JERUSALEM MAYOR BRIEFS ON UPDATED BUSTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 000296 SIPDIS NOFORN NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, SEMEP, AND NEA/IPA; NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2020 TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAL IS SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MAYOR BRIEFS ON UPDATED BUSTAN RE-DEVELOPMENT PLAN IN EAST JERUSALEM, INTENT TO SUBMIT PLANS TO PLANNING COUNCILS FOR APPROVAL REF: A. 09 JERUSALEM 1790 ¶B. 2/17 GOLDBERGER-RUBINSTEIN EMAIL Classified By: Consul General Daniel Rubinstein for reasons 1.4 (b,d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat updated the Consul General on the municipality's plan for the East Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of al-Bustan (just southeast of the Old City). The plan calls for the demolition of 20 homes and the renovation of 80 others, as part of the construction of tourist facilities and a high-end mixed residential-commercial housing complex. Barkat said that the municipality was still seeking to gain the consent of residents, but it would not be "held hostage" to their continued objections. He was vague as to how displaced residents would be able to finance the purchase or rental of new residential units in the re-developed eastern half of al-Bustan, suggesting that NGO or third-party assistance might be appropriate. In a separate discussion, the residents' attorney and primary interlocutor with the municipality expressed pessimism that a deal could be reached, adding that their negotiations with the municipality are buying time before any demolitions occur. End Summary. BARKAT UPDATES AL-BUSTAN RE-DEVELOPMENT PLAN -------------- ¶2. (C) In a February 17 meeting held at the Mayor's request, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat provided the Consul General with an update on his proposal for the re-development of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Bustan (which Mayor Barkat referred to as Gan ha-Melech, or Garden of the King), a narrow stretch of 99 homes inhabited by approximately 1,000 Arab residents, located at the bottom of the Kidron valley immediately south of the al-Aqsa Mosque. Barkat's plan, which he first briefed to the Consul General and Ambassador Cunningham in October 2009 (Ref A),involves the demolition of approximately 20 homes on the western side of al-Bustan, which abuts the City of David archeological park and visitor center, in order to create gardens, a waterfront promenade, and other tourist facilities. The plan envisions that the eastern half of the neighborhood would be re-developed into rows of two, three, and four-story high-end residential-commercial units, into which -- according to the municipality -- al-Bustan residents displaced by home demolitions could buy or rent apartments. MUNICIPALITY WAVERS ON ISSUE OF RESIDENTS' CONSENT -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Barkat noted that he was "ready to move" on the re-development, and that he intended to submit the plan simultaneously to the local and regional planning committees for approval in the coming weeks. Barkat initially said that conversations with Ziad Kawar, the lawyer retained by al-Bustan's residents, indicated that the municipality and the residents were close to agreement, and that he expected the residents would support the plan. Barkat then qualified this assertion, saying, "Maybe not everyone will comply. Then we have an enforcement mechanism. We are going to be very aggressive in making (the residents') lives better, and we don't want to get stuck on one, two, a few residents who think they can piggyback on this and hold out." Later in the meeting, Barkat assessed the likelihood that residents would sign up for his proposal as "fifty-fifty," saying, "it could happen. We're in the phase of drafting the agreement now. We'll see." "SEQUENCING" PRESENTS RESIDENTS WITH DIFFICULT CHOICE -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) As described by Barkat, the primary incentive for al-Bustan's residents to support the re-development plan was the possibility of obtaining legally-constructed housing. Note: Nearly all of the 99 homes in al-Bustan were constructed without legal construction permits -- like most residential units in East Jerusalem -- and are thus eligible for municipal demolition. End note. Barkat described a "sequencing" method of re-development, in which residents would be given a choice of either cooperating with the municipality by evacuating their houses in exchange for new housing elsewhere, or alternatively they would face home JERUSALEM 00000296 002 OF 003 demolition without a clear re-settlement option. "This is a huge upgrade for the residents," Barkat said, gesturing at the city's architectural drawings of the re-designed neighborhood. "For me, their (the residents') concurrence is not a condition for approving the plan. I'm spending a huge amount of energy to get them on board, and I can't give them a veto." SOURCE OF FINANCE FOR RESETTLEMENT UNCLEAR -------------- ¶5. (C) Barkat was vague as to how al-Bustan's displaced low-income residents would be able to finance the purchase or rental of new luxury residential units in the re-developed eastern half of al-Bustan. "I'm flexible," he said. "There are structures in Israel that give loans, there could be third-party help from the U.S. or Canada. People (al-Bustan residents) could make a lot of money out of this." Asked if he could envision municipal or Israeli (national) government financing for the planned re-settlement, Barkat said, "There are lots of NGOs here, who spend money on these kinds of things. I'm not planning for it." MAYOR: PROJECT CAN'T BE HELD HOSTAGE TO RESIDENTS -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Drawing from Ref B guidance, the Consul General noted the USG's longstanding position on the status of Jerusalem, emphasized the sensitivity of al-Bustan's location given its proximity to the Old City and Holy Basin, reiterated previous USG statements calling on Israel to end home demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem, and underscored the importance of close coordination with the residents of al-Bustan. Barkat reiterated his statement that he could not allow the project, which he viewed as the first step towards a more general "upgrade of the city," to be "held hostage" to objections by local residents. He said, however, that he did not see the project as provocative, saying, "I feel comfortable moving ahead on it. Maybe there will be a few bumps, but that's okay." BARKAT BRIEFS PLAN FOR GREATER SILWAN -------------- ¶7. (C) Barkat also briefed on his plan for the future of the larger, overwhelmingly-Arab Silwan neighborhood (of which al-Bustan is a part),whose population currently numbers about 50,000. Barkat said that Jerusalem's local planning committee had already approved his proposal to raise the permitted height limit of buildings in Silwan to four stories -- a change, he said, that would make all but four percent of Silwan's homes eligible for retroactive legalization if their inhabitants successfully completed the permit application process. For those four percent, Barkat said, the municipality intended to adopt a policy of razing any floors above the four-story limit, while leaving the remainder of the building intact. Barkat noted that this was his preferred solution for the case of Beit Yehonatan (an illegally-constructed seven-story apartment block in Silwan named after convicted U.S. spy Jonathan Pollard and currently occupied by members of the ultra-nationalist Ateret Cohanim organization). TENSIONS BETWEEN MAYOR, LEGAL ESTABLISHMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) Barkat criticized both the Jerusalem municipal legal advisor and Israel's state attorney general, with whom he has openly sparred in the press, for their insistence that he implement a court order to evacuate and seal Beit Yehonatan. "The municipal legal advisor (Yossi Havilio) is a total square," Barkat said. "He has very little legal creativity." Barkat conceded that much of the jousting between his office and the local and national Israeli legal establishments had been posturing, designed to score points in an essentially political contest. He noted, however, that his proposals for al-Bustan and Silwan had the "full support" of the Israeli Ministry of Interior, which controls district-level planning, and claimed that he had been "very open and transparent" with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) about his plans. Barkat added that he sensed the PMO trusted him on these matters. RESIDENTS' LAWYER PREDICTS SLIM CHANCE OF AGREEMENT -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) In a separate February 17 conversation with JERUSALEM 00000296 003 OF 003 DepPolChief, al-Bustan attorney Kawar noted that the Mayor's office had told him he could expect to receive a draft agreement for his and the residents' consideration on February 21. Kawar was pessimistic about the likely outcome, saying, "This is not going to be a good draft. The municipality doesn't want to come to any agreement with us. They want everything, and they want to dictate terms." Kawar noted that he would nevertheless accept the draft for consideration, in the interests of stalling any potential demolitions. Former Palestinian Authority Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Hatem Abdel Qader echoed Kawar, saying, "all of these measures the residents are taking, including making submissions to the courts, and submitting new zoning plans -- all of these are meant simply to buy time. Only political pressure will resolve this situation." RUBINSTEIN