VZCZCXRO9947
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1273 1991506
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171506Z JUL 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2157
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001273 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA, NSC FOR ABRAMS/PASCUAL/SINGH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWBG PHUM IS KIRF
SUBJECT: INCREASE IN UNCOORDINATED ISRAELI VISITS TO 
JOSEPH'S TOMB IN NABLUS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  IDF-escorted visits to Joseph,s Tomb in 
Nablus (Area A) have increased in size and frequency in 
recent months, according to Palestinian Authority (PA) 
security officials.  Nablus security commanders told PolOff 
and POL FSN July 16 that they recognize the GOI's right to 
make coordinated visits to the Tomb, but complain that the 
IDF provides no notice of visits and employs heavy-handed 
methods while escorting visitors, to include wide-ranging 
curfews and temporary occupation of house rooftops.  PA 
officials also complained to PolOff and USSC officers that 
the IDF has failed to stop unauthorized visits to the Tomb by 
armed settlers, who have sometimes invaded residents' homes 
and threatened them with weapons.  End summary. 
 
Heavy-Handed IDF Behavior and Settler 
Violence Angers Residents, PA Officials 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Since late-2007, the frequency of IDF-escorted 
visits to Joseph,s Tomb has increased, according to PA 
security officials.  Nablus National Security Forces (NSF) 
commander BG Khayri Hassan told POL FSN on July 16 that the 
IDF puts the area under curfew in advance of escorted 
visitors, arrival, preventing movement of either residents 
or PA security forces (PASF).  He said the IDF sometimes 
occupies rooftops of homes near the Tomb during visits, 
restricting family members from entering certain rooms of 
their houses. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Other Nablus security officials told PolOff July 16 
that armed settlers sometimes enter the Tomb area in eastern 
Nablus without the IDF, and fire in the air, scaring 
residents.  These officials said on several occasions since 
January 2007, settlers invaded the homes of residents near 
the Tomb and damaged their belongings before the IDF arrived 
and ordered them out. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) BG Hassan told POL FSN and USSC officers that the 
increase in uncoordinated visits and resultant curfews 
embarrasses the PA and undermines efforts to improve the PASF 
public image.  He said Israeli have the right to visit 
Joseph's Tomb, but visits must be coordinated with the PA, as 
the 1995 Interim Agreement requires, and conducted without 
imposing wide-ranging curfews on residents.  BG Hassan urged 
IDF action against settlers, especially those with weapons, 
who make unauthorized visits. 
 
Continuing Conflict over Ottoman-Era Shrine 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Joseph,s Tomb is the remains of an Ottoman-era 
shrine in Nablus near Balata Refugee Camp, built by the 
Muslim rulers with contemporary recognition of Jewish rights 
to visit the site.  It was under Israeli administration (and 
had a substantial settler/yeshiva presence) from 1967 to 
1995, when pursuant to the Interim Agreement, it was turned 
over to PA administration as part of Area A, with provision 
for Jewish visits pursuant to Interim Agreement Article V and 
Appendix 4. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) From 1995 to 2000, the IDF escorted visitors to 
Joseph's Tomb and stationed border policemen inside, in 
coordination with PA security.  The IDF abandoned the site in 
October 2000 (removing sacred Jewish items as they departed) 
after the second intifadah broke out and the Tomb came under 
attack from militants.  Israeli religious and settler groups 
subsequently accused Palestinian militants of defacing the 
Tomb and painting it light green to assert its status as a 
Muslim holy site. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The IDF restarted infrequent escort of visitors to 
the site in 2003, putting the area under curfew and sometimes 
temporarily occupying house rooftops to secure the area 
during the visits.  From 2003 to the present, many Israelis 
(mostly settlers) have violated Israeli military orders by 
sneaking into Nablus to visit the Tomb without IDF escort. 
 
LAPENN