ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 001171

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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1. Mideast


2. Democratic Reform in Mideast

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Key stories in the media:
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During the weekend, Friday night's suicide bombing
outside a Tel Aviv nightclub dominated the news
reports. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the
attack, in which five Israelis were killed and close to
50 others were wounded. The media quoted PM Sharon and
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying at Sunday's
cabinet meeting that Israel will use intelligence
information to prove that Syria was behind the bombing.
Sharon also said that this is "not enough to absolve
the PA of its responsibility for the departure of the
terrorist and of its obligation to act against hid
partners in the crime." Leading media reported that
the cabinet launched a major diplomatic offensive
against both Syria and the PA. Maariv cited claims by
Israeli security sources that it was Iran that pushed
Islamic Jihad into carrying out the attack. The media
reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
demanded that Palestinian leaders find those
responsible and send a clear message that terror will
not be tolerated, and that Sharon told her that talks
on the road map could not begin unless there were
"active steps against terrorism." The media also
reported that the White House has expressed a message
similar to Secretary Rice's.

Yediot reported that a plan presented at the Prime
Minister's Office on Sunday is sending a "clear
message" to hundreds of settler families who refuse to
be evacuated under the disengagement plan: those who
wait until the last moment will lose part of the
benefits they are being offered -- new accommodation in
southern Israel.

Yediot and Jerusalem Post highlighted Shin Bet head Avi
Dichter's warning at Sunday's cabinet meeting that
dozens of hard-core right-wing extremists "have the
potential to commit an act of terror" against Sharon or
the Temple Mount in an attempt to stop the
disengagement plan.

Jerusalem Post reported that an official Jordanian
source told the newspaper on Sunday that Syrian,
Jordanian and Israeli Foreign Ministry officials held
secret peace talks in Jordan last week.

SIPDIS

Ha'aretz reported that PDAS David Satterfield will meet
this morning with Lebanese FM Mahmoud Hamoud after
having met with the leaders of the Lebanese opposition.

Leading media reported that police are investigating
suspicions that Haim Cohen, the former CEO of Himnuta,
a subsidiary of the Jewish National Fund (JNF),
purchased stolen Palestinian lands in exchange for
bribes. Lt. Col. Yair Blumenthal, head of the
infrastructure department of the GOI's Civil
Administration in the West Bank, is among those who
have been arrested in connection with the affair.

Ha'aretz reported that the IDF recently began to
distribute "resident" stickers to West Bank settlers to
be affixed to their cars' windshields. The stickers
are intended to allow settlers to drive quickly through
army checkpoints along the Green Line. Based on the
Shin Bet, the newspaper mentions that since the
beginning of the Intifada, terror organizations had
increasingly taken advantage of Israeli Arabs, with or
without their knowledge.

Ha'aretz quoted officials in Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz's office as saying that a new road to Tel Romeida
-- the six-family Jewish settlement neighborhood in
Hebron -- is an IDF road that does not require the
approval of the defense minister. The road is being
paved through Palestinian-owned property in the city
and expropriation of land. The newspaper says that
U.S. officials have asked for clarifications concerning
the road, which is slated to pass through area H2 --
Palestinian-held territory.

Leading media reported that Jordan's King Abdullah
plans to visit the PA and Israel.

On Sunday, Yediot cited the Italian daily Corriere
Della Sera, which quoted economic sources in Lugano,
Switzerland, as saying that "someone in the Deutsche
Bank branch in Switzerland" is transferring part of
Yasser Arafat's money to Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei and
to Farouk Kaddoumi, the Damascus-based hard-line PLO
"foreign minister." The Italian newspaper says that
the transfers are meant to strengthen the Palestinian
politicians' positions, unbeknown to Abbas.

Leading media reported that Iran and Russia signed an
agreement on Sunday to supply uranium for the Bushehr
nuclear reactor.

Yediot and Maariv reported that the GOI's anti-terror
HQ has rescinded its travel warning for Istanbul.

Maariv reported on a current special cooperation
project between the U.S. and Israeli defense
establishments: the Defense Ministry's handicapped
rehabilitation branch is helping U.S. rehabilitation
branches treat U.S. soldiers who suffer from combat
shock following their service in Iraq.
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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever
Plotker wrote in the editorial of mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Not only Israelis are being
targeted, but the Palestinian Authority leadership as
well.... Abu Mazen, therefore, must defeat the first
budding of this new Intifada at its inception."

Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "The only encouraging sign over the
weekend is that Abu Mazen is really and truly angry.
He is not Arafat, and his condemnations are not mere
lip service. But now he must also take action."

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"More will die so long as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
continues to avoid the actions he must take."

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "In
London, Abbas can be expected to bask in the praise of
those who are eager to help him overcome the obstacles
on the way to consolidating his rule -- but only on
condition that he exploit this opportunity for genuine
progress toward peace with Israel."

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "Even
before Syria, Abu Mazen should be held accountable."

Veteran op-ed writer and the late prime minister
Yitzhak Rabin's assistant Eytan Haber opined in Yediot
Aharonot: "The words 'territorial contiguity' that were
uttered by Bush last week are code words for a
Palestinian state that extends to the 1967 lines, with
the possible exception of the 'settlement blocs' that
[top Sharon aide Dov] Weisglass and Condoleezza Rice
supposedly agreed on."

Block Quotes:
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I. "No Return to Terror"

Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever
Plotker wrote in the editorial of mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (February 27): "The terror
attack on Friday night bore clear signs of belonging to
a new era in the terrorist war. Its targets have
shifted: not only Israelis are being targeted, but the
Palestinian Authority leadership as well....
Condemnations [by Abbas and the PA leadership], with
all due respect to the important role they play in
promoting the reconciliation process between the two
nations, are not enough.... The challenge voiced by the
suicide bomber and his dispatchers to Abu Mazen obliges
the latter and his government to respond decisively.
Without such a response ... the situation in the
territories is liable to deteriorate into an Iraq-like
situation, into daily terror attacks that are aimed
equally against the foreign occupier and the elected
local government. Abu Mazen, therefore, must defeat
the first budding of this new Intifada at its
inception. He cannot afford to play patriotic games,
and no one needs them.... It is against [the winds of
freedom], as it is against Israel and the PA, that the
'evil trio' is pitted: the extremists and zealots in
Syria, Iran and Hizbullah. They are united in their
hatred of Israel, hatred of America and hatred of
democracy. They are frightened, and rightly so....
From Israel's perspective, there will be no return to
an Intifada of terrorism. Israel will not hesitate to
use military force and to take out one-by-one all the
people heading the terrorism against it, even if they
are based in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. Their days are
already numbered."

II. "Bleeding for Abu Mazen"

Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (February 27): "Abu Mazen, as [Shin
Bet head Avi] counting on Israel' willingness to absorb
a terror attack. As of Saturday, he was right. The
terror attack did not even bring about the cancellation
of today's meeting between Shimon Peres and Mohammed
Dahlan. Just as in the days of 'We will continue with
the peace process as though there were no terrorism.'
But will Israel restrain itself after the next terror
attack as well? As unpleasant as this is to say, it
looks like this depends on the number of casualties.
The only encouraging sign over the weekend is that Abu
Mazen is really and truly angry. He is not Arafat, and
his condemnations are not mere lip service. But now he
must also take action. We have had enough of talk, and
it is not certain that Israel will be able to continue
to bleed for Abu Mazen's sake in the future as well."

III. "Actions, Not Words"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(February 27): "Spare us the condemnations, at least
that. For the Palestinian Authority to condemn what it
has not lifted a finger to prevent is almost a waste of
breath.... More will die so long as PA Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas continues to avoid the actions he must take.
Enumerating those actions has also begun to feel like a
waste of breath: collecting weapons, arresting
terrorists, and ending incitement. Abbas is acting as
if he has a polite disagreement with the terrorists,
one that can be resolved by the usual political horse-
trading. Indeed, there is little evidence that Abbas
and the terrorists have more than tactical differences.
The simplest measure of this is the matter of
incitement.... So long as the PA continues to pump
Palestinian minds full of promises of 'return' to
Israel itself, the unavoidable conclusion is that the
only difference between Abbas and the terrorists is
tactical: one is willing to use diplomacy for a while,
the other unwilling to use it at all. The only way out
of this is for the international community, including
Israel, to condition its support on the PA upholding
its most basic commitments."

IV. "Checks For Changes"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized
(February 28): "British Prime Minister Tony Blair will
open an international conference in London tomorrow
whose goal is to help the Palestinians help
themselves.... Abbas is coming to London to sign
receipts for the generous financial aid that he will be
offered: hundreds of millions of dollars.... Above all,
this is a deal of checks in exchange for changes. The
government headed by Abbas is being asked to undertake
far-reaching changes as a condition for receiving the
world's support. The most important change is supposed
to be a more energetic war on terror. [Secretary]
Rice, in a forceful statement published after this
weekend's bombing in Tel Aviv, stressed that the
condemnations uttered by Abbas are not enough: the U.S.
expects him to act.... In London, Abbas can be expected
to bask in the praise of those who are eager to help
him overcome the obstacles on the way to consolidating
his rule -- but only on condition that he exploit this
opportunity for genuine progress toward peace with
Israel. Only if he is wise enough to do so, by foiling
future terror attacks, will the process that he and
Sharon are now conducting under an international
umbrella have any chance of success."


V. "Those Who Are Responsible Even Before Syria"

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (February
28): "Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, and Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon too, are pointing an accusing finger at
Syria, which they blame for Tel Aviv's suicide bombing.
Syria indeed hosts the worst Palestinian organizations,
but, even before Syria, Abu Mazen should be held
accountable. For the time being, Abu Mazen is acting
according to the method of this predecessor, the rogue
Yasser Arafat -- the name of the wicked shall rot! He
arrests two people, allegedly sends two investigators
to find those responsible for the bombing, but doesn't
start any serious work against the terrorists.... Abu
Mazen is asking himself, and justly so: if Israel is
about to abandon the Gaza Strip, why are street battles
with terror organizations needed there?.... The moment
Hizbullah carries out several attacks -- God forbid --
the other groups will follow suit. Meanwhile it's
relatively calm, as the purpose is to gain [the release
of] some more prisoners as part of Israel's gestures."

VI. "Waking Up to the Day After"

Veteran op-ed writer and the late prime minister
Yitzhak Rabin's assistant Eytan Haber opined in Yediot
Aharonot (February 27): "Had the Israeli cabinet
ministers some animal sense, their ears would have
perked up as early as last week. President Bush, the
one who has been the best friend Israel has ever had in
the White House, spoke last week in Europe briefly in
support of 'territorial contiguity' for the Palestinian
state.... The words 'territorial contiguity' that were
uttered by Bush last week are code words for a
Palestinian state that extends to the 1967 lines, with
the possible exception of the 'settlement blocs' that
[top Sharon aide Dov] Weisglass and Condoleezza Rice
supposedly agreed on. What that means is that the
Americans and the world expect chapter two to involve
an Israeli dismantling of at least 100 Israeli
settlements, including some of the oldest in Judea and
Samaria [i.e. the West Bank]. The Americans will say
that they warned us after the Six-Day War not to annex
the territories and not to build settlements, but we
defied them. Everyone is writing and talking about
disengagement, the evacuees who are deserving of our
sympathy, and civil war. All that is important, but it
is more important to know what will happen on the day
after."


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2. Democratic Reform in Mideast:
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Summary:
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Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"If Mubarak were sincere he would grant would-be
candidates like [head of Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party
Ayman] Nour access to state-run newspapers and
television. Naturally, it would help if he first
released him from prison."

Block Quotes:
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"Cairo Spring"
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(February 28): "On the theory that democracies do not
go to war with other democracies, Israel has a profound
interest in seeing Cairo's regime become more
representative. Secretary Rice has been calling on the
world to 'apply what Natan Sharansky calls the "town
square test'" -- if a person cannot walk into the
middle of the town square and express his or her views
without fear of arrest, imprisonment or physical harm,
then that person is living in a fear society, not a
free society.' By that criterion, Egypt remains
unfree. If Mubarak were sincere he would grant would-
be candidates like [head of Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party
Ayman] Nour access to state-run newspapers and
television. Naturally, it would help if he first
released him from prison."

KURTZER