SETTLER LEADERS AND CONSUL GENERAL AGREE TO

"C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000371 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2018 TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS SUBJECT: SETTLER LEADERS AND CONSUL GENERAL AGREE TO DISAGREE Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Settler leaders Dani Dayan (Yesha Council Chairman),Pinchas Wallerstein (Yesha Director General), Shaul Goldstein (Gush Etzion Regional Council Chairman),and Ron Nachman (Ariel Mayor) shared their views with the Consul General February 25, agreeing from the outset to disagree. The settler leaders said they think the U.S. Ambassador in Tel Aviv is their appropriate interlocutor, since they are Israeli citizens, but welcomed the engagement with a senior USG official and urged the Consul General and the Secretary to visit their settlements. END SUMMARY. ""Stereotyped and Demonized"" -------------- ¶2. (C) In a February 25 meeting at the Consulate General, Dani Dayan (Yesha Council Chairman),Pinchas Wallerstein (Yesha Director General),Shaul Goldstein (Gush Etzion Regional Council Chair),and Ron Nachman (Ariel Mayor) thanked the Consul General for the unusual meeting, saying ""everybody talks about us, but not to us."" Dayan said ""We are one of the most stereotyped and demonized populations in the world, but first and foremost, we are 300,000 human beings."" Goldstein noted that he had never been to the ConGen before, but has frequently attended protests in the park across the street. They added that, as Israeli citizens, they believe their appropriate interlocutor is the U.S. Ambassador in Tel Aviv, but all acknowledged the long-standing division of labor between Embassy Tel Aviv and ConGen Jerusalem. No Agreed Upon Solution -------------- ¶3. (C) The settler leaders rejected the USG ""fixation"" with ""establishing a terrorist state"" and said ""creating a Palestinian state is erroneous and suicidal"" and ""will only lead to violence."" Yesha Council Chairman Dayan said removing settlers from ""Judea and Samaria"" will usher in Hamas ""within weeks, months, or years."" The GOI, he argued, should retain security control from the Mediterranean to the Jordan river. ""From my bedroom I can see the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv - it's either me in that bedroom or Hamas and PIJ terrorists,"" he said. He dismissed any question about the morality of his position, saying that he refused to visit South Africa during the apartheid era and that the ""moral balance between Jews and Palestinians is in (the Jews') favor by far."" He said repeated Jewish efforts to reach compromise before and after the creation of Israel have been met with violence, and if Palestinians have no political rights, ""only they are to blame."" ¶4. (C) Ariel Mayor Nachman said his preferred vision for the Palestinians is Egyptian control of Gaza and Jordanian control of parts of the West Bank where there are no settlers. If this arrangement requires moving any settlements, reciprocity would require moving Palestinian villages he said, although he admitted the Arab world opposes this solution. The John Wayne of the Settlers -------------- ¶5. (C) Nachman urged the Consul General to visit Ariel, shouting ""I want to host you and show that we don't have horns."" He compared West Bank settlers to those who settled the western U.S. and applauded ""America's real legacy,"" which he said is ""John Wayne"". Nachman said he hates the separation barrier (which juts 22 km into the West Bank, encompassing his settlement),but he believes it protects him from Palestinians in neighboring Salfit. Nachman said he has reached out to the Salfit and Nablus mayors to ""cooperate"" on water, solid waste, and sewage service. ""I control the valve for Salfit's water and electricity supply and could turn them off at any time,"" he said, adding that he has not done so. ""Why are we an Obstacle to Peace?"" -------------- ¶6. (C) Gush Etzion Regional Council Chairman Shaul Goldstein said ""even if we leave Judea and Samaria tomorrow, what person on earth could say there will be peace? Why are we an obstacle to peace?"" He rejected that Palestinians have any economic potential, posing bluntly ""What have Palestinians contributed to society in the last 100 years?"" He said ""Give them a state and they'll do nothing with it."" Goldstein said he does not see long-term solution, but he said local contacts will be helpful in the short-term and will produce JERUSALEM 00000371 002 OF 002 ""the peace of the simple people."" He asked the USG to help ""convince"" neighboring Palestinians to meet with settlers, noting that ""We try but Ramallah says no."" Nachman agreed that settlers are not the obstacle to peace, insisting ""We want peace more than Meretz and the professional peaceniks."" ¶7. (C) Pinchas Wallerstein countered USG pressure on the GOI to evacuate the outposts, saying ""be honest and consider those that will be left behind"" and complaining that three years after Gaza ""disengagement,"" evacuees still do not have permanent homes. He said the GOI uses ""American pressure"" on outposts as an excuse with settlers and he wants the Consul General's ""staff at the table"" when the settlers next meet with the GOI. Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) The U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem had not met with settler leaders for some time, and the settlers - despite their grumbling about not receiving July 4 invitations - welcomed the opportunity to express their views. Notably, they did not brief the press on the meeting, suggesting that they did not see want to burn a new interlocutor, but rather want a direct USG channel for their views. The meeting also provided us new insight on some of the intra-settler dynamics, with the somewhat overbearing mayor of Ariel insisting on center stage, and causing almost physical discomfiture to the calm, more strategic-minded heads of the Yesha and Gush Etzion Councils. Nachman's vision of cooperation with his neighbors while he controls Salfit's water will obviously not resonate with Palestinians. Wallerstein is the long-standing elder, but he spoke little and his body language seemed to indicate that he has seen it all before. WALLES "