VZCZCXRO6100
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #1842 2311123
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 191123Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3123
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001842 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KWBG IS
SUBJECT: MINISTERS PUBLICLY SPLIT ON SETTLEMENTS 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Government ministers are sending mixed signals in the 
press on Israel's position regarding settlements ahead of the 
expected meeting next week between Prime Minister Netanyahu and 
Special Envoy Mitchell.  Political tensions are growing as several 
influential ministers visited illegal outposts and called for them 
to be legalized, while there were contradictory press reports about 
Israel offering a three to four month freeze on settlements. 
Minister of Housing Arial Attias told reporters on August 16 that a 
de-facto freeze is already in place.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  On August 17, Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon 
(Likud) led a group of four ministers on a tour of several illegal 
outposts in the West Bank.  The tour also included Minister of the 
Interior and SHAS Chairman Eli Yishai, Minister of Information Yuli 
Edelstein (Likud), and Science and Technology Minister Daniel 
Hershkowitz (Habayit Hayehudi).  The ministers said that the 
outposts were not illegal, claiming the GOI supported their 
construction, and therefore the government should move quickly to 
legalize them (NOTE: The GOI has provided some direct support for 
construction and utilities in certain illegal outposts.  The extent 
of support at the outposts visited is unclear.  END NOTE).  They 
also called for the reconstruction of Homesh, a Jenin-area 
settlement that was evacuated during the 2005 Disengagement. 
 
¶3.  Minister of Defense Barak, who is responsible for implementing 
government policy in the West Bank, immediately issued a statement 
that the government's policy is unchanged and that Israel will 
enforce the law and will eventually remove illegal outposts.  MK 
Eitan Cabel, a "rebel" in Barak's Labor Party, said that the tour 
shows that the government is "extremist and delusional."  The 
opposition Kadima Party released a statement that the government's 
attempts to fool the international community, by simultaneously 
saying it wants to remove and legalize outposts, are "dangerous to 
Israel and may hurt its interests, including maintaining sovereignty 
over the settlement blocs." 
 
¶4.  At the same time, there were press reports that the Prime 
Minister will offer the United States a three to four month 
settlement freeze, although the Prime Minister's office denied the 
story.  Minister of Housing Ariel Attias (SHAS) said that a 
temporary freeze, what he called a waiting period, was already in 
place as the government has not issued any tenders since it took 
office last April.  He said that this waiting period should allow 
Israel to evaluate any Arab world gestures and pave the way for 
international recognition of Israel's control of the settlement 
blocs and its sovereignty over Jerusalem. NOTE: Attias' party, SHAS, 
officially opposes a settlement freeze.  END NOTE. 
 
¶5.  Several high-ranking government officials, including Deputy 
Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon (Yisrael Beitenu), denied there would 
be a settlement freeze and asserted any freeze would have to be 
approved by the cabinet.  Ayalon added that if a settlement freeze 
came before the cabinet, Yisrael Beitenu would oppose it.  The 
settlement community also reacted strongly to the reports of a 
freeze, with the Binyamin Regional Council issuing a statement 
saying it is the "same old Bibi," while Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman 
complained that Barak has been refusing to authorize legal 
construction permits in the West Bank and warned that a settlement 
freeze would bring down the government. 
 
¶6.  COMMENT:  Since it took office nearly five months ago, the GOI 
has only issued a few tenders for minor infrastructure works in the 
West Bank.  However, there are over 1,000 housing units under 
construction in the West Bank, and a surplus of tenders issued by 
the previous government, so this could be driven by market forces as 
well as policy.  Peace Now also notes that government tenders only 
account for around 40 percent of the construction in the 
settlements.  END COMMENT.