GUSH ETZION LEADERSHIP: ANNAPOLIS "INSANE"

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002458

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: GUSH ETZION LEADERSHIP: ANNAPOLIS "INSANE"


Classified By: Acting Principal Officer Tom Duffy, per reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Gush Etzion Regional Council chairman Shaul
Goldstein told PolOff November 28 that USG efforts toward a
two-state solution are "insane" and will result only in
increased terrorism. He blamed PM Olmert and DefMin Barak
for the language in President Bush's speech on settlement
growth and illegal outposts. Goldstein says he will comply
with the law on outposts, but settlers will only move from
them if there is alternative housing. END SUMMARY

Annapolis
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2. (C) Gush Etzion Regional Council chairman Shaul Goldstein
told PolOff 28 November that USG initiatives for a two-state
solution are "insane" and will lead only to a failed
terrorist state committed to destroying Israel. Noting that
the GOI had erred in its treatment of West Bank Palestinians
and "should have given them phone lines and clean water" a
long time ago, Goldstein said a poor economy, surging
population, corruption, and religious extremism, would
undermine any future Palestinian state and encourage the
effort to destroy Israel. He said he "would bet any amount
of money" that PM Olmert and DefMin Barak had insisted on the
language on settlement expansion and illegal outposts in
President Bush's speech at Annapolis, so they can blame the
USG when they take actions opposed by the settlers. "Believe
me," he said, "American doesn't care about a few trailers on
a hilltop." But, he said "by applying pressure on the
outposts and settlements, AMERICA will make great enemies of
the settlers." and will provoke a "civil war" between Jews.
He added "you can't stop the growth of settlements - it's
impossible."

Outpost Removal
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3. (C) There is at least one outpost (Maale Rehavam) in Gush
Etzion that is believed to be on the GOI list of outposts to
be removed. Goldstein complained that "the government
encouraged us to build them and now they want to evict
people," and insisted that not one settler should live on
illegal land. He claimed that if outpost residents see
replacement homes being built they will move immediately.


4. (C) Goldstein told PolOff that disputes among settler
leaders about how to respond to the GOI evacuation of the
Gaza settlements in 2005 created a rift that persists. He
was the Yesha Council Deputy at the time and recalled to
PolOff that the Yesha decided not to oppose the GOI while
some of the settlers' Rabbis urged IDF soldiers to disobey
orders to remove settlers. He said the Yesha Council lost
its credibility after Gush Katif, suggesting that the Yesha
may not be able to deliver the settlers in any negotiations
with the GOI on outposts and/or settlements.

Note: Gush Etzion
--------------


5. (C) Gush Etzion has a population of 60,000 in 14
settlements spread out over 1 million acres. According to
Goldstein, it has more doctors per capita than anywhere in
Israel. An empty plot of land in Gush Etzion sells for USD
250,000 and homes can cost in excess of USD 1 million. After
the 1967 war, Gush Etzion was the first site that Israelis
moved to in the West Bank, and today many moderate, secular
Israelis do not think of Gush Etzion as a settlement.
DUFFY