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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1. Mideast

2. Iran

3. U.S.-Israel Relations

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Key stories in the media:
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The media reported that yesterday PM Benjamin Netanyahu told the
cabinet that he would like to resume direct negotiations with the PA
following the U.N. General Assembly meeting in late September. A
senior diplomatic source in Jerusalem told HaQaretz yesterday that
the U.S. has informed Israel that it is interested in assuming the
role of "active mediator" during the talks, and in having Qa place
at the negotiating table." However, FM Avigdor Lieberman told
reporters yesterday that he sees no chance of peace. "In the 16
years since the Oslo Accords, we haven't managed to bring peace to
the region, and I'm willing to bet that there won't be peace in
another 16 years, either. Certainly not on the basis of the
two-state solution," Lieberman was quoted as saying. Referring to
President ObamaQs vision, Lieberman also noted: "The establishment
of a Palestinian state within two years is an unrealistic goal."

HaQaretz quoted sources close to the PM as saying they hope that if
an understanding is reached regarding settlement construction, a
three-way meeting could be held with President Obama and PA
President Mahmoud Abbas at the U.N.

This afternoon, Netanyahu will travel to London where he will meet
on Wednesday with U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George
Mitchell, in order to continue the discussion on the
administration's demands for confidence-building measures between
Israel and the Arab world. The U.S. is demanding that Israel freeze
temporarily construction in the settlements, and is asking the Arab
world to begin normalizing ties with Israel immediately. The media
reported that Netanyahu told the cabinet yesterday that his meeting
with Mitchell in London is not expected to be the final one, and
stressed that more meetings will be necessary before peace talks can
begin. "The discussions with Mitchell are just the beginning of a
series of talks and exchanges that have been going on intensively
recently, and in good spirits," the PM said. "There has been some
progress, even though there is no absolute agreement. There is an
attempt to minimize the degree of disagreement and discuss matters
in a much more positive atmosphere. There is a wish to hold direct
talks between us and the Palestinians, even though this depends on
the understandings with the Americans and the Palestinians,"
Netanyahu told his cabinet colleagues. The media reported that
Netanyahu held a meeting of his inner cabinet on Thursday night in
which Qsignificant progressQ: was reported in negotiations with the
U.S. over a settlement freeze.

HaQaretz recalled that the U.S. would like to be given guarantees by
Israel that it will freeze settlement construction for at least a
year, while Israel is offering a six-month hiatus. The newspaper
cited the assessment of a diplomatic source in Jerusalem that a
compromise of 9-12 months will be reached for construction in the
West Bank, but will not include East Jerusalem or most of the 2,500
housing units whose construction has already commenced. Media
quoted Peace Now as saying on Saturday that construction in the
Jewish areas of the West Bank dropped 1.5 percent in the first half
of 2009, compared to the second half of 2008. Speaking on Israel
Radio this morning, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat blasted
the stateQs response to High Court of Justice rulings on the topic
of illegal construction in the West Bank. Tzali Reshef, a founding
member of Peace Now, countered her allegations.

HaQaretz reported that Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is
due to visit Israel next week to meet with political leaders.
HaQaretz reported that Netanyahu spoke with Jordan's King Abdullah
Sunday afternoon, and greeted him for the Holy Month of Ramadan,
which commenced on August 22. The King reiterated the significance
of the Arab Peace Initiative and said that "the negotiations must be
resumed as soon as possible in order to resolve the dispute."

The PM is traveling to London at a time when domestically the
political scene is relatively calm and his coalition appears to be
stable. In the Forum of Six, the group of senior ministers in which
sensitive political-security issues are discussed, there is
unusually vocal opposition, and some of the participants are even
urging Netanyahu onward toward progress on the diplomatic front.

Leading media reported that, in an op-ed article in The Los Angeles
Times last week, Ben-Gurion University political science instructor

Neve Gordon called for boycott of, divestment in, and sanctions
against Israel, which he dubbed an Qapartheid state.Q The article
sparked controversy in the U.S. and Israel.

Leading media reported that the first battery of the Israeli QIron
DomeQ short-range missile defense system will be operational in June
2010.

All media cited outcry in Argentina and Israel following Iranian
President Mahmoud AhmadinejadQs choice of Ahmad Vahidi as his
defense minister. Vahidi is wanted in the 1994 bombing of a Buenos
Aires Jewish cultural center.

The media reported that on Friday President Obama greeted the
Muslims on the occasion of the Ramadan and spoke of his Qunyielding
support for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.

HaQaretz reported that a delegation of Egyptian intelligence
officials met this weekend with senior Hamas figures in Damascus.
The newspaper said that they discussed the Gilad Shalit issue.

Yediot reported that the residents of the Bnei Adam settlement
outpost decided over the weekend to remove the three trailers on the
site voluntarily, as suggested to them two weeks ago.

Leading media quoted President Shimon Peres as saying in an
interview published yesterday in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai that
Israel "knows that Hizbullah has 80,000 rockets." He stressed,
however, that Israel had no interest in going to war with Lebanon
and that all differences between Syria, Lebanon, and Israel could be
solved by negotiations. The President also accused Hizbullah of
ruining Lebanon.

Citing an internal memo from a senior Tourism Ministry official,
HaQaretz reported that the Interior Ministry promised the Tourism
Ministry last week that tourists who declare that they intend to
enter only the Palestinian Authority will have their passports
stamped "Palestinian Authority only," while tourists who declare
they intend to visit both Israel and the Palestinian Authority will
have their passports stamped with a regular B2 tourist visa.

HaQaretz quoted Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), the Chairman of the U.S.
House of RepresentativesQ Foreign Affairs Committee, as saying last
week during a closed meeting with Jewish leaders in Los Angeles,
that the Obama administration is making a mistake in demanding that
Israel completely freeze construction in the settlements.

Leading media reported that Jewish construction in the East
Jerusalem of Ras El-Amud (according to HaQaretz, this would be East
JerusalemQs largest settlement yet) might become a new contentious
issue between the U.S. and Israel.

The media reported that Egypt is demanding that Israel apologize
after IDF troops shot an Egyptian soldier patrolling the border,
mistaking him for a terrorist. In an unrelated development, Maariv
reported that PM Netanyahu has promised Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak no to oppose the appointment of the Egyptian Culture
Minister to the Post of UNESCO Secretary-General. In exchange,
Egypt started reconstruction work on CairoQs Synagogue on Saturday.

HaQaretz reported that the IDF is setting up a separate military
court for West Bank youths. Until now, adults and minors were
judged by the same legal authorities.

HaQaretz reported that Vice PM and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe
YaQalon and FM Lieberman will travel to the U.S. next month to
deliver PR lectures for Israel. HaQaretz reported that the Israel
Project, a pro-Israel lobbying group in the U.S., has launched a
project intent on shifting the focus of the Obama administration
away from West Bank settlements, claiming they are not an obstacle
to peace and that their evacuation would amount to "ethnic
cleansing."

Israel Hayom reported that FM Lieberman will support the creation of
a new alliance comprising nations that have common interests with
Israel. Lieberman ruled out RussiaQs participation in such a
partnership, due to its many conflicts of interests with Israel.

Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported on an QIslamic- and American-funded
construction impetus in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The media reported that yesterday PM Netanyahu called yesterday for
the Swedish Government to condemn an article in a Stockholm
newspaper suggesting IDF troops harvested the organs of Palestinians
they killed. HaQaretz quoted an official present at the weekly
cabinet session as saying that Netanyahu told his ministers he did
not expect the Swedish government to apologize for the article in
the tabloid Aftonbladet, but that he did not expect it to take a
stand. "We're not asking the Swedish Government for an apology,
we're asking for their condemnation," the official quoted Netanyahu
as saying. The PM added that the story was "reminiscent of medieval
libels that Jews killed Christian children for their blood," the
official was quoted as saying. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt
has already rejected Israeli calls for an official condemnation.
However, some sources in Jerusalem expressed satisfaction over an
entry in the personal blog of Sweden's FM, which led some here to
believe the official stance in Stockholm has softened. The media
also reported that, during an address to students at the University
Center in the settlement town of Ariel, FM Lieberman blasted Norway
for celebrating the 150th birthday of Knut Hamsun, a noted Norwegian
writer who demonstrated Nazi sympathies.

All media reported that yesterday, following a compromise agreed
upon by High Court of Justice President Dorit Beinisch and others,
the Judicial Appointments Committee appointed three new justices --
BeinischQs favorite candidate Uzi Vogelman; U.S.-born, religious
judge Neal Hendel; and Isaac Amit, who comes from a religious
background.

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1. Mideast:
------------

Block Quotes:
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"Focus on the Essence"

The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (8/24):
QStopping the momentum of construction and settlement expansion in
the West Bank is not an Israeli concession to the Americans or the
Palestinians. Rather, it is in Israel's own interest.... Israel must
freeze construction without circumventions and provocations. A
construction freeze is not the goal, but the means to helping reach
the essence: an Israeli-Palestinian agreement to end hostilities and
the realization of the two-state solution, which even the Prime
Minister now supports. In his meeting this week with Mitchell,
Netanyahu needs to focus on removing obstacles that delay the
renewal of talks with the Palestinians, instead of continuing to
insist on limited construction in the settlements. If Netanyahu
wants an agreement with the Palestinians, as he promised, he must
save his political strength for the unavoidable conflict with his
partners on the right -- not wear it down in detrimental feuding
with the United States.

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2. Iran:
---------

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

"Iran and Syria: So Happy Together"

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (8/24): QOnce Iran gets
nuclear weapons, which is on the horizon, the alliance's value for
Syria will rise dramatically. This is why it was silly for U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to suggest recently: QGiven
what's been going on in Iran and the instability that appears to be
present there, it may not be in Syria's interest to put their eggs
into that basket.Q Well, Assad apparently doesn't agree with her.
Perhaps she should listen to what he's saying and watch what he's
doing in order to draw the opposite conclusion.... Iran and Syria,
along with their clients, are at war with America, and the U.S.
Government doesn't even know it. That's why [Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei remarked, QAmerica's blade has become
blunter in the region.Q He's right. That's why if anyone is
worried about putting all the eggs in one basket, nowadays it is
America's Arab partners. The fact that the U.S. is perceived as
weaker and foolish in the region is far more important than the fact
that Obama might be more popular in public opinion polls. With a
U.S. Government so intent on apologizing to everyone, all but ruling
out the use of force or power politics and apparently -- in Iran's
perception -- afraid to confront its enemies, they're concluding in
Teheran and Damascus, as Ahmadinejad put it: QToday the world has
realized that Western theories are not working anymore and that is
why it needs the help and cooperation of Syria and Iran.Q An
increase in economic sanctions, which is the main U.S. plan against
Iran at present, is not going to change this perception -- or
Teheran's behavior. But before effective action can be taken, there
must be the realization that a conflict is going on, one that is far
more important than the one between the U.S. and al-Qaida.
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3. U.S.-Israel Relations:
--------------------------

Block Quotes:
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I. "Huckabee IsnQt an Oddity"

Columnist Shmuel Rosner, who was HaQaretzQs correspondent in
Washington, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (8/24): QThe
[U.S. presidential elections are still remote -- only in 2012.
Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to look at the numbers [of the
polls]: Obama -- 47 percent; [Mike] Huckabee -- 44 percent. The gap
isnQt big. Huckabee presents the most attractive alternative to
Obama.... Last year, when he competed in the Republican Party
primaries ... he made some pronouncements that were far more unusual
than expected: he favors a Palestinian state -- if it is established
in Egypt or in Saudi Arabia, but not in the Land of Israel [Israel,
including the territories]. All in all, he said at the time: QThere
is no such thing as a PalestinianQ.... It is hard to guess whether
he will persist in his diplomatic rebellion, even after a victory in
the elections. But if he wins his partyQs nomination, it will be
meaningful to watch his debates with Obama. After many years when
debates on the Israeli-Palestinian issue have been encapsulated by:
QI agree, but,Q candidates facing the American voters will just
disagree Q even substantially.

II. "J StreetQs Dangerous Detour to the White House"

Lenny Ben-David, who served as a senior diplomat in the Israeli
Embassy in Washington and a member of AIPACQs staff in Washington
and Jerusalem from 1992 to 1997, wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (8/24): QYasser Arafat sought peace with
Israel, Jeremiah was a bullfrog, the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale,
Brutus was an honorable man, and J Street is a pro-Israel
organization. Not.... Is the press reluctant to challenge an
organization that has emerged as U.S. President Barack ObamaQs Qtoy
JewsQ?.... Why should a National Iranian American Council board
member give at least $10,000 to J Street PAC? Perhaps it is because
of the very close relationship between the two organizations....
Does J Street's leadership perpetrate fraud when it portrays itself
as pro-Israel to pro-Israel and anti-Israel audiences at the same
time?.... Only opening all of its financial books will give J Street
the kosher certification the progressive, pro-Israel, pro-peace
community deserves.

MORENO

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