VZCZCXRO4999
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #2259/01 3050747
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 010747Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9475
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002259 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/WATERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2017 
TAGS: KWBG PGOV PREL PTER IS KDEM
SUBJECT: ISRAEL ENACTS LAND EXPROPRIATION IN EAST JERUSALEM 
 
REF: A. JERUSALEM 01664 (1995) 
     ¶B. STATE 120375 (1995) 
     ¶C. TEL AVIV 7799 (1995) 
     ¶D. JERUSALEM 02020 (2007) 
     ¶E. TEL AVIV 03088 (2007) 
 
Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  Ir Amim Executive Director Amos Gil 
confirmed to PolOff press reports that in March 2007 the GoI 
implemented an expropriation order for 30 dunums of East 
Jerusalem olive orchards, part of a 40 dunum property known 
as Karam ha-Mufti.  Ten dunums were not expropriated. 
Following the expropriation, Ateret Cohanim (AC) leased the 
land and, according to Jerusalem attorney Danny Seidemann, 
intends to develop the area into a Jewish neighborhood. 
Seidemann and Gil said this land acquisition is part of AC's 
efforts to settle Israelis in East Jerusalem.  AC spokesman 
Daniel Luria acknowledged that AC wanted to construct a 
neighborhood on the property, but said the Municipality has 
not approved plans.  End summary. 
 
EXPROPRIATION OF KARAM HA-MUFTI 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) Amos Gil, Executive Director of Ir Amim, confirmed to 
PolOff on October 29 press reports that in March 2007 the GoI 
expropriated 30 dunums of olive orchard (roughly 7.5 acres), 
part of the 40 dunum property known as Karam ha-Mufti (the 
Mufti's Orchard) in East Jerusalem.  (Note: Ten dunums of 
Karam ha-Mufti were not expropriated.  End note.)  According 
to Gil, the GoI announced the intention to expropriate Karam 
ha-Mufti in 1968 but did not execute the expropriation until 
requested by the Israel Lands Authority (ILA) in early 2007. 
Gil said this is the first instance he is aware of in which 
the GoI expropriated land decades after the announcement. 
 
¶3.  (C) Jerusalem attorney Danny Seidemann told PolOff that 
expropriation is a two-step process.  First, the Minister of 
Finance determines that a property is required for public 
use, and the GoI announces its intention to expropriate the 
land.  Second, the GoI executes the expropriation, bringing 
the land under the control of the ILA.  The landowner can 
appeal the decision after the announcement, Seidemann said, 
but appeals rarely reverse expropriation orders in East 
Jerusalem. 
 
ATERET COHANIM INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Gil and Seidemann separately confirmed to PolOff that 
immediately following the confiscation Ateret Cohanim (AC) 
leased Karam ha-Mufti from the ILA for agricultural purposes 
at the "unrealistically low" price of 42.5 shekels (roughly 
USD 10) per dunum.  Gil told PolOff that the lease was signed 
in April 2007, but its retroactive terms started in September 
¶2006.  He said the ILA did not issue a tender for the 
property and leased it to AC without considering other 
bidders.  Seidemann and Gil questioned AC's involvement in 
agriculture because AC's mandate is the development of new 
Jewish areas in Jerusalem. 
 
¶5.  (C) Seidemann told PolOff that since at least 1992, AC 
has planned a residential complex of over 200 housing units 
in Karam ha-Mufti in connection with AmCit Irving Moskowitz. 
He said AC's plan is part of an effort to encircle the Old 
City with Jewish neighborhoods.  Gil said that Jewish 
neighborhoods on Karam ha-Mufti and the nearby Shepherds 
Hotel property (Ref D), combined with existing Jewish 
residences in the area, would divide the Palestinian 
neighborhoods of Shaykh Jarrah and Wadi al-Joz. 
 
¶6.  (C) AC spokesman Daniel Luria told PolOff during a tour 
of Karam ha-Mufti that AC has leased the property for the 
past twelve years at the same price, but the issue has only 
drawn attention lately.  (Note:  Other contacts disputed this 
claim.  End note.)  According to Luria, unnamed "Jewish 
concerns" attempted to develop the property in the late 1990s 
but gave up when the Jerusalem Municipality failed to approve 
their plans.  Luria said an Arab harvests the olives, 
consistent with the agricultural purpose to AC's lease, but 
refused to give details. 
 
LEGAL BATTLE FOR PROPERTY ONGOING 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Located directly across the street south of the 
Shepherd Hotel, Karam ha-Mufti consists of approximately 40 
dunums of land (10 acres), of which 30 are orchard and ten 
house the Palestinian tourism firm Near East Travel (NET) and 
 
JERUSALEM 00002259  002 OF 002 
 
 
a residence occupied by the Salhiya family.  Until 2007, 
ownership of the entire property (40 dunums) was disputed in 
Israeli courts between the Arab Hotels Company (which owns 
NET) and the Salhiyas (whom NET claims are squatters working 
for AC).  According to press, after the Magistrate Court 
ruled that the Salhiyas be evicted, AC prevented the eviction 
based on the group's April 2007 lease. 
 
¶8.  (C) Sami Abu Dayya, CEO of the Arab Hotels Company, told 
PolOff he is fighting the expropriation in Israeli courts in 
order to regain control of the expropriated 30 dunums of 
orchard, and that he wants to develop the land into a hotel, 
convention center and cultural center.  Gil told PolOff the 
court might not review the case for months or even years and 
he expects AC's lease to be upheld until the issue is 
resolved. 
 
WALLES