VZCZCXRO5879
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #2087 3251553
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 201553Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3304
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

"C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 002087 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/RAMCHAND/PASCUAL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2018 
TAGS: KWBG PHUM ASEC IS PBTS PTER
SUBJECT: YESHA COUNCIL AGREES TO MOVE MIGRON OUTPOST INTO 
ADAM SETTLEMENT 
 
REF: A. A) JERUSALEM 1496 
     ¶B. B) JERUSALEM 1990 
     ¶C. C) TEL AVIV 2306 
 
Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan told 
Poloffs November 19 that the GOI will shortly inform the High 
Court of Justice (HCJ) of its decision to move the Migron 
outpost five kilometers south into permanent housing to be 
built inside Adam settlement, east of the security barrier. 
While the Yesha Council has accepted this place, neither the 
Binyamin Regional Council (which oversees Migron and Adam) 
nor the Migron settlers themselves have agreed.  Migron is 
both a test case for GOI willingness to impose the rule of 
law on settlers and meet its political commitments as well as 
of the Yesha Council's ability to deliver the more extreme 
elements among its constituents.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C)  According to Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan, the 
GOI plans to inform the HCJ of its agreement with the Yesha 
Council to move the Migron outpost five kilometers south into 
permanent housing that will be built in the eastern area of 
Adam settlement (Adam East).  Adam is just east of the 
security barrier.  Dayan confirmed that the Yesha Council 
will ""go along with the plan.""  (Comment: The new housing for 
Migron settlers will almost certainly expand the existing 
footprint of Adam settlement.  End Comment.) 
 
¶3.  (C)  Binyamin Regional Council (which oversees Migron and 
Adam) Chairman Avi Roeh complained to Poloffs November 12 
that the Israeli MOD initially offered four alternatives for 
Migron: a hilltop 300 meters south of Migron, the Binyamin 
Industrial Zone (Tel Mariam), or two sites inside Adam 
settlement (Adam East and Adam West) (REF A).  Roeh said the 
Binyamin Regional Council had selected the first option, but 
the MOD subsequently rescinded that offer, saying, ""the 
office of the Prime Minister believes the U.S. will call it a 
new settlement.""  Roeh said that the Migron settlers had 
eliminated the Binyamin Industrial Zone and Adam West options 
from the outset, and that both the Binyamin Regional Council 
and the Migron settlers would refuse Adam East as well. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Yesha Council Director General Pinchas Wallerstein 
told Poloffs November 17 that Migron's settlers did not want 
to move, but predicted that they ""would not stand against the 
Yesha Council"" in the end. He admitted, however, that the 
Migron settlers are influenced by the Yesha Council of Rabbis 
and extremist settlers who oppose any relocation.  Their 
views are represented by David Haivri, head of the northern 
West Bank settlers' International Liaison Office, who told 
Poloffs that settlers in Migron should ""physically fight"" an 
evacuation rather than agree to move to another location (REF 
B). 
 
¶5.  (C)  Roeh predicted that the requirements for approved 
building plans, permits, and construction of infrastructure 
and permanent housing for Migron settlers will require at 
least two years before any move.  Wallerstein estimated the 
timeline at five years.  Both reiterated that settlers living 
at Migron do not want to move and should not be forced to 
move, pointing out that the GOI invested millions of shekels 
to establish Migron. (Note: The 2005 Talia Sasson report 
estimated that, between 2001-2005, the Ministry of 
Construction and Housing spent NIS 4,325,000, more than $1 
million, on infrastructure and public buildings for 
settlements - see REF C.  End note.) 
 
¶6.  (C)  COMMENT:  With some 300 settlers, Migron is the 
largest of all the post-March 2001 outposts.  It is seen as a 
test case for GOI will to meet its political commitments on 
settlements and enforce the rule of law among settlers.  With 
Migron settlers and the Binyamin Regional Council in 
opposition to the move, Migron is also a test for whether the 
Yesha Council can deliver the more extreme among its 
consituents. 
 
¶7.  (C)  COMMENT CONTINUED:  Adam East would likely not 
constitute a new settlement by USG definitions, but it would 
almost certainly require expanding the footprint of Adam, 
thereby contradicting Israel's Roadmap requirement to freeze 
settlement activity, including natural growth.  Moreover, it 
is uncertain that the settlers currently in Migron will 
leave, even if new permanent housing at Adam East is 
completed two to five years down the road. 
 
WALLES 
"