KIRYAT ARBA MAYOR PROUDLY GUIDES TOUR OF ILLEGAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002390 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR WATERS/ABRAMS/SINGH E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2017 TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS SUBJECT: KIRYAT ARBA MAYOR PROUDLY GUIDES TOUR OF ILLEGAL OUTPOST Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Kiryat Arba Mayor Zvi Katsover showed Poloff an encampment of five caravans near the settlement on November 14. Katsover said the outpost was built over the last three years "in the middle of the night," piece by piece, without required permits, and "despite President Bush." The outpost called Gal (aka Sede Kalev) is on the GoI's list of illegal outposts under discussion for removal. END SUMMARY. Kiryat Arba: Radicalism; Industrialism -------------- ¶2. (C) Poloff met November 14 with Zvi Katsover, mayor of the Hebron area settlement of Kiryat Arba (population 6000). Established in 1971 by ideological settlers, Kiryat Arba is known for its radicalism. Of the sttlement's 1500 families, 500 are from Russia, oe hundred from Ethiopia, and thirty "Menashe" (Jews with roots in India and Burma). (COMMENT: Thee newer residents are generally motivated by the economic advantages of Kiryat Arba such as inexpensive or free housing, vice the ideology that has traditionally motivated ettlers in the Hebron area. END COMMENT). PolOff et some who settlers said the GOI gave them thei homes, and the Mayor confirmed that PM Netanyahu's goverment had offered new immigrants free housng in the settlement. The Mayor showed PolOff th settlement's industrial sector, where fifteen fctories employ 400 workers, including 200 Palestinans. He said U.S. policies on settlements are the reason there are not more factories. ¶3. (C) Katsover led poloff up a narrow dirt road from Kiryat Arba to a hilltop outpost he called "Gal." He said the cluster of caravans was constructed over the last three years "during the night," without any permits, and "in spite of President Bush." Materials were brought piece by piece and assembled on site. Poloff went inside two of the site's five structures and saw an IDF guard booth 50 meters away and an IDF base on the next hilltop with a clear view of the outpost. ¶4. (C) The settlers in Gal told PolOff that they came three years ago from Beit El settlement and began the outpost with a bus parked on the hilltop in which the eleven family members lived while they procured additional materials. Inside the bus, seats were removed from the rear for beds and the driver's seat was replaced by a toilet (with the steering wheel still in place and toilet paper in the glove compartment). Walls were added to form an approximately 2000 square feet space with a kitchen, additional beds, and a book-filled synagogue. In another structure, PolOff met young settlers who had filled their two room caravan with Ikea furniture. "Sometimes they are shipping people in, other times they are telling us to get out" -------------- ¶5. (C) Katsover noted that Gal is on the GoI's list of outposts being considered for removal. He also expressed concerns that permanent status negotiations will mean the removal of Kiryat Arba. He said he will encourage his people to "fight until there's nothing," but whatever happens, "we'll listen to the rabbis." He also complained about rumors of an impending settlement freeze and U.S. "stupidity." He criticized the GoI's "indecisiveness" over settlements over the years. "Sometimes they are shipping people in, other times they are telling us to get out". Elyakim Haetzni -------------- ¶6. C) Kiryat Arba's well-known settler pioneer Elyakim Haetzni, who helped start the Gush Emunim settlement movement in the 1970's told PolOff that settlements are "the black wing of the serene dove," and they are Israel's lifeblood without which, there would be civil war and the end of the state. He said Israel should annex the West Bank, allow limited autonomy to Arabs there, and use Jordan as the Palestinian homeland. WALLES