ISRAEL TO START SOME BARRIER CHANGES; STALLING IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TEL AVIV 001631 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: 07/09/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL IS KPAL KWBG SUBJECT: ISRAEL TO START SOME BARRIER CHANGES; STALLING IN OTHER AREAS REF: A. JERUSALEM 01240 ¶B. TEL AVIV 00361 (2007) Classified By: Charges d'affaires Luis G. Moreno for reasons 1.4 (b),( d) ¶1. (C) Summary: On July 21, Shaul Arieli, advisor on the West Bank separation barrier to the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ),told econoff that the Ministry of Defense (MOD) would resume construction of some segments of the barrier next month returning some Palestinian land through Court ordered reroutes; but also seemed to be stalling changes to the barrier's route in other areas to allow for possible settlement expansion. Although the majority of the barrier's construction has been suspended since November 2007 -- reportedly due to budgetary constraints -- Israel will start rerouting the barrier near the Alfe Menashe and Zofim settlements in August and may start rerouting segments near the Modi'in settlement bloc early next year. Arieli also told econoff that on July 2, the MOD published an order in Israeli newspapers indicating that it plans to annex the Qedar settlement to Ma'ale Adummim's municipality. According to Arieli, in making these two settlements inseparable, the MOD will be able to argue to the HCJ that barrier must be completed in this area as planned. End summary. -------------- August: Rerouting the Barrier -------------- ¶2. (C) Israel will resume construction of the separation barrier near the settlements of Alfe Menashe and Zofim next month, according to Arieli. Both are located in the northern West Bank near the Palestinian town of Qalqilya. Details of how the barrier will be rerouted in these sections are as follows: -- Alfe Menashe: In September 2005, the HCJ ordered Israel to dismantle a seven-kilometer section of the barrier near Alfe Menashe and instead, build a 3.2 kilometer segment along a different route. The barrier will follow the Council for Peace and Security's (CPS) proposed route, moving it closer to the southern perimeter of the settlement's municipal boundaries. The rerouting will place approximately 1300 dunams (325 acres) of land on the eastern side of the barrier (mixed Palestinian and state land). Once the barrier is rerouted, the Palestinian villages of Wadi ar Rasha and Ras at Tira will be contiguous with the West Bank and will no longer be included in the western side of the barrier's route. (Note: Arieli is a member of CPS. End note) -- Zofim (section southeast of Zofim): In May 2006, the Court ruled that Israel must dismantle five kilometers of the separation barrier, and instead, build a three kilometer segment along a different route. The new route follows a CPS proposed route, which runs closer to the settlement's southeastern side and will place some 1,530 dunams (about 382 acres) of land on the eastern side of the barrier (area located south of the Palestinian village of Jayyus, which is a mixture of Palestinian and state land). Arieli estimates that rerouting this segment -- dismantlement and reconstruction -- will cost Israeli taxpayers approximately NIS 102 million (USD 30 million using a 3.4 NIS per USD 1 exchange rate). -------------- Future Segments to be Amended -------------- ¶3. (C) Zofim (section north of Zofim): Arieli's MOD contacts also confirmed to him on July 23 that the MOD will change the route of the barrier north of Zofim. According to his contacts, Defense Minister Barak and MOD Chief of General Staff Ashkenazi have agreed to adopt a route that closely follows the CPS-proposed route and have already sent a letter to the Supreme Court indicating so. The MOD will dismantle a 2.4 kilometer stretch of barrier and in its place build another segment stretching approximately 5 kilometers. Arieli estimates that this change will cost approximately NIS 50 million (about USD 15 million),but will return about 2,600 dunams (650 acres) of agricultural land to its Palestinians owners. ¶4. (C) Rafat-Atarot Area: A two kilometer segment of the barrier will likely be dismantled in the Rafat-Atarot area, located north of TEL AVIV 00001631 002 OF 004 Jerusalem. Arieli said that commercial imagery indicated that construction of the new route in this area is almost complete and in accordance with the MOD's April 2006 barrier route. If dismantled, the MOD will remove an approximately two-kilometer-long segment of the barrier. ¶5. (C) Modi'in Settlement Bloc: Arieli's MOD contacts also say that MOD may also start rerouting segments of the barrier near the settlements of Mattityahu East and Hashmona'im located in the Modi'in settlement bloc north of No Man's Land early next year depending on discussions determining the final routes in these areas. In the case of Hashmona'im, in July 2008, the High Court rejected the IDF's route of the barrier between the Hashmona'im and the Palestinian village of Nil'in, saying that the IDF's route did not correctly balance security needs and the rights of local Palestinian inhabitants. According to Arieli, the barrier will follow the CPS line in this area and run closer to the northern perimeter of Hashmona'im. Due to topography, the barrier will still be built on some Palestinian land; however, this new route will return some 100 dunams (25 acres) to Palestinian landowners. -------------- --- Possibly Stalling Rerouting Near Mattityahu East -------------- --- ¶6. (C) In September 2007, the Supreme Court Justices ruled that the original route of the barrier between the Mattityahu East settlement and the Palestinian village of Bil'in was designed to accommodate the expansion of Mattityahu East. The Court therefore ordered the State to dismantle a 1.7 kilometer stretch of the barrier, and noted that the route actually endangered IDF forces who would be protecting this area. Although the Court decided that lands designated for Mattityahu East's expansion would be returned to Bil'in's residents, on July 7, the MOD released a revised barrier route indicating that less than 200 dunams would be returned to Bil'in (REF A). ¶7. (C) Despite the Court's ruling to return this land to the Palestinians, Arieli's contacts inside the MOD claim that the MOD still wants to build new housing in this area for the Mattityahu East B expansion. According to these contacts, plans to approve this expansion have already been deposited with Defense Minister Barak for his approval. Arieli opined that the MOD's July 7th route proposal to return only a small portion of land could be a stalling tactic to draw out the legal process in order to start construction on Mattityahu East B. Once construction commences, Arieli cautioned, the MOD can argue to the Court that the units are already sold and the barrier must be built so as to protect these new Israeli residents. ¶8. (C) Arieli has already informed Michael Sfard, attorney for Bil'in's residents of what he believes the MOD is planning. Sfard has since argued the case to the Court, and the Court has in turn, accepted Sfard's argument and ordered the MOD to respond to Sfard. Arieli is currently working on drafting a new proposed barrier route in this area, in accordance with the HCJ's 2007 decision. -------------- Retaining the Bubble -------------- ¶9. (C) On July 2, the MOD published an order in Israeli newspapers indicating that it plans to annex the Qedar settlement to the Ma'ale Adummim settlement municipality, located east of Jerusalem. According to Arieli, if no objections are filed against this plan within 30 days, Central Command Head General Gadi Shamni will sign this order into effect. Arieli opined that in making these two settlements inseparable, the MOD will be able to argue to the HCJ that barrier must be completed in this area as planned. (Note: Oded Herman, senior advisor to Pol-Mil Director Amos Gilad, dismissed Arieli's argument to econoff on July 24. According to Herman, the MOD order was published before a new committee inside the Ministry of Interior (MOI) committee was formed. This committee is looking at ways to cut administrative costs by joining nearby neighborhoods to create more efficient regional councils. Herman said that the MOI committee, not Shamni, will choose whether neighborhoods should be amalgamated. End note) ¶10. (C) The case of the barrier's route around Ma'ale Adummim has been in front of the High Court of Justice for TEL AVIV 00001631 003 OF 004 almost two years. Since Barak bcame Defense Minister in June 2007, he has postpned -- every 45 days -- his response to the HighCourt to provide an alternative route in the Ma'ale Adummim area. According to Arieli, Chief Justic Beinish had requested that Barak reassess the MD route and even dropped suggestions indicating hat the MOD should adopt the CPS route in this area because it would not likely win its case. Moreover, in the last two High Court hearings, Ma'ale Adummim's lawyers admitted to the Court that the CPS route does not hurt Ma'ale Adummim because Qedar is not part of Ma'ale Adummim's municipal boundaries. In Arieli's estimation, if the MOD conceded that its route in this area -- the southern section of the Ma'ale Adummim bubble -- was not the best route, the MOD would likely have to cut out additional sections in the northern and eastern sections of the barrier. (Note: Per REF B, In January 2007, Haggai Alon, senior advisor to then-Defense Minister Peretz confided to Ambassador Jones that the MOD was likely to lose any future case in Court regarding maintaining the full amount of land enclosed by the barrier north and east of Ma'ale Adummim. End note) ¶11. CPS has proposed to the HCJ that the barrier run closer to Ma'ale Adummim's southeastern perimeter, therefore cutting off from inclusion the Qedar and New Qedar settlements. The CPS line would cut the length of the barrier in this section from about 10 kilometers to six kilometers; provide more security to Ma'ale Adummim by building the barrier on a ridgeline instead of through a wadi, and return approximately 5,700 dunams (1,425 acres) of land to the West Bank side of the barrier. -------------- Gush Etzion -------------- ¶12. (C) According to Arieli, construction of the eastern edge of the barrier around the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, located southwest of Bethlehem, is almost complete. The MOD claims that this section, spanning the western edge of the Palestinian towns of Beit Jalah and Ad Dawhah, is not part of the barrier, and instead is protection for an adjacent road. Construction in this area has continued despite the fact that the route is still being disputed in the High Court of Justice. -------------- Bet Arye and Ofarim -------------- ¶13. (C) According to Arieli, commercial imagery shows that Israel has almost completed construction of a new road linking the settlements of Bet Arye and Ofarim, which critics claim will be part of the structure of the barrier. Despite MOD denials that the road is part of the barrier, it follows the MOD's barrier route precisely. Arieli said that Omarim was recently joined to Bet Arye's municipality and once the road is complete, the GOI will argued that these settlements will need to be joined to the "Ariel finger," part of the barrier. -------------- Naslat Issa -------------- ¶14. (C) In February 2004, the IDF dismantled an 8 kilometer stretch of barrier east of the Palestinian village of Baqa al Sharqiyah, located in the northern West Bank, and instead built the barrier along the green line. Since 2004, however, the IDF has not rescinded the confiscation orders for the dismantled stretch of barrier. According to Arieli, the IDF is required to return the land to its owners in the exact condition it was in before it was confiscated. The IDF has not rescinded the confiscation orders and it has neither returned nor restored the land -- removing infrastructure and concrete, filling in ditches, and replanting trees. -------------- Who is Shaul Arieli? -------------- ¶15. (C) In addition to serving as advisor on the barrier to the High Court of Justice, IDF Col. (res.) Arieli is a also a member of the Council for Peace and Security, an association of national security experts. Members include former high-ranking IDF officers, former holders of equivalent positions in the Mossad and Shin Bet, the Israeli Police, TEL AVIV 00001631 004 OF 004 retired diplomats, directors of Government Ministries and academics from various fields. Arieli also serves as a consultant on borders and the barrier to the Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF). ¶16. (C) Arieli, who left the IDF in 2001, headed the interim agreement administration during Yitzhak Rabin's term as prime minister. He also served as head of the body that administered final-status negotiations in Ehud Barak's government. ********************************************* ******************** 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. ********************************************* ******************** MORENO