Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TELAVIV2306
2008-10-08 10:27:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

PALESTINIANS SUE GOI OVER INACTION TO EVACUATE

Tags:  PGOV PREL IS KPAL KWBG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1119
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #2306/01 2821027
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 081027Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8737
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 002306 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR
GOLDBERGER/HOLSTROM; NSC FOR ABRAMS/PASCUAL; JCS FOR
GENERAL SELVA/COL TUGGLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL IS KPAL KWBG
SUBJECT: PALESTINIANS SUE GOI OVER INACTION TO EVACUATE
MIGRON

REF: JERUSALEM 01846

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Luis G. Moreno for reasons 1.4 (
b),(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 002306

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR
GOLDBERGER/HOLSTROM; NSC FOR ABRAMS/PASCUAL; JCS FOR
GENERAL SELVA/COL TUGGLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL IS KPAL KWBG
SUBJECT: PALESTINIANS SUE GOI OVER INACTION TO EVACUATE
MIGRON

REF: JERUSALEM 01846

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Luis G. Moreno for reasons 1.4 (
b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: On October 5, five Palestinian landowners,
through the Yesh Din human rights organization, filed a civil
suit for NIS 1.5 million against the GOI for damages caused
by its failure to evacuate the Migron outpost. According to
Yesh Din legal advisor Michael Sfard, not only had the state
failed to prevent settlers from illegally taking over the
plaintiffs' land; it provided settlers with assistance to
establish the outpost. GOI actions thereby violated legal
obligations to protect the plaintiffs' private property and
resulted in his clients losing revenue from cultivation of
this land for the last nine years. Sfard, who is also Peace
Now's attorney, told econoff that in cases where an outpost
has been illegally established on Palestinian land, the
organizations are planning to file both a High Court of
Justice (HCJ) petition seeking the state's evacuation of the
site and a civil suit for land use compensation. This
two-pronged strategy aims to push the GOI to evacuate these
sites or face possible monetary consequences if continued
inaction persists. The GOI has 30 days to respond to the
plaintiffs' claims. End summary.

--------------
Palestinians Sue GOI
--------------

2. (C) The action filed by Palestinian landowners marks the
first civil suit filed against the State of Israel on the
grounds that failed to dismantle and remove trespassers from
an illegally built outpost located on private Palestinian
land. As a result of this inaction, the topography of the
land has been changed beyond recognition and the plaintiff's
access to the land on which the Migron outpost is located has
been made impossible for nine years. According to the suit,
"the State of Israel did not lift a finger to prevent the
establishment of this outpost other than issuing evacuation
orders that were never enforced." The lawsuit charges that
the GOI was a partner to illegal settler actions by its

funding infrastructure, allowing construction, and dismissing
existing demolition orders against structures at Migron.


3. (C) The plaintiffs are seeking NIS 1.5 million (USD
427,000) in retroactive damages for nine years of land
inaccessibility resulting from the GOI's failure to protect
Palestinian private property from settler takeover. Sfard
argues that while Palestinians would have used this land --
which sprawls over hundreds of dunams -- for agricultural
purposes, settlers illegally established a new community at
the site with assistance from the GOI.

--------------
A New Strategy For the Palestinians...
--------------

4. (C) Sfard, who also serves as Peace Now's attorney, told
econoff that in cases where an outpost has been illegally
established on Palestinian land, the organizations are
planning to file both a High Court of Justice (HCJ) petition
seeking the state's evacuation of the site and a civil suit
for land use compensation. This two-pronged strategy aims to
push the GOI to evacuate these sites or face possible
monetary consequences if inaction persists. Sfard told
econoff that he felt optimistic about the possible outcome of
the civil suit, noting that GOI does not dispute the illegal
status of Migron and has acknowledged that the outpost must
be dismantled. In addition to continued GOI inaction to
dismantle this outpost, he added that GOI assistance in
Migron's establishment has already been extensively
documented in the 2005 Talia Sasson report. Between
2001-2005, Sasson estimated that the Ministry of Construction
and Housing spent NIS 4,325,000 for the establishment of
infrastructure and construction of public buildings.

--------------
...And Possibly for the Settlers...
--------------

5. (C) In June, several right-wing settler groups
(including Youth for the Land of Israel, the Samaria
Settlers' Committee, and the Binyamin Settler's Committee)
launched a new anti-evacuation campaign, called either
"Mutual Responsibility" or "Price Tag" (Ref A). This
initiative has been publicized through notices posted on
settlement boards and in local newspapers, according to press
reports. The new plan aims to turn every evacuation into a
day of chaos so that security forces cannot simply complete

TEL AVIV 00002306 002 OF 002


an evacuation and leave. Through this campaign, activist
committees call for settlers to come to affected outposts to
try to hinder evacuation operations. If, however, settlers
cannot arrive in time, they are called on to wreak havoc
throughout the West Bank. Recommended methods include arson
and road-blocking to force troops to abandon the evacuation
and deal with the protesters' actions. While this strategy
has already been used at least twice in June and July, the
real test is expected to come if the government pushes ahead
with plans to evacuate Migron.

--------------
Update: Peace Now's Petition On Migron
--------------

6. (C) Regarding Peace Now's petition to the High Court of
Justice on Migron's evacuation, the organization's Settlement
Watch Coordinator Hagit Ofran told econoff that the next HCJ
hearing will take place on November 5. She hoped that the
GOI would identify when and where Migron would be resettled
on this date, but voiced skepticism, saying that the GOI has
repeatedly requested extensions to provide this information
to the Court over the past two years. She opined that if the
GOI asked for an extension, the HCJ would likely grant the
request because the Court was hesitant to make a "political"
vice "judicial" decision by telling the GOI when to evacuate
the outpost. In "political" cases such those dealing with
outposts or the route of the separation barrier, the Court
preferred that the GOI make these decisions on its own or
reach a consensus with the affected parties.


7. (C) According to press reports, Migron spokesman Gideon
Rosenfeld has stated that the Migron families do not plan to
leave the outpost and believe that the money invested by the
government for the community's infrastructure is proof that
the government at one point, planned to formally authorize
the outpost. In previous conversations with Oded Herman,
Senior Advisor to Pol-Mil Advisor Amos Gilad, Herman
acknowledged that if the MOD had to forcibly evacuate Migron,
"it will be war."

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