ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 001058

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD

WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM
NSC FOR NEA STAFF

JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL
PARIS ALSO FOR POL
ROME FOR MFO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT
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 (banners in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post)
reported that in Brussels on Monday, President Bush
called for the establishment of a democratic
Palestinian state with territorial contiguity, and that
he again urged Israel to freeze settlement activity and
help create a Palestinian state. The President was
quoted as saying: "A state on scattered territories
will not work." Leading media also quoted Bush as
saying: "Our shared commitment to democratic progress
is being tested in Lebanon -- a once-thriving country
that now suffers under the influence of an oppressive
neighbor [Syria]." Ha'aretz says that Bush has put the
Middle East conflict at the top of Bush's agenda.
Jerusalem Post cites an annual Foreign Ministry
"intelligence report" presented to the Knesset's
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to
which by the end of his term, President Bush wants to
complete the road map, which is to conclude with the
establishment of a Palestinian state.

During the weekend, the key event was the cabinet's
setting on Sunday of the date of the evacuation of the
settlements for July 20, by a 17-5 vote. In a separate
move, the cabinet voted 20-1 with one abstention to
approve the route of the separation fence south of
Jerusalem. The implementation of the inclusion of
Ariel in the fence has been postponed until further
notice

All media reported that Israel released 500 Palestinian
prisoners on Monday, and cited the Palestinians' hope
that more will be freed.

Israel Radio reported that Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei
will present his new government to the Palestinian
Legislative Council today. The media had reported on
the difficulties faced by Qurei in his task of
assigning cabinet positions over the past few days.

Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli military and government
officials as saying Monday that Israel must be prepared
to carry out an air strike against Iran's nuclear
program, although it does not expect a nuclear strike
from Iran.

Ha'aretz reported that Minister for Diaspora Affairs
Natan Sharansky's book "The Case for Democracy: The
Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny," has gathered
popularity among the American public and leaders,
especially since President Bush mentioned it in his
State of the Union Address. The newspaper also says
that the book is causing concern in Egypt.

On Monday, Ha'aretz reported that two more mainline
Protestant denominations -- the United Church of Christ
(UCC) and Disciples of Christ -- are now weighing
divestment proposals aimed at pressuring Israel to
withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

In an interview with the Knesset TV Channel last night,
former PM Ehud Barak called the Sharon family "corrupt
to the core." Barak also said that the disengagement
plan is the result of a military failure, and not a
calculated strategic move. He also lambasted Labor
Party leaders for following Sharon in a servile manner.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"Bush's running argument with Europe is over which
comes first, freedom or peace? In Brussels, he came
very, almost disturbingly, far in Europe's direction."

Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Sharon has not
become a dove. He has remained what he always was: a
pragmatic hawk. But now he is flying high."

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "Sunday was Sharon's defining day in
the history of the State of Israel. From now on, no
longer Sharon-Lebanon, no more Sharon-disaster."

Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever
Plotker wrote in an editorial of Yediot Aharonot: "The
dovish Left rejects the idea of a [national] referendum
[on the disengagement plan] with gusto. But the Left
is wrong."

Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote on page one of
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "A state that stands
atop foundations of lies and cheating has no right to
exist."

Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "There's a desire
for some peace and quiet in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip.... But there are limits to this weariness, and
the seeds of trouble can be seen in the field."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Bush's Olive Branch"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(February 22): "Bush's running argument with Europe is
over which comes first, freedom or peace? In Brussels,
he came very, almost disturbingly, far in Europe's
direction. Bush began his description of the 'new era
of trans-Atlantic unity' with this: 'Our greatest
opportunity and immediate goal is peace in the Middle
East a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians is now within reach.' He laid out, in
some detail, the two-state goal and the
responsibilities of all the parties. Arab states must
stop incitement, 'cut off public and private funding
for terrorism' and 'establish normal relations with
Israel.' Palestinians must not just 'confront and
dismantle' terrorist groups, but build a true
democracy. And Israel must 'freeze settlements' and
ensure 'contiguous territory' for the new Palestinian
state. Bush even signed on to the very European notion
that such peacemaking is a 'strategic interest' because
it will 'remove an unsettled grievance that is used to
stir hatred and violence across the Middle East.' This
is close to heresy for a president who continues to
insist that it is Arab tyranny, not any 'grievance,'
that is the font of regional aggression.... We can but
hope that Europe realizes that it has nothing to gain
from spurning Bush's olive branch. The revolution in
Bush's own foreign policy is only deepening."

II. "Rook for a Queen"

Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (February 21):
"If the country were a chessboard, one could say that
Sharon sacrificed a rook on Sunday to protect the
queen.... All of Israel's prime ministers in the past
30 years have been willing to give up territories in
exchange for something -- a peace agreement, time,
quiet, U.S. support. Sharon is following in their
footsteps. In several ways he is the first: he is the
first to agree to evacuate settlements within the Land
of Israel; he is the first to give up territories
without an agreement; but also the first to receive
U.S. support for establishing facts over the Green
Line. This is the main point: Sharon believes that by
his initiative he is delaying for years, perhaps
permanently, the withdrawal from all of the
territories. His tactics have changed, but the plan
has remained the same plan: to reach a stable
arrangement that will leave a large portion, up to 40
percent of the area of the West Bank, in Israel's
hands.... Sharon has not become a dove. He has
remained what he always was: a pragmatic hawk. But now
he is flying high.... When Sharon announced his plan,
Marwan Barghouti was the only Palestinian who viewed it
favorably. He understood what a crisis it would
generate in the Israeli right wing. Today he is not
the only one. Abu Mazen views it as a means of
strengthening the Palestinian Authority. He does not
believe in an agreement with Sharon. He believes in an
agreement with his successors."




III. "Grand Dream is Over"

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (February 21): "Then it was Golda Meir
and [the late hawkish Labor Party minister] Yisrael
Galili who made the decision to bring Jews to settle in
the Gaza Strip. On Sunday it was Shimon Peres and
[Labor Party Minister] Haim Ramon who were partners to
the decision to evacuate them. The connecting link
between then and now is Ariel Sharon. Then he was O/C
Southern Command, the person who led the tour for Golda
and Galili in the field, a tour following which the
decision was made. Today he is the prime minister
himself, and has made a dramatic, corrective,
supplementary U-turn. No longer Jews in Gaza. No
longer the greater Israel.... Sunday was Ariel Sharon's
most important day as prime minister, and this is said
by his own people. Sunday was Sharon's defining day in
the history of the State of Israel. From now on, no
longer Sharon-Lebanon, no more Sharon-disaster. Sharon
is the man who is re-dividing the map of the Land of
Israel, who is giving up the dream, returning the
empire to its border."

IV. "The Left and the Referendum"

Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever
Plotker wrote in an editorial of Yediot Aharonot
(February 22): "The dovish Left rejects the idea of a
[national] referendum [on the disengagement plan] with
gusto. But the Left is wrong. The top echelon of the
Likud would stand behind the referendum: Ariel Sharon,
Silvan Shalom, Shaul Mofaz and Ehud Olmert, who are at
the forefront of support for withdrawal from the
territories and for evacuating the settlements there.
This is an amazing situation, without precedent, one
that the dovish camp must seize as a great treasure.
Especially since the 'doves' have nothing to fear from
the results of a referendum -- a fear that would have
had some basis before Arafat's death. In the latest
public opinion polls, the disengagement plan receives
the support of two thirds of the Israeli adult
population.... The Left should have enthusiastically
embraced a referendum now. But it opposes it
furiously; this is political blindness, and its price
is liable to be very high."


V. "Countdown Begins to End of Zionism and State of
Israel"
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote on page one of
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (February 21): "The ill
feelings felt by the opponents of withdrawal stem
mainly from the route that was taken to reach the
decision: a route of swindling and lies, fraud and
deception along the entire way. A state that stands
atop foundations of lies and cheating has no right to
exist.... The destruction of one of the most
significant components of the Zionist ethos could
become an important milestone on the way to the
destruction of the entire State of Israel. On Sunday,
the government effectively decided to okay a civil war,
thus perhaps granting, God forbid, a green light to
Israel's destruction."

VI. "The Calm Before the Storm"

Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (February 21): "The
reason for the few-and-far-between terror attacks in
recent weeks is not only the efforts of the new
government of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his deals
with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but primarily the public
mood in the territories, where people are weary of the
hardships of the Intifada. There's a desire for some
peace and quiet in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip....
But there are limits to this weariness, and the seeds
of trouble can be seen in the field. The first is the
prisoners' affair. The publication of the list of 500
prisoners whom Israel is about to release (and it
doesn't include prisoners from East Jerusalem) was met
with protest rallies in the West Bank and Gaza, as well
as threats of hunger strikes.... A second seed of
trouble is the separation fence, the construction of
which is continuing, and the reinforcement and
expansion of settlement blocs in the West Bank....
[Abbas] wants a final settlement, and without delay.
In other words, he is insisting, already now, on
discussing issues over which it is impossible to reach
an agreement -- Jerusalem, the settlement blocs,
borders and refugees. Abu Mazen is also saying that
the current cease-fire is not the end of the Intifada
and that the nonviolent resistance will continue....
Marwan Barghouti estimated (in an interview from prison
with Maariv) that Abu Mazen has six months. He knows
what he's talking about."

KURTZER