CLASHES BETWEEN YITZHAR SETTLERS AND ASIRA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001739

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2018
TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS
SUBJECT: CLASHES BETWEEN YITZHAR SETTLERS AND ASIRA
AL-QABALIYAH

REF: JERUSALEM 1710

Classified By: Acting Principal Officer Greg Marchese, per reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: On September 13, clashes occurred between
Yitzhar (near Nablus) settlers and Palestinians in the
village of Asira al-Qabaliyah. Police have not yet arrested
any Palestinians or settlers. The settlers said they were
responding to an arson attack against a caravan and the
knifing of a nine-year-old settler boy at Yitzhar's Shalhevet
outpost hours earlier. Settler leaders have played down the
attack on Asira al-Qabaliyah. Villagers said the settlers
arrived firing weapons and throwing rocks, resulting in eight
Palestinian injuries and damage to three houses. They deny
that the attack on Yitzhar happened as the settlers claim and
have condemned the settler attack on their village. END
SUMMARY.

Yitzharites attack Asira al-Qabaliyah
--------------


2. (C) Settlers from Yitzhar and Palestinians in the
neighboring village of Asira al-Qabaliyah clashed September

13. A videotape of the incident filmed by villagers using
cameras from the NGO B'Tselem shows settlers, IDF, and
Israeli police in Asira al-Qabaliyah on September 13.
Villagers said settlers threw rocks and fired weapons,
resulting in eight Palestinian injuries, and damage to three
homes, several cars, and water tanks. Settlers said they
were responding to an earlier Palestinian attack on Yitzhar's
Shalhevet outpost that included burning a vacant caravan and
knifing and tossing a nine-year-old off a ledge. Press
report that a settler woman witnessed the incident and that
Israeli police initiated an investigation, but no
Palestinians or settlers have been arrested as of September

18. According to press, a little known Arab-Israeli group
from Galilee claimed responsibility for the attack.


3. (C) Activists representing the International Women's
Peace Service (IWPS) NGO told Poloff that Palestinian
ambulances were prevented from entering Asira al-Qabaliyah to
treat the wounded for two hours. They said some villagers
were handcuffed and detained during the incident and the IDF
sealed off the village with checkpoints, allowing minimal
entry and exit September 13. During the night following
these events, activists said, the IDF conducted raids on four
separate homes early in the morning, but did not detain any
villagers.

Settler Leaders Don't Support
the Attack, but Avoid Condemnation
--------------


4. (C) Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan told Poloff that
he had visited the boy in the hospital in Petah Tikva late
September 13. He said the boy was stabbed seven times, but
survived. "I don't like what my guys did but let's get
serious, no one got seriously hurt in Asira, while in Yitzhar
there was an intention to kill," he said. He added that
Israeli police told him no one in Asira al-Qabaliyah was
injured by live fire. Gush Etzion Regional Council Chairman
and Yesha Council member Shaul Goldstein told Poloff that the
settler reaction "was not justified," but the media is "a dog
looking to bite the settlers," focusing only on settler
aggression, not the reported Palestinian attack. Settler
contact Yisrael Medad told Poloff that "if the security
forces were doing their job, we wouldn't have to do it
ourselves."

Palestinians Deny Arson and Knife Attack
--------------


5. (C) Head of the Asira al-Qabaliyah village council Hosni
Sharif told PolSpec that after "a few hundred" settlers
entered the village, the IDF acted to protect them, including
by firing at villagers. Sharif and Rabbis for Human Rights
activist Zacharia Sadeh told Poloff they do not believe
settler accounts of the initial attack. President of the
South Nablus Services Council Mansour Tawfiq Dmeidi also
denied to Poloff that the attack had occurred as reported by
the settlers, saying, "You'd have to be crazy to think you
could attack Yitzhar and escape."

Increasing Settler Violence
--------------


6. (C) The events of September 13 follow aggressive
settler actions against the IDF at Yad Yair September 10

JERUSALEM 00001739 002 OF 002


(reftel). According to Mansour Tawfiq from the South Nablus
Services Council, on September 14, settlers from Itamar (next
to Yitzhar) descended into Awarta village and burned 70
dunams of agricultural fields. According to Sadeh from
Rabbis for Human Rights, settlers from Shevut Rahel
settlement (northeast of Ramallah) entered the neighboring
village of Qaryut September 15 and began prematurely
harvesting the villagers' olives.
MARCHESE