Cablegate: Israel Media Reaction

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Leza L Olson 11/29/2006 02:01:20 PM From DB/Inbox: Leza L Olson

Cable
Text:

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 04662

SIPDIS
CXTelA:
ACTION: PD
INFO: POL DAO DCM AMB

DISSEMINATION: PD
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: PAO:HKFINN
DRAFTED: PD:MKONSTANTYN
CLEARED: AIO:GJANISMAN

VZCZCTVI341
PP RUEHC RHEHAAA RHEHNSC RUEAIIA RUEKJCS RUEAHQA
RUEADWD RUENAAA RHEFDIA RUEKJCS RUEHAD RUEHAS RUEHAM RUEHAK
RUEHLB RUEHEG RUEHDM RUEHLO RUEHFR RUEHRB RUEHRO RUEHRH
RUEHTU RUCNDT RUEHJM RHMFISS RHMFISS RHMFIUU
DE RUEHTV #4662/01 3331108
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291108Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7879
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 1283
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 8046
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1134
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2044
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 1263
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 8947
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 1985
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 8908
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 9352
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 6028
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 3406
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 8283
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 2520
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 4427
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 5190
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 004662

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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
CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR
COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD
COMSIXTHFLT FOR 019

JERUSALEM ALSO ICD
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL
PARIS ALSO FOR POL
ROME FOR MFO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IS KMDR

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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Ha'aretz quoted sources in Washington as saying on Tuesday that
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to tell PA Chairman

SIPDIS
[President] Mahmoud Abbas at their meeting Thursday that he must
increase his efforts to impose order in the PA, in order not to miss
the opportunity to resume negotiations offered by the Gaza
cease-fire and PM Ehud Olmert's speech in Sde Boker on Monday. The
sources were quoted as saying that Secretary Rice will pledge
America's aid in strengthening Abbas's position, but will stress
that the US expects results from him in return. Ha'aretz quoted
Israeli officials as saying that Washington understands that further
progress depends on the success of the cease-fire, which took effect
on Sunday. Ha'aretz wrote that, as of Tuesday night, it was still
unclear whether Rice would also come to Jerusalem to meet with
Olmert and FM Tzipi Livni, or whether she would merely pop over to
Jericho for a meeting with Abbas following her scheduled visit to
Jordan. She was slated to make a final decision late Tuesday night.
Several media reported that she is probably expected to meet with
Abbas in Jericho. Maariv quoted State Department Sean McCormack as
saying on Tuesday that the Secretary could possibly have a meeting
with Israeli officials.

Yediot reported that on Tuesday Abbas asked King Abdullah II of
Jordan to convey to President Bush a message that he must take
advantage of the momentum created by the cease-fire to resume
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations immediately. The daily
reported that Olmert and Abbas will apparently not take advantage of
the Amman summit to meet today in the presence of President Bush and
King Abdullah. Yediot reported that Olmert's bureau has informed
the US that, fearing that such a meeting would raise huge
expectations that the sides might not bear, Olmert has reservations
about a meeting at this time. Yediot said that US administration
envoy Elliott Abrams met with Olmert on Tuesday, praised him for his
conciliatory speech, and did not mention a four-way summit.

Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that two rockets were launched
from the northern Gaza Strip last night. The station reported that
Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have claimed responsibility for the
attack. The radio quoted Olmert as saying that the continuation of
Qassam rocket fire is disappointing but that Israel will continue to
respect the cease-fire. However, Israel Radio quoted Defense
Minister Amir Peretz as saying that Israel will act against
Palestinian groups that will continue to fire rockets at Israel. MK
Tzachi Hanegbi, Chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee, was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel
Radio this morning, that the test period that Israel granted the
Palestinians is reaching its end. The Jerusalem Post and Yediot
reported that on Tuesday in Nablus militants of the Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades put on view what they claim is a new homemade rocket named
"Jondallah" (Soldiers of God).

Major media reported that Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman
will come to Israel today for talks on a deal over the release of
soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas in a
cross-border raid in June. Olmert said in his Sde Boker speech that
Shalit's return was a precondition for diplomatic negotiations with
the PA. Ha'aretz said that Suleiman will brief Olmert and other
Israeli officials on his talks with Khaled Mashal, the head of
Hamas's political bureau, last week. After these talks, the
Egyptians said that progress had been made toward finalizing a
prisoner exchange. He will also discuss ways to shore up the
cease-fire and other issues related to efforts to promote diplomatic
negotiations between Israel and the PA. However, Ha'aretz quoted a
source familiar with the negotiations over Shalit as saying that
these talks are currently at an impasse due to disagreements over
how many Palestinian prisoners Israel will free in exchange for the
kidnapped soldier.

Ha'aretz (Zeev Schiff) reported that senior Israel Air Force
officers met recently with the heads of the Foreign Ministry in
Jerusalem on the issue of Israeli overflights of Lebanon, and that
it was decided to establish an Israel-UNIFIL coordinating body.
Schiff also reported that Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah recently
fired the commander responsible for the Baalbek area, Hasin Jamil
Yunis, who is responsible for the region considered Hizbullah's
logical center. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli military
sources have told the newspaper that, in direct opposition to an
order by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the IDF's Northern
Command led y its former chief, Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, is suspected of
ordering the firing of cluster bombs into populated areas during the
last few days of the war in Lebanon.

Israel Radio quoted Lebanese President Emile Lahud as saying in an
interview with BBC-TV that Fouad Siniora's government is
illegitimate and that Israel is behind the assassination of Lebanese
Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

Yediot reported that student diaries distributed by Israel's Islamic
Movement at the University of Haifa mark the birthdays of Osama bin
Ladin and Hassan Nasrallah.
All media reported that on Tuesday the police questioned Likud
Chairman MK Binyamin Netanyahu on charges that he has let the
Education Ministry fund polls conducted by Prof. Yaacov Katz, which
he commissioned for his own use.

Ha'aretz Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner reported that,
during a briefing on Tuesday, US National Security Advisor Steven
Hadley expressed the "most explicit public US position so far"
against Israeli-Syrian negotiations. Ha'aretz noted that Hadley's
comments are particularly interesting bearing in mind recent
disclosures from the Baker/Hamilton committee.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli defense establishment
plans to make an official decision in the coming days to invest 300
million shekels (around USD 69 million) in an anti-Qassam rocket and
anti-Katyusha rocket defense system under development system under
development by Rafael -- Israel's Armament Development Authority.
In the body of the article, a sum of USD 300,000 is cited.

Israel Radio quoted Vice PM Shimon Peres as saying on Tuesday before
students at Cornell University that settlements should be
concentrated on approximately 8 percent of the West Bank land, while
the Palestinians would be compensated with land outside the West
Bank, so that they would have almost 100 percent compensation.
Peres was quoted as saying that the Palestinians agree to such an
arrangement. Peres also said that Israel admits to erring when it
made use of cluster bombs during the recent Lebanon War.

Ha'aretz reported on rumors currently flying in Washington that, in
his speech on Monday. Olmert hinted that he plans to release jailed
Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. The newspaper noted that some
American officials believe that Barghouti's release could improve
the prospects of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Israel Radio quoted
Barghouti as saying that he has only met with Arab Knesset members.
Barghouti denied recent reports that he met with Israeli
politicians, including FM Livni, or that he is a party in any
negotiations with Israel.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Palestinian security sources as saying
that Palestinian FM Mahmoud Zahar, who returned to the Gaza Strip
from abroad on Tuesday, brought with him nearly USD 20 million in
cash.

Yediot reported that Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin met with UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour several days ago in
order to present the moral dilemmas faced by Israel in its struggle
against Palestinian terrorism. Arbour reportedly told Diskin that
targeted assassinations are illegitimate, that Israeli restrictions
cause the Palestinian population to radicalize their views and
weaken moderate Palestinian elements, and that Israel should
compensate families of the Beit Hanun shelling victims, thus
enabling it to prove its claim that the deaths resulted from an
accident.

Ha'aretz reported that the GOI proposes to extend the Citizenship
and Entry into Israel Law (the Temporary Order known as the
"Citizenship Law") by two years, until the end of 2008, despite
harsh criticism leveled at it by the High Court of Justice. The
government seeks to expand the law to cover several "threat states,"
presumably mainly Arab and Muslim countries.

Meretz Chairman MK Yossi Beilin was quoted as saying in an interview
with Maariv that scary pronouncements by Olmert and Netanyahu on
Iran's nuclear program are "anti-Zionist" and potentially cause
Israelis to leave the country.

Yediot and The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF has created a
unit that will emulate Hizbullah fighters and Syrian soldiers for
training purposes. Israel Radio cited the Lebanese newspaper
Al-Mustaqbal as saying that Lebanese security forces have uncovered
a Syrian plan to assassinate 36 opponents of Syria in Lebanon.
Leading media cited an announcement by the Syrian government that
Omar Abdullah, a Syrian leader of the Islamic militant group Tawheed
Wajihad, blew himself up at a Syrian border post along the Lebanese
border after a gun battle with Syrian security forces on Tuesday.

The Jerusalem Post quoted AP as saying that Hizbullah denied on
Tuesday that it was raining fighters from the Mahdi Army, and Iraqi
Shi'ite militia blamed for sectarian killings in the war-torn
country.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Sudan's President Field Marshal Omar
Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir a saying on Tuesday in a video-link interview
with the newspaper that reported in Western newspapers of hundreds
of thousands dead in his country's brutal civil war were all part of
an Israeli-led worldwide conspiracy.

Leading media reported that the Jewish Agency and European Jewish
organizations will hold a mass solidarity rally today with the
kidnapped Israeli soldiers in front of the EU institutions in
Brussels.
Yediot and Maariv reported that Segolene Royal, the Socialist
contender for the French presidency, will visit Israel on Sunday.
Her announced trip follows criticism in Israel of her alleged
indifference to Israel and French Jewry.

Ha'aretz reported that the heads of the American Jewish Committee
sent Olmert an unusually harsh letter on Tuesday, warning him that
if a proposed change goes through in the Law of Return (of Jews to
Israel) excluding converts in the definition of a Jew, it could
seriously impair support for Israel among American Jews.

Ha'aretz reported that a group of Israeli organizations headed by
Pensioners' Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan, who holds the Diaspora
affairs portfolio, announced this week that Israel wants the right
to appoint half the members of the executive of the Conference on
Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, a US-based organization that
represents world Jewry and Holocaust survivors in their negotiations
over reparations from Germany. Eitan estimates the Claims
Conference's financial reserves at some USD 1.7 billion. Every
year, the conference gives grants totaling about USD 90 million to
organizations worldwide that help Holocaust survivors or are
involved in Holocaust education and remembrance. About half of this
money goes to Israeli organizations.

All media highlighted the open-ended general strike in the public
sector, which started at 06:00 local time today. The strike is over
withheld wages of workers in some local authorities. Traffic at the
country's airports and seaports will be brought to a halt.

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Mideast:
--------

Summary:
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Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote on page one of the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Iraq, the mammoth in the middle
of the room, is the key issue of [President Bush's] visit [to
Jordan]. However important, anything else is no more than a side
show."

Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the editorial of the
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Instead of pursuing
the illusion of a 'political horizon' with Hamas ... the Israeli
government could have and should launch negotiations with an Arab
government that is willing to have full peace with us, meaning
Syria. This is the only attainable peace."
Ha'aretz editorialized: "The cease-fire will be able to take hold
only if it applies to both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv: "If Israel accepts to hold negotiations with the Palestinian
Authority without insisting on the respect of the first clause [of
the Roadmap], it will place itself into a dangerous Catch-22
situation."

Gidi Grinstein, founder and president of the Re'ut Institute
(www.reut-institute.org), who served on the Israeli delegation to
the negotiations with the PLO from 1999 to 2001, wrote in the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "What is better for
Israel: a functioning Hamas government in the Palestinian Authority
that may serve as an 'address' or the imminent total breakdown of
Palestinian governance?"

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

I. "Summit of Fear"

Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote on page one of the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/29): "Iraq, the mammoth in
the middle of the room, is the key issue of [President Bush's] visit
[to Jordan]. However important, anything else is no more than a
side show.... [Jordan's King] Abdullah's fear [of a civil war in
Iraq] is backed by frightening figures. Iraqi refugees are
inundating Jordan at an overwhelming pace -- they add up to almost
one million. On Tuesday the King added a new concern to this
anxiety: He warned about developments that would cause residents of
the Palestinian West Bank to settle in Jordan, too. He said that he
would not allow this.... [Since outgoing State Department adviser
Philip Zelikow linked a few months ago the solution of the Iran
crisis to progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track] there has been
no real advance in both those arenas.... Bush's visit to Jordan will
certainly not be the harbinger of a breakthrough."

II. "Tell Me the Truth"

Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the editorial of the
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/29): "Hamas is
perceived as the organization that holds the key to calm in the
Middle East, and therefore it is necessary to put up with it. And
the Israeli government is indeed accepting it.... Like thieves in
the night, without any in-depth public debate and without asking the
citizens, the Israeli government has accepted as an established fact
the legitimate control of Hamas over the Palestinian Authority, and
the necessity of reaching arrangements with it -- without Hamas, for
its part, having agreed to accept even one of the conditions set for
recognizing Israel or speaking with Israel, as formulated by us.
From Israel's side, the die has been cast, and it would be best for
the government to act with transparency and to speak the truth:
Hamas is from now on the official Palestinian partner for dialogue.
Abu Mazen is good as a cardboard policeman who has been placed by
the roadside for the duration of President Bush's visit to the
Middle East. When Bush goes, Abu Mazen will be folded up....
Neither Ehud Olmert nor Abu Mazen, Marwan Barghouti, nor even Ismail
Haniyeh come out as winners from the critical confrontation between
the Israeli government and the Hamas government. The winner is
Khaled Mashal, a terrorist activist, a dark and fanatic figure, who
has been the target of an Israeli assassination more than once.
Instead of pursuing the illusion of a 'political horizon' with
Hamas, the result of which is issuing Hamas a certificate of
legitimacy, the Israeli government could have and should launch
negotiations with an Arab government that is willing to have full
peace with us, meaning Syria. This is the only attainable peace."

III. "Cease the Fire in the West Bank, Too"

Ha'aretz editorialized (11/29): "The cease-fire will be able to take
hold only if it applies to both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
It is impossible to separate what happens in these two places:
Every military operation in the West Bank is liable to draw a
response from Gaza, and vice versa.... Anyone who wants to give the
cease-fire a chance must impose maximum restraint on himself....
This is the time to demonstrate openness and generosity. Israel
must give the cease-fire a chance, and not bring about its collapse
through unnecessary military operations, as has happened more than
once with past cease-fires. The order of the day must now be: Cease
the fire, both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank."

IV. "A Palestinian Terror State"

Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv (11/29): "The [Israeli] public does not feel that the
cease-fire with the Palestinians constitutes a real turning-point
that may lead to a matter-of-fact dialogue towards a peace
agreement. Israel has more than once experienced cease-fires that
were used by terrorist organizations to rearm; they did not contain
an expression of willingness to negotiate over any concession....
Now that a cease-fire, the length no one can assess, has been
reached, there is a concern that the European states will view it as
an achievement that has to be maintained and pressure Israel into
agreeing to hold negotiations unconditionally. From this point of
view it would be worthwhile to follow the understandings that will
be reached at President Bush's upcoming meeting with King Abdullah
in Amman. If Israel accepts to hold negotiations with the
Palestinian Authority without insisting on the respect of the first
clause [of the Roadmap -- the termination of violence against
Israel], it will place itself into a dangerous Catch-22 situation:
Israel will be required to make concessions in order to allow the
establishment of a Palestinian state, with the extremist terrorist
organizations remaining in place, without receiving any authority,
and state-of-the-art weapons they are amassing in huge quantities
continuing to threaten Israel."

V. "The Axis of Resistance"

Gidi Grinstein, founder and president of the Re'ut Institute
(www.reut-institute.org), who served on the Israeli delegation to
the negotiations with the PLO from 1999 to 2001, wrote in the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (11/29): "Some moderates in
the region are beginning to frame America as a liability and to
hedge their bets with the new 'hegemone' in Tehran. Unless the US
throws many more resources into the problem or establishes clear
priorities, it may experience a domino effect from Afghanistan to
Cairo. This may compromise Israel in ways that resemble the impact
of the decline of the Soviet empire on its Arab proteges. In the
present strategic makeup, Israel's paths toward securing its
existence in the region have been effectively blocked while the
vision of an Islamic, Arab or Palestinian state in its place is
advanced.... Israel has to question some working assumptions that
have been taken for granted for too long. For example, what is
better for Israel: a functioning Hamas government in the Palestinian
Authority that may serve as an 'address' or the imminent total
breakdown of Palestinian governance? Which is more important:
preserving Israel's freedom of action or creating closer alliance
with moderate Arab countries that are also compromised by radical
Shi'ite Islam? Is the establishment of a Palestinian state an
Israeli concession or an Israeli interest? There is no silver
bullet here. It is time for Israel to be relevant again and to
shape our national security."

JONES

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