JERUSALEM CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE CHAIR: PLAN FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000970 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA, NSC FOR ABRAMS/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2017 TAGS: PREL KWBG IS PBTS KPAL PGOV SUBJECT: JERUSALEM CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE CHAIR: PLAN FOR THREE NEW EAST JERUSALEM NEIGHBORHOODS REF: A. 04 JERUSALEM 1744 ¶B. 04 JERUSALEM 1574 ¶C. 04 TEL AVIV 3007 ¶D. 04 SECSTATE 118490 ¶E. 02 JERUSALEM 2497 ¶F. 03 JERUSALEM 1884 ¶G. 05 TEL AVIV 4653 ¶H. 04 JERUSALEM 1957 ¶I. 05 JERUSALEM 5051 ¶J. 05 TEL AVIV 6671 ¶K. 05 JERUSALEM 0613 ¶L. 06 JERUSALEM 1288 ¶M. TEL AVIV 1508 CLASSIFIED BY: CONSUL GENERAL JAKE WALLES, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) THIS IS AN ACTION REQUEST. PLEASE SEE PARA. 11. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY. FOLLOWING FEBRUARY 28 AND MAY 10 HAARETZ REPORTS OF EAST JERUSALEM CONSTRUCTION PLANS, JERUSALEM CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, TOWN PLANNERS AND ATTORNEYS CONFIRMED TO POLOFF THAT DEPUTY MAYOR JOSHUA POLLAK DISCUSSED SEVERAL RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS IN RECENT MUNICIPALITY PLANNING/CONSTRUCTION SUBCOMMITTEE SESSIONS, INCLUDING THOSE MENTIONED IN HA'ARETZ ARTICLES (ATAROT, WALLAJA AND GIVAT ALONA). MUNICIPAL COUNCIL MEMBERS SAY THERE ARE INTERNAL OBSTACLES TO APPROVAL AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROPOSED PROJECTS. PLO NEGOTIATIONS CHIEF SA'EB EREKAT TOLD THE PRESS THAT, IF APPROVED, THESE PROJECTS WILL "UNDERMINE ALL THE EFFORTS BEING EXERTED TO REVIVE THE PEACE PROCESS." POST RECOMMENDS ENGAGING THE GOI AT A HIGH LEVEL ON USG CONCERN ABOUT THESE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS. END SUMMARY. DEPUTY MAYOR FLOATS PLANS -------------- ¶3. (C) ON FEBRUARY 28 AND MAY 10 ISRAELI DAILY HAARETZ REPORTED THAT DEPUTY MAYOR (AND HEAD OF THE MUNICIPAL PLANNING/CONSTRUCTION SUBCOMMITTEE) JOSHUA POLLAK HAD CALLED FOR CREATION OF THREE NEW ISRAELI NEIGHBORHOODS IN RECENT SUBCOMMITTEE SESSIONS. (ATAROT AND WALLAJA IN EAST JERUSALEM, AND GIVAT ALONA, WHICH LIES INSIDE THE GREEN LINE). ACCORDING TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS PEPE ALOLO AND SA'AR NETANIEL, ATTORNEY/ACTIVIST DANY SEIDEMANN AND OTHER MUNICIPAL PLANNING CONTACTS FAMILIAR WITH SUBCOMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS, POLLAK HAS DISCUSSED MANY PROJECTS AT RECENT SESSIONS, WITH THE EMPHASIS ON KIDMAT ZION, ATAROT INDUSTRIAL AREA/AIRPORT AND WALLAJA (ALL IN EAST JERUSALEM). ¶4. (C) EACH OF POLLAK'S PROPOSED NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED FOR RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PREVIOUSLY. ALOLO TOLD POLOFF ON MAY 16 THAT POLLAK'S STATEMENTS "ARE JUST IDEAS, ALBEIT DANGEROUS ONES, AND HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR FULLY DEVELOPED YET," (NETANIEL AND SEIDEMANN CONCURRED WITH THIS ASSESSMENT). ALOLO SAID POLLAK WAS LIKELY POSTURING FOR POLITICAL GAIN BEFORE JERUSALEM REUNIFICATION COMMEMORATIONS, BUT NOTED THAT THERE IS SOME GOI INTEREST IN POLLAKS PLAN. DETAILED BELOW ARE CONGEN CONTACTS COMMENTS ON EACH OF THE THREE AREAS BEING CONSIDERED, WITH GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND BACKGROUND FROM USG REPORTING. KIDMAT ZION -------------- ¶5. (C) HUGGING THE SEPARATION BARRIER THAT DIVIDES ABU DIS BETWEEN EAST JERUSALEM AND THE WEST BANK, KIDMAT ZION CURRENTLY CONSISTS OF TWO BUILDINGS INHABITED BY FAMILIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE RIGHT-WING ATERET COHENIM. IT IS SURROUNDED BY HIGH-SECURITY FENCES, GUARD DOGS AND ISRAELI BORDER POLICE. ONE BUILDING WAS BUILT ILLEGALLY WITHOUT PERMITS, ACCORDING TO MUNICIPAL CONTACTS (DETAILED IN REF A) AND THE OTHER WAS TAKEN OVER FROM A PALESTINIAN FAMILY WHO TOLD POLOFF IN 2004 THAT THEY WERE COERCED INTO SIGNING THE PROPERTY OVER. ACCORDING TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, POLLAK PROPOSED TO DEVELOP THIS AREA INTO A 500-UNIT NEIGHBORHOOD. ALOLO TOLD POLOFF THAT THE SUBCOMMITTEE PREVIOUSLY APPROVED A SIMILAR, MUNICIPALITY-SPONSORED PROPOSAL FOR KIDMAT ZION IN 2001 FOR INTERIOR MINISTRY CONSIDERATION, BUT IT HAS BEEN FROZEN THERE SINCE THEN. HE SAID HE DOUBTS THE DEVELOPMENT WILL BE APPROVED. ¶6. (C) THE CONSULATE GENERAL (WHICH OBTAINED THE PLANS PREVIOUSLY DEPOSITED FOR PUBLIC REVIEW) HAS PREVIOUSLY RAISED THIS PROJECT WITH THE MUNICIPALITY (REFS B-E). IF BUILT, KIDMAT ZION WOULD REINFORCE THE BARRIER AS THE EFFECTIVE PERMANENT BOUNDARY OF ISRAELI JERUSALEM, FURTHER DISRUPTING CONTIGUITY BETWEEN RAS AL-AMUD, ABU DIS AND AL-AZARIYAH (REF A),WHICH FORMED A SINGLE URBAN BLOCK BEFORE THE SEPARATION BARRIER WAS ERECTED IN 2004. WALLAJA -------------- ¶7. (C) PLANS TO BUILD A NEIGHBORHOOD ("GIVAT YA'EL") IN THE MUNICIPALITY'S SOUTHWESTERN CORNER IN WALLAJA ARE LONG-STANDING. THERE IS A PALESTINIAN VILLAGE THERE (OVER HALF OF WHICH IS INSIDE THE 1967 EXPANDED MUNICIPAL BOUNDARIES, BUT NEARLY ALL OF WHICH HAS BEEN SEPARATED FROM JERUSALEM BY THE BARRIER). HIMANUTA, DESCRIBED BY SEIDEMANN AND OTHER CONTACTS AS THE "SPECIAL PROJECTS" FRONT FOR THE GOI HOUSING MINISTRY AND LAND-ACQUISITION ARM OF THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND (JNF) HAS PLANNED A DEVELOPMENT WITH APPROXIMATELY 8-10,000 UNITS IN WALLAJA SINCE 1997 ACCORDING TO CONGEN CONTACTS. (NOTE: THIS IS DISCUSSED IN REFS G, H, AND K. END NOTE). COUNCIL MEMBER ALOLO NOTED THAT THE CITY ENGINEER PREVIOUSLY REJECTED HIMANUTA'S CONSTRUCTION PLANS IN WALLAJA ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT GROUNDS IN 2005. AS THE MUNICIPALITY AND INTERIOR MINISTRY ARE CURRENTLY CONSIDERING APPROVING A TOWN PLAN FOR PALESTINIAN RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN WALLAJA (SPEARHEADED BY JERUSALEM ARCHITECT AND PLANNER CLAUDE ROSENKOVICH),ALOLO SAID HE IS CONFUSED WHY POLLAK BELIEVES HE CAN GET A TOWN PLAN FOR A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE SAME AREA. ATAROT INDUSTRIAL AREA -------------- ¶8. (C) ATAROT INDUSTRIAL AREA AND AIRPORT SEEM TO BE A HIGHLY UNLIKELY LOCATION FOR A RESIDENTIAL AREA. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO ALOLO AND SEIDEMANN, IT IS THE LARGEST OF THE THREE PROPOSED PROJECTS AND THE ONE POLLAK BELIEVES IS MOST LIKELY TO BE BUILT. THEY ALSO SAY THAT IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TO HIS PRIMARY POLITICAL CONSTITUENCY, THE HAREDI (ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEWS),WHO FACE A SEVERE SHORTAGE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN JERUSALEM'S CENTER. POLLAK PLANS AT LEAST 10,000 FAMILY UNITS TO ACCOMMODATE AT LEAST 60,000 PEOPLE IN NEW CONSTRUCTION. ¶9. (C) CONSISTING LARGELY OF STRIPPED FACTORIES AND VACANT WAREHOUSES, ATAROT IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANY ISRAELI RESIDENTIAL AREAS AND IS SURROUNDED BY THE PALESTINIAN NEIGHBORHOODS OF BAYT HANINA, AL-RAM, BIR NABALA AND KAFR AQAB (SEPARATED FROM JERUSALEM BUT INCLUDED IN THE 1967 EXPANDED MUNICIPAL BOUNDARIES). MERON BENVENISTI, FORMER DEPUTY MAYOR FOR EAST JERUSALEM, TOLD POLOFF THAT THE ATAROT INDUSTRIAL ZONE HAS NO CONTIGUITY WITH OTHER JEWISH NEIGHBORHOODS OR ANY ECONOMIC FUNCTION. HE SAID THE NECK OF MUNICIPAL TERRITORY EXTENDING NORTHWARD TO ATAROT WAS INCORPORATED INSIDE THE EXPANDED MUNICIPAL BOUNDARIES BECAUSE MAYOR KOLLEK WANTED AN AIRPORT (LONG ABANDONED AND USED AS A PARKING LOT FOR BROKEN/STOLEN CARS). HE SAID THIS NEIGHBORHOOD IS CIRCLED BY PALESTINIAN AREAS AND IS NOT VIABLE AS A JEWISH COMMUNITY. PALESTINIAN REACTION -------------- ¶10. (C) PALESTINIAN REACTION TO THESE THREE POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENTS HAS BEEN STRONGLY NEGATIVE. PLO NEGOTIATIONS CHIEF TOLD LOCAL PRESS THAT, IF APPROVED, THE PROJECTS WILL "UNDERMINE ALL THE EFFORTS BEING EXERTED TO REVIVE THE PEACE PROCESS. SETTLEMENTS AND PEACE DON'T GO TOGETHER." COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST -------------- ¶11. (C) IF APPROVED, THESE PROJECTS WILL BE YET ANOTHER SERIOUS IRRITANT IN ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN RELATIONS AND THREATEN TO PREJUDGE THE OUTCOME OF PERMANENT STATUS NEGOTIATIONS OVER JERUSALEM. EMBASSY CONTACTS IN THE GOI NOTE THAT POLLAKS PLAN IS NOT APPROVED (REF M); HOWEVER, COUNCIL MEMBER ALOLO STRESSED THAT THERE IS A HISTORICAL PATTERN HERE: "FIRST THEY SAY IT'S JUST AN IDEA, SO DON'T WORRY, THEN THEY SAY IT'S A PLAN, BUT IT'S NOT APPROVED YET, THEN THREE YEARS LATER WE HAVE HAR HOMA. SETTLEMENTS ARE NEVER APPROVED UNTIL CONSTRUCTION STARTS, AND SOMETIMES NOT EVEN THEN." POST WILL CONTINUE TO ENGAGE THE JERUSALEM MUNICIPALITY ON THIS MATTER, AND NOTES EMBASSY TEL AVIV ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GOI. HOWEVER, GIVEN THAT DECISIONS REGARDING EAST JERUSALEM CONSTRUCTION ARE MADE AT A HIGH POLITICAL LEVEL, POST ALSO RECOMMENDS WASHINGTON ENGAGE WITH THE GOI AT A HIGH LEVEL TO REGISTER CONCERN ABOUT THESE PLANS. WALLES