RECORD NUMBER OF JERUSALEM RESIDENCY STATUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002175 SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, SEMEP, AND IPA; NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2024 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KPAL IS SUBJECT: RECORD NUMBER OF JERUSALEM RESIDENCY STATUS REVOCATIONS IN 2008 Classified By: Acting Principal Officer Greg Marchese, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) An Israeli Ministry of Interior probe into the legal status of thousands of Arab residents of East Jerusalem led to the revocation of 4,577 Jerusalem residency permits in 2008 -- a figure equivalent to 53 percent of all revocations since 1967. NGO and Palestinian sources described the trend as a logical extension of GOI and municipal policies aimed at preserving the shrinking Jewish majority in Jerusalem. Former GOI officials involved in the probe publicly described it as a law enforcement matter. Background -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Despite GOI and municipal policies aimed at preserving a Jewish majority in Jerusalem, the percentage of Arab residents has gradually increased in recent years, due to higher birthrates and Jewish emigration. Over the past decade alone, Arabs have increased their share of the population by four percentage points, and now constitute roughly 35 percent of Jerusalem's 750,000 residents. Following the 1967 war, the GOI granted permanent Israeli residency to Arabs living in East Jerusalem. Until 1995, those who lived abroad for seven years or obtained residency or citizenship abroad were liable to lose this status. In December 1995, the Israeli Ministry of Interior (MOI) changed its policy to allow revocation in cases where Arab residents could not prove that their "center of life" was in Jerusalem. While that policy was reversed five years later, revocations have only increased, according to official GOI data and NGO sources. Record Number of Residency Permits Revoked in 2008 -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) On December 2, Israeli human rights NGO HaMoked released a report claiming that in 2008, the MOI revoked the Jerusalem residency status of 4,577 Palestinians. The number represents a dramatic increase in the rate of residency revocations, representing 53 percent of all revocations (8,558) since 1967, according to HaMoked sources. The previous historic annual high for the number of Jerusalem residency revocations was 2006, when 1,363 permits were revoked. ¶4. (C) HaMoked sources provided Post with a copy of a letter from the MOI confirming the statistic. According to the letter, the majority of the revocations were issued on the basis that the relevant residence holder had not maintained residence in Jerusalem for a period of at least seven years. In 38 cases, according to the MOI's accounting, permits were revoked because their holder had relocated to the West Bank or Gaza. Ninety-nine revoked permits were in the names of minors under the age of 18, according to the same document. The MOI letter also notes that 89 revoked permits were subsequently reinstated following appeals. NGO Source: Administrative Decisions Symptom of GOI Policy To Preserve Jewish Majority -------------- ¶5. (C) Joel Greenberg, Media and Advocacy Coordinator for HaMoked, told PolOff that the MOI considered the revocations to be "strictly administrative," adding, "we received no indication that there was a political decision to revoke these residency IDs. But we also see the revocations against the backdrop of other efforts to disenfranchise the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem." In a press release, HaMoked Executive Director Dalia Kerstein wrote, "the Interior Ministry campaign in 2008 is only part of a general policy whose aim is to limit the Palestinian population and preserve a Jewish majority in Jerusalem, whose future is supposed to be determined in negotiations." ¶6. (U) The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that, according to MOI officials, the 2008 surge in revocations resulted from an April-May 2008 investigation of thousands of Palestinians listed as East Jerusalem residents, and that the probe was the "brainchild" of former Minister of Interior Meir Sheetrit (a Kadima party member),and Population Administration official Yaakov Ganot. The paper quoted Sheetrit as suggesting, "what we discovered is just the tip of the iceberg," and saying that the probe revealed "very serious offenses," including the listing of 32 residents at a single JERUSALEM 00002175 002 OF 002 non-existent address. Palestinian Reaction -------------- ¶7. (C) Former Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Hatem Abdel Qader told Post, "Israel is determined to displace Jerusalemites from the city. But Jerusalemites will never surrender to these discriminatory practices. We will take all legal procedures, and continue to appeal to regain our rights. This is an all-out war for the future of Jerusalem, and we don't intend to surrender." Separately, PA Governor of Jerusalem Adnan Husseini told Post, "Israel treats us as residents and not as citizens. We are always required to prove our residency, even when we change addresses inside Jerusalem -- but any Israeli citizen can live anywhere, even in the West Bank or abroad, and keep all the rights to his residency." MARCHESE