VZCZCXRO6420
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #0614/01 0770506
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170506Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5870
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000614 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PGOV KWBG IS
SUBJECT:  ONE NATION, MANY ROADMAPS -- THE AFTERMATH OF THE MERKAZ 
HARAV SLAYINGS 
 
------------------------ 
SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION 
------------------------ 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The 7-day mourning period for eight yeshiva students 
gunned down by an East Jerusalem Palestinian was fraught with 
controversy which exacerbated the already deep divisions in Israeli 
society over the conflict with the Palestinians. Israel Television 
reported that unnamed yeshiva students had been given the "blessing" 
of a leading rabbi to avenge the deaths by targeting Palestinians. 
According to the unconfirmed report, "Israeli security is monitoring 
developments." Rabbis at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva and the political 
leadership of the National Religious Party with which it is 
identified fiercely denied the allegations, demanding that the 
security establishment arrest suspects, or leave the mourners in 
peace. Within hours, the Minister of Internal Security had announced 
that neither the police nor the ISA had any knowledge of a plot to 
avenge the terror attack. The media continue to investigate the 
initial reports in an atmosphere of national divisiveness which some 
commentators liken to that which preceded the 1995 assassination of 
Prime Minister Rabin.  Prime Minister Olmert reportedly was given to 
understand he would be unwelcome at Merkaz Harav, and did not pay a 
condolence call, while Education Minister Yuli Tamir, a Peace Now 
founder, was jostled and cursed as a "murderer" when she tried to 
pay her respects. Speaking at a news conference, the Merkaz Harav 
Yeshiva head declared, "The people expect a change and this is the 
time for it... the Torah is our Roadmap."  End Summary and 
Introduction. 
 
------------------------ 
A FLAGSHIP FOR A TARGET 
------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Most analysts believe that the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva was 
chosen as a target because of its symbolic importance as the 
ideological flagship of the pro-settlement religious Zionist 
movement. The Yeshiva was founded in the early twentieth century and 
inspired by the legendary Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's teachings, 
which are preserved in the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva.  Before the 
establishment of Israel, Rabbi Kook sought to reconcile Orthodox 
Judaism and Zionism.  His followers came to regard the establishment 
of the State of Israel as a modern miracle resulting from divine 
intervention.  This conviction was further strengthened by Israel's 
1967 victory, following which  this Yeshiva, which was initially the 
only religious Zionist Yeshiva in the country, inspired the first 
settlers from Gush Emunim and the Land of Israel movement.  It 
viewed the 1967 capture of the West Bank -- "Judea and Samaria" -- 
as the fulfillment of their dream to reclaim the Biblical promised 
land. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The Rabbis of the religious Zionist movement initially 
revered Israel's elected political leadership, and for a time much 
of Israel's secular political class and intelligentsia similarly 
admired the commitment and dedication of the young men with "knitted 
skullcaps."  Divisions between the government and the religious 
Zionist movement have deepened over the years, however, as the Oslo 
Process and the Declaration of Principles with the PLO expressed the 
GOI's commitment to eventual withdrawal from occupied territories. 
Many Israelis blamed the rabbis of the religious Zionist movement 
for inciting the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, while the religious 
Zionist movement felt betrayed by their old ally and political 
mentor Ariel Sharon's decision to uproot settlements and withdraw 
from Gaza.  A journalist with strong connections to the religious 
Zionist movement wrote in Ha'aretz this week that members of that 
movement felt that Israeli society was not shaken by the murder of 
the yeshiva students in the same way that it would have been shaken 
by a similar attack on a secular university campus.  The mutual 
alienation between this once-influential segment of Israeli society 
and the rest of the country is deep, growing and potentially 
violent. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
A MASSACRE TURNS INTO A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In the aftermath of the massacre, one of the first public 
figures to visit the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva and pay her respects was 
Knesset speaker Dalia Itzik [Kadima] whom rabbis at the Yeshiva 
pressed with demands for the dismantling of the mourning tent set up 
by the slain attacker's family, which was decorated with Hamas and 
Hizballah flags. Itzik agreed that not only should the tent be 
dismantled but the family home should be demolished. Demands for the 
dismantling of the tent proliferated across the public and political 
spectrum after it was reported by the Israeli media that the 
Jordanian authorities had denied the family permission to erect a 
mourners' tent in Jordan. Minister of Internal Security Avi Dichter 
[Kadima] told the Yeshiva rabbis during his visit that the tent 
could not be dismantled because it could not be proved that it was 
being used by a terrorist organization. This was despite the fact 
that Hamas and Hizballah flags were being flown around the tent, 
 
TEL AVIV 00000614  002 OF 002 
 
 
antagonizing mainstream as well as national-religious Jewish 
sentiment.  While the police eventually took down the offending 
flags, they withheld Abu Dheim's body for nearly a week out of for 
fear that the funeral would provide a platform for incitement on 
both sides. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) While most Israelis expected the Prime Minister to make a 
prompt condolence visit, days passed without one and the media 
swiftly dug up various versions of the "story," all of which pointed 
to a profound breakdown in communication between the Prime 
Minister's office and Merkaz Harav. Regardless of his reason for 
staying away, Olmert's absence was noted and resented by people who 
expected the PM to pay due respect to the victims. Olmert was left 
delivering a pro forma tribute to the "flagship of religious 
Zionism" at the regular weekly cabinet meeting. 
 
-------------------------- 
ENTER THE EXTREMIST THREAT 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) It appears that the animosity directed at PM Olmert for 
failing to prevent the attack or visit the Yeshiva in its aftermath 
was not extended to cabinet ministers Ehud Barak and Shaul Mofaz, 
both of whom paid condolence calls at the Yeshiva without incident. 
However, the students of Merkaz Harav violated the school's 
disciplinary codes when Education Minister Yuli Tamir [Labor], who 
was visiting the neighboring youth Yeshiva, tried to pay her 
respects. Tamir was jostled, cursed and reportedly kicked in the 
back before being rushed away by police. The minister, who is a 
founder of Peace Now, was greeted with cries of "murderer" and 
"criminal," and received by far the worst treatment of any official 
visitor so far. Her political background, the fact that she is a 
woman, and the fact that her visit was apparently not coordinated 
with the Rabbis of Merkaz Harav, all contributed to her poor 
treatment. In its wake, a Labor party colleague, Binyamin Ben 
Eliezer, warned that such conduct could lead to another political 
assassination. Only last year, Ben Eliezer disclosed that he had 
tried to warn Prime Minister Rabin a few weeks before his 
assassination of the likelihood of an attack in the prevailing 
political climate, but that Rabin had dismissed the warning saying 
he "knew his people." 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Responding to reports that Yeshiva students -- not 
necessarily those of Merkaz Harav -- had been "authorized" by 
unnamed Rabbis to avenge the killings by targeting Palestinian 
figures, Minister of Internal Security Avi Dichter [Kadima] informed 
the Knesset that neither the police nor the ISA (Shin Bet) had any 
information to this effect. This did not calm the atmosphere in the 
Israeli Arab sector where media reports continued to appear 
regarding alleged threats of violence from unidentified right-wing 
extremist groups. MK Zevulun Orlev, who heads the National Religious 
Party, demanded that the police arrest their suspects or make it 
clear they had none. By week's end no arrests had been made, no 
incidents reported and the general rhetoric at the closing ceremony 
for the end of the 7-day mourning period at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva 
was decidedly low-key. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The initial shock created by the targeting of the Merkaz 
Harav Yeshiva has yet to subside. Not only was the national 
religious camp within Israel unprepared for such a body-blow, but 
media reports, not necessarily accurate, continue to inflame the 
emotions of those most closely involved. In the immediate future, we 
expect the more-or-less constant threat of possible right-wing 
violence against Palestinians in the West Bank or East Jerusalem to 
be heightened by the retaliatory instinct of those seeking revenge 
for the Merkaz Harav killings. 
 
JONES