¶3. (C) Some Post settler contacts said that it was "about time" for Wallerstein to resign. "I have the utmost respect for Pinchas," Shilo-based settler, Yisrael "Winky" [should be Winkie] Medad, told PolOff, "but it was organizationally dumb to have both (YESHA Chairman) Dani (Dayan) and Pinchas in leadership positions -- it was bound to create friction." Medad noted that Wallerstein and Dayan are of two different generations of settler activists, and said that with the resignation of the elder Wallerstein, he expected significant changes in the policies of the YESHA Council. Medad argued that the YESHA Council had done a poor job of engaging radical settler youth movements. Until now, the council has avoided avoid any association with so-called "hilltop youths," said Medad. "Maybe it's time to figure out how to work with them and use them for the YESHA Council's causes. Of course, we don't condone violence. We need to use their energy towards effective means of protests, not violence."
From this:
Subject: As Old Guard Resigns, Yesha Council Settlers Debate New Strategies
Origin: Consulate Jerusalem (Israel)
Cable time: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 20:29 UTC
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
Source (with thanks to AL)
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2020
TAGS: PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs], PBTS [National Boundaries, Territories, and Sovereignty], KPAL [Palestinian Affairs], KWBG [West Bank and Gaza], IS [Israel]
SUBJECT: AS OLD GUARD RESIGNS, YESHA COUNCIL SETTLERS
DEBATE NEW STRATEGIES
Classified By: Consul General Daniel Rubinstein for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
¶1. (SBU) Summary. On January 11, Pinchas Wallerstein resigned as director-general of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip (known as the "YESHA Council," from the Hebrew acronym for "Judea, Samaria, and Gaza"). Wallerstein told the Israeli press that he was resigning over a disagreement with YESHA Council Chairman Dani Dayan over the council's stance on settler resistance to GOI policies. Prompted by his announcement, settler activists gathered in Gush Etzion on January 17 to debate the current status and likely future of West Bank settlements, followed by a closed session of the YESHA Council. Post settler contacts had a mixed reaction to Wallerstein's resignation, with some saying that the YESHA Council needs to change its structure and strategy to remain effective, moving away from confrontational strategies and rebuilding ties to the Israeli government. Others argued that the YESHA Council has made itself irrelevant through its disproportionate focus on fringe group interests, at the expense of the major settlement blocs. End Summary.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
---------------------
¶2. (U) Three months into the GOI's ten-month moratorium on new residential construction in West Bank settlements, longtime settler leader Pinchas Wallerstein announced on January 11 that he would be stepping down from the executive board of the YESHA Council at the end of that month.
Wallerstein -- the last of the "old guard" of the Gush Emunim settlement movement, the predecessor to the YESHA Council -- cited the organization's failure to distance itself from extremist settlers as a primary reason for his resignation. Wallerstein publicly criticized the YESHA Council for failing to condemn attacks carried out by extremist settlers against Palestinians as part of a so-called "price tag" on the moratorium. He also argued that the YESHA Council should have taken a stand against the public expressions of opposition by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers against GOI orders to evacuate unauthorized West Bank outposts, saying, "It is our duty today to make sure the military isn't involved in the politics of evacuation and demolition."
¶3. (C) Some Post settler contacts said that it was "about time" for Wallerstein to resign. "I have the utmost respect for Pinchas," Shilo-based settler, Yisrael "Winky" Medad, told PolOff, "but it was organizationally dumb to have both (YESHA Chairman) Dani (Dayan) and Pinchas in leadership positions -- it was bound to create friction." Medad noted that Wallerstein and Dayan are of two different generations of settler activists, and said that with the resignation of the elder Wallerstein, he expected significant changes in the policies of the YESHA Council. Medad argued that the YESHA Council had done a poor job of engaging radical settler youth movements. Until now, the council has avoided avoid any association with so-called "hilltop youths," said Medad. "Maybe it's time to figure out how to work with them and use them for the YESHA Council's causes. Of course, we don't condone violence. We need to use their energy towards effective means of protests, not violence."
RUMBLINGS OF CHANGES
---------------------
¶4. (C) The week after Wallerstein's resignation, approximately 120 settlers gathered under the auspices of the Gush Etzion Regional Council on January 17 to attend a conference titled, "Judea, Samaria, and What's Around It." Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council and organizer of the event, told PolOff, "The purpose of the conference was to examine how we're viewed by Israelis, and to exchange ideas about how to promote our mission for a unified Land of Israel." Goldstein told PolOff that in the course of the conference, discussions took place among Israeli government, NGO, and media representatives on topics such as "How the Media Views Settlers", "Influencing the U.S. Administration," and "The Demographic Problem." Afterwards, the YESHA Council held a closed-door meeting to discuss uspecified policy changes, which Goldstein said would be announced in the coming weeks. Note: On January 31, Naftali Bennett, a former aide to then-opposition leader Netanyahu and a resident of the town of Raanana on Israel's coastal plain, not of the West Bank, was appointed to replace Wallerstein as director-general of the YESHA Council. Israeli press reported that the appointment of Bennett reflects the changing image of YESHA Council to incorporate the support of Israelis who do not live within the occupied territories. End Note.
¶5. (C) "Pinchas is a great man, but YESHA Council needs new blood -- it's stagnant," Goldstein argued, "The old council doesn't work anymore." Goldstein said he proposed to the YESHA Council that it split into two divisions: municipality leaders, who would focus on building relationships with the Israeli government and lobbying for services and funding; and the elected council members, who would "focus on the politics." "The YESHA Council used to have good relations with the (Israeli government), and negotiated concessions for us." Goldstein said. "Now, they're seen as protesters and troublemakers." Goldstein said his "clear" priority is "to get funding for my schools and services for my communities."
¶6. (C) On January 24, the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat (Arbor Day), the Israeli press reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu planted a tree in the Kfar Etzion settlement. In the course of his speech, Netanyahu said that the Gush Etzion settlement bloc will remain part of Israel. Goldstein, who organized the event, told PolOff, "My friends were angry that I let Bibi (Netanyahu) in -- they said, 'Why are you legitimizing him?' I said, 'I don't need to legitimize him, he's the Prime Minister! I need him to legitimize me.'" Noting fellow settlers' concerns that such a conciliatory approach to the GOI may force settler leaders to concede to the evacuation of certain other settlements, Goldstein said, "Well, this may be the case.""
CHANGE THE SOLUTION, REBRAND THE SETTLER
----------------------------------------
¶7. (C) "What we learned from the (January 17) conference," said Goldstein, "is that the Ministry of Defense, the Israeli government, Tel Aviv, those left-wing activists -- all are concerned about the demographic problem." Goldstein noted that Israeli annexation of the West Bank would bring 2.35 million Palestinians inside Israeli borders, diluting the Jewish identity of the State of Israel. Goldstein said that he realized that Israeli settlers needed to find a solution to that demographic problem if they wanted "mainstream Israel" to accept them. "People say we're at the heart of the problem," Goldstein said. "Well, maybe we can be at the heart of the solution."
¶8. (C) On this note, Goldstein told Post he had been selected by a group of settlement-supporters to write a proposal on potential resolutions of "the demographic problem" posed by annexation of the West Bank to Israel. "I have some ideas," said Goldstein. "Not everyone will agree, but it will solve the problem." Goldstein clarified that he had undertaken this initiative outside of the remit of the YESHA Council. "A group of us are starting something new," Goldstein said. "There will be another conference in a few weeks, then we will do some fundraising."
¶9. (C) Fellow January 17 conference attendee and Goldstein friend Avihu Cohen, who co-founded the Tzur Shalem outpost in the Gush Etzion bloc, told PolOff, "The two-state solution won't work. The solution is to annex the West Bank." Cohen explained that his proposed solution would allow Arabs who want to live in Israel to work and live in Israel and vote in local elections, but they would not be able to participate in national elections. Cohen told PolOff that, "Israel is a Jewish state and non-Jews should not be allowed to participate in shaping the nation."
¶10. (C) With this premise in mind, Cohen told PolOff he is starting a new organization with the aim of "re-branding the settler," in order to combat negative images and win the heart of mainstream Israel. "The regular Tel Avivan sees settlers as Arab-hating, Uzi-toting, kippah-wearing extremists -- whereas the majority of us are not like that. We're law-abiding, respectful citizens," Cohen said. His first step would be to reach out to yeshiva students, "when they are at the age of shaping their thoughts and opinions," to explain to them the settler image problem, and "show them they can contribute to the new strategy of 'winning hearts' instead of turning to extremism and insubordination."
¶11. (C) Cohen said his strategy involved developing relationships with the Israeli government, "mainstream Israel," youth movements, and the international community. The goal would be "to show the world that the settler is not crazy," and to demonstrate that "there's a solution for everyone to live peacefully in Israel -- and it's not the two-state solution," Cohen said. Cohen told PolOff that his initiative has the backing of Goldstein and hinted that Goldstein may be involved.
YESHA WHO?
----------
¶12. (C) Other settlement leaders told PolOff that they had not followed the YESHA Council's changing of the guard closely, and did not participate in its internal politics. Settler leaders in large settlement blocs contiguous to the Green Line were dismissive of Wallerstein's resignation. Rabbi Yaacov Guterman, mayor of Modiin Illit, told PolOff, "YESHA? Oh, I don't know what they do. We're different. We're not part of them." Ron Nachman, mayor of Ariel, told PolOff he had no connections with the YESHA Council. "I'm the mayor of Ariel, I'm in charge and I'm committed to my city. I don't need someone to be elected above my head to tell me what to do," Nachman said.
¶13. (C) Settler leaders in the remote Jordan Valley concurred. "The Jordan Valley is not YESHA," David Elhayani, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, told PolOff. "What does YESHA stand for? They represent the little settlements in the middle (of the West Bank) that are always screaming and protesting." Just as the YESHA Council meant little to residents of Maale Adumim and other large settlement blocs adjacent to the Green Line, it meant little to settlers in the Jordan Valley, he said.
¶14. (C) Elhayani argued that, given his good relations with the Israeli government, the YESHA Council was irrelevant. He told PolOff that he had received private assurances from GOI officials that there are no plans to give up the Jordan Valley as part of any peace deal. Currently, Elhayani said, he is planning to build 100 additional houses in the Jordan Valley -- which is "a lot for here," he said -- directly following the end of the current moratorium.
Who is Avihu Cohen? What happened to his initiative?
More references:
6 Jan 2010
¶10. (C) Moti Seide, director of utilities and services in Modiin Illit, told PolOff, &We moved out here at first 25 years ago, thinking, we'll try it out ... and time passed and it was okay. All of our children grew up here, and married, and live here. And now, we don,t know what will be in the future. Netanyahu said it,s for peace talks. Well, we don,t know if there will ever be peace talks. So why freeze our lives?" Shilo resident and prominent settler activist Yisrael "Winky" Medad agreed, saying, "look, we,re angry with Netanyahu because there,s no plan. We need to know that there is a future for us and we,re not frozen indefinitely." RUBINSTEIN
3 Dec 2009
SETTLERS PROMISE MORE CONFRONTATIONS TO COME
--------------------------------------------
¶11. (C) In general, Post contacts promised that GOI attempts to enforce the moratorium would be met by confrontation -- but not, most suggested, by organized violence. "The demonstrations come and go," said Yisrael "Winky" Medad, Shilo resident. "We hear about inspectors or police coming, then we respond. If they come to Shilo, I will be out there, blocking the entrance." Ruchie Avital, Ofra resident, told PolOff, that protests and lobbying efforts were being organized at the grassroots level, and "there are no plans to use violence."
DESPITE SUSPENSION, PLANNING CONTINUES
--------------------------------------
¶12. (C) According to settler and NGO contacts, settler leaders continue to plan for future demonstrations and illegal construction. Medad told PolOff on December 2 that settlers from across the West Bank will meet in Ofra on December 5 to discuss the current situation and plan additional demonstrations, including a Jerusalem protest in the week of December 7. ¶13. (C) Hagit Ofran of Peace Now told PolOff on December 2 that despite Netanyahu's moratorium announcement, GOI planning for new settlement contruction appears to be continuing. On November 30, Ofran observed, "there was an advertisement for two tenders from the Ministry of Housing, looking for someone to manage the planning and implementation
of housing projects in Efrat, Maale Adumim, and Beitar Illit. We're still monitoring what this means, but it seems like they are preparing for construction when the 10 months is over."
24 Sept. 2009
HAMAS, SETTLER ACTIVISTS CRITICIZE SPEECH'S LANGUAGE
--------------------------------------------- -------
¶6. (SBU) Hamas spokesman Tahir al-Nunu was predictably critical of the speech, speaking of his "astonishment" that the USG would refer to "the Jewish nature of Israel" at the UNGA, and terming settlement activity "a war crime, and not merely a hindrance to the peace process." Post's contacts among Israeli settlers in the West Bank were equally critical. Israeli-American Shilo resident and blogger JERUSALEM 00001719 002 OF 002 Yisrael "Winky" Medad's comments were characteristic: "O take umbrage," Medad said, "at the characterization of President Obama of my residential community as 'illegitimate.' More than 'illegal,' that term conveys to me a sense of moral repugnancy which I find hard to accept."
¶7. (C) Medad continued, "For Mr. Obama to term the situation of Jews living in their homeland as distinct from any eventual political resolving of the conflict as 'illegitimate' is wrong, is mean-spirited, and simply invites further Arab attempts to kill us, to dislodge us from our homes...I was quite disappointed." Ron Nachman, Mayor of Ariel settlement, was more blunt. "The President listens to Rahm Emmanuel and those left-(wing) peaceniks," Nachman said. "They mislead the President. I want to tell Mr. President that he is not doing anything new, and the whole process will not succeed. I would like to invite him to Ariel, and for him to bring with him Abu Mazen from the Palestinian side. I want to host (negotiations) here in Ariel, instead of the Waldorf Astoria." MARCHESE
17 Sept 2009
Settler-Palestinian Confrontations North of Ramallah
--------------------------------------------- -------
¶2. (C) On September 11, PolOff visited the site of recent clashes between Palestinians from al-Mughayyer village (north of Ramallah) and Israeli settlers from the nearby Adei Ad outpost. A resident of al-Mughayyer and an AmCit, Jamil Abdullah, told PolOff that on the morning of September 4, he and two of his neighbors discovered that 272 olive trees and 30 fig trees growing on their properties had been cut down. "These olive trees were 35 years old. It will take 10 years to regrow them," Abdullah said. He blamed settlers from the
Adei Ad outpost adjacent to Shilo settlement, where twenty Israeli families currently live.
¶3. (C) Upon discovering the damage, Abdullah said, the farmers notified the Israeli District Coordination Office (DCO). (Note: the land in question is located in Area C, outside the jurisdiction of the local Palestinian Civil Police (PCP) station.) Israel Defense Force (IDF) personnel arrived about 30 minutes later, took pictures of the damaged groves, and filed an official report, he said. When other villagers appeared on their farmlands to inspect the situation, Abdullah said, armed settlers from Adei Ad appeared on the hilltop above and began to throw stones at the villagers. According to Abdullah, IDF soldiers later arrived at the scene to disperse the crowd.
Differing Accounts of the Incidents
-----------------------------------
¶4. (C) Yisrael "Winky" Medad -- a Shilo settler, and also an AmCit -- offered a very different account of the incident which he did not directly witness, but learned of from settlement security officers. According to Medad, earlier in the week, Palestinian villagers had approached Adei Ad outpost at night and destroyed a "structure" (which the local PCP chief later described to PolOff as a deserted caravan). Medad said that, when al-Mughayyer villagers returned to the outpost the next morning, an altercation broke out between them and Adei Ad settlers. Medad confirmed that the IDF then dispersed the crowd. ¶5. (C) Jamil Abdullah denied that local villagers had set off the confrontation. "We see settlers (from the nearby outpost) intruding on Palestinian lands once a week," he said. "But we're afraid of (going to) Adei Ad because we'll be shot at." ¶6. (C) Local PCP Chief Abu Bakr offered a third version of the events, noting ruefully that Palestinian villagers occasionally infiltrated Israeli settlements to steal "livestock and other things." At the same time, Abu Bakr placed the blame for the September 4 incident squarely on the settlers. "The settlers are very aggressive, they only know the language of destruction."
¶7. (C) Comment: This incident provides a glimpse at the difficulty of establishing ground truth on Palestinian-Israeli violence in the West Bank. The close proximity of settlers and Palestinians creates constant tension that periodically erupts in incidents such as these. RUBINSTEIN^
23 JAN 2009
HaYovel Outpost Deepening its Roots
-----------------------------------
¶3. (C) Etkes described new construction at HaYovel outpost, southeast of Eli settlement. He said bulldozers are digging electrical transmission lines and sewage channels to connect the outpost to Eli's electricity grid and sewage system. According to Etkes, construction began December 27. PA security contacts told Polspec January 15 that settlers blocked the main entrance to the Palestinian village of Qaryut on January 14 to lay a "road" on a nearby hill, next to HaYovel outpost. Shilo settler Yisrael Medad told PolOff January 18 that a new optical cable is being laid there to connect Ha Yovel to Eli and Shilo. Peace Now activist Hagit Ofran told Poloff on January 22 that she had observed a new patrol road connecting Eli and HaYovel to the main highway on January 21.
18 SEPT 2008
Settler Leaders Don't Support the Attack, but Avoid Condemnation
----------------------------------
¶4. (C) Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan told Poloff that he had visited the boy in the hospital in Petah Tikva late September 13. He said the boy was stabbed seven times, but survived. "I don't like what my guys did but let's get serious, no one got seriously hurt in Asira, while in Yitzhar there was an intention to kill," he said. He added that Israeli police told him no one in Asira al-Qabaliyah was injured by live fire. Gush Etzion Regional Council Chairman and Yesha Council member Shaul Goldstein told Poloff that the settler reaction "was not justified," but the media is "a dog looking to bite the settlers," focusing only on settler aggression, not the reported Palestinian attack. Settler contact Yisrael Medad told Poloff that "if the security forces were doing their job, we wouldn't have to do it ourselves."
20 JUN 2008
Police Clash with Yitzhar Settlers, Several Injured
----------------------------------
¶2. (C) Mounting tension at Yitzhar settlement (on a ridge southwest of Nablus) boiled over on June 19 when Israeli border police arrived to investigate a reported settler weapons cache, remove an illegal caravan at a Yitzhar extension called "Havat Shaked" (not on the list of post-March 2001 outposts) and to post evacuation orders for other illegal structures. Press reported that four policemen and eleven settlers were injured in clashes during the operation. Settler Yisrael Medad told PolOff that settlers unsuccessfully attempted to block police from entering Yitzhar and, once police were inside, blocked the settlement's exit and punctured police vehicle tires. Settler Rivka Livnat from neighboring Elon Moreh settlement complained to PolOff that police "beat and injured" Yitzhar's rabbi in the scuffles.
11 SEPT 2007
Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Poloff visited Shilo and Ofrah, two major settlements north of Ramallah on August 31. Surrounding outposts included Amona, where the GoI destroyed nine permanent structures in February 2006 and where there are now over fifty caravans. There are clusters of caravans on most hilltops surrounding each settlement that are inhabited by young settlers. Several of these outposts are on the GoI's list of 24 outposts being discussed for removal in the near future. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (C) Shilo and Ofrah are both well outside the route of the separation barrier. They are home to settlers motivated primarily by ideology but who also enjoy the economic benefits of settlement life and proximity to Jerusalem. The thirty-year old settlements are growing, largely via hilltop caravan clusters.
Shilo and the Hilltops
----------------------
¶3. (C) According to Yisrael "Winkie" Medad, a settler leader and long time ConGen contact, Shilo was established in 1977 "disguised as an archaeological dig" and is believed to be the site of the ancient tabernacle. Today, there is an ongoing excavation of two fourth century Byzantine churches with spectacularly preserved mosaic tile floors. Shilo has 250 families (an estimated 20 percent of them American). Medad said in the last three years, some forty new families have moved to Shilo, while only ten have left. ¶4. (C) Medad told PolOff that Shilo's relationship with the neighboring Arab village of Turmusayya (population 3000 and 30 percent American) has soured after two Intifadas. Asked about permanent status issues, Medad said Shilo residents "don't think in those terms," but they do want an underground tunnel connecting Shilo to the larger settlement of Eli to the North and another underground tunnel connecting Eli and the Ariel settlement, inside the route of the separation barrier. ¶5. (C) Medad showed PolOff caravans at the outposts Achiya, Adead [Adei-Ad], Kedat, and Esh Kodesh, which are on the hilltops east of Shilo and "attached" to the settlement. He said they house young and newlywed settlers and usually rent for about USD 100 monthly. According to Medad, the outposts are on land legally "zoned" for Shilo and are supported by the larger settlement.
Ofrah and Amona
---------------
¶6. (C) Poloff visited Ofrah with Ruchie Avital, the settlement's spokeswoman and a resident since 1986. According to Avital, Gush Emunim developed Ofrah in 1976, and the settlement now has 500 families and additional outlying hilltop outposts. Two of the outposts, Ofrah East and Ofrah Southeast, are on the GoI list of 24 outposts that were established after March 2001 and that are being discussed for removal. ¶7. (C) PolOff and Avital visited Amona outpost, where the GoI removed nine permanent structures in February 2006 and which now has over fifty caravans. PolOff saw nine large piles of rebar and chopped concrete left after the 2006 GoI action and that Avital said inspire the settlers to continue their activities at Amona. PolOff saw young settlers constructing a settlement movement museum housed in two caravans, toured a new sheep farm with some thirty sheep and visited an outlook gazebo with plexiglass horizon maps that was recently completed by Ofrah youth. Avital claimed the GOI will not allow Amona additional caravans, and called the GoI's 2006 actions "evil and twisted," but said life there is "thriving." WALLES
23 AUG 2007
¶5. (C) Rachelle Heller, who was an original settler at Beit El in 1977, told Poloff that Givat Ha'or is Beit El youth enjoying the spring and conducting ritual bath ceremonies and not a new outpost. Yisrael Medad of the nearby Shilo settlement told Poloff that the youth are engaging in a "harmless" Kabbalah ritual and dismissed their activity as "skinny dipping." They indicated that after summer the youth will return to school and abandon their structures
Comment
-------
¶6. (C) Per refs B-C, PolOffs have seen similar youth encampments this summer at Homesh in the Northern West Bank and Lucifer Hill in the South Hebron Hills, and Peace Now reports similar activities at Hashomonaim, Shevut Ami (south of Quedumim), Harchivi (next to the Alon Moreh settlement) and Maon in the Southern Hebron Hills. It is difficult to determine whether the settler youth will abandon these encampments at the end of summer, and quite possibly they do not intend them as proto-outposts. However, the encampments -- especially Givat Ha'or, because of its proximity to the Beit El checkpoint and the daily traffic of international diplomats and NGO's -- may serve to test the tolerance of the IDF, Israeli public opinion, Palestinians and the international community for settlement expansion and activity. END
COMMENT. DUFFY
28 MAR 2007
¶1. (C) According to local press, all of the roughly 300 settler activists who remained at the former settlement of Homesh following a March 26 march to the site had been evacuated by the IDF by mid-morning March 28. Dozens of settler activists burned tires and damaged IDF vehicles March 27 in an effort to resist evacuation from Homesh, which was evacuated during the August 2005 disengagement from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank. Thousands of settlers supporting its re-establishment marched to Homesh March 26, and some 250-300 remained for two nights. Yisrael Medad, a resident of the settlement in Shilo, told poloff March 28 that efforts to continue occupying the site are continuing, with renewed calls for activists to continue coming to Homesh. Dror Etkes, settlement watch officer for the Israeli NGO Peace Now, told poloff March 27 that he doubts the settlers will be allowed to remain at Homesh, but that they succeeded in demonstrating "the unbelievable weakness of the Israeli government when it comes to settlements." ¶2. (C) Etkes opined that the primary purpose of the march was not to re-occupy the settlement, but rather to gain control of the debate on settlements. He said there is a generational rift between the older settlers who control the Yesha Council and the younger activists who grew up in settlement communities. He commented that the students occupying Homesh represent the next generation of settlement activists, who want to "kidnap headlines" and change the discussion from further disengagement to future settlement activity. WALLES
9 DEC 2009
My JPost piece is quoted:
QSuspend Your Zionism Settler leader Yisrael Medad wrote in The Jerusalem Post (12/9):
QWhile I can comprehend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's concern for what he considers more primary national interests than keeping his electoral platform promises to those who voted for him regarding the continuation of the Jewish return to the national homeland, his recent decisions are quite incomprehensible. To think that even the opposition leader, Kadima chairwoman Knesset Member Tzipi Livni, can justifiably criticize him from a right-wing perspective says much about Netanyahu's policies.... In essence, Netanyahu's government is inadequately dealing with the internal-social front, the economic front, and the diplomatic-security front. Our Prime Minister is asking us to suspend our Zionism, suspend our natural logic, and suspend our economic personal freedoms for quirky political behavior that will last 10 months -- after which all will revert to normal: normal growth, normal development, normal security. This is truly a matter of suspended belief.
13 AUG 2008
Migron settlers and key rabbis remain opposed
---------------------------------------------
¶5. (C) Dayan and Wallerstein confirmed that Migron settlers are opposed to the pending agreement. ""This is not an ideal compromise,"" Dayan said, and ""we're being attacked by the loyalists, extremists, and even some of our mainstream"" over the deal. Wallerstein told Poloff that several key settler rabbis, including Rabbi Dov Lior of Hebron and Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El, oppose the agreement. Wallerstein said the entire Binyamin Regional Council that oversees Migron and the surrounding area opposes the agreement based on Migron residents' views. Settler Yisrael Medad told Poloff that Rabbi Zvi Yisrael Tau of Jerusalem, who taught many of the young Migron residents and is ""generally more moderate,"" may able to convince Migron settlers to agree to the deal. ¶6. (C) ""This is a very good deal,"" Wallerstein told Poloff, but ""after Gush Katif they don't believe the government will make good on its promises."" Ofra settler Aliza Herbst told Poloff that the Migron deal represents a ""crisis of confidence in Yesha leadership."" ""Three or four years ago,"" she said, the settlers ""would have taken our word that this is a good thing, but now they don't trust even Yesha."" WALLES
^
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