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Cablegate: Israel Media Reaction

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RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 7097
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 6336
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 4987
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 7193
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3957
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 2174
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 0840
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002520

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

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

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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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Israel Hayom quoted Fox News as saying that Israel is examining a
list of 70 terrorists formulated by Hamas after Israel rejected an
earlier list. Israel Hayom cited the Palestinian newspaper Al-Manar
as saying that PM Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the second stage
of the deal Q ShalitQs transfer to Egypt. Yesterday, Industry,
Trade, and Labor Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor Party) was
quoted as saying in an interview with Maariv that he Q"hopes the
matter is approaching an end. There is an agreement on a certain
formula. In three months, I hope, we will see Gilad back home." The
Jerusalem Post quoted IDF Spokesman Avi Benayahu as saying that
positive reports about the deal should not be trusted.

The Jerusalem Post reported that following IranQs rejection of the
latest international effort to prevent it from building nuclear
weapons, Israel is urging the international community to impose
sanctions aimed at denying Tehran any nuclear fuel cycle
capabilities.

The Jerusalem Post reported that PM Netanyahu is interested in
aiming for a final-status agreement and not an interim one as some
of his ministers are proposing, if and when negotiations with the
Palestinian Authority resume. The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu
as saying in various internal discussions this week that were there
"courageous leadership" on the Palestinian side, a resumption of
negotiations could lead to a final peace agreement, and that this
was preferable in his mind to an interim agreement based on a
Palestinian state within temporary borders. PA President Mahmoud
AbbasQs diplomatic advisor Nimr Hamad was quoted as saying in an
interview with Maariv that the PA is not impressed by IsraelQs
latest diplomatic push designed to bypass the intention to bring the
issue of Palestinian statehood before the U.N. Security Council.

Israel Radio quoted Bouthaina Shaaban, a close associate of Syrian
President Bashar Assad, as saying that French President Nicolas
Sarkozy told Assad last week that Netanyahu is prepared to start
negotiations with Syria without preconditions.

Israel Radio reported that cabinet minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer is
leading an important commercial delegation to Turkey. He will meet
with the Turkish DM.

Maariv cited a warning from the Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy
that young Israelis on tourist visas who try to earn money in malls
throughout the U.S. during Christmas-time might be subject to
deportation and banned from entering the country for years. Maariv
quoted an Israeli woman who was deported as saying that she is now a
Qregistered offenderQ in the U.S. On the other hand, the newspaper
mentioned the possibility of working in the U.S. legally through an
H2B visa for season work.

The media reported that for the third time in a month, soldiers of
the Kfir Brigade tried to wave banners against the evacuation of
settlements.

Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited the opposition of NablusQ Palestinian
governor to visits by Israelis to JosephQs Tomb.

HaQaretz reported that Yosef Havilio, the Jerusalem Municipality's
legal adviser, has informed Mayor Nir Barkat and District Police
Commissioner Aharon Franco that they must immediately implement the
Supreme Court order to evacuate and close down Beit Yehonatan in
East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood. Havilio's position
contradicts statements made by the Mayor and published in HaQaretz
on Wednesday, claiming that the carrying out of the evacuation will
be delayed because "legal alternatives are being evaluated by the
owners and the structure and the courts." The Jerusalem Post
reported that the Jerusalem Municipality announced it would build
5,000 new homes for East Jerusalem Q but that it failed to say
when.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Giampaolo Di Paola, the Chairman of
NATOQs Military Committee, visited Israel this week to study IDF
tactics and methods that the military alliance can utilize for its
war in Afghanistan.

Yediot reported that an international extensive network of jurists
Qwaving the Goldstone ReportQ is seeking indictments of senior
Israelis in Britain, Ireland, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, and
New Zealand. The lawyers claim that they will be successful sooner
or later. HaQaretz (English Ed.) quoted South Africans who served

in the IDF as saying this week they would continue visiting their
home country despite attempts to prosecute them there for serving in
a foreign army -- which South African law prohibits. Many see the
effort, spurred by war crimes allegations emanating from Operation
Cast Lead and initiated in the main by pro-Palestinian NGOs, as mere
"saber-rattling." At the same time, soldiers and activists said
those concerned should be careful not to publicize evidence of
serving in Gaza and to stay informed about new developments. Yediot
reported on a diplomatic incident between Israel and South Africa in
which a security officer for El Al, who carries a diplomatic
passport and was employed by the Israeli Embassy, was expelled from
the country following calms of racism after an investigative report
in the local media.

The media quoted former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah
Palin as saying in an interview with ABC News this week that she
disagrees with the Obama administration's demand that Israel halt
settlement construction

Maariv reported that this week children from the Jerusalem
kindergarten Gan Hashalom (QPeace GardenQ or QKindergarten of
Peace") representing the three monotheistic religions sent a message
of peace through NASAQs Atlantis shuttle.

Leading media reported that yesterday a 19-year-old religious Jew
stabbed and wounded an Arab man in JerusalemQs French Hill
neighborhood.

The media reported that the selection committee to name the next
attorney general has not succeeded in reaching a decision. Maariv
and other media say that the decision now lies in NetanyahuQs
hands.

Major media cited Jerusalem District Attorney Eli AbarbanelQs
announcement yesterday that the state is closing the case against
attorney Uri Messer, who was investigated by police in connection
with two affairs for which his close friend, former PM Ehud Olmert,
is currently on trial. The first case involved allegations that as
industry and trade minister and communications minister, Olmert
personally intervened in applications to the Investment Center from
industrialists represented by Messer, and interfered with the work
of the center's professional civil servants on behalf of Messer and
his clients. In the second case, Messer was investigated regarding
allegations that he held hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash,
given to Olmert by New York businessman Morris Talansky, in his
office safe and later in a Bank Leumi strongbox. Messer testified
to police against his close friend during the Talansky affair
investigation. Since then, he and Olmert have not spoken to each
other. In his announcement, Abarbanel made it clear that the
decision to close the file against Messer would have no bearing on
the indictment of Olmert.

HaQaretz led with the High Court of JusticeQs rejection of the law
to privatize prisons as Qunconstitutional.Q The Court, presided by
its President Dorit Beinisch, ruled that for the state to transfer
authority for managing the prison to a private contractor, whose aim
would be monetary profit, would severely violate the prisoners'
basic human rights to dignity and freedom. In 2004, after the U.S.,
Britain, and France had all approved private prisons, the Knesset
had passed Amendment 28 to the Prisons Ordinance, which permitted
the establishment of such prisons in Israel.


Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Palestinians in Gaza wore black
after the defeat of the Egyptian national team to Algeria in the
World Cup qualifying match in Sudan.

Yediot presented the result of a poll conducted among Kadima
voters:
QWho would you like to head Kadima?Q Tzipi Livni: 80%; Shaul Mofaz:
10%.


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

I. QBibi May Claim Relations with the U.S. Are Fine but...

Senior columnist and longtime peace advocate Yoel Marcus wrote in
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/20): QThe decision to
announce the construction of 900 apartments in Jerusalem's Gilo
neighborhood was akin to falling on one's head, politically. Quite
rightly, the White House issued a statement rapping Israel for this
slap in the face to American efforts to arrange a successful
dialogue between the sides. Bibi can claim 10 times over that
Qthere's no crisis with the United States,Q but what will he say to
the White House's expression of dismay at the Israeli Government's
move? Bibi may be a comeback artist, but at his age, people don't
change, and there's nothing that can be done about it.

II. QThe Race for a Plan

Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in the mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/20): QGreat tidings are afoot. Not
only does Mofaz have a plan of stages of his own, Peres is also
taking his and BarakQs plan out of mothballs, and mainly, so is
Netanyahu. He plans to come out with a seminal speech of his own,
one that will make history. The race for a plan is not due to a
burst of creativity. It is due to constraint. Mofaz -- to his
credit -- was the first to notice the vacuum: the Americans are not
presenting a plan. The Israeli Government is not presenting a plan.
Livni is not presenting a plan. The person who comes up with a plan
will make headlines. And so he did. Peres and Barak presented
their plan to anyone willing to listen, including President Obama,
the heads of European states, and the entire Palestinian leadership.
The answer was no. The Palestinians refuse to agree to the
establishment of a state in temporary borders, because, they say,
with Israel, the temporary is permanent. The Palestinian refusal
led to an American refusal. That was also the case for MofazQs
plan, which was quite different from the Barak/Peres plan. The plan
is an alibi. When asked one day, Mr. President, Mr. Minister, what
did you do for the sake of the peace you talked about so much, how
did your support for the Netanyahu government help, they will reply:
what do you mean? We had a plan!

III. QWhoQs Temporary, Exactly?

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv (11/20): QBibiQs temporary [Palestinian] state will be
establish on the PalestiniansQ current territory (around 40% [of the
land]), as opposed to MofazQs Palestinian state that is supposed to
receive 20 extra percent in order to allow for territorial
contiguity. What is really happening is that Netanyahu is trying to
push forward the diplomatic process with one hand and to delay it
with the other hand.


IV. QSalam Fayyad Builds Palestine

Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (11/20): Q[Palestinian Authority Prime
Minister Salam] Fayyad is anxious that his own people not come to
regard the PA forces as subcontractors helping to secure Israel, but
rather as the protectors of a nascent Palestine. The Americans are
completely won over. QWeQve waited decades to hear and see a
Palestinian leader like this,Q a prominent American visitor observed
to me this week. In Ramallah, day by careful day, Salam Fayyad is
building a Palestinian state. If Fayyad survives for another couple
of years and presides over an increasingly stable West Bank, talk of
unilateral declarations of Palestinian statehood will no longer be
shrugged off by key international players, including the U.S. If
Israel doesnQt find the means to partner Abbas and Fayyad to
statehood, signs are the rest of the world might do so anyway.

V. QLeadership Needed

The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (11/20): QThe
insolent defiance of the hesder yeshiva soldiers [who combine
military service with religious studies] who announced that they
would not evacuate outposts the government has decided to dismantle,
and the audacity of those on the right who blame this behavior on
the Government for using the IDF in carrying out the decision to
evacuate settlements from Gaza, reflect the breakdown of state
authority in Israeli society and the disturbing phenomenon of a
government that opts not to govern.... The law enforcement
authorities have registered impressive successes in recent years, in
the existing structure, and what is necessary for stepping up the
fight against crime is the determination that exists today, and
means. It is not the weakening of law enforcement that is necessary
to bolster the rule of law, but the government's determination to
exercise its authority and govern, and not allow interested parties
to essentially strip it of power. For this we need a leadership
that must also be seen.

CUNNINGHAM

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