PEDUEL: "ISRAEL'S FRONT PORCH"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002447 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2017 TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS SUBJECT: PEDUEL: "ISRAEL'S FRONT PORCH" Classified By: Acting Principal Officer Thomas M. Duffy, per reasons 1. 4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Peduel spokesman Yehoshua Ben David told PolOff during a November 23 visit to Peduel that the settlement is continuing to expand and settlers are concerned about Annapolis-related political developments. He noted an increase in security incidents along the road to the settlement prior to Annapolis. Settlers at Peduel told PolOff that they believe they are the front line of Israel's security and Zionism, but if conditions are right, they would relocate to inside the green line. END SUMMARY. "Israel's Front Porch" -------------- ¶2. (C) PolOff visited Peduel settlement November 23 with its spokesman Yehoshua Ben David. Peduel is a settlement of 1200 near Salfit with a clear view of the Mediterranean Sea, Tel Aviv, and Ben Gurion Airport. Showing PolOff around the settlement, Ben David recalled frequent visits by former PM Sharon to Peduel, who called it "Israel's front porch." Peduel settlers told PolOff that giving up this strategic location would seriously threaten Israel's security. Peduel is inside the planned route of the separation barrier as it extends eastward around Ariel settlement, but Peduel settlers told PolOff that they take nothing for granted about a permanent status agreement. One settler noted that some in Peduel buy furniture that can be carried away rather and do not plant gardens outside their homes, because they do not know the settlement's future. However, Ben David said he believes if Peduel settlers are given equivalent alternative housing in the context of a permanent status agreement, "most of us would move" and for a lasting peace, he would be "the first to leave." Concerns about Annapolis -------------- ¶3. (C) Ben David said the Annapolis meeting has been foremost in the minds of Peduel settlers. He said the settlers are concerned that Annapolis-related political developments will spark violence. He said for the first time in five years, in the past week, neighboring Palestinians have thrown rocks at settlers on the road to Peduel and the IDF found and diffused two IED's. He reminisced about the "old days" when Peduel co-existed peacefully with the neighboring Palestinian village of Kfar ad-Dik and criticized the radicalization of Palestinians in the 1990s. Zionists, Not Zealots -------------- ¶4. (C) Peduel settlers told PolOff that "sixty percent of all settlers are not religious" and expressed resentment over the image of "zealots on a hilltop wearing kippahs and waiving the Torah." They said that they came to Peduel because of the "sense of community" and proximity to Tel Aviv, not economics or ideology. Ben David said that he and his family immigrated from New York, found Peduel through a GOI absorption center, lived for seven years in a thirty six square meter caravan and then moved into their current three bedroom house. Settlers told PolOff that Peduel is continuation of the Zionist mission and that "we think back several generations about what our grandfathers saw in Raanana (in central Israel),and today we think several generations ahead". ¶5. (C) Ben David expressed concern about the radicalization of settler youth over the last twenty years, but said it pales in comparison to Palestinian radicalism. He said he supports "hilltop youth" establishing new outposts as a freedom of expression, but not as a practical or tactical means of expanding West Bank Jewish presence. No vacancy -------------- ¶6. (C) Asked about a "settlement freeze," Ben David said a Peduel resident works for the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) and "knew the bureaucracy well enough" to ensure that Peduel was zoned with enough land to expand "legally." PolOff saw ongoing construction at Peduel of an entire new subdivision and two individual family homes. Ben David said the GOI is not issuing permits to bring in caravans, but one Peduel resident recently brought a frame, walls, and windows to construct a caravan. He said that despite this construction, the settlement has "absolutely no vacancy" and is seeking ways to house newlyweds who grew up in the settlement. JERUSALEM 00002447 002 OF 002 DUFFY