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 06 TEL AVIV 003970

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

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Mideast

2. Africa: International Aid

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Key stories in the media:
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All major newspapers, except Jerusalem Post, led with a
leaked report that the IDF and police have decided to
raid the Maoz Hayam Hotel in the Gaza Strip settlement
of Neve Dekalim, rather that wait until the
disengagement plan is under way. The media reported
that dozens of activists have rushed to join the
stronghold. The operation was postponed due to the
leak. Maariv quoted a senior police official as saying
that there is a "mole" in the defense establishment.

Jerusalem Post reported that, if disengagement
opponents succeed in extensively disrupting public
order during the planned evacuation of the Gaza Strip
in August, the police will consider ordering the public
at large to remain inside their homes.

Ha'aretz reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
ordered the IDF on Thursday to prepare to hand over
responsibility for Bethlehem to the PA as early as next
week. Leading media reported that the IDF has
evacuated a position in Hebron.

Leading media reported that representatives of the
Quartet, who convened Thursday in London, requested
that Israel grant free movement to the Palestinians
during the disengagement period. Jerusalem Post cited
a statement by the Quartet, according to which it
"urges Arab states to engage fully" in supporting
withdrawal from Gaza, a process in which Israelis and
Palestinians "must work directly and cooperatively with
each other." Jerusalem Post cited a response by
Sharon's media adviser Raanan Gissin: "The money they
[the Arab states] contribute is the money that goes to
terrorism, and that's what we want to limit."

Leading media reported that Attorney-General Menachem
Mazuz asked PM Sharon on Thursday not to sign an
agreement to post 800 Egyptian troops on the
Philadelphi route before he examines its legal aspects.

Yediot quoted IDF Intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi-
Farkash as saying this week, at a closed Foreign
Ministry conference on strategy attended by Israeli
diplomats from all over the world, that the regime of
Syrian President Bashar Assad is unstable, and that the
Syrian-Lebanese ensemble is falling apart. Zeevi-
Farkash was also quoted as saying that PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas is really opposed to terror,
but that the PA's efforts in this field are minimal and
not serious.

Israel Radio reported that a Syrian legislator told
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Majalli
Wahbee (Likud) in Brussels that his country is ready to
achieve "closer links" with Israel and that Israel
should make a similar step. The radio quoted senior
GOI sources, including Mofaz, as saying that Syria is
trying to bypass U.S. measures against Syria via an
apparent attempt to create links with Israel. Several
media quoted U.S. officials, including Gen. Richard
Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying
that the U.S. is considering imposing additional
sanctions on Syria.

Citing the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, Maariv
cited assessments in Iran that by September the IAF
could attack the nuclear complex being built in the
Persian Gulf.

Yediot reported that, marking the conclusion of the
U.S.-Israel crisis over security exports, Mofaz and
Defense Ministry D-G Amos Yaron will leave for the U.S.
in late July to sign a memorandum of understanding
regarding weapons sales procedures to "problematic
states." The newspaper writes that Yaron will retire
after the disengagement.

Zeev Schiff of Ha'aretz writes: "One doesn't have to be
an expert detective to understand that some of the
material against Pentagon official Larry Franklin was
also based on wiretapping of the Israeli Embassy in
Washington."

Citing Reuters, Ha'aretz reported that an American,
Karen Koning Abu Zayd, is expected to be named head of
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Leading media reported that Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates will make his first trip to Israel in late
October as part of his annual visit to Europe.

Leading media reported that a labor dispute could bring
Ben-Gurion Airport to a complete standstill.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in left-leaning,
independent Ha'aretz: "It was almost as if the whole
visit [by Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice to the
region] did not take place. Not a single gap was
bridged."

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "Bibi holds the keys.... The
disengagement opponents could create a chain reaction
... at the last moment to stop the evacuation."
Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in Maariv:
"Terror is continuing because of a clear reason: it is
not the occupation that terror wants to eliminate, but
Israel. Terror wants to thwart the separation [between
Israel and the Palestinians]."

Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Since both
[the U.S. and Israel] are committed to 'solutions' that
have no connection to the real world, the steps they
adopt to achieve their goals are both counter-
productive and dangerous."

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

I. "Diplomats Without Diplomacy"

Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in left-leaning,
independent Ha'aretz (June 24): "Regarding [Secretary
of State Condoleezza] Rice's meetings with Palestinian
Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and with
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, you could almost say that
their importance lies in the fact that they didn't
happen. Because it was almost as if the whole visit
did not take place. Not a single gap was bridged. As
for the Sharon-Abu Mazen meeting, one could say the
damage exceeds the benefit.... Like Abu Mazen, [James]
Wolfensohn, [the Quartet's special envoy for the
disengagement,] found that Sharon has decided that you
don't switch horses in midstream; the strategy of
insisting on a 'fight against terror' is useful for
warding off the danger of negotiations.... As long as
the President of the U.S. agrees that the occupier will
be the authority that judges the occupied's
performance, as well as the branch that executes the
verdict, the chances of the pragmatic bloc retaining a
majority in the legislative branch [i.e. the Knesset]
will narrow."

II. "Bibi Holds the Keys"

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (June 24): "As usual, Binyamin
Netanyahu reaches the moment of decision even as he
doesn't know what to decide. Heavy pressure is applied
on him.... The next milestone awaiting him is on
Wednesday in ten days. It is the scheduled date for
the introduction of a bill proposal (by [right-wing
Knesset members] Zevulun Orlev and Uzi Landau) to
postpone the disengagement by three months.... Bibi
holds the keys. If he votes in favor of the proposal,
there is a certain chance that additional Likud
ministers who can't afford to remain alone could join
him.... Thus, the disengagement opponents could create
a chain reaction ... at the last moment to stop the
evacuation."

III. "Disengagement, Terror, and Post-Zionism"

Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in Maariv (June
24): "Terror is continuing because of a clear reason:
it is not the occupation that terror wants to
eliminate, but Israel. Terror wants to thwart the
separation [between Israel and the Palestinians].
Terror wants Israel to sink into the quagmire of Gaza
and Jenin, so that a single large country is
established here.... The large-state vision works along
three courses. The post- and anti-Zionist course
prepares the ideology: comprehensive citizenship, a
state of all its citizens, opposition to separation,
support for immigration, and the right of return. The
route of settlement advocates prepares the practical
side: opposition to separation and to disengagement,
and the creation of reality in which it won't be
possible to separate the nations. Palestinian terror
completes the picture: an attempt to carry out the big
terrorist attack that will blow up the disengagement.
The objectives are different. The consequence is the
same."

IV. "Irrelevant 'Visions'"

Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (June 24):
"Rather than withdraw U.S. support for Abbas as a
result of his blatant failure to deliver on even the
smallest American expectation from him, during her
visit over the weekend, Rice simply shored up U.S.
support for him.... Since Fatah coexists harmoniously
with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, by backing Fatah, the
U.S. is effectively backing all Palestinian terror
groups.... And at the same time, by calling for Israeli
'confidence-building measures' to strengthen Abbas, the
U.S. is effectively weakening its ally. One cannot be
too harsh with the Americans for acting on their
delusions since the policies of Israel's own government
are even more hallucinatory -- and dangerous.... In
responding to Rice's demands that it coordinate the
withdrawal with the Palestinians, Israel has gone back
on its previous demand to retain control of the
international crossing points to Gaza.... If either
Washington or Jerusalem were willing to base their
policies on reality rather than 'visions,' they would
both come up with multiple options for fighting
Palestinian terrorism and transforming Palestinian
society. In so doing both would be making a great
contribution to the cause of democracy and
counterterrorism throughout the Arab world. But since
both are committed to 'solutions' that have no
connection to the real world, the steps they adopt to
achieve their goals are both counter-productive and
dangerous."

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2. Africa: International Aid:
-------------------------------

Summary:
--------

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"As they seek new ways to cure Africa, the rich powers
would do well to take stock of Israel's unique approach
to Africa's development."

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

"The Forgotten Continent"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(June 24): "Measured by any yardstick Africa's decline
is arguably this era's single largest tragedy.... In
its summit next month in Gleneagles, Scotland, the G-8
forum of the world's leading industrial nations will be
focusing on Africa. That alone is a kind of attention
that has long been lacking in major international
forums.... In this regard, Israel can serve as a source
of inspiration. The Mashav program, administered by
the Foreign Ministry, annually brings here hundreds of
Africans for various training in anything and
everything from farming economics to educational
management, and sends Israeli experts to help build and
run hospitals, schools, and ranches. This essentially
altruistic activity has been going on since the
1960s.... In the long term, the relations Israel
nurtured in Africa proved more effective than the post-
'73 Arab effort to obstruct them, which initially
resulted in the entire continent's severance of its
formal ties with Israel. The reason Africa returned
to Israel was, at the end of the day, its realization
that the Jewish state was both able and eager to help
it on its feet, not by sending foreign-aid assistance -
- which Israel could never offer -- but by sending
Israelis to Africa and welcoming Africans in Israel, as
part of an ongoing effort to equip Africans with the
tools that building Africa demands. As they seek new
ways to cure Africa, the rich powers would do well to
take stock of Israel's unique approach to Africa's
development."

CRETZ

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