VZCZCXRO6439
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #0296/01 0490542
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 180542Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7611
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 000296 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, SEMEP, AND NEA/IPA; NSC FOR 
SHAPIRO/KUMAR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAL IS
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MAYOR BRIEFS ON UPDATED BUSTAN 
RE-DEVELOPMENT PLAN IN EAST JERUSALEM, INTENT TO SUBMIT 
PLANS TO PLANNING COUNCILS FOR APPROVAL 
 
REF: A. 09 JERUSALEM 1790 
     ¶B. 2/17 GOLDBERGER-RUBINSTEIN EMAIL 
 
Classified By: Consul General Daniel Rubinstein 
for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat updated the Consul General 
on the municipality's plan for the East Jerusalem Arab 
neighborhood of al-Bustan (just southeast of the Old City). 
The plan calls for the demolition of 20 homes and the 
renovation of 80 others, as part of the construction of 
tourist facilities and a high-end mixed 
residential-commercial housing complex.  Barkat said that the 
municipality was still seeking to gain the consent of 
residents, but it would not be "held hostage" to their 
continued objections.  He was vague as to how displaced 
residents would be able to finance the purchase or rental of 
new residential units in the re-developed eastern half of 
al-Bustan, suggesting that NGO or third-party assistance 
might be appropriate.  In a separate discussion, the 
residents' attorney and primary interlocutor with the 
municipality expressed pessimism that a deal could be 
reached, adding that their negotiations with the municipality 
are buying time before any demolitions occur.  End Summary. 
 
BARKAT UPDATES AL-BUSTAN RE-DEVELOPMENT PLAN 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  In a February 17 meeting held at the Mayor's 
request, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat provided the Consul 
General with an update on his proposal for the re-development 
of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Bustan (which Mayor 
Barkat referred to as Gan ha-Melech, or Garden of the King), 
a narrow stretch of 99 homes inhabited by approximately 1,000 
Arab residents, located at the bottom of the Kidron valley 
immediately south of the al-Aqsa Mosque.  Barkat's plan, 
which he first briefed to the Consul General and Ambassador 
Cunningham in October 2009 (Ref A), involves the demolition 
of approximately 20 homes on the western side of al-Bustan, 
which abuts the City of David archeological park and visitor 
center, in order to create gardens, a waterfront promenade, 
and other tourist facilities.  The plan envisions that the 
eastern half of the neighborhood would be re-developed into 
rows of two, three, and four-story high-end 
residential-commercial units, into which -- according to the 
municipality -- al-Bustan residents displaced by home 
demolitions could buy or rent apartments. 
 
MUNICIPALITY WAVERS ON ISSUE OF RESIDENTS' CONSENT 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Barkat noted that he was "ready to move" on the 
re-development, and that he intended to submit the plan 
simultaneously to the local and regional planning committees 
for approval in the coming weeks.  Barkat initially said that 
conversations with Ziad Kawar, the lawyer retained by 
al-Bustan's residents, indicated that the municipality and 
the residents were close to agreement, and that he expected 
the residents would support the plan.  Barkat then qualified 
this assertion, saying, "Maybe not everyone will comply. 
Then we have an enforcement mechanism.  We are going to be 
very aggressive in making (the residents') lives better, and 
we don't want to get stuck on one, two, a few residents who 
think they can piggyback on this and hold out."  Later in the 
meeting, Barkat assessed the likelihood that residents would 
sign up for his proposal as "fifty-fifty," saying, "it could 
happen.  We're in the phase of drafting the agreement now. 
We'll see." 
 
"SEQUENCING" PRESENTS RESIDENTS WITH DIFFICULT CHOICE 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  As described by Barkat, the primary incentive for 
al-Bustan's residents to support the re-development plan was 
the possibility of obtaining legally-constructed housing. 
Note:  Nearly all of the 99 homes in al-Bustan were 
constructed without legal construction permits -- like most 
residential units in East Jerusalem -- and are thus eligible 
for municipal demolition.  End note.  Barkat described a 
"sequencing" method of re-development, in which residents 
would be given a choice of either cooperating with the 
municipality by evacuating their houses in exchange for new 
housing elsewhere, or alternatively they would face home 
 
JERUSALEM 00000296  002 OF 003 
 
 
demolition without a clear re-settlement option.  "This is a 
huge upgrade for the residents," Barkat said, gesturing at 
the city's architectural drawings of the re-designed 
neighborhood.  "For me, their (the residents') concurrence is 
not a condition for approving the plan.  I'm spending a huge 
amount of energy to get them on board, and I can't give them 
a veto." 
 
SOURCE OF FINANCE FOR RESETTLEMENT UNCLEAR 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (C)  Barkat was vague as to how al-Bustan's displaced 
low-income residents would be able to finance the purchase or 
rental of new luxury residential units in the re-developed 
eastern half of al-Bustan.  "I'm flexible," he said.  "There 
are structures in Israel that give loans, there could be 
third-party help from the U.S. or Canada.  People (al-Bustan 
residents) could make a lot of money out of this."  Asked if 
he could envision municipal or Israeli (national) government 
financing for the planned re-settlement, Barkat said, "There 
are lots of NGOs here, who spend money on these kinds of 
things.  I'm not planning for it." 
 
MAYOR: PROJECT CAN'T BE HELD HOSTAGE TO RESIDENTS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6.  (C)  Drawing from Ref B guidance, the Consul General 
noted the USG's longstanding position on the status of 
Jerusalem, emphasized the sensitivity of al-Bustan's location 
given its proximity to the Old City and Holy Basin, 
reiterated previous USG statements calling on Israel to end 
home demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem, and 
underscored the importance of close coordination with the 
residents of al-Bustan.  Barkat reiterated his statement that 
he could not allow the project, which he viewed as the first 
step towards a more general "upgrade of the city," to be 
"held hostage" to objections by local residents.  He said, 
however, that he did not see the project as provocative, 
saying, "I feel comfortable moving ahead on it.  Maybe there 
will be a few bumps, but that's okay." 
 
BARKAT BRIEFS PLAN FOR GREATER SILWAN 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  Barkat also briefed on his plan for the future of 
the larger, overwhelmingly-Arab Silwan neighborhood (of which 
al-Bustan is a part), whose population currently numbers 
about 50,000.  Barkat said that Jerusalem's local planning 
committee had already approved his proposal to raise the 
permitted height limit of buildings in Silwan to four stories 
-- a change, he said, that would make all but four percent of 
Silwan's homes eligible for retroactive legalization if their 
inhabitants successfully completed the permit application 
process.  For those four percent, Barkat said, the 
municipality intended to adopt a policy of razing any floors 
above the four-story limit, while leaving the remainder of 
the building intact.  Barkat noted that this was his 
preferred solution for the case of Beit Yehonatan (an 
illegally-constructed seven-story apartment block in Silwan 
named after convicted U.S. spy Jonathan Pollard and currently 
occupied by members of the ultra-nationalist Ateret Cohanim 
organization). 
 
TENSIONS BETWEEN MAYOR, LEGAL ESTABLISHMENT 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C)  Barkat criticized both the Jerusalem municipal legal 
advisor and Israel's state attorney general, with whom he has 
openly sparred in the press, for their insistence that he 
implement a court order to evacuate and seal Beit Yehonatan. 
"The municipal legal advisor (Yossi Havilio) is a total 
square," Barkat said.  "He has very little legal creativity." 
 Barkat conceded that much of the jousting between his office 
and the local and national Israeli legal establishments had 
been posturing, designed to score points in an essentially 
political contest.  He noted, however, that his proposals for 
al-Bustan and Silwan had the "full support" of the Israeli 
Ministry of Interior, which controls district-level planning, 
and claimed that he had been "very open and transparent" with 
the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) about his plans.  Barkat 
added that he sensed the PMO trusted him on these matters. 
 
RESIDENTS' LAWYER PREDICTS SLIM CHANCE OF AGREEMENT 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶9.  (C)  In a separate February 17 conversation with 
 
JERUSALEM 00000296  003 OF 003 
 
 
DepPolChief, al-Bustan attorney Kawar noted that the Mayor's 
office had told him he could expect to receive a draft 
agreement for his and the residents' consideration on 
February 21.  Kawar was pessimistic about the likely outcome, 
saying, "This is not going to be a good draft.  The 
municipality doesn't want to come to any agreement with us. 
They want everything, and they want to dictate terms."  Kawar 
noted that he would nevertheless accept the draft for 
consideration, in the interests of stalling any potential 
demolitions.  Former Palestinian Authority Minister for 
Jerusalem Affairs Hatem Abdel Qader echoed Kawar, saying, 
"all of these measures the residents are taking, including 
making submissions to the courts, and submitting new zoning 
plans -- all of these are meant simply to buy time.  Only 
political pressure will resolve this situation." 
 
RUBINSTEIN