CONSUL GENERAL AND SETTLER LEADERS AGREE (AGAIN)

"C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002237 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2018 TAGS: KWBG PHUM ASEC IS PBTS PTER SUBJECT: CONSUL GENERAL AND SETTLER LEADERS AGREE (AGAIN) TO DISAGREE REF: JERUSALEM 371 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Settler leaders Dani Dayan (Yesha Council Chairman),Shaul Goldstein (Gush Etzion Regional Council Chairman),and Elyakim Haetzni (co-founder of Kiryat Arba settlement) met with the Consul General in Jerusalem on December 11, again agreeing from the outset to disagree. The settler leaders said recent settler violence reflects young settlers' disrespect for Israeli law and the influence of extremist rabbis. None offered a concrete solution to the conflict, but all rejected the current process towards a two state solution. End summary. SETTLER LEADERS REGRET RECENT VIOLENCE -------------- ¶2. (C) The Consul General opened by condemning the recent settler violence over the past six months, especially the last few weeks in Hebron. Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan said the settler violence is an outgrowth of the unilateral Israeli disengagement from Gazain 2005 and ""outrageous"" recent Israeli Supreme ourt rulings. He said these GOI steps taught Isaeli youth that ""you can't play by the rules becuse the opponent will change them at the last minue; so why play by the rules?"" Dayan argued that dsengagement was a disaster for Israel, but he emhasized that the ""price tag policy"" is a mistakethat will not serve the interests of the settlemnt movement. Dayan criticized the GOI evacuation f the Rajabi House, arguing that the operation was ""based on an outrageous court decision"" and that the situation could have been resolved in an alternative and legal manner consistent with court rulings. Goldstein noted that settlers in the compound had evacuated non-violently but that outsider settlers engaged in violent activity following the operation. ¶3. (C) Kiryat Arba co-founder Elyakim Haetzni said the GOI needs to stop pushing the settlers ""to the edge"" with settlement evacuations, noting that he has strongly, publicly condemned the violence, including desecration of mosques and gravestones, and encouraged all settler leaders to do the same. He and Dayan said they are ""shamed and embarrassed"" at the level of violence. Haetzni said the rabbis whom the settler youth follow should forbid attacks on Palestinians. SITUATION WITHOUT A SOLUTION -------------- ¶4. (C) Asked by the Consul General how they propose to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the settler leaders called it a ""situation without a solution"" and strongly rejected current efforts towards a two state solution. Goldstein said the Jewish and Palestinian national dreams are fundamentally incompatible and said he does not believe the Palestinians will be content with anything less than all the land west of the Jordan. Dayan suggested focusing on economic partnerships and reviving the exchange of trade and labor between Israel and the West Bank. Haetzni said it is ""not possible to solve the problem today,"" and advised that the U.S. administration ""should approach our problem with a little more respect for history."" The Consul General responded that the picture they painted of a conflict that can not be resolved presents a bleak future full of continuing suffering for both Arabs and Jews. WALLES "