This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 000296 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG IS SETTLEMENTS GOI INTERNAL GOI EXTERNAL ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: OLMERT ORDERS EVACUATION OF HEBRON, AMONA, AND 
POST-MARCH 2001 OUTPOSTS 
 
REF: A. JERUSALEM 000189 
     ¶B. TEL AVIV 000215 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
This cable has been cleared by Consulate General Jerusalem 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  Alternate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on 
Wednesday, January 18, instructed Defense Minister Shaul 
Mofaz to evacuate eight families from the outpost in the 
Hebron market and to demolish the nine houses in Amona 
outpost within the next two weeks.  He also called on the 
Ministry of Defense (MOD) to prepare a plan to evacuate 
approximately 20 post-March 2001 outposts.  (Note:  The USG 
counts 44 post-March 2001 outposts.  End note.)  Olmert's 
announcement comes at the heels of the January 14 weekend 
riots by settler youth against the planned evacuation of 
eight settler families who have been squatting in the Hebron 
market for the past four years (ref A), and the MOD's 
decision to postpone the demolition of the houses in Amona 
(ref B).  The following is a cable on background information 
regarding the Hebron market and Amona outposts.  Embassy and 
ConGen contacts also offered insights on why Olmert is 
speaking out now against outposts.  They surmise Olmert's 
actions are intended to demonstrate his keeping of GOI 
commitments to President Bush on removal of outposts, and the 
Kadima cabinet's freedom from the constraints of the settler 
constituency that hamstrung Sharon.  Some here see Olmert's 
action as his attempt to show he is his "own man," by going 
further than many believe PM Ariel Sharon would have in this 
circumstance.  A few contacts expressed concern that Olmert 
is justified in taking this action, but needs to modify his 
rhetoric toward the settlers given the delicate political 
situation he faces.  Boaz Karni, treasurer of the Economic 
Cooperation Foundation, suggested that the USG give Olmert 
"quiet encouragement" to see more outpost dismantlements in 
the future.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------- 
Background on Hebron Market 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Brig. Gen. (ret.) Ilan Paz, former head of the Civil 
Administration (please protect), and Boaz Karni, Economic 
Cooperation Foundation treasurer, told econoff January 19, 
that the Hebron wholesale market area was in Jewish hands 
throughout the 19th century until Jordan's capture of the 
city in 1948.  The land was transferred to the Jordanian 
office responsible for absentee property, who allowed the 
Hebron Municipality to build the market and buildings for 
Palestinians to use in the 1950s or early 1960s.  When the 
GOI took over the area in 1967, it allowed Palestinians to 
continue to use the market until February 1994, when the IDF 
closed it down after Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians 
in the Tomb of the Patriarchs.  In 2001, a Palestinian sniper 
killed an Israeli infant, Shalhevet Paz, and the IDF 
commander of Hebron allowed Israeli settlers to set up a 
summer day camp with the understanding that they would stay 
no more than two weeks.  Paz explained that the settlers 
eventually stayed, took over Palestinian-owned shops, and 
converted them into homes, creating what is now known as the 
Avraham Avinu neighborhood. 
 
¶4.  (C) The Palestinian shop-owners petitioned the High Court 
to ask that the settlers be evicted, and the High Court 
agreed, but the settlers refused to recognize the Court's 
decision and have remained in the market.  The settlers went 
to a special committee for appeals in the Civil 
Administration, according to Paz, and the committee in 2003 
-- two years later -- also decided the settlers should leave. 
  The committee, however, said that it might be possible for 
the GOI, which now administers the land, to lease it to the 
settlers and compensate the Palestinian shop-owners who own 
the buildings, but advisors within the MOD decided this was 
too "complicated."  After more legal appearances, the High 
Court in early 2005 ordered Mofaz to evacuate the settlers, 
according to Paz.  He said that Mofaz agreed but did not 
commit to a date because it was dependent on the "security 
situation."  Paz noted that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz 
in September 2005 told Mofaz he would no longer defend him in 
court if Mofaz did not evacuate the settlers by the end of 
¶2005.  At this point, Mofaz with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. 
Dan Halutz announced that January 15, 2006, would be the 
deadline for voluntary evacuations, and that settlers would 
be removed by force starting February 15, 2006, according to 
Paz.  Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, head of the IDF's Central 
Command, has been negotiating with the settlers, and press 
reports indicate that he promised the settlers that if they 
leave voluntarily, they will be able to return in a few 
months.  The settlers have refused the compromise, and 
negotiations continue. 
 
¶5.  (C) Dror Etkes, settlement watch coordinator for Peace 
Now, told Embassy econoff and ConGen poloffs on January 18, 
that the State committed itself to evacuating the Hebron 
market, so "every once in a while they have to prove they're 
doing something."  He said that theoretically the evacuation 
is a legal issue, but added that realistically the evacuation 
depends on when Olmert decides he wants it to take place. 
Paz and Karni assessed that any evacuation of the market 
would be very difficult because the struggle is with young 
and very ideological settlers who do not recognize the State 
of Israel.  Pinchas Wallerstein and other members of the 
YESHA council have less influence on the settlers in the 
Hebron area than they do on settlers in the northern West 
Bank because the settlers in Hebron "listen to the voice of 
God before the voice of the government" and have their own 
agenda.  According to Karni, "they know they got where they 
are by force and are ready for conflict."  In response to 
econoff's question on whether the settlers could use the 
argument that the land belongs to Jews, even if the buildings 
themselves belong to Palestinians, Karni and Paz both claimed 
that the land actually now belongs to the GOI, and that the 
GOI did not give the settlers permission to live there. 
 
-------------- 
Delay in Amona 
-------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) With respect to Amona outpost, Paz told econoff that 
the outpost was built in 1995 on private Palestinian land, 
and reiterated that it is clearly Palestinian land, not 
Israeli State land, despite what the settlers may say.  He 
said that Amona is illegal under the three categories the GOI 
uses to make construction in the West Bank legal:  it is on 
private land; there was no government decision to build 
Amona; and the settlers did not go through any of the 
planning procedures required to build a settlement.  Paz 
continued that construction for the permanent houses slated 
for demolition began in early 2004, and, on January 21, 2005, 
Mofaz agreed to an MOD proposal to dismantle them.  He 
explained that the MOD decided to talk to the settlers, 
however, and that they all agreed that the houses would 
remain standing as long as no settlers were living in them. 
According to Paz, Peace Now petitioned the court in July to 
dismantle the houses since there were standing orders for the 
demolitions, and the High Court agreed, instructing the IDF 
to carry out its own demolition orders.  Paz explained that 
Mofaz then told the court in November that he would demolish 
the houses by the end of January 2006.  He simultaneously 
received notice that several settler families had moved into 
some of the houses despite the MOD's agreement with the 
settlers not to inhabit the homes.  Paz reported that the 
settlers have since moved out, but said that the YESHA 
Council is using some of the houses as offices for their 
activities.  Peace Now's Etkes confirmed that there are no 
families living in the houses slated for demolition. 
 
¶7.  (C) Etkes said that the High Court's delay of the 
demolition of nine permanent houses in Amona outpost near 
Ofra settlement gives the settlers an opportunity to play for 
time and get organized against the planned demolition. 
During our meeting on January 18, he received a phone call 
from Michael Sfard, Peace Now's lawyer, who told him that 
Justice Aharon Barak had agreed to give the settlers one more 
week to explain their case to the court.  Etkes opined that 
Barak was afraid of delegitimizing the court in the eyes of 
the Israeli right, and was therefore going the "extra mile to 
let them have a chance."  He said that nothing could be done 
until after January 25th when the settlers have had an 
opportunity to explain their case.  Paz and Karni commented 
that Mofaz had decided to wait to demolish the houses until 
after the Palestinian elections.  Once the settlers have 
exhausted their appeals to the High Court, the demolitions 
will take place when Olmet gives the go-ahead. 
 
¶8.  (C) Karni and Paz said that the demolitions would be 
difficult whenever they take place because the IDF has to go 
through Ofra settlement -- home of Pinchas Wallerstein -- to 
get to Amona.  Karni explained that Wallerstein "will do his 
best" to stop the demolitions, and that the IDF will need a 
ratio of at least four soldiers to one settler to get the job 
done.  Paz recounted that three years ago he had attempted to 
remove a water container from Amona, and it proved to be "a 
disaster." 
 
------------------------------- 
Why is Olmert Speaking Out Now? 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C) In response to econoff's question on why Olmert was 
speaking out on evacuations and demolitions of outposts now, 
Karni responded that "Olmert wants to score points" with the 
USG and with the Israeli public.  According to Karni, Olmert 
is preparing "himself for his visit to the U.S. by saying 
that the GOI is going to fulfill its commitment to the USG to 
dismantle post-March 2001 outposts."  Of the 20 or so 
post-March 2001 outposts that Olmert called for 
dismantlement, advocates for six have exhausted all of their 
legal appeals, so it should not be difficult for Olmert to 
evacuate them and "tell the President, 'look what I did,'" 
according to Karni.  Olmert can also score with the Israeli 
public because he knows that by joining Kadima he lost the 
"orange" constituency anyway -- referring to the Israeli 
right-wing -- but he may gain votes from Meretz, Labor, or 
Shinui, particularly if/after the Israeli public becomes 
disenchanted with youth settler antics.  Karni also mentioned 
that Olmert is not like Ariel Sharon in that he does not have 
a soft spot for settlers.  "He hates them," according to 
Karni.  And, Olmert may also be influenced by his wife, a 
long-time Meretz voter, and his four children, one of whom 
"refuses to serve in the territories," speculated Karni.  He 
suggested that the USG give Olmert "quiet encouragement."  In 
addition, some here see Olmert's action as his attempt to 
show he is his "own man," by going further than many believe 
PM Ariel Sharon would have in this circumstance.  A few 
contacts expressed concern that Olmert is justified in taking 
this action, but needs to modify his rhetoric toward the 
settlers given the delicate political situation he faces. 
 
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