Cablegate: Israel Media Reaction

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DE RUEHTV #2601/01 2401033
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281033Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 2655
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 9359
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2733
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3450
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 2685
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0676
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 3416
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0288
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0754
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 7340
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4774
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 9687
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 3845
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 5787
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 7767
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002601

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
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

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

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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All media reported on today's meeting in Jerusalem between PM Ehud
Olmert and PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, which Israel Radio
said started this afternoon. Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post said
that the rescue by PA security personnel of an IDF officer who lost
his way in the West Bank Jenin on Monday and found himself in Jenin
will likely be acknowledged and improve the atmosphere. Leading
media reported that FM Livni thanked Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad for
the rescue during a meeting on Monday. The Jerusalem Post quoted
Livni as saying: "These types of actions prove the growing strength
of the Palestinian government and its forces in the field against
terrorism."

Yediot quoted PM Olmert as saying on Monday: "We are nearing the
moment of truth in the dialogue between us [with the Palestinians],
and today's meeting is expected to be of a definitive character."
Ha'aretz quoted a senior GOI official as saying that the framework
of discussions between Israel and the PA will be expanded to include
the establishment of negotiating teams for each side, which will
discuss the agreement of principles to be prepared ahead of the
peace "summit" in November. The newspaper's Web site later reported
that Chairman Abbas voiced concern on Monday that much has yet to be
agreed to before the international conference in November. He was
quoted as saying that the conference would be a "waste of time" if
it stuck to a "declaration of principles" -- a phrase used by some
Israeli officials to describe what they may offer in answer to
demands for the rapid, final negotiation of a Palestinian state.
Abbas was quoted as saying that he is still unsure about the timing,
participants, and agenda of the planned meeting. "There are no
answers to these questions," he was quoted as saying after talking
with the Secretary of State by telephone. "I spoke with Dr.
Condoleezza Rice today and she has no answers either." Makor
Rishon-Hatzofe quoted a senior GOI source as saying that the gaps
between the sides and the leaders' unsteady status are preventing
the formation of an agreement.

The Jerusalem Post quoted US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad
as saying on Monday in an interview with the Austrian daily Die
Presse that the Middle East and Islamic civilization are so unstable
now that they could draw the world's nations into another global
war.

Maariv reported that Saudi Arabia has informed the US that,
considering progress accomplished between PM Olmert and Chairman
Abbas regarding an agreement of principles, it will consider coming
to the Washington meeting.

All media reported that today is the 21st birthday of abducted IDF
Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Ha'aretz quoted an Israeli advocacy group for
abducted soldiers as saying that his father, Noam Shalit, has been
attempting to get the leading Hamas newspaper to print a birthday
letter to Gilad, but that the editor has refused to run it. Major
media reported that Hamas has suggested that Israel release 1,000
women and minors from jail in exchange for a video recording of
Gilad Shalit. A TV commentator noted that those prisoners have
"blood on their hands."

Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Abu-Yusef, a senior Palestinian officer
in the PA's Force 17, as saying in an interview with Israeli
journalist Aharon Lerner from the conservative Web site IMRA that
the training that his forces received from the US allowed them to
kill over 1,000 Israelis during the 2000 Intifada and defeat Israel
in Gaza.

Maariv cited the concern of the Israeli defense establishment that
Pakistan might become a bigger threat to Israel than Iran, because
Muslim extremists might destabilize President Musharraf's regime.
Maariv cited fears that Pakistan will give Iran nuclear weapons.
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday Pakistan accused UN
watchdog groups of launching a "smear campaign" to discredit the
upcoming 2009 UN anti-racism conference.

Ha'aretz, Yediot, Maariv, and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted French
President Nicolas Sarkozy as saying on Sunday in his first major
foreign policy speech since he was elected in May: "I have the
reputation of being a friend of Israel and it is true. I will never
compromise on Israel's security." He was further quoted as saying
that the "establishment of Hamastan in the Gaza Strip might be the
first stage in the takeover of all Palestinian territories by
radical Muslims. We cannot allow that."

Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak
as saying on Monday that Hizbullah has about 20,000 rockets and
missiles of various ranges, more than it did prior to the Second
Lebanon War. He was speaking before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee.

Leading media reported that new digs by the Muslim Waqf on the
Temple Mount endanger the vestiges of the Jewish Temples.

All media reported on controversy aroused by remarks made on Monday
in a radio broadcast by Shas party Rabbi Ovadia Yosef that secular
IDF troops die in war because they do not observe the Sabbath.
Several media quoted Yosef as saying that he was misunderstood.

Ha'aretz reported that Iran has joined a scientific project in which
Israel is already a standing member. The Jordan-based Special Sensor
Microwave Imager (SSMI) project aims to build a synchrotron particle
accelerator for advanced research in medicine and the life sciences.
Financed by the EU and Jordan, the project aims to advance regional
cooperation through science. Iran joined as a standing member of
SSMI two years ago.

Ha'aretz reported that the message carried by Martin Luther King
III, the son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during his current visit
to Israel was "bland," except for his declaration that the use of
civil disobedience is irrelevant today. Instead, he recommended
using the Internet to spread the message of nonviolence.

Leading media reported that Gad Yaacobi, a former cabinet minister
and ambassador to the UN, passed away in Toronto on Monday at age
72.

Yediot highlighted the poor state of the Labor Party's finances.

Yediot reported that respected Egyptian actor Amr Waked might be
prosecuted in his country for playing alongside Israelis in a BBC
series about Saddam Hussein's life.

The media reported that on Monday Bank of Israel Governor Stanley
Fischer tightened monetary policy and raised the central bank
interest rate by 0.25 percent to 4 percent.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Israel ... is continuing to hold
negotiations with the only partner left.... The problem is that all
this effort appears to be virtually hopeless in light of Fatah's
failure."

Yehuda Bauer, Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, wrote about West Bank settlers in Ha'aretz:
"There are two states; one committed to a Western democratic
government, and the other committed to extremist, messianic
religious rule."

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The
continued captivity of Shalit is an outrage. Abbas, who has
garnered Israeli and international backing as the exemplar of
moderation, can use today's meeting as a platform to demand Shalit's
release."

Jonathan S. Tobin, Executive Editor of The Jewish Exponent in
Philadelphia, wrote in The Jerusalem Post: "Extremist Muslims are a
genuine threat to both peace and the West; while most settlers are
no threat to anyone and are, if anything, among the primary victims
of Muslim terror."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Much Ado"

Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (8/28): "Israel -- realizing that it must help
Abbas as much as is possible -- is continuing to hold negotiations
with the only partner left. The IDF is also getting involved in
trying to save the Abbas government, such as by maintaining the Erez
crossing [into the Gaza Strip], on the assumption that this will
hamper Hamas sovereignty in Gaza and win points for Abbas. The
problem is that all this effort appears to be virtually hopeless in
light of Fatah's failure to become stronger in either the West Bank
or Gaza and the continuing trend of radicalization in Palestinian
society.... Abbas and his Fatah movement face another obstacle,
which was raised by the deputy director of the Shin Bet security
service at the cabinet meeting on Sunday. If Hamas suspects that a
breakthrough in the Olmert-Abbas talks is imminent, it will try to
disrupt the process by carrying out terror attacks from the West
Bank.... The situation in Gaza is a lot worse.... With [improved
military] equipment and with the close guidance of Hizbullah, it is
no wonder that Hamas is moving forward with attempted attacks that
are becoming ever more daring."

II. "Who's in Charge in the West Bank"

Yehuda Bauer, Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, wrote in Ha'aretz (8/28): "Israel does not
control the several hundred thousand Jewish settlers in the West
Bank. They accept Israeli rule only to the extent that it works in
their favor. When they think it does not, then in the best-case
scenario they ignore it; otherwise, they succeed in resisting it....
There are two states; one committed to a Western democratic
government, and the other committed to extremist, messianic
religious rule.... There is no truth to the well-known tradition
that the Second Temple was destroyed due to baseless hatred or
internecine rivalry. The Temple was destroyed because religious,
messianic extremists forced the nation to rebel against a global
empire that it had no chance of defeating.... There may be a
scenario (an imaginary one) in which a radical religious minority
thwarts peace because the fanatic political assassins of the Second
Temple period have found worthy successors."

III. "Shalit's Birthday"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (8/28):
"Today is Cpl. Gilad Shalit's 21st birthday, his second in
captivity.... Hamas knew exactly what it was doing when it released
an audiotape from Shalit on June 25, the fist anniversary of the
kidnapping.... Monday was the turn of Ahmed Youssef, an aide to
Hamas's 'prime minister,' Ismail Haniyeh, who said in an interview
with Israel Radio that if Israel freed Palestinian women and
children from jail (he didn't say how many), Hamas might release a
videotape of Shalit revealing his current condition as a 'gesture of
goodwill'.... The continued captivity of Shalit is an outrage.
Abbas, who has garnered Israeli and international backing as the
exemplar of moderation, can use today's meeting as a platform to
demand Shalit's release, to condemn Hamas for holding him, and to
underline the damage caused to Palestinian interests by the ongoing
acts of terrorism, including Shalit's imprisonment, carried out or
fostered by Hamas. If followed by long-required action against
terrorism that would improve security for both Israelis and
Palestinians and begin to enable a return to substantive dialogue,
this would be a fine birthday present for Shalit and, it is to be
hoped, the beginning of a speedy process leading to his release."

IV. "CNN's False Symmetry"

Jonathan S. Tobin, Executive Editor of The Jewish Exponent in
Philadelphia, wrote in The Jerusalem Post (8/28): "[In the age of
political correctness], we are asked to pretend that there is an
intrinsic connection, or even symmetry, between Christian, Jewish,
and Muslim extremists. That was exactly the premise of a widely
heralded three-part series on CNN last week. Titled 'God's Holy
Warriors' and fronted by international correspondent Christiane
Amanpour, it was a triptych across the globe to highlight the danger
from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian extremists, who are all given the
same treatment and air-time in the guise of even-handedness....
Extremist Muslims are a genuine threat to both peace and the West;
while most settlers are no threat to anyone and are, if anything,
among the primary victims of Muslim terror. As for Evangelical
Christians, who were the targets of Amanpour's third program, most
American Jews may disagree with most of their political positions
but, to date, they have launched no terror attacks, nor do they plan
any. Any analogy between them and Islamists is the figment of
Amanpour's fevered imagination. If anything, their main sin, in the
eyes of many Western apologists for the Islamists, seems to be their
support for Jewish victims of Arab terror. CNN cannot be allowed to
get away with this sort of despicable bias. Decent persons of all
faiths need to speak out against this network and make sure that it,
and its arrogant star Amanpour, are made to hear of our outrage at
every possible opportunity and in every way possible, including the
use of economic leverage by both sponsors and viewers."

JONES

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