effort to encircle the Old City with Jewish neighborhoods. Gil said that Jewish neighborhoods on Karam ha-Mufti and the nearby Shepherds Hotel property (Ref D),combined with existing Jewish residences in the area, would divide the Palestinian neighborhoods of Shaykh Jarrah and Wadi al-Joz. ¶6. (C) AC spokesman Daniel Luria told PolOff during a tour of Karam ha-Mufti that AC has leased the property for the past twelve years at the same price, but the issue has only drawn attention lately. (Note: Other contacts disputed this claim. End note.) According to Luria, unnamed "Jewish concerns" attempted to develop the property in the late 1990s but gave up when the Jerusalem Municipality failed to approve their plans. Luria said an Arab harvests the olives, consistent with the agricultural purpose to AC's lease, but refused to give details. LEGAL BATTLE FOR PROPERTY ONGOING -------------- ¶7. (C) Located directly across the street south of the Shepherd Hotel, Karam ha-Mufti consists of approximately 40 dunums of land (10 acres),of which 30 are orchard and ten house the Palestinian tourism firm Near East Travel (NET) and JERUSALEM 00002259 002 OF 002 a residence occupied by the Salhiya family. Until 2007, ownership of the entire property (40 dunums) was disputed in Israeli courts between the Arab Hotels Company (which owns NET) and the Salhiyas (whom NET claims are squatters working for AC). According to press, after the Magistrate Court ruled that the Salhiyas be evicted, AC prevented the eviction based on the group's April 2007 lease. ¶8. (C) Sami Abu Dayya, CEO of the Arab Hotels Company, told PolOff he is fighting the expropriation in Israeli courts in order to regain control of the expropriated 30 dunums of orchard, and that he wants to develop the land into a hotel, convention center and cultural center. Gil told PolOff the court might not review the case for months or even years and he expects AC's lease to be upheld until the issue is resolved. WALLES