Cablegate: Israel Media Reaction

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

291036Z Sep 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 005897

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD

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

SECDEF WASHDC FOR USDP/ASD-PA/ASD-ISA
HQ USAF FOR XOXX
DA WASHDC FOR SASA
JOINT STAFF WASHDC FOR PA
USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR
COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD
COMSIXTHFLT FOR 019

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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Mideast

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Key stories in the media:
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While citing PM Sharon's denial of remarks made
Wednesday by his strategic advisor Eyal Arad concerning
additional unilateral withdrawal in the West Bank,
Ha'aretz highlighted the belief of the defense
establishment, particularly that of the IDF's main
organs for strategic thought -- the Planning
Directorate and Military Intelligence (MI) -- that
unilateral moves are the best strategy for Israel.
Jerusalem Post, too, noted this trend. In a speech to
an economic conference broadcast by Israel Radio this
morning, Sharon said: "There is only one plan, and that
is the Roadmap." Israel Radio quoted Sharon as saying
that many ambassadors had queried Israel on this
matter, and that Washington had made a very stern
appeal on this matter.

Israel Radio emphasized a comment made by a State
Department spokesperson on Wednesday that the
Palestinians' "responsibility is to act to stop any
terrorism, to act to dismantle terrorist networks."
The radio also reported that the spokesperson renewed
the United States' call on Israel to show restraint
when dealing with the PA and to make the lives of
Palestinians easier.

Ha'aretz's web site quoted a U.S. official as saying on
Wednesday that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas
will visit Washington on October 20 to discuss ways to
pursue the Middle East peace process following the
Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The official was quoted
as saying that the two leaders would discuss "the way
forward." The newspaper quoted Palestinian chief
negotiator Saeb Erekat as saying Wednesday that,
despite the cancellation of an Abbas-Sharon meeting,
which had been set for October 2, it was time to resume
negotiations. Jerusalem Post reported that Minister-
without-Portfolio Haim Ramon (Labor) and PA Information
Minister Nabil Shaath met with Swedish Minister of
Development Carin Jamtim in Stockholm on Wednesday to
discuss the future of the Gaza Strip. The newspaper
quoted Ramon and Shaath as saying they were
representing their political parties rather than their
governments.

All media reported that on Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Yisrael
Ziv, head of the IDF Operations Branch, threatened that
Israel would turn the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit
Hanun into a "demilitarized zone" if any Qassam rockets
are fired from there into Israel. Israel Radio
reported that this morning three Palestinians,
including Samer Sa'adi, the head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades in Jenin, were killed in two separate clashes
with the IDF near the city. The radio quoted local
Brigades leader Zacharia Zubeidi as saying that his men
will consequently no longer respect the "tahdiya"
(lull). Ha'aretz cited the belief of MI that the
recent escalation by Hamas -- including the kidnapping
and killing of an Israeli civilian, and its videotaping
of the act, which strengthened Hamas's image as a
terrorist organization that acts like Al-Qaida in Iraq,
has harmed Hamas's standing. The newspaper says that
MI's conclusion, which fits in with the cabinet's
position, is that Israel must keep pressuring Hamas.
In a report from the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem Post found
that local residents are growing wary of Hamas.

Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday, Abbas urged
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to exert pressure on
Israel to halt its military offensive in the Gaza
Strip. The newspaper also reported that Abbas appealed
to Mubarak to use his good offices with Hamas and other
armed groups to force them to abide by the unofficial
truce with Israel.

All media note that the Intifada started exactly five
years ago. Recapitulating its own data, and that of
the IDF, Shin Bet, Foreign Ministry, and Israeli human
rights group B'Tselem, Ha'aretz writes that 1,033
Israelis and 3,333 Palestinians were killed during the
Intifada. Figures vary in the different media, which
note that only 56 Israelis were killed during the past
year.

Maariv reported that, for the first time, Arab families
are moving to Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
The newspaper quoted Yisrael Kamhi, who is writing
research on the impact of the "Jerusalem envelope"
fence, as saying that this development is grounded on
the fear of East Jerusalem Arab residents who were left
beyond the fence that they might lose their rights in
the city.

Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post printed an AP story,
according to which Israel urged Arab nations on
Wednesday to withdraw a push to have Israel declared a
menace to peace at a 139-nation meeting of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, suggesting Iran's
suspected nuclear programs posed the real threat to the
Middle East.

Ha'aretz reported that Sharon does not intend to name
any of the Likud "rebels" who opposed the disengagement
plan as ministers or deputy ministers, despite demands
from senior Likud members, including Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz, that he take such a step in order to heal
the rifts in the party. The newspaper quoted Sharon
associates as saying on Wednesday that only two Sharon
loyalists, Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim and MK
Roni Bar-On, would be appointed ministers.

Yediot, Maariv, and Israel Radio reported that Israel's
judicial authorities are expected to review the Justice
Ministry's Police Investigations Unit's closure of all
investigations into the October 2000 riots that left 13
Arab citizens dead.

Jerusalem Post reported that the Labor and Shinui
parties look to capitalize on turmoil in the Likud,
making it impossible to pass the budget without
significant changes.

Jerusalem Post cited data published by the GOI's
Central Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, prior to the
Jewish New Year, Jews, who numbered some 5,237,600 in
2004, comprise 76.2 percent of Israel's population,
down from 77.8 percent in 2000. The 1,107,400 Muslims
constitute 16.1 percent of the populace, up from 15.2
percent in 2000. The percentage of Christians and
Druze (2.1 percent and 1.6 percent respectively) has
remained stable since the beginning of the millennium,
while the rate of those with no given religion has
grown from 3.3 percent to 3.9 percent over the same
period.

Yediot quoted Attorney Liora Glatt-Berkowitz as saying
that some facts about Sharon's investigation into the
"straw companies" affair have "regrettably" not yet
been made public. When she was a member of the state
prosecution, Glatt-Berkowitz had leaked details of
Sharon's probe to Ha'aretz.

On Wednesday, Yediot featured a group of young Israeli
engineers who came to New Orleans to help rebuild the
city.

Leading media reported that on Wednesday, a federal
court in Miami approved an arrangement, according to
which the United States will pay compensation to
Hungarian Jews whose property was confiscated during
World War II in what is known as the "gold train"
affair.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The security turnabout is due
primarily to developments in the diplomatic realm. Of
these, by far the most important was the death of
Yasser Arafat and his replacement by Mahmoud Abbas."

Conservative columnist Nadav Shragai wrote in Ha'aretz:
"The IDF ... has ... become a reactive rather than an
offensive force."

Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in
popular, pluralist Maariv: "[Netanyahu] has continued
to use the hackneyed slogans of the previous war....
Yossi Beilin isn't going to be particularly pleased
with the results of the next elections either, because
he too has refused to abandon the positions of the old
Left, which many of us no longer share."

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"Unless the condition of complete disarmament is
imposed on the Palestinian groups, there is no chance
of Israel enjoying the luck of the Irish."
Attorney Moti Cristal, who was a senior advisor on
negotiations affairs to former prime minister Ehud
Barak, wrote in Ha'aretz: "Unilateral Israeli actions
are constructive, in particular given the partner's
weakness, but they are limited in their ability to
achieve long-term strategic stability."

Political analyst Daniel Diker, who writes for the
conservative periodical Techelet, opined in Maariv:
"[Sharon associates] Tzachi Hanegbi and Eyal Arad are
again mentioning the inevitable possibility of a
unilateral step. In fact, this is a return to the idea
of defensible borders."

Block Quotes:
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I. "A Reading of the Numbers"

Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (September 29): "Sometimes, dry
statistics tell the story. Granted, it is not
necessary to look at the numbers to know that Israelis'
security situation has improved. It is sufficient to
visit the cafes, which are filled to overflowing. Some
of them have even fired their security guards.
Nevertheless, the numbers are astounding: only 56
Israelis were killed by Palestinian terror in the
Intifada's fifth year, which ends today -- less than
half the number of fatalities in the fourth year and
one-seventh the number in the terrible second year.
The number of Palestinian fatalities also fell, mainly
due to a reduction in Israeli military activity in the
territories in the second half of the year. But some
military operations, such as last October's Operation
Days of Penitence in Gaza, were still deadly, and that
is the main reason for the growing imbalance in the
casualty figures: eight Palestinian fatalities for
every Israeli fatality this year, compared to an
overall ratio of 3:1 for the five-year conflict as a
whole. The security turnabout is due primarily to
developments in the diplomatic realm. Of these, by far
the most important was the death of Yasser Arafat and
his replacement by Mahmoud Abbas. Even though Abbas
took almost no practical steps against the terrorist
organizations, his opposition to terror was clear, and
in practice, the number of attacks dropped
significantly."
II. "The Loss of a Huge Strategic Asset: Deterrence"

Conservative columnist Nadav Shragai wrote in Ha'aretz
(September 29): "The dozens of Qassam rockets that fell
on Sderot are the instinctive response by those whom we
have trained ... to believe that Israel sees the 6,000
or so mortars and rockets fired on the residents of
Gush Katif as nothing more than rain.... This Jewish
New Year will be the fifth birthday of that war, and
its cyclical nature embodies Israel's loss in its
confrontation with the Palestinians, a huge strategic
asset that Israel had but has no longer: deterrence.
The loss did not happen in a day, but the 'Second
Intifada,' as the terror war has been called, greatly
accelerated it. Ever since 'Peace for Galilee' [the
official name of the 1982 Lebanon War], the IDF has
been fighting low-level wars, but despite many
localized successes it has had difficulty coping with
them.... Successive Israeli governments -- from Yitzhak
Rabin's to Ariel Sharon's -- refused to go 'full tilt'
against the Palestinians. The Palestinians were quick
to understand this spirit. They were encouraged and
made bolder by Israel's hurried withdrawal from South
Lebanon, and thus initiated the last Intifada, which
cost Israel 1,065 lives.... One of the main factors
that led to the loss of deterrence was a significant
reduction in offensive operations. The IDF, acting on
the orders of the political echelon, restrained itself
on many occasions for long periods of time, went into a
hysteria of installing armor and other means of
protection, and has above all become a reactive rather
than an offensive force."

III. "Netanyahu Is Stuck With Beilin"

Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in
popular, pluralist Maariv (September 29): "[During the
Intifada], the Left, overwhelmingly, realized that
there are two sides to this coin, and that it was
impossible to blame only Israel for the turn of events.
Slowly but surely, the flow to the center began....
Five years later, once again with summer drawing to a
close, once again with a new Jewish year about to
begin, the Right is undergoing a similar process. The
dream of the greater Land of Israel was dashed long
ago, except for on the delusional fringes of that
camp.... That is precisely the writing on the wall that
Bibi Netanyahu failed to read.... He has continued to
use the hackneyed slogans of the previous war. He
doesn't realize that the Right is going through the
same process of centering that the Left went
through.... It is not because he is now perceived as a
loser that Binyamin Netanyahu will not be Israel's next
prime minister, but because he has remained a leader of
the Right, which has since lost most of its troops.
Yossi Beilin isn't going to be particularly pleased
with the results of the next elections either, because
he too has refused to abandon the positions of the old
Left, which many of us no longer share."

IV. "The IRA and Us"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(September 29): "The penny should be dropping now. For
anyone who is still bewildered by the continuation of
Palestinian terrorism, just look at Northern Ireland,
where the Irish Republican Army this week
decommissioned its weapons.... Two realizations that
certainly made that decision inevitable were: 1) that
the 'armed resistance' had failed to bring about its
desired result, and that further fighting was destined
to continue to fail as well; 2) that there was no
longer enough money, or enough domestic or
international support, for the fighters to continue
their bloody battle. All those governments that wish
to help bring peace to our region would be wise to
absorb these lessons, and apply them immediately....
Unless the condition of complete disarmament is imposed
on the Palestinian groups, there is no chance of Israel
enjoying the luck of the Irish."

V. "Gaza First"

Attorney Moti Cristal, who was a senior advisor on
negotiations affairs to former prime minister Ehud
Barak, wrote in Ha'aretz (September 29): "Official
Israel has always expressed reservations about
international intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.... [But] a stabilizing international
intervention means an effective international presence,
which is set in motion according to a defined mandate
limited in time, and its task is to assist the
establishment of the Palestinian security forces, and
of the legal system.... [Israel's] second assumption is
that Hamas is a terror organization and that there
consequently is only one way to eliminate it -- through
an all-out war. Hamas has long ceased to be only a
terror organization. It is also a political movement,
which is economically and principally morally powerful
among the Palestinian public.... [Its] political
ideology ... has rapidly become more moderate since
9/11.... Unilateral Israeli actions are constructive,
in particular given the partner's weakness, but they
are limited in their ability to achieve long-term
strategic stability."

VI. "Back to the Alon Plan"

Political analyst Daniel Diker, who writes for the
conservative periodical Techelet, opined in Maariv
(September 29): "[Sharon associates] Tzachi Hanegbi and
Eyal Arad are again mentioning the inevitable
possibility of a unilateral step. In fact, this is a
return to the idea of defensible borders, which
maintains that Israel, as a sovereign state, has the
right to hold onto borders that provide its citizens
with their minimal security needs; and based on this,
that any final status arrangement be based necessarily
on annexation, at least partial, of territories,
revising the unstable cease-fire lines of 1949 -- lines
whose vulnerability invited aggression and perpetuated
the conflict. Paradoxically, this doctrine is
particularly important in the era of long-range
missiles. The additional areas that will be annexed to
Israel will enable it to better defend its strategic
assets, in deploying army infrastructure and obtaining
further depth to defend the home front. This policy
has been recognized in international law, in UN
Security Council Resolution 242, which recognized
Israel's right to 'secure and recognized' borders, and
implicitly, that there is a need to revise the 1949
lines. The current president of the United States,
George Bush, also officially reinforced the validity of
this doctrine in Washington (April 2004) and recently
in Texas (April 2005). A month after the Six-Day War
Yigal Alon, the foreign minister at the time, drew up
an initial concept for sketching defensible borders for
Israel, using the territories the IDF seized during the
war."

JONES

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