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Cablegate: Israel Media Reaction

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 002841

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD

WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM
NSC FOR NEA STAFF

JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL
PARIS ALSO FOR POL
ROME FOR MFO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION


--------------------------------
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
--------------------------------

Mideast

-------------------------
Key stories in the media:
-------------------------

Yediot reported that First Lady Laura Bush plans to
make a six-day visit to Israel and other Middle East
countries on May 19 in order to push the peace process
forward.

All media highlighted PM Sharon's address at the death
camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau Thursday. He said: "With
all the desire to advance the peace process, we must
always stand on guard and rely only on ourselves. Jews
can only rely on themselves." Sharon also blasted the
use of Holocaust symbols by those who object to the
Gaza disengagement plan.

The media reported that Qassam rockets and mortar
shells were launched at Israeli targets Thursday and
this morning. One house was hit in Sderot. Yediot
reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has
instructed a revision of Israel's self-restraint
policy. Ha'aretz reported that the IDF uncovered an
eight-meter deep tunnel Thursday afternoon between
Egypt and Israel, close to the town of Rafah.
Jerusalem Post reported that the Karni goods crossing
in the northern Gaza Strip was closed for several hours
Thursday due to warnings that terrorists were planning
an attack there.

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Ha'aretz reported that the Gush Katif (Katif Bloc)
Council of Rabbis will release a letter in the next few
days calling on area residents to refuse to sign a
document to participate in the Nitzanim relocation
plan.

Ha'aretz quoted Col. (res.) Danny Tirza, the Defense
Ministry official in charge of the separation fence, as
saying that Israel will offer state land to the
Palestinians whose land was confiscated for the
construction of the fence. Tirza spoke at a High Court
of Justice debate on four petitions filed by West Bank
villagers. The newspaper quoted Chief Justice Aharon
Barak as saying that the state must provide farmers
whose land was seized with other land. If that is
impossible, then they must be compensated. Jerusalem
Post and other media quoted the Association of Civil
Rights in Israel as saying in a statement to the High
Court that the International Court of Justice in The
Hague was correct in declaring that the fence was a
gross violation of international law and should be
moved back to the Green Line.

Israel Radio reported that President Bush has extended
U.S. sanctions against Syria. The station quoted him
as saying that Syria endangers U.S. security.

Ha'aretz reported that Israel has agreed to Russia's
proposal to give two transport helicopters to the PA.
Leading media reported that Fatah appears to have won
the local elections in Gaza and the West Bank Thursday.
Late this morning, Israel Radio reported that as 70
percent of the votes have been counted, Fatah garnered
51 out of 84 local authorities, while Hamas took 28
local authorities. Results from all of the communities
are expected to take several days.

Israel Radio quoted Israel's Ambassador to the U.S.,
Danny Ayalon, as saying that Naor Gilon, the head of
the embassy's political department, who allegedly held
contacts with Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, will
return to Israel this summer for personal reasons.
Yediot quoted sources in the embassy that the decision
to remove him was made mainly because of the concern
that he could be indicted in the affair.

Ha'aretz reported that the Association of University
Teachers (AUT) in the UK has decided to call a special
meeting to reconsider its boycott of the universities
of Bar-Ilan and Haifa.

All media reported that leaders of the Greek Orthodox
Church in the Holy Land announced Thursday that they
are breaking off all contact with Patriarch Irineos I
because of corruption suspicions and that they are
considering having him dismissed. Irineos has been
accused of leasing prime church property to Jews.

All media reported that an IDF soldier bearing a
tattooed swastika on his left arm, who admitted to
maintaining contacts with neo-Nazi groups abroad, was
arrested in Ariel (West Bank) Wednesday night. His
mother also admitted holding Nazi views. They
emigrated from Latvia in 1996.

Maariv reported that Lebanese Gen. Michel Aoun is
returning to Lebanon after 15 years in exile. He told
the newspaper that he is in favor of peace with Israel,
but that "this is not the most important thing now."

Ha'aretz printed an article by former U/S of Defense
Dov Zakheim, who advocates nourishing civil society in
Middle Eastern countries to achieve long-term political
change in the region.

A Maariv/Teleseker poll found that:
-Only 54 percent of Israelis support Sharon's
disengagement plan.
In response to two questions related to Israel's
upcoming 57th Independence Day:
-"When you look at what is happening in Israel, do you
think that Israel is on the right course?" Yes: 46
percent; no: 44 percent.
-"Do you believe Israel will continue to exist after
2048?" Yes: 77 percent; no: 14 percent.

--------
Mideast:
--------
Summary:
--------

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote from
Auschwitz in popular, pluralist Maariv: "The Americans
are fed up with the Israeli refrain blaming Abu
Mazen.... There is a problem with this refrain: it is
true. On the other hand, it has exhausted itself."

Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz:
"Abu Mazen has improved the atmosphere of 'law and
order' in the Arab towns. This is a lot but not
enough."

Ha'aretz publisher Amos Schocken wrote in Ha'aretz:
"[The amendment to the Citizenship Law restricting
marriage with foreigners] raises the question of
whether Israel truly wants the type of peace of which
the Prime Minister has spoken."

Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Until the
U.S. abandons the contrived belief that what happens to
Israel has no connection to what happens to the U.S.,
it will be unable to see -- and thus thwart -- the
dangers that await it."

Block Quotes:
-------------

I. "The Americans Are Getting Addicted"

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote from
Auschwitz in popular, pluralist Maariv (May 6):
"Washington is setting off concern. The Americans are
fed up with the Israeli refrain blaming Abu Mazen,
demanding that he 'fight terror,' making him
responsible for everything, and concluding that he
cannot do anything. There is a problem with this
refrain: it is true. On the other hand, it has
exhausted itself. The Americans are now getting
addicted to what they call the 'Abu Mazen process.'
They hope to see results eventually. Meanwhile?
Patience. Thus, expansive American-international
headquarters are being established in Israel and the
Palestinian Authority to coordinate disengagement and
its supervision.... Israel's problem is that General
[William] Ward and envoy [David] Welch ... arrive empty-
handed and dole out the burden of proof and their
demands almost equally between the Palestinians and us.
They respond to each Israeli claim with an assertion of
theirs -- regarding plans for the future, hopes, the
lack of an alternative. In the IDF, even in the close
vicinity of the Defense Minister, some people are
currently encouraging a change in tone -- abandoning
the moaning, irritable tune; trying to integrate
productive optimism; 'bombing' the Palestinians with
easing measures, mainly in the economic and
humanitarian fields; and preparing the alibi for the
next crisis. It turns out that the game is not
entirely sold out. The judge is objective. One should
prepare."

II. "Abu Mazen Could Do a Lot More"

Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (May
6): "Abu Mazen has clearly made an effort to meet some
of the demands presented to him so that he can make a
good impression with Bush.... His people are making
efforts to coordinate with Israel on the disengagement
although it is not clear if they will be able to
maintain quiet in the Gaza Strip. Abu Mazen has
improved the atmosphere of 'law and order' in the Arab
towns. This is a lot but not enough as long as Qassam
rockets are still sent in Israel's direction. Abu
Mazen has support in numerous world capitals and
similar support among many in Israel, too, including
Defense Minister Mofaz. It is not clear how true that
is for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who so far has not
yet met with him. It is important that such a meeting
be held before Abu Mazen leaves for Washington."

III. "Does Israel Want Peace?"

Ha'aretz publisher Amos Schocken wrote in Ha'aretz (May
6): "The amendment to the Citizenship Law -- which
prevents an Israeli citizen, and particularly an Arab
Israeli, from marrying someone who was born in the
occupied territories and from living with that person
in Israel -- is a source of harsh discrimination and
will exacerbate the boycotting of Israel by the Arab
public. A similar decree, if imposed on Jews in any
country, would have elicited a harsh Israeli reaction,
and justifiably so.... Spouses from different countries
in the EU can marry and live together with their
partners in whichever of the member countries they
choose. The citizenship of each of the spouses
remains, or can remain, that of the country of which he
or she was a citizen prior to the marriage. Anyone who
aspires to peace between us and the Palestinians and
the Arab people must understand that this, to a large
extent, is the meaning of such a peace. The amendment
to the Citizenship Law is discriminatory, undemocratic
and it turns Israel into an apartheid state. It also
undermines the aspiration to establish this kind of
peace between Jews and Arabs in Israel, and between us
and the Palestinians and the Arab peoples of the
region. Above all, it raises the question of whether
Israel truly wants the type of peace of which the Prime
Minister has spoken."

IV. "Wake Up Washington!"

Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (May 6): "If
the Bush administration had not made the intellectually
unsupportable decision to refuse to accept that the
Palestinian war against Israel is a crucial front in
the global jihad, the President and his advisers would
no doubt be asking Sharon some very hard questions
right now. Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza and
northern Samaria present a tangible threat to U.S.
national security interests from both military and
psychological warfare perspectives. On the military
level, one of the core principles of the U.S. counter-
terror strategy is to deny terrorists sanctuary. Yet
Gaza and northern Samaria [the northernmost part of the
West Bank] are both poised to become new operational
bases for global terror organizations.... Unless one
ignores reality, it is impossible to sustain an
argument that as presently constituted, Israel's
withdrawal from Gaza will do anything other than
strengthen the cause of global jihad and Arab
authoritarianism. Unfortunately, until the U.S.
abandons the contrived belief that what happens to
Israel has no connection to what happens to the U.S.,
it will be unable to see -- and thus thwart -- the
dangers that await it."

KURTZER

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