YESHA COUNCIL SAYS NO EVACUATION UNLESS FREEZE IS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001585 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA; NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR; JOINT STAFF FOR LTGEN SELVA E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2019 TAGS: PGOV PBTS PREL KPAL KWBG IS SUBJECT: YESHA COUNCIL SAYS NO EVACUATION UNLESS FREEZE IS LIFTED REF: A. 08 JERUSALEM 2121 ¶B. JERUSALEM 1270 Classified By: Acting Principal Officer Greg Marchese for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. YESHA Council Director-General Pinchas Wallerstein said that the Council would not discuss outpost evacuation unless a freeze on tenders for new settlement construction is lifted. If the freeze were lifted, he said, outpost evacuation could be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. End Summary. YESHA says "No" to Outpost Evacuations Until Freeze is Lifted -------------- ¶2. (C) Wallerstein told PolOff on August 31 that the Council,s position, as relayed to Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak during a meeting on August 30, is that there will be no discussions between YESHA and the GOI about evacuation of outposts until a de facto freeze on tenders for new settlement construction is lifted. Were the freeze to be lifted, he said, the Council would negotiate evacuations on a case-by-case basis. Wallerstein explained that the Council rejects Israeli court decisions categorizing individual outposts as &illegal8 or &legal,8 and will therefore not agree to unilateral evacuations of outposts on this basis. ¶3. (C) Wallerstein said the August 30 meeting with Barak was not a new development, and that the Council meets with GOI officials regularly to discuss operational issues, such as sewage treatment and municipality services. Wallerstein added that the Council sees its role as "educating" the GOI about settlement issues in order to to "combat U.S. pressure" in this area. Why Bnei Adam outpost was evacuated -------------- ¶4. (C) Wallerstein said the decision to evacuate three new caravans from the Bnei Adam outpost was made by Amana, the settler movement of Gush Enumin. (Amana was established 1978 with the primary goal of developing communities in teh West Bank, the Golan Heights, the Galilee, the Negev, and Gush Katif.) According to Wallerstein, the caravans were owned by Amana. When Amana decided to dismantle them, residents should have complied, he said. When they did not, Amana threatened to cut off their electricity and water supply. According to Wallerstein, Amana decided to evacuate Bnei Adam unilaterally because "forced (IDF) evacuations are very divisive for Israeli society, and these battles should be chosen carefully." For Amana, the battle "wasn,t worth fighting," he said. How YESHA decides to encourage evacuation -------------- ¶5. (C) Wallerstein said that decisions on whether to evacuate or move outposts must be made on a case-by-case basis. He cited the example of Migron, where the decision for evacuation involved a long process that included discussions with influential rabbis in the community. After the rabbis approved evacuation, further discussions between Amana, YESHA, and the rabbis led to a final decision to evacuate. However, even when the settler leadership reaches a consensus, Wallerstein said, there is no guarantee that a given community will agree. Groups such as Daniella Weiss' often challenge the leadership,s ability to implement an evacuation decision, he said. ¶6. (C) Wallerstein said that meetings with the Israeli Defense Ministry regarding outposts and evacuations usually do not center on the question of evacuation. Instead, they tend to focus on definitional issues (such as whether a community is classified as an "outpost" or a "settlement"), classification as pre-or-post-March 2001, and whether a given community is covered by the Weissglas-Rice exchange of letters. Discussions on evacuation, he said, are conducted within settler community groups. Wallerstein judged both Barak's categorical public stance requiring the evacuation of all 23 post-March 2001 outposts and YESHA's categorical opposition to any evacuation as incorrect. Both sides need to be realistic, he said, and examine outposts on a case-by-case basis. Construction continues but no new homes JERUSALEM 00001585 002 OF 002 -------------- ¶7. (C) Wallerstein claimed that construction of new homes in settlement areas is an "optical illusion." In reality, he said, this construction reflects ongoing work in areas where infrastructure has been developed and tenders have already been issued and purchased. Wallerstein claimed that GOI activity in building infrastructure and releasing construction tenders has been frozen since 2007 except for the Givat Zeev Hahadasha area and an area in Beitar, both of which were approved under former PM Olmert. Wallerstein noted that this "freeze" only affects government-planned cities like Maale Adumim and Ariel, not "moshavim" (community cooperatives),where construction tends to be "community-funded." Wallerstein no longer to be Bibi,s settlement advisor -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Wallerstein said he previously held daily meetings with the Prime Minister,s office, but he has not met with Netanyahu for over two months. Although initially approached to be Netanyahu's settlement advisor, and willing to take the position, his candidacy is apparently no longer being pursued (Ref B). MARCHESE