YESHA AGREES TO MOVE MIGRON'S OUTPOST; RESIDENTS

"C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001496 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2018 TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS SUBJECT: YESHA AGREES TO MOVE MIGRON'S OUTPOST; RESIDENTS OBJECT Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Yesha Council voted unanimously August 11 to approve an ""understanding"" with the Israeli MOD to move Migron outpost in exchange for permanent, legal housing in one of four possible nearby West Bank locations. The understanding provides for the construction of new homes before Migron settlers will move, which could take years. Council members acknowledge that Migron settlers and key settler rabbis oppose the agreement. END SUMMARY Council votes to move Migron per agreement with MOD -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Yesha Council chairman Dani Dayan confirmed to Poloff August 12 the Council's August 11 decision to approve an ""understanding"" with the MOD to move Migron outpost to an undecided location. Fourteen members voted in favor, and four abstained, although Dayan said some voted yes ""with a heavy heart."" Yesha Director General Pinchas Wallerstein told Poloff August 12 that the State Attorney will formally inform the HCJ of the agreement in writing August 14. (NOTE: The GOI previously committed to the HCJ to implement the court order to move Migron by August 1. END NOTE) According to Dayan, once the HCJ accepts the plan for Migron's move, MOD will make it an official agreement with the Yesha Council. Settlers to move once new houses built -------------- ¶3. (C) According to Wallerstein, the agreement states: ""In exchange for moving from Migron's current location, the Migron settlers will receive permanent, new houses in a new, legal location."" Dayan and Wallerstein both confirmed that Migron settlers will not move until new, permanent houses are constructed, which Wallerstein told Poloff would mean ""at least a year and half"" before settlers move. ¶4. (C) Wallerstein told Poloff that the Yesha Council will have thirty days to determine the new location for Migron residents. It will be one of four possibilities, all of which are east of the separation barrier: a hilltop 300 meters north of Migron; the Binyamin Industrial Zone, three km north of Migron; or the east or west side of Adam settlement, five km north of Migron. Wallerstein said the locations are based on settlers' desire to stay near Migron's current location. Of the potential relocation sites, two would represent new settlements (the hilltop nearby and the Binyamin Industrial Zone) and two would expand Adam settlement. Wallerstein said the GOI offered land at Kfar Adumim near Maale Adumim some eight km southeast of Migron, but it was rejected as too far away. Wallerstein predicted that once the agreement is in place, the GOI would establish Migron as a new settlement. This ""has not happened in a long time."" Migron settlers and key rabbis remain opposed -------------- ¶5. (C) Dayan and Wallerstein confirmed that Migron settlers are opposed to the pending agreement. ""This is not an ideal compromise,"" Dayan said, and ""we're being attacked by the loyalists, extremists, and even some of our mainstream"" over the deal. Wallerstein told Poloff that several key settler rabbis, including Rabbi Dov Lior of Hebron and Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El, oppose the agreement. Wallerstein said the entire Binyamin Regional Council that oversees Migron and the surrounding area opposes the agreement based on Migron residents' views. Settler Yisrael Medad told Poloff that Rabbi Zvi Yisrael Tau of Jerusalem, who taught many of the young Migron residents and is ""generally more moderate,"" may able to convince Migron settlers to agree to the deal. ¶6. (C) ""This is a very good deal,"" Wallerstein told Poloff, but ""after Gush Katif they don't believe the government will make good on its promises."" Ofra settler Aliza Herbst told Poloff that the Migron deal represents a ""crisis of confidence in Yesha leadership."" ""Three or four years ago,"" she said, the settlers ""would have taken our word that this is a good thing, but now they don't trust even Yesha."" WALLES "