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Cablegate: Special Israel Media Reaction

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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: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
--------------------------------

1. Mideast

2. Israel-Turkey Relations

3. Iran

4. U.S.-Israel Relations

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Key stories in the media:
-------------------------

Yediot reported that Jewish Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL), an
associate of President Obama, is likely to become the United States
next ambassador to Israel. The newspaper noted that the White House
Press Office would not comment on the report.

In its lead story, HaQaretz reported that a resolution that the PA
and a group of countries intend to submit to the U.N. Human Rights
Council (UNHRC), which will deliberate over the Goldstone report on
last winter's Gaza offensive, will also deal with Jerusalem, the
Temple Mount riots, and the siege of Gaza,. According to a
diplomatic source in Jerusalem, the PA's ambassador to U.N.
institutions in Geneva, Ibrahim Khraishi, told the ambassadors of
the countries involved -- most of them Arab and Muslim -- that the
main motivation behind the Palestinian request to discuss the
Goldstone report stemmed from "Israeli provocations in Jerusalem."
The Palestinians had originally decided not to have the report
discussed. The Palestinian Ambassador said Israel must be shown
that it cannot evade international law. The new draft resolution is
entitled, "The human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem." The resolution, which Foreign
Ministry sources have described as "very extreme," has three parts:
East Jerusalem, the Goldstone report on Operation Cast Lead, and the
report by the UN's Human Rights Commissioner on conditions in Gaza.
HaQaretz quoted an official at the Israeli Foreign Ministry as
saying that the draft "will only serve to show how excessive the
Palestinian claims really are."

Leading media reported that the UNHRC will reopen the debate on the
Goldstone report in a special session in Geneva tomorrow.

The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the U.S. (Assistant
Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley) reiterated that all Quartet
demands must remain in place for dealing with any Palestinian
national unity government that might be formed, amid reports that
the sides had reached some level of misunderstanding.

Major media cited an announcement by the Syrian Defense Minister
yesterday that Turkey and his country will conduct a large-scale
joint military exercise. Yediot quoted senior Israeli defense
sources as saying that this is yet another Turkish mistake that
conveys haste and distress. HaQaretz and other media reported that
Israel seeks to lower tensions with Turkey. Israel Hayom quoted FM
Avigdor Lieberman as saying that the deterioration in relations with
Turkey Qdoes not depend on usQ and Turkey has decided to get closer
to the Qaxis of evil.

Makor Rishon-Hatzofe and Israel Radio quoted Assistant Secretary of
State Philip J. Crowley as saying yesterday at the DepartmentQs
daily briefing: QI believe that [excluding Israel from the aerial
exercise] was a Turkish decision. As to the question of whether
there was a government that was invited to participate and then
removed at the last minute, we think itQs inappropriate for any
nation to be removed from an exercise like this at the last minute.
Israel Radio and other media cited a Turkish military source as
saying in the Turkish publication Zaman that the reason for the
exerciseQs postponement was the fact that Israel failed to deliver
to Turkey drones in time. The radio quoted Israeli sources as
saying that the cause of the delay was in production problems in the
Turkish plant producing optical equipment for the UAVs.

All media reported that yesterday the IDF released photographs taken
by drone aircraft of the southern Lebanon village where a Hizbullah
arms depot exploded on Monday. The photos show persons, possibly
Hizbullah operatives, removing something resembling a 4-meter-long
missile from the depot, loading it onto a truck and moving it to a
hiding place in a different village. HaQaretz quoted a senior
Israeli military source as saying yesterday that Syria has made a
clear strategic decision to make available to Hizbullah every type
of military hardware in its arsenal. According to the same source,
the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is wary of
entering Shi'ite villages in the area and generally avoids trying to
enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which forbids Hizbullah
from having any arms inside the villages south of the Litani River.
Leading media reported that yesterday IsraelQs Ambassador to the
U.N. Gabriela Shalev filed an official complaint about those
violations with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the U.N.
Security Council. Israel Radio quoted Hizbullah as saying that the
village in question is north of the Litani River, so that it did not
breach 1701.

Major media reported that yesterday Russian FM Sergey Lavrov told
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Moscow that even threatening
new sanctions against Iran would be counterproductive.

Maariv reported that the Israeli defense establishment recently
warned IDF officers residing with their families in European cities
with a Muslim population tightly connected with Hizbullah about
possible attacks, due to the ongoing concern of revenge for the
assassination of senior Hizbullah operative Imad Mughniyah in
Damascus.

Maariv reported that council chairpersons in Judea and Samaria [i.e.
the West Bank] are starting to come to terms with the reduction in
the scope of construction in their settlements, and are searching
for practical solutions to minimize the damage.

Maariv reported that the State ComptrollerQs Office has issued a
tough report on DM Ehud BarakQs inflated account of expenses during
his trip to the Paris Show. In an unrelated story, last night
Channel 2-TV presented an investigative report about an expensive
official four-day stay in Paris by former Knesset Speaker Dalia
Itzik (Kadima) three years ago.

The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Knesset Member Shlomo
Molla -- who is of Ethiopian origin -- hit back at allegations made
in the newspaper by an anonymous source that he had used donations
from U.S. Jewish organizations and individuals for personal
expenses.

HaQaretz reported that yesterday Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon, the new
commander of the IDFQs Judea and Samaria [i.e. West Bank] Division,
suspended two divisional officers on suspicion that soldiers under
their command destroyed cars belonging to West Bank Palestinians.
He took action less than a day after receiving a complaint from the
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem about two separate incidents
that allegedly occurred this week. HaQaretz noted that his quick
move was meant to show he takes attacks on Palestinian property very
seriously. The Jerusalem Post quoted a report due to be released
today by BQTselem and the group Hamoked, according to which 28
Palestinians have been held in administrative detention for two to
four days.

Maariv reported on increased friction between Israel and Russia,
which closed the main offices of Nativ -- formerly a secret Israeli
organization that fostered emigration to Israel.

Leading media reported that the National Federation of Israel
Journalists will bestow lifetime achievement awards to Yaron London
and Mordechai (Moti) Kirschenbaum, who presently anchor Channel
10-TVQs current affairs program QLondon and Kirschenbaum,Q and Sever
Plotker, YediotQs Chief Economic Editor.

Over the past few days media have reported on the sale of the
Israeli start-up firm CopperGate Communications to
California-headquartered Sigma Designs for $187 million. Sigma
controls 80% of the multimedia chip market, and CopperGate is a
leader in communications.

Maariv ran a feature about the dispute between President Obama and
FOX-TV over coverage and access.

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

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

I. "Plea Bargain"

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent,
left-leaning HaQaretz (10/14): QThe true cause for anxiety in
Jerusalem ... is not Goldstone, but U.S. President Barack Obama, who
has taken an indirect diplomatic approach against Netanyahu.
Instead of coming out publicly against the Prime Minister with a
demand that he end the occupation and get out of the territories,
and wasting political energy on a quarrel with Israel's friends in
Congress, Obama has simply made Netanyahu understand that American
support is not axiomatic, that if Netanyahu looks over his shoulder
he may not see Obama there covering him.

II. "The More Extreme -- the Better"

Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented on page one of the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/14): QIt isnQt worth the
while getting excited over out=cries of grief that come out in
Jerusalem in protest over the decision of Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to present to the U.N. Human Rights Council
in Geneva a restructured report of the Goldstone commissionQs.
Sages have said about such initiatives: QThe worse it is, the
better.Q The more extreme the Palestinian proposal, the less
chances it will have to garner the WestQs support... In the same way
Obama swallowed settlement construction in the West Bank and East
Jerusalem, heQll have to take in the Palestinian return to
Goldstone.

III. "Two Stories, One Ending"

Giora Eiland, former Director of IsraelQs National Security Council,
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (10/14):
Q[There is a] contradiction between the hope, the American
aspiration, and activism in promoting an Israeli-Palestinian peace
in the near future, and the conspicuous lack of desire on both
sides, the Israeli and the Palestinian, to join him in that effort.
This gap reflects a basic American misunderstanding toward the
question: what is the conflict about.... Arafat's refusal to agree
to the proposals set forth by Barak and Clinton in 2000 was not
because of large gaps over what is mistakenly called the Qcore
issues,Q but rather his understanding that with the establishment of
a small and limited Palestinian state, he would be forced to
recognize the Zionist narrative. Arafat could not accept this in
2000 and Abu Mazen cannot accept it in 2009. Neither the Israeli
Government nor the Palestinian Government can compromise over the
QnarrativeQ and then continue to survive politically. That is the
real core issue and the one that Americans have trouble
understanding.

----------------------------
2. Israel-Turkey Relations:
----------------------------

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

"Erdogan Joins Anti-Semitic Incitement"

Veteran journalist and television anchor Dan Margalit wrote in the
independent Israel Hayom (10/14): QOfficially, Israel has made great
efforts not only to prevent any criticism of Ankara, but even not to
refer to historic-journalistic recounts of the [Armenian genocide]
as described in Franz Werfel's classic book QThe Forty Days of Musa
Dagh.Q Israel employed several lobbies in the U.S. and in Europe to
help its Qstrategic ally.Q Turkey is repaying us in the opposite
coin. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who presumed to be a moderate and
enlightened Muslim ruler, has closed ranks with the anti-Semitic
incitement of the kind typical of Nasrallah and Khaled Mashal and a
number of Israeli Arab Knesset members and found himself a supporter
in the Jew-hating Jew Richard Goldstone, whose report is a disgrace
to integrity. This is a two-pronged attack that tries to question
the legitimacy of the existence of the Jewish state. But how can
Israel maneuver against the octopus trying to devour it? The answer
is not easy. Many Israelis (and Americans) believe that everything
can be solved. As if at any time and any place, there was a
solution to every conflict. Reality is more complex. The
Government must wage the battle against the malice of Erdogan and
Goldstone as if convinced of its ability to repel them. But is must
also take into account that if forced to make do with a solution
that is mere Qcrisis management,Q with no clear outcome-that will be
a real achievement.

---------
3. Iran:
---------

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

"The End of the Military Option"

Senior military affairs analyst Reuven Pedatzur wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/14): QIn giving the Nobel
Peace Prize to U.S. President Barack Obama, the members of the Nobel
committee effectively closed the lid on the American military option
in Iran. The prestigious award ties the President's hands....
[Eventually], a clear Iranian recognition that any attempt to attack
Israel with nonconventional weapons will lead to the certain
demolition of Iran as a modern state should prevent its rulers from
even thinking about using their nuclear arms. Rulers, even strict
Islamic ones, do not commit suicide with their states. Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei and his followers may not be particularly nice, but
they are certainly very rational.

--------------------------
4. U.S.-Israel Relations:
--------------------------

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

"An Open Letter to Ambassador Michael Oren"

Jeremy Ben-Ami, the liberal Jewish Lobby J StreetQs Executive
Director, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
(10/14): QPublic comments by your spokesman last week indicate that
you have Qconcerns over certain policies [of J Street's] that could
impair Israel's interests.Q I'm sure you also have concerns and
disagreements over policies advocated by certain political parties
and their leaders in Israel. That's democracy -- and it is fitting
that there would be deep disagreements at moments of important
communal decision. We too have our own serious concerns over the
policies of the present Israeli government and its impact not just
on Israel's interests but on our interests as Americans and as
American Jews. As Jews who care about Israel, we fear that, on
Israel's present path, we will see our shared dream of a Jewish,
democratic home in the state of Israel slip through our fingers. As
Americans, we worry about the impact of Israeli policies on vital
U.S. interests in the Middle East and around the world. Finally, as
American Jews, we worry that the health and vitality of our
community will be deeply affected by what happens in the region, how
the world perceives Israel and by how our community here at home
deals with increasingly complex conversations around Israel.

CUNNINGHAM

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