AMANA SETTLER MOVEMENT REPORTEDLY BUILDING 100

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 001682 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC WASHINGTON DC, NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS/SHAMPAINE/ROSENSTOCK/MAHER; NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WATERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG IS SUBJECT: AMANA SETTLER MOVEMENT REPORTEDLY BUILDING 100 UNITS, APPROVED FOR 170 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, Gene A. Cretz for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Lt. Col. (ret.) Oded Herman, advisor to MOD Pol-Mil Director Amos Gilad, confirmed to econoff on June 7 that the Amana settlement organization will likely build 100 new housing units in the West Bank, as reported recently in Israeli and Palestinian press. He said that Amana had obtained all necessary approvals to build 300 housing units in the Kefar Adumim settlement in 1992, of which 130 units have already been built. Herman added that these 100 new housing units reported on by the press will likely come out of the 170 remaining approved units, leaving 70 for further construction. ¶2. (C) On June 6, Army radio station reported that Amana is constructing about 100 units in the West Bank, most of which have already been sold. According to the report, these units had already been approved by the government years before, but the decision had never been implemented. In addition to being condemned by known left-wing Israeli figures such as Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin and Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer, the Jerusalem Post also carried outraged comments by an unnamed senior Israeli diplomat serving abroad. According to this diplomat, Israel diplomats are "sent abroad, quite simply, to lie." He continued by saying, "We meet foreign ministers around the world, tell them that building in settlements has stopped, and it seems we are just lying to them." ¶3. (C) The Amana organization defines itself as the "settlement movement of Gush Emunim, with the primary goal of developing communities in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, the Galilee and the Negev." Amana, through its associate company, Binyanei Bar Amana, has completed over 50 building projects and has built more than 2000 housing units, according to its website. In March, the organization hosted housing fairs in New York and New Jersey to convince American Jews to buy homes in West Bank settlements -- thus underwriting settlement expansion by either buying or financing settlement housing. This campaign, marketed as a way to "leave your thumbprint on the destiny of Israel," would allow Israeli settlers to rent homes purchased by Americans. Press reports say that plans are underway for similar events in Miami and Chicago. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** CRETZ