VZCZCXRO1610
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0627/01 0971346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071346Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4609
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 000627 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA; NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR; JOINT 
STAFF FOR LTG SELVA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PBTS PHUM KWBG KPAL IS
SUBJECT: ROAD CONSTRUCTION AROUND NABLUS-AREA OUTPOST 
 
REF: GMP20090330738007 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Palestinians in the Nablus area have 
raised concerns about construction activity on three roads in 
the vicinity of Hayoval outpost, between the Palestinian 
village of Qaryut and Eli settlement.  The Israeli High Court 
of Justice (HCJ) issued an injunction on April 5 against 
further construction of one road connecting Hayoval outpost 
to Eli settlement, but Israeli settlement-watchers doubt the 
settlers will comply with the order.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Palestinian leaders and villagers in the Nablus 
area have raised concerns about recent road construction 
activity in the vicinity of Hayoval outpost, between the 
Palestinian village of Qaryut and Eli settlement.  Poloff met 
with 'Abd al-Nasser Qaryuti, the mayor of Qaryut (pop. 
2,600), south-east of Nablus, and residents, on April 6. 
Qaryuti said three roads have been constructed in recent 
months or are currently under construction, near Hayoval, an 
outpost of Eli settlement.  Poloff was able to view and 
photograph two of the three roads. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) One "road" is a single-lane dirt path up a steep 
hillside that appears to connect Shilo settlement with 
Hayoval, crossing "Wadi Ali" valley between Qaryut and route 
¶60.  The mayor said construction on this road began in 
February and was completed on March 18.  Settler contacts in 
Shilo told Poloff on April 3 that an "optical cable" has also 
been laid to connect Shilo to Hayoval.  (Note: The dirt path 
appears suitable only for 4WD vehicles.  No vehicles were 
observed during a 15-minute visit to an area near the path. 
End note.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A second, wider dirt road was observed connecting 
Hayoval to Eli Cemetery and route 60.  The mayor and local 
residents of Qaryut noted that this road provides direct 
access to the main north-south West Bank arterial, while 
Palestinians are required to detour 22km around an earth 
mound blocking vehicle access via Wadi Ali. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Poloff was unable to view a third project, which 
will reportedly involve paving a dirt road connecting the 
northern edge of Hayoval to Eli settlement, to the west. 
Qaryuti said it is difficult for Palestinians and NGO workers 
to monitor progress on the road, which runs along a ridgeline 
west of the village.  Qaryuti said he and the head of Yesh 
Din, an Israeli NGO, were shot at by private settler security 
guards on March 17 while attempting to gather information 
about the progress of road paving.  Poloff was confronted in 
the same area on April 6 by three armed civilian guards from 
Hayoval while walking towards the road and away from the 
outpost.  Shouting in Arabic from approximately 100m away, 
one of the security guards ordered Poloff and a group of 
Palestinian villagers to turn around and return to the 
village. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Dror Etkes, head of Yesh Din, separately confirmed 
to Poloff on April 6 that he had been fired upon during a 
previous visit to Qaryut by settler guards while attempting 
to view the road paving operations.  He said the HCJ had 
issued an interim injunction on April 5 against further 
paving activity on the road between Hayoval and Eli, but 
speculated the settlers are unlikely to comply with the 
order.  Attorney Michael Sfard told Poloff on April 7 that 
Israeli authorities agree with Yesh Din's claim that the road 
between Hayoval and Eli is built on privately owned 
Palestinian land, but have resisted efforts to require the 
Civil Administration to enforce a stop work order. 
 
¶7.  (U) Press reports (reftel) quote area settler leadership 
saying Hayoval is a "neighborhood" of Eli, not an outpost. 
Peace Now's public database of outposts, as well as the GOI 
"Sasson" report, list Hayoval as an outpost illegal under 
Israeli law, situated 1.25 km east of Eli settlement, with 
pending demolition orders for most structures.  Peace Now 
notes that the outpost, founded in 1998, previously received 
250,000 NIS (60,400 USD) in funding from the Israeli Ministry 
of Housing and Construction for unspecified infrastructure. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The road construction underway at Hayoval is seen 
as deeply provocative by local Palestinians who say it 
further legitimizes and reinforces an outpost that all 
parties (except the settlers) agree is illegal by any 
 
JERUSALEM 00000627  002 OF 002 
 
 
standard. 
 
WALLES