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R 211636Z JAN 10
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UNCLAS JERUSALEM 000135 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD EAID PGOV KWBG IS
SUBJECT: IDF OPENS KEY WEST BANK ROAD TO PALESTINIANS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) opened an 
important West Bank road southwest of Hebron to Palestinian 
vehicle traffic on January 15, in compliance with an October 
2009 Israeli Supreme Court ruling.  The IDF's response to the 
ruling could have implications for the easing of other 
Israeli restrictions in the West Bank where the number of 
affected Palestinians arguably outweighs the justification 
for restricting movement and access.  End Summary. 
 
Closure Affected Thousands of Palestinians 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) The IDF on January 15 reopened to Palestinian 
traffic 4.5 kilometers of Route 354 in southwest Hebron 
between Negohot settlement (population 180) and the illegal 
outpost of Mitzpe Lachish (population four families) that had 
been in place since 2001.  The closure affected 22 
Palestinian villages (about 25,000-30,000 people) that used 
the route as the main access road to and from Hebron, their 
socio-economic hub.  As a result of the closure, residents 
were forced to use alternative dirt roads that extended 
travel time by over an hour and were often impassable during 
the winter rainy season. 
 
Ruling Based on Proportionality 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) 
first submitted a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court in 
2006 to open Route 354.  After a two-year legal battle, the 
Supreme Court ruled in favor of ACRI in October 2009, calling 
on the IDF to find alternative means of security for the 
Israeli settlers and to open the road within three months. 
According to ACRI, this was the first Supreme Court decision 
to open a segregated Palestinian road, effectively overriding 
an Israeli military order to keep the route closed for 
security reasons. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In its October 2009 ruling, the Israeli Supreme 
Court did not support ACRI's position that a segregated road 
system is "discriminatory" and therefore illegal, but rather 
adopted the argument of proportionality.  Supreme Court 
President Dorti Beinish stated, "closure of the road was 
disproportionate, given (that it was) meant to protect 150 
(sic) Jews who reside in the area, but affects thousands of 
Palestinians."  An ACRI contact said that while the ruling 
"improves the lives of tens of thousands of local 
Palestinians, it is problematic because of what it did not 
address: the lack of a categorical interdiction on the system 
of segregation and discrimination that is becoming more 
entrenched in the West Bank." 
 
All Eyes on 443 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Similarly, the Israeli Supreme Court on December 30 
ruled in favor of allowing Palestinians to use Route 443, an 
Israeli-only, four-lane highway between Jerusalem and Tel 
Aviv that is used by an estimated 40,000 cars daily.  The 
road, currently closed to Palestinian vehicles, runs through 
the West Bank, from which it cuts off six major Palestinian 
villages (about 130,000 people).  The Court decided that 
while the IDF should take necessary security measures to 
protect Israeli citizens traveling on Route 443, the military 
should not prevent Palestinians from using the road.  The 
Court has notified IDF Central Command that it has five 
months (until late May 2010) to implement the court's order. 
According to the press, the IDF Spokesperson responded that 
the Central Command has "begun examining the repercussions in 
order to implement the ruling." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Following the Court's decision to open Route 443, 
press reported that Israeli activists now have petitioned the 
IDF to open West Bank roads restricted from use by Israeli 
vehicles (specifically routes connecting settlements around 
Nablus and Hebron), and threatened to go to the Supreme Court 
if the request was not granted. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Israeli NGOs and Palestinian contacts note that the 
Israeli justice system has not ruled against the concept of 
segregated roads.  However, the rulings on Routes 354 and 443 
could set a precedent where current movement restrictions on 
Palestinians potentially outweigh the justification for 
closures )- such as a section of road near Jerusalem that 
affects more than a million Palestinians, on behalf of 5 
Jewish families, as well as Routes 466 (in Ramallah) and 90 
(in the Jordan Valley).  The IDF's decision in late September 
to open Route 585 between Jenin and Tulkarem (without a court 
ruling) was likely carried out at least in part due to 
arguments that the 400,000 Palestinians affected by the 
closure overrode the security concerns of 500 settlers. 
 
RUBINSTEIN