YESHA COUNCIL AGREES TO MOVE MIGRON OUTPOST INTO

"C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002087

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2018
TAGS: KWBG PHUM ASEC IS PBTS PTER
SUBJECT: YESHA COUNCIL AGREES TO MOVE MIGRON OUTPOST INTO
ADAM SETTLEMENT

REF: A. A) JERUSALEM 1496

B. B) JERUSALEM 1990

C. C) TEL AVIV 2306

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan told
Poloffs November 19 that the GOI will shortly inform the High
Court of Justice (HCJ) of its decision to move the Migron
outpost five kilometers south into permanent housing to be
built inside Adam settlement, east of the security barrier.
While the Yesha Council has accepted this place, neither the
Binyamin Regional Council (which oversees Migron and Adam)
nor the Migron settlers themselves have agreed. Migron is
both a test case for GOI willingness to impose the rule of
law on settlers and meet its political commitments as well as
of the Yesha Council's ability to deliver the more extreme
elements among its constituents. End Summary.


2. (C) According to Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan, the
GOI plans to inform the HCJ of its agreement with the Yesha
Council to move the Migron outpost five kilometers south into
permanent housing that will be built in the eastern area of
Adam settlement (Adam East). Adam is just east of the
security barrier. Dayan confirmed that the Yesha Council
will ""go along with the plan."" (Comment: The new housing for
Migron settlers will almost certainly expand the existing
footprint of Adam settlement. End Comment.)


3. (C) Binyamin Regional Council (which oversees Migron and
Adam) Chairman Avi Roeh complained to Poloffs November 12
that the Israeli MOD initially offered four alternatives for
Migron: a hilltop 300 meters south of Migron, the Binyamin
Industrial Zone (Tel Mariam),or two sites inside Adam
settlement (Adam East and Adam West) (REF A). Roeh said the
Binyamin Regional Council had selected the first option, but
the MOD subsequently rescinded that offer, saying, ""the
office of the Prime Minister believes the U.S. will call it a
new settlement."" Roeh said that the Migron settlers had
eliminated the Binyamin Industrial Zone and Adam West options
from the outset, and that both the Binyamin Regional Council
and the Migron settlers would refuse Adam East as well.


4. (C) Yesha Council Director General Pinchas Wallerstein
told Poloffs November 17 that Migron's settlers did not want
to move, but predicted that they ""would not stand against the
Yesha Council"" in the end. He admitted, however, that the
Migron settlers are influenced by the Yesha Council of Rabbis
and extremist settlers who oppose any relocation. Their
views are represented by David Haivri, head of the northern
West Bank settlers' International Liaison Office, who told
Poloffs that settlers in Migron should ""physically fight"" an
evacuation rather than agree to move to another location (REF
B).


5. (C) Roeh predicted that the requirements for approved
building plans, permits, and construction of infrastructure
and permanent housing for Migron settlers will require at
least two years before any move. Wallerstein estimated the
timeline at five years. Both reiterated that settlers living
at Migron do not want to move and should not be forced to
move, pointing out that the GOI invested millions of shekels
to establish Migron. (Note: The 2005 Talia Sasson report
estimated that, between 2001-2005, the Ministry of
Construction and Housing spent NIS 4,325,000, more than $1
million, on infrastructure and public buildings for
settlements - see REF C. End note.)


6. (C) COMMENT: With some 300 settlers, Migron is the
largest of all the post-March 2001 outposts. It is seen as a
test case for GOI will to meet its political commitments on
settlements and enforce the rule of law among settlers. With
Migron settlers and the Binyamin Regional Council in
opposition to the move, Migron is also a test for whether the
Yesha Council can deliver the more extreme among its
consituents.


7. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: Adam East would likely not
constitute a new settlement by USG definitions, but it would
almost certainly require expanding the footprint of Adam,
thereby contradicting Israel's Roadmap requirement to freeze
settlement activity, including natural growth. Moreover, it
is uncertain that the settlers currently in Migron will
leave, even if new permanent housing at Adam East is
completed two to five years down the road.

WALLES
"