DEMARCHE DELIVERED TO GOI

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEL AVIV 000537 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR GOLDBERGER/SHAMPAINE/ROSENSTOCK/PECCIA; NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL IS KPAL KWBG SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED TO GOI REF: SECSTATE 18228 Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Ambassador Jones delivered demarche points per reftel to MFA Director General Aaron Abramovitch on February 29 and MOD Pol-Mil Director Amos Gilad on March 3. In delivering demarche points, the Ambassador emphasized that Israel should not be taking measures on the ground that threaten to undermine the process launched at Annapolis and the credibility of the Abbas-Fayyad government. ¶2. (C) Subsequent to the Ambassador's discussions with Abramovitch and Gilad, EconCouns and econoff also discussed land expropriation and West Bank settlement activities with Oded Herman, Senior Advisor to Gilad, on March 5. Herman provided the following information: ¶3. (C) Land Expropriations: -- Regarding reports indicating that the GOI was planning on confiscating 1237 dunams of privately-owned Palestinian land in East Jerusalem to facilitate construction of part of the Jerusalem Ring Road, Herman noted that this confiscation is not for the road. Instead, this land is being confiscated for construction of a long-planned railway system that will link Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and consist of five tunnels and three bridges. Lands on which the railway will be built would likely be expropriated under eminent domain regardless of Israeli or Palestinian ownership. -- Herman acknowledged that military orders to confiscate lands in the al-Dahiriyah and al Ramadin areas, located in the southern West Bank, are for construction of the separation barrier. -- Herman requested more information to determine the status of reports of alleged confiscations of 1500 dunams for a road through E-1 to connect Ma'ale Adumim to Pisgat Ze'ev. ¶4. (C) Settlement Activity: -- The MOD is aware of the unauthorized addition of 27 new caravans at the Eli settlement and 6 new caravans at Maskiyyot. No decision within the MOD has yet been made on how to address this unauthorized expansion. MOD plans to move against illegal outposts will be reported septel. -- Neither the MOD nor the MOCH (Ministry of Construction and Housing) have issued permits to build in E-1 beyond what is needed to support the police station. Herman said that the newly cleared areas are there to store the contractor's equipment and extra sand from the building of the police station. ********************************************* ******************** 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