ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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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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Israel Radio quoted President Bush as saying in
Brussels Tuesday that he and the European leaders with
whom he met believe that peace in the Middle East is
"within reach." The President also said that the
upcoming London conference is "a meeting at which
President Abbas will hear that the United States and
the EU is desirous of helping this good man set up a
democracy in the Palestinian territories, so that
Israel will have a democratic partner in peace." All
media also quoted Bush as saying: "This notion that the
U.S. is getting ready to attack Iran is simply
ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on
the table."

The nomination on Tuesday by Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz of Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz as the next IDF chief of
staff dominates the media. Ha'aretz and other media
quoted senior military sources as saying that, due to
the proximity of the date of the evacuation of
settlements under the disengagement plan, IDF C-o-S
Moshe Ayalon will retire toward the end of June. The
choice of Halutz provoked mixed reactions, as left-wing
politicians are particularly critical of the move.
(Leading media note Halutz's long-time affinities with
PM Sharon, his son Omri, and the Likud party.) All
media recalled Halutz's nonchalant attitude, as IAF
commander, to the bombing of innocent civilians during
the July 2002 pinpointed assassination of Hamas
military leader Salah Shehadeh.

Jerusalem Post reported that under pressure from
international business and diplomatic elements, Sharon
has decided to reconsider a cabinet decision made in
June to demolish all of the homes in Gaza Strip
settlements slated for evacuation under the
disengagement plan. Israel Radio reported that Vice
Premier Shimon Peres is preparing a plan, according to
which greenhouses and "active businesses" in areas to
be evacuated would be presented to the Palestinians,
allowing them to earn a livelihood. Maariv reported
that the Disengagement Administration is considering
moving the residents of Homesh, a settlement near
Nablus which is slated for evacuation, to the kibbutzim
Yad-Hana and Bahan, west of the Green Line. Similarly,
Yediot reported that Kibbutz Carmiya, which belongs to
the Meretz/Yahad-affiliated kibbutz movement, will take
in dozens of settlers from Nissanit in the Gaza Strip.

Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post quoted Col. Yossi
Kuperwasser, the head of IDF Intelligence's research
department, as telling the Knesset's Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee Tuesday that the terrorist groups
continue to prepare "strategic" attacks and to produce
Qassam rockets and mortars. Israel Radio reported that
three mortar shells were fired at the Gaza Strip
settlement of Ganei Tal this morning.

Jerusalem Post cited the Knesset's Finance Committee as
saying Tuesday that Police Insp. Gen. Moshe Karadi
requested a 61.1 million-shekel budget supplement
(around USD 14 million) from the committee in order to
handle "serious threats" of attacks on the Temple
Mount.

Ha'aretz quoted PA legislators as saying that
Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei agreed on Tuesday to revamp
his proposed cabinet with more reform-minded ministers,
and to present the new government to parliament today.
This morning, Israel Radio reported that the crisis
over the formation of the new cabinet is continuing.
Leading media reported that the PA on Tuesday welcomed
President Bush's call for the creation of a contiguous
Palestinian state and a freeze of settlement activity,
and that it reiterated its commitment to stopping
terror attacks on Israel. Jerusalem Post says that the
White House hopes to capitalize on Abbas's election in
order to convince the U.S. Congress to help fund
projects in the PA.

In an interview with Yediot, Jordan's incoming
Ambassador to Israel, Marouf al-Bakhit, urged Israel to
release the Jordanian prisoners it detains. Al-Bakhit
told Jerusalem Post that "recognizing the right of
return is important," but that "the implementation of
the right of return is different and it is up to the
parties concerned."

Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF's Judge Advocate-
General, Avi Mandelblit, told the Knesset's
Constitution, Justice and Law Committee on Tuesday that
if the quiet with the Palestinians holds, the army will
consider returning to the policy of having the Military
Police investigate every incident in which a
Palestinian is killed by IDF troops.

Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that on
Monday, the central committee of the World Council
Churches, an organization representing up to a half-
billion Christians worldwide, including more that 340
Protestant and Orthodox churches in over 120 countries,
announced its decision to encourage its member churches
to divest from companies that participate in "illegal
activities" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Maariv reported that around 30 far-Left students
heckled Israel's Ambassador to Italy Ehud Gol before he
gave a lecture at the University of Florence on
Tuesday.

Yediot reported that on Tuesday, the Elta Company
presented the new generation of Israeli spy satellites,
which will be able to produce detailed photographs of
every point on earth on a 24-hour basis.

Yediot reported that Bank of Israel Governor-designate
Stanley Fischer underwent a Shin Bet interrogation on
Monday, because he will have access to confidential
materials.








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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "This
American policy is not dependent on who is head of the
Israeli government, just as the demand of the
Palestinian leadership did not become any less rigid as
the chairmanship passed from Arafat to Abbas."

Veteran spokesperson of the settlement movement Yehudit
Tayar "addresses" Ariel Sharon in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "You have with your
bulldozer style trampled on our rights as citizens; but
even worse, you have virtually ripped the country in
pieces."

Gadi Baltiansky, Director General of the Geneva
Initiative Headquarters, wrote in popular, pluralist
Maariv: "Now we can build the fence ... and ... later
dismantle sections of it in the last part of the story
that is known in advance. But things can also be
different. It can also be decided, in an act of
leadership of which Ariel Sharon is capable, to end the
march of folly."

Yahad (Meretz) Knesset Member Avshalom Vilan wrote in
Ha'aretz: "A bizarre coalition of settlers from the
hilly area of Israel and fundamentalist Christians from
the American heartland ... is fighting in unison
against territorial concessions of any sort in the Holy
Land.... This ideological coalition presents a genuine
danger to Israel-U.S. relations."

Block Quotes:
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I. "The Context Is the Message"
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized
(February 23): "The importance of Bush's comments in
Brussels [on Monday] is not their content, but their
context -- the time, the place and the audience. Since
laying out his [two-state] vision for the first time,
Bush has waged war on Iraq ... Yasser Arafat has died
and has been replaced by Mahmoud Abbas ... and Ariel
Sharon has initiated the evacuation of all of Israel's
military presence and every settlement from the entire
Gaza Strip, and four settlements in the northern West
Bank. Even though he made no direct reference to it in
his Brussels speech, Bush clearly supports the Sharon
plan.... The location that Bush chose for his speech is
also significant: Brussels, the capital of Europe and
home to the headquarters of both the European Union and
NATO. Bush came to Brussels as the winner in his
country's elections, and it is he alone who formulates
the policies of his administration, an administration
that has been cleansed of dissenters such as former
secretary of state Colin Powell.... Bush's target

SIPDIS
audience was made up not only of the Europeans, but
also of Abbas and Sharon. Abbas was told that the
opportunity that has opened up in front of him is
momentary and fleeting. To Sharon -- and perhaps no
less than him, his Likud opponents who hope to scupper
the disengagement -- Bush sent a reminder that a
Palestinian state will not be cobbled together by
pieces of non-contiguous land. This American policy is
not dependent on who is head of the Israeli government,
just as the demand of the Palestinian leadership did
not become any less rigid as the chairmanship passed
from Arafat to Abbas."

II. "Arik, You've Let Me Down"

Veteran spokesperson of the settlement movement Yehudit
Tayar "addresses" Ariel Sharon in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (February 23): "I once so
admired you, Ariel Sharon. Now you, along with your
patched-up, opportunist government, have joined the
pathetic ranks of those who have caved in to terror,
all those 'enlightened' people who have, for reasons of
overconfidence, corruption and conceit, given up on the
ideals this country was built on. You have with your
bulldozer style trampled on our rights as citizens; but
even worse, you have virtually ripped the country in
pieces.... Do not fool yourself. This Land does not
belong to you. Many of us think you are attempting to
erase your shady, arguably criminal activities by
directing media attention toward the disengagement
scheme. I can only express my disdain at your decision
to destroy the national fiber, and for what? For
nothing. Abraham Lincoln said: 'A house divided
against itself cannot stand'.... We represent the
covenant that the Jewish people have between our God
and our Land. No prime minister or government decision
can change that."

III. "End the March of Folly"

Gadi Baltiansky, Director General of the Geneva
Initiative Headquarters, wrote in popular, pluralist
Maariv (February 23): "The American promises with
regard to the settlement blocs, the Clinton ideas, the
Geneva understandings, and from now on the route of the
separation fence as well -- all those point at Israel's
future permanent borders. The negotiations will begin
with the seven percent included on this side of the
fence, and end with three-four vital percentage points,
in return for which unpopulated alternative areas will
be given. So now we can build the fence without
talking to the Palestinians, invest billions, absorb
international criticism, and all this to later
dismantle sections of it in the last part of the story
that is known in advance. But things can also be
different. It can also be decided, in an act of
leadership of which Ariel Sharon is capable, to end the
march of folly.... Acknowledging reality requires
beginning negotiations over the final status
arrangement, knowing that an agreement that protects
Israel's true interests is achievable. If we have
already reached the recognition what the end will look
like, it is the duty of both leaderships to bring us
this end already, so that we can all enjoy the new
beginning that we are so eagerly awaiting and so richly
deserve.... Now we need a great leader to take a great
step. Until then, perhaps it would be preferable for
the security establishment not to demonstrate
surprising speed in building the fence. The time that
elapses until its irrelevant sections are dismantled
will be much shorter than the time that elapsed from
the construction of the settlements in the Gaza Strip
until their dismantlement."

IV. "A Pernicious, Dangerous Alliance"

Yahad (Meretz) Knesset Member Avshalom Vilan wrote in
Ha'aretz (February 23): "A bizarre coalition of
settlers from the hilly area of Israel and
fundamentalist Christians from the American heartland -
- and not the East or West coasts -- is fighting in
unison against territorial concessions of any sort in
the Holy Land.... This ideological coalition presents a
genuine danger to Israel-U.S. relations.... It is
liable to lead to a break in the historic link between
American Jews and the Democratic Party, and even weaken
the link between them and the mainstream Republican
Party. This would do heavy political damage.... It is
clear, as well, that even the great freedom given to
the Sharon government during President Bush's first
term has ended.... The Republican administration also
has economic interests it must uphold -- for instance,
those related to oil. In the prospective collision
between economic interests and religious prattle, it is
utterly clear who will pay the full political price for
being on the wrong side, particularly as oil is found
in the fields of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and not
Israel. There is no escaping the conclusion that the
unholy alliance between the Jewish and Christian
extreme right wings is short-term, and absolutely runs
counter to Israel's long-term interests. Thanks to
painstaking work of many years, Israel has succeeded in
reaching far-ranging understandings with the U.S.
administration that have enabled the transfer of
weapons and freedom of diplomatic maneuvering. The
hyper-activity of Israeli extremist right-wing groups
is liable to harm these good relations. Destroying is
much easier than building."

KURTZER