May 22, 1998, Jerusalem

The honorable Mr. Gore
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Fax: 001-202-225-4656
Tel: 001-202-225-4501

Dear Mr. Gore,

We are happy to learn that you come to visit Jerusalem on the day of Jerusalem, and that you intend to visit Har Homa site. As is well known, the present crisis of the peace process started with the Israeli government's unilateral decision to start building activity at Har Homa/Jabal Abu Ghneim in East Jerusalem. Our company, Makor, is directly concerned with this issue (beyond our general concern as citizens of Israel) since much of the land, 1850 dunams, was expropriated from us and the remainder from Palestinian landowners.

We have been familiar with the site for many years and would respectfully like to offer a possible compromise solution based on the following assessments of the two leaders' basic interests and positions:

1. Mr. Netanyahu, who won the elections by accusing his predecessor, Mr. Peres, of "intending to divide Jerusalem", and who in recent months made "building Har Homa" into a prestige project, cannot afford to declare that he is stopping construction on the site;
2. Mr. Arafat, whose people are feeling increasingly frustrated by unilateral Israeli actions, cannot afford to accept the Israeli confiscation of Palestinian land on Jabal Abu Ghneim and its use for constructing a neighborhood for Jewish Israelis. Expropriations of land in East Jerusalem were declared invalid in a long series of UN Security Council resolutions dating from the late 1960's which the U.S. was in favor. Any lenience on this point would expose Arafat to accusations by the Palestinian opposition of having "sold out" Jerusalem and Palestine.

In our view, these apparently irreconcilable positions could still be bridged by a compromise along the following lines:

1. All expropriations of land at Har Homa/Jabal Abu Ghneim will be abolished and the land restored to the respectful owners, Jewish and Arab;
2. These Jewish and Arab owners will be free to build on their respective plots without interference from the Israeli or Palestinian authorities.
3. Anyone purchasing housing constructed on the site will have to sign a document acknowledging their awareness that the final political status of the site is to be defined in the framework of the general "final status" talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

A compromise of this kind was discussed, some months ago, between Rabbi Menachem Froman of the settlement Tekoa and Feisal Husseini, Palestinian minister in charge of Jerusalem issues (Kol Ha'ir newspaper 3/14/97).

As a matter of fact, we know that at some stage Mr. Netanyahu was inclined to accept a solution of this kind, but gave in under strong pressures from Jerusalem mayor Mr. Ehud Olmert.

Mr. Ehud Olmert's position, in our view, is motivated mainly by considerations of his own political career and to secure his re-election in the November 1998 municipal elections. The composition of the Jerusalem electorate makes support by the religious community indispensable for any mayoral candidate. (In the present Jerusalem city council, the Religious hold the biggest bloc - 13 councilors, compared to 8 of the secular right and 10 of the secular left).

In our view, Mr. Ehud Olmert is pushing construction at Har Homa/Jabal Abu Ghneim, on expropriated land, in order to have the new neighborhood reserved for religious families, who will receive their extremely cheap, government-subsidized housing, in return for which he could expect to get this community's political support.

This aspect - that the Har Homa/Jabal Abu Ghneim land expropriation was motivated by what amounts to an electoral bribe and political corruption - has somehow never gotten much attention from the Israeli media and even less from the international ones.

This constitutes still a further reason why the United States cannot support the land expropriations which:

1. Result from corrupt considerations;
2. Contradicts UN Security Council resolutions;
3. Severely damages the peace process;
4. Hurts U.S. interests in the region;
5. Contradicts the conditions of the $10 billion in loan guarantees given by the U.S. to Israel

Mr. Netanyahu cannot reject this offer since it allows building in East Jerusalem while protecting human rights.

Mr. Arafat cannot refuse this offer since it cancels the expropriations according to the UN Security Council resolutions. If the Oslo agreement prohibits construction in East Jerusalem, as interpreted by the Palestinian Authority, then no one will be allowed to build in East Jerusalem and this hurts the Palestinian citizens. This is the reason that it's important to distinguish between governmental construction, that effects the status of East Jerusalem and construction by the owners, since they agree that the control of this area will be determined in the permanent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

In light of all of the above, we seriously suggest that the United States consider the possibility of giving support to a compromise along the lines that have been discussed between Rabbi Menachem Froman and Feisal Husseini and try to get the two sides to accept it.

This compromise is based on the facts that the U.S. vetoed the Arab proposal to stop construction of the Har Homa neighborhood. Concurrently, the U.S. has voted in favor of the Security Council resolutions 252, 267 and 298 which states that all expropriations in East Jerusalem are invalid and the status of Jerusalem should not be changed.

Security Council resolutions for which the U.S. voted in favor are considered by the State Department to be binding as an expression of U.S. policy and also legally binding on the U.S. as a matter of domestic law. For this reason it is important to distinguish between governmental construction, which effects the status of East Jerusalem and construction by private owners, which does not.

In our opinion it is important that President Arafat declare that he is against the expropriations but not against private building by the owners, Arab and Jews, in East Jerusalem.

A declaration of this kind will legitimize President Arafat as a leader that respects human rights and upholds the UN Security Council's resolutions. This gives Mr. Arafat credibility in the eyes of the European Community, the United States and the Israeli public. This declaration will help Mr. Netanyahu overcome the right-wing opposition since this compromise allows for the continuation of construction by the private landowners-Arabs and Jews.

I respectfully request your kind intervention helping them to arrive to the right decision before a catastrophe occurs. For more information we suggest visiting our website at www.harhoma.com.

Respectfully,

David Myr,
General Manager

Please read about our alternative and help us to cancel the expropriation by sending email to Vice President Gore.