SETTLEMENTS AND OUTPOSTS: SIX MONTHS INTO ANNAPOLIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 001247

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: SETTLEMENTS AND OUTPOSTS: SIX MONTHS INTO ANNAPOLIS

Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: Within the first six months of the
Annapolis process, the GOI has published tenders for or
approved 2,800 new housing units in settlements in the West
Bank and East Jerusalem -- marking the largest number of
approvals within a six month period since 1999.
Additionally, despite MOD discussions to coax settlers to
voluntarily evacuate outposts established after March 2001,
the MOD has only managed to successfully dismantle one small,
uninhabited outpost. Within the coming months, we are likely
to see the GOI grant more approvals for settlement
construction, given the GOI's proclivity to grant concessions
to settlers in exchange for voluntarily evacuating outposts
and its unwillingness to stop settlement construction in
areas it expects to retain in a final status agreement. End
summary.

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Settlement Activity Since Annapolis
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2. (C) The June 2, publication of tenders to build 884
units housing in the East Jerusalem settlements of Pisgat
Ze'ev and Har Homa brings the total number of new units the
GOI has published tenders for or approved to 2,800 -- marking
the largest number of approvals within a six month period
since 1999. Below are lists of settlement projects known to
Embassy Tel Aviv that the GOI has either published tenders
for or approved since the start of Annapolis:


3. (C) Tenders Published:

-- Har Homa, 307 units. (December 2007)
-- East Talpiyot, 440 units. (December 2007)
-- Gilo, hotel with option to rezone as residential.
(December 2007)
-- Elqana, rezoning of land to change 52 caravans to
single-family homes. (April 2008)
-- Ariel, 48 units. (April 2008)
-- Har Homa, 121 units. (June 2008)
-- Pisgat Ze'ev, 763 units. (June 2008)

(Note: A building plan that has entered the tendering phase
has already been granted all of the approvals necessary for
building. The GOI publishes a tender to invite companies to
offer bids to build part or all of a given plan.
Construction may commence once the GOI issues the tender to a
company to build. End note.)


4. (C) The following is a list of settlement plans approved
by Defense Minister Barak. This list was confirmed to
EconCouns and econoff in late March by Oded Herman, Advisor
to Pol-Mil Director Amos Gilad.

-- Efrata, 40 units.
-- Tene Omarim, 5 units.
-- Beitar Illit, 32 units.
-- Sha'arei Tikva, 32 units.
-- Efrata, reservoir.
-- Talmon, reservoir that will serve both Israeli and
Palestinian populations.
-- Negohot, caravan to be used as a synagogue.
-- Ovnat, rezoning of land to change 15 caravans to mobile
homes.


5. (C) The following were previously frozen projects that
were recently re-approved by Prime Minister Olmert. These
projects had previously obtained bureaucratic approvals to be
built years ago.

-- Givat Ze'ev, 330 units. (Note: Olmert's approval of this
project was confirmed to econoff by Chaim Fialkoff, Director
General of the Ministry of Construction and Housing (MOCH) in
March. End note)

-- Beitar Illit, 682 units. (Note: Prime Minister Olmert's
office confirmed to the Ambassador that Olmert had approved
this project in April. End note)


6. (C) Although some GOI officials have claimed that the
actual number of units built on the ground since the start of
Annapolis has not actually been extensive and do not damage
the platform for negotiations, the stream of GOI approvals or
tendering of unrealized settlement plans manifests Israel's
intention to thicken settlements in critical areas
--primarily East Jerusalem and West Bank settlement blocs --
that it expects to retain.

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Outposts
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7. (C) The MOD has made little progress on evacuating
illegal outposts established after March 2001, despite
continued discussions with settlers to voluntarily dismantle
these sites. In the past six months since the Annapolis
process began, the MOD has successfully managed to dismantle
only one, small uninhabited outpost -- Ofra South. Eitan
Broshi, Advisor to Defense Minister Barak on settlements, has
publicly claimed that the MOD has evacuated four outposts.
However, his statements reflect recent IDF attempts which
have yielded one successful full evacuation (Ofra South),two
MOD partial evacuations (Yattir South, Mevo Horon
Agricultural Farm),and one outpost evacuation attempt (Hazon
David).

-- Both Yattir South and Mevo Horon Agricultural Farm have
been partially dismantled, but some structures still remain
at these sites.

-- On May 3, the IDF dismantled the structure used as a
synagogue at Hazon David. However, settlers reestablished
their presence at the site shortly after the IDF left. Press
reports in June say that Hazon David has been dismantled by
the IDF 32 times over the last four years.

Oded Herman, Senior Advisor to Pol-Mil Director Amos Gilad
has told EconCouns and econoff that the MOD has provided and
will continue to provide new and retroactive construction
approvals to settlements in exchange for settler agreement to
voluntarily evacuate outposts illegally established after
March 2001.


8. (C) The IDF has generally blocked settler efforts to
establish new West Bank outposts. However, in some
instances, the IDF has permitted settlers to temporarily
establish a presence at previously evacuated sites such as
Sanur and Homesh. Emboff discussions with MOD officials
indicate that IDF permission is often granted to settlers in
order to avoid potential confrontations with these groups.
Since Annapolis, settlers have been allowed to temporarily
congregate at new sites where they sometimes decide to
establish strongholds, including E1, Shvut Rachel, and Artas.
Although the IDF does not permit settler groups to establish
new outposts, these purportedly temporary arrangements are a
setback to current MOD efforts to evacuate illegal outposts
established after March 2001.


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Additional Approvals and Tenders Likely
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9. (C) With Israel unwilling to freeze settlement
construction particularly in East Jerusalem and the West Bank
blocs, and the MOD's likely concessions to settlers in
exchange for evacuating illegal outposts, we will likely
continue to see GOI approvals or tenders for new housing
units in settlements. We have also not yet seen tenders
published for some of the plans which have recently been
approved. Moreover, Israel has long maintained that
construction in East Jerusalem as well as in settlement blocs
it seeks to retain in a final-status solution is in keeping
with international understandings.


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How Israel Views Settlements
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10. (U) Although GOI settlement activities are viewed by
most of the international community as being incompatible
with the Annapolis process and international law, the GOI
does not appear to agree with this assessment. According to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, "Israeli settlements
in the West Bank are legal under international law and the
agreements between Israel and the Palestinians." The site
says that various agreements between Israel and the
Palestinians since 1993 contain no prohibitions on the
building or expansion of settlements. Additionally, the
prohibition in the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement
against taking unilateral steps that alter the status of the
West Bank does not imply a ban on settlement activities, but
was designed to ensure that neither side take steps that
would change the territory's legal status (such as
annexation, or unilateral declaration of statehood) pending
permanent status talks. The site states, "The building of

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homes has no effect on the final permanent status of the area
as a whole. Were this prohibition applied to building, it
would lead to the unreasonable interpretation that neither
side is permitted to build houses to accommodate the needs of
their respective communities."


12. (U) On the basis of international law, Israel views the
West Bank not as "occupied territory," but as "disputed
territory." Therefore, according to the website, Israel
maintains that the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 -- which
forbids a state from deporting or transferring "parts of its
own civilian population to the territory occupied" -- does
not apply to the West Bank. The GOI maintains that the
Convention is also not applicable because Israel has neither
forcibly transferred its citizens to the territory nor are
settlements intended to displace Arab inhabitants.

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