IDF EVACUATES RAJABI COMPOUND IN HEBRON

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002197 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2018 TAGS: KWBG PHUM ASEC IS PBTS PTER SUBJECT: IDF EVACUATES RAJABI COMPOUND IN HEBRON REF: JERUSALEM 2187 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. On December 4, some 600 Israeli security forces forcibly evicted 250 Hebron settlers from the Rajabi compound following a last-minute, unsuccessful attempt by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to convince settler leaders to evacuate voluntarily. Evacuation of the compound lasted thirty minutes and required tear gas and stun grenades. An estimated 25 settlers and 25 Palestinians were reported injured during the evacuation. Three injured settlers were reportedly flown by helicopter to hospitals in Israel. For settlers, the compound was a strategically important location between the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque and the Kiryat Arba settlement. End summary. FORCED EVACUATION OF RAJABI COMPOUND -------------- ¶2. (U) At 2:30pm (local time) December 4, some 600 Israeli security forces enforced a High Court of Justice (HCJ) order to evacuate an estimated 250 settlers from Hebron's disputed Rajabi compound ("Beit Hashalom" to settlers). The daytime operation surprised settlers and lasted approximately 30 minutes. Security forces using stun grenades and tear gas dragged settlers one at a time from the 40,000 square feet compound. Press reported the strongest resistance from some 100 youths holed up in the "synagogue" area on the compound's bottom floor. (Note: The Rajabi settlers living at the compound were mostly families with multiple children who did not appear to resist violently. End Note.) Television images showed settlers calling soldiers "Nazis" and reading from prayer books while being dragged out. ¶3. (U) Press reported that police discovered materials settlers planned to burn, potatoes with nails, and acid that settlers planned to use to resist the operation. Following the evacuation, settlers clashed with Palestinians in the Muslim cemetery immediately west of the compound. (Note: Additional settler violence following the evacuation reported septel. End note.) Israeli border police announced that they would occupy the compound to prevent settlers from attempting to re-enter it. NO AGREEMENT WITH YESHA -------------- ¶4. (C) Earlier, Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan had met with MOD Barak in a failed effort to avoid a forced evacuation. Dayan told Poloff December 4 that the meeting was "unfruitful." (Note: Settlers in the Rajabi compound earlier said the Yesha Council did not speak for them, and that they would not be bound by any deal brokered by the Yesha. End note.) ¶5. (C) Barak later met with Rabbi Moshe Levinger, a respected, ailing founder of the Hebron settlements, who asked Barak to delay the operation until noon December 5. Dayan told Poloff that Levinger "rose from his deathbed" and was received by Barak without an appointment. Press reported that Barak gave Levinger two hours for the settlers to leave the compound peacefully, ordering the forced evacuation when the time expired. Kiryat Arba settler Elyakim Haetzni confirmed to Poloff on December 4 that the settlers' attorney, his son Nadav Haetzni, took part in "intense consultations" that morning. Haetzni said the Yesha Council was "not a factor" in negotiations and claimed that the meeting was "a ruse" by the GOI to catch the settlers off guard with a forced evacuation. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: The 40,000 square feet Rajabi compound, occupied by settlers since March 2007, was a strategic location for settlers. The compound is on the road between the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Kiryat Arba settlement to the northeast. Most Hebron settler violence over the summer has been in this corridor. Following the evacuation, settlers announced they would continue their campaign to purchase Palestinian properties in Hebron. WALLES