NO TENDERS ISSUED FOR BEITAR ILLIT...YET

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 001095 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR GOLDBERGER/SHAMPAINE/ROSENSTOCK/PECCIA; NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL; JCS FOR GENERAL FRASER E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL IS KPAL KWBG SUBJECT: NO TENDERS ISSUED FOR BEITAR ILLIT...YET Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) On May 26, Ynet reported that the Ministry of Construction and Housing (MOCH) had issued a tender to build 286 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit. MOCH Director General Chaim Fialkoff clarified to econoff on May 27 that the MOCH has not actually issued tenders for these units, although they are in the advanced stages of the approval process. Fialkoff noted that these units are part of -- not an addition to -- the 682 total housing units in Beitar Illit that Prime Minister Olmert had re-approved for building in early April. Although Olmert had given his approval, it still had to go through the requisite bureaucratic approval process. (Note: In early April, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed to the Ambassador that Olmert had unfrozen the construction of 682 housing units in Beitar Illit, not 750 units as press had reported. This project was approved years ago, but was frozen by the government. End note.) ¶2. (C) According to Fialkoff, these 286 units will make up one new neighborhood in Beitar Illit contiguous to an already existing neighborhood and is located inside the settlement's municipal boundaries. He noted that these units are being built to address the housing demands of the ultra-orthodox community inside and outside of Jerusalem. According to Fialkoff, the MOCH last issued tenders for construction in Beitar Illit approximately two years ago. ¶3. (C) Comment: Although the MOCH has not issued a tender for construction since 2006, construction in Beitar Illit constitutes one of the largest construction projects in the West Bank. Between August 2004 and September 2006, the GOI issued tenders for the construction of 1,168 housing units in Beitar Illit. ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES