Cablegate: Israel Media Reaction

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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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The media cited a statement released on Tuesday by PM Ehud Olmert's
office that Israel has Israel is "disappointed" with the list of
prisoners Palestinians are demanding in exchange for captured IDF
soldier Gilad Shalit. The statement said Olmert convened a meeting
of senior officials and intelligence commanders Tuesday afternoon to
discuss the list, and expressed disappointment and reservations. It
also said there has been some progress in negotiations, but the road
to completion is still long. The Jerusalem Post quoted GOI
officials in Jerusalem as saying that there is no guarantee that the
Durmush clan in the southern Gaza Strip, believed to be one of the
groups holding kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, will free him even if
Egypt succeeds in brokering a swap for Palestinian security
prisoners. The sources were quoted as saying that there was no
certainty that the clan would obey Damascus-based Hamas head Khaled
Mashal if he told them to release Shalit. Israel Radio quoted Arab
sources in Cairo as saying that jailed Fatah/Tanzim leader Marwan
Barghouti is not included in the list of Palestinian prisoners that
was allegedly presented to Israel. The media reported that on
Tuesday the Almagor Terror Victims Association urged Olmert not to
free terrorists for Shalit.

Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's political
adviser Nimmer Hamad as saying on Tuesday in an interview with Al
Arabiya-TV that Abbas and Olmert will start their twice-monthly
meetings next week. Hamad was quoted as saying that during the
meeting, Abbas intends to raise the contested issues delaying
agreement on a future permanent agreement between Israel and the PA.
According to Hamad, the issues include the question of Jerusalem,
the borders of the future Palestinian state, the refugees, and other
problems affecting the lives of Palestinian citizens, among them
humanitarian conditions. The prime objective of the talks,
according to Hamad, is to help build trust between the two parties.
He added that the meetings were meant to reach a "political
horizon". In conclusion, Hamad called on Israel "not to delay
contacts toward Shalit's release."
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday a Shas party spokesman
rejected Rabbi David Yosef's claim that his father, Shas mentor
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, supports releasing Palestinian security
prisoners "with blood on their hands" in exchange for Shalit. The
spokesman was quoted as saying that Ovadia Yosef was waiting to
receive an intelligence update from party chairman Eli Yishai before
issuing a final decision. Earlier Tuesday, David Yosef reiterated
that his father supported such a move.

All media continued to report on MK Azmi Bishara's stay abroad:
Ha'aretz and other media reported that on Tuesday Bishara (Balad -
National Democratic Assembly) left Jordan for a tour of Europe.
Ha'aretz quoted sources in his party as saying that he will visit
Spain and France and participate in international conferences. He
will then travel to a conference in Bahrain, and then possibly to
India. Media reported that Bishara met with Jordanian FM Abdelelah
al-Khatib. Ha'aretz said that the Balad-associated Web site Arabs48
reported the two discussed regional events. Ha'aretz and other
media wrote that on Tuesday Balad continued to claim vehemently that
the rumors that Bishara is planning not to return to Israel are
unfounded.

Leading media reported that an Israeli civilian was moderately
wounded on Tuesday in a shooting attack west of the settlement of
Kedumim near Nablus. The wounded man, a resident of the settlement
of Emmanuel, was standing at a transport station when he was wounded
by a bullet fired from a passing Palestinian vehicle, apparently
carrying large amounts of weapons.

Citing press agencies, Ha'aretz, The Jerusalem Post, and Hatzofe
quoted a State Department official as saying on Tuesday that USD 59
million in US aid to help the Palestinian security forces has
cleared congressional hurdles and is now ready to spend. The
official was quoted as saying that the package, reduced from USD 86
million to avoid having some of the money go to radical groups, met
with no objections from lawmakers and will soon be distributed to
security organizations controlled by Abbas. "We are now approved to
spend this money," the official was quoted as saying, speaking on
condition of anonymity because a formal statement on the matter had
not yet been made. The media reported that the State Department
notified Congress of the revised package on March 23, and under
rules for such notifications, the program is implemented 15 days
later unless lawmakers file objections ahead of the deadline. The
money includes USD 43.4 million in non-lethal training and equipment
for Abbas's presidential guard and USD 16 million to upgrade Karni
Crossing.

Israel Radio reported that Defense Minister Amir Peretz has ordered
Yosef Mishlav, the coordinator of GOI Actions in the Territories, to
evacuate the house that settlers are occupying in Hebron. The radio
said that the IDF will carry out the order in two weeks. This
morning Israel Radio reported that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz
turned down Peretz's request that the house be evacuated
immediately.

Ha'aretz reported that on Tuesday PA police officials denied Shin
Bet claims that a Hamas operative who intended to carry out a
suicide attack during Passover had managed to infiltrate Tel Aviv
from Qalqilya last month in a car laden with about 100 kilograms of
explosives. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday Israeli
defense officials called for a revision of security procedures at
IDF checkpoints in the West Bank. The Jerusalem Post reported that
most checkpoints lack bomb-detection systems.

Leading media reported that on Tuesday the High Court of Justice
gave the state five more days to prepare in response to a petition
demanding that it publish the censored testimonies of the PM,
Defense Minister, and former chief of staff to the Winograd
Commission probing the Second Lebanon War before the commission
releases its interim report later this month.

Maariv cited the London-based daily Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat as quoting a
senior official in Paris as saying that France has warned Iran about
a possible attack against its nuclear installations by the end of
the year if it continues its nuclear program.

Ha'aretz said that agricultural connections are being forged in
secret between Israel and a number of Southeast Asian Muslim

SIPDIS
countries. The recent contacts are with nations that do not have
diplomatic relations with Israel, and have also previously avoided
economic relations. Ha'aretz reported that Indonesia, the largest
of these countries, recently approved the travel of a large
delegation of businessmen and agricultural experts to the privately
run Agro-Mashov agricultural exhibition to be held in Tel Aviv on
April 18-19.

The Jerusalem Post reported that, following years of deliberations
and as one of the many lessons drawn from the Second Lebanon War,
the IDF has decided to establish a new command that will unite and
be responsible for utilization and operations of all Israeli special
forces.

Major media reported that on Tuesday the police interrogated PM
Olmert for four hours about the Tax Authority bribing scandal.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the full-feature documentary,
"Withdrawal From Gaza," which offers a sympathetic portrait of the
Gush Katif settlers, premiered in Los Angeles on March 23 "to
skeptical local reviews."

All media quoted Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter as saying on
Tuesday that Central District head Cmdr. David (Dudi) Cohen is his
candidate to be the Israeli Police's next inspector-general.

Yediot cited the results of a poll conducted in Switzerland by the
local statistics institute GFS: 54 percent of the Swiss public
believes that religious fanatics rule Israel; 50 percent of the
Swiss believe that Israel runs a "war of extermination" against the
Palestinians in the territories.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Palestinian affairs researcher Moshe Elad, a former senior IDF
official in the West Bank and former head of Israel-PA coordination,
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "One can
only envy the way the US handles terrorists and their family
members."

Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left Palestinian
sympathizer Amira Hass opined in the independent, left-leaning
Ha'aretz: "Even though this is defined as a war, the prevailing
axiom is that the Palestinians are always 'terrorists,' even when
they act against soldiers and not civilians."

Zalman Shoval, senior Likud member and former ambassador to the US,
wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "For the first time in years, the United
States and Israel are not broadcasting on the same wavelength on
very major issues.... The American lifeline could become a millstone
for Israel."

Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in Ha'aretz: "Pelosi is
not setting independent foreign policy, but domestic policy -- feet
in Damascus, head in New Hampshire. It was not Israel's interest

nor Syria's that guided her, but the good of the Democratic party."

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "It's
hard to imagine any democracy which would abide similar outright
disloyalty, least of all a country at war and facing such
unparalleled existential threats as Israel."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Things Are Different in America"

Palestinian affairs researcher Moshe Elad, a former senior IDF
official in the West Bank and former head of Israel-PA coordination,
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (4/11):
"One can only envy the way the US handles terrorists and their
family members. America has proven over the years that it advocates
an uncompromising war against every terrorist, until he is brought
to trial. An entire system of investigators and jurists zealously
devotes itself to tireless pursuit until the criminal is brought to
justice, the money and assets of the individual and the organization
that sent him are impounded, and huge compensation suits are filed
on behalf of the victims' families. The US citizen knows that he
will never be abandoned, and that he will never be a pawn of
'confidence building measures'.... In the US, [a major terrorist]
will not be released before he finishes serving the sentence for his
heinous crimes."

II. "Prisoners or Criminals?"

Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left Palestinian
sympathizer Amira Hass opined in the independent, left-leaning
Ha'aretz (4/11): "The failing political and security mechanisms are
the ones that for years have formulated the axioms in Israel
concerning the Palestinian prisoners. The first axiom is that every
Palestinian security prisoner is a criminal.... Since the signing of
the Oslo agreement, most Israelis have been denying the fact that we
are the citizens of an occupying state. They define the current
Intifada as a war that has been declared against us by the fictive
Palestinian state. And even though this is defined as a war, the
prevailing axiom is that the Palestinians are always 'terrorists,'
even when they act against soldiers and not civilians. The
companion axiom to this is that only on our side are there
'soldiers,' even when they are sent to act against an occupied
civilian population. The common denominator of these axioms is the
distinction between blood and blood and person and person. The Jew
is always worth more, much, much more, when he is a victim, when he
is a soldier, when he is a POW. This distinction plays a
significant role in Palestinian support for the tactic of
abduction."

III. "Bush's Lifeline is Israel's Millstone"

Zalman Shoval, senior Likud member and former ambassador to the US,
wrote in Yediot Aharonot (4/11): "For the first time in years, the
United States and Israel are not broadcasting on the same wavelength
on very major issues. The American policy, in the last lap of the
Bush administration, has two main and parallel goals: To mobilize
the support of the 'moderate' Arab states, headed by Saudi Arabia,
on behalf of calm in Iraq (the aggressive speech of the Saudi King
against the US may destroy this illusion), and prevent a Shi'ite and
Iranian takeover of the Middle East and its oil. These two
objectives are not connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
but the battered administration has been forced to change its policy
and make gestures towards those, including the European Union, who
argue that linkage should be created -- even artificially -- between
the two issues, in order to appease Saudi Arabia and the Arab world
in general. In other words, any progress, even ostensible
progress, on the Israeli-Palestinian issue could provide the
Americans with a lifeline on other topics. The trouble is that the
American lifeline could become a millstone for Israel. Israel, no
less than the United States and perhaps more, is interested in the
same goals: Peace with the Arab world and blocking the increase in
Iran's strength -- but not at the excessive price demanded, for
example, by the participants of the Arab summit in Riyadh. Despite
this, Olmert has already been compelled to agree to meetings with
Abu Mazen, despite the fact that the latter continues to break all
his commitments, and despite the fact that since the forming of the
'unity government' he has effectively become a servant of Hamas.
And these pressures will mount, if the trend of pushing Israel to
accept the 'Saudi initiative' continues.... How did we reach this
unfortunate situation? Israel's political and diplomatic activity
in the past year was fraught with failures and errors. Whether
these stemmed from inexperience or from neglect, Israel's diplomatic
situation is now more complicated than ever, and at a period that is
critical for its future."

IV. "In Pelosi's Playground"

Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in Ha'aretz (4/11):
"Pelosi is not setting independent foreign policy, but domestic
policy -- feet in Damascus, head in New Hampshire. It was not
Israel's interest nor Syria's that guided her, but the good of the
Democratic party. This is not the first time that a senior
legislator has decided to sting the administration with a
high-ranking visit to a hostile capital. This is also not the first
time Israel has been used to rack up points in a domestic American
struggle. However, in the race for 2008, the risk to Israel is
increasing. The Middle East is at the center of the American
agenda. Every detail in US policy regarding Iraq, Iran, Syria,
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Hamas, radical Islam, and terror
affects Israel directly. Every detail affecting that policy is at
the center of a profound debate, at least on the rhetorical level.
This development will mandate Israel's extreme caution in talks with
the administration and Congress. Standing Israeli policy -- trying
to remain in the American political middle ground -- will be more
complicated than ever this year.... Therefore, even if Olmert is
correct in his understanding of Israel's political interest, it is
unlikely his actions reflect careful consideration of American
political sensitivity. He would have done better to hold his tongue.
From now until November 2008, it's not a good idea to get on the
seesaw in Pelosi's playground."

V. "Azmi Bishara's Primary Victims"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (4/11):
"Arab-Israeli Knesset Member Azmi Bishara of Balad -- a nonstop
source of provocative antics and brazen agitation -- has seemingly
pulled off his most riveting exploit to date by keeping this
country's entire body-politic and general public on tenterhooks,
awaiting any hint of his future plans. Will he return from his
current stay in Jordan, or will he abscond? The mystery is further
deepened by leaked reports -- despite a thick veil of official
secrecy -- of possibly severe charges in the offing against him for
'endangering Israel's security'.... Bishara had traveled to enemy
states like Syria and Lebanon on a number of occasions, and ...
proceeded to unabashedly identify with Israel's worst enemies, whom
he egged on to confront Israel. Last September, in Damascus, he
'warned' Syria's regime that 'Israel might launch a preliminary
offensive,' in an attempt 'to overcome internal crisis and restore
deterrence'.... Bishara never equivocated about his loyalties,
which invariably lay with Israel's foes. After the IDF's retreat
from Lebanon in 2000, he crowed at an Umm el-Fahm rally [in Israel]:
'Hizbullah won and for the first time since 1967 we taste victory.
Hizbullah is justly proud of its achievement in humiliating Israel.'
He later repeated the same sentiments in Damascus....Despite
[Israel's] tolerance, Bishara hectored in Beirut: 'We don't want
your [Israel's] democracy. Give us Palestine.' It's hard to
imagine any democracy which would abide similar outright disloyalty,
least of all a country at war and facing such unparalleled
existential threats as Israel.... Bishara is a potent symbol of a
radicalizing politician, who deliberately fans the flames, whips up
discord and jeopardizes Israel's fragile intercommunal equilibrium.
His radicalized electorate is in turn likely to vote for ever-more
extreme representatives, thereby triggering a truly vicious cycle.
The sooner this cycle is broken, the better Israeli Arabs would
fare. The sooner they recognize that cynical politicians
unconscionably make political capital at their expense, while doing
nothing to improve their lot, the faster Israeli Arabs will disprove
growing perceptions of them as strategic risks from within."

JONES

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