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