Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05TELAVIV1513
2005-03-14 12:00:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

Tags:  IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 001513 

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


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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 001513

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


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


1. Mideast


2. Lebanon and Syria

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

Ha'aretz reported that PM Sharon told visiting UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday that there would

SIPDIS
be no progress on the road map until the Palestinian
armed factions are completely disarmed, rejected PA
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's proposal that a cease-fire
would be enough to allow the start of final-status
agreement negotiations. Ha'aretz says that Sharon's
remarks were prompted by comments made by Abbas on an
interview broadcast on Israel TV last night, in which
he said he would be ready for full diplomatic talks
following the anticipated announcement this week of a
formal cease-fire by all the Palestinian factions.
Maariv led with the expected announcement by the
factions.

On Sunday, the media reported, and Ha'aretz bannered
that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz instructed the IDF on
Friday to begin preparations for carrying out the
disengagement plan in a three- to four-week period.
Yediot and Ha'aretz reported, and Yediot bannered, that
hundreds of settlers have registered a change of
address to Katif Bloc settlements in the Gaza Strip,
which are slated for evacuation. This would allow them
to go through IDF roadblocks and disturb the evacuation
of settlers.

Leading media reported that on Sunday, the cabinet
voted 18-1 to approve the recommendations of Attorney
Talia Sasson's report on the illegal outposts and set
up a ministerial committee to deliver a detailed
proposal for action within 90 days. Yediot notes that
the committee will not have any authority. Jerusalem
Post reported that the cabinet decided to remove the 24
unauthorized outposts established since Sharon came to
power in March 2001, while the fate of 81 other
outposts established before that date will be
determined by a special committee. For its part,
Maariv reported that Sharon told Annan that Israel will
evacuate 24 outposts, but only after the implementation
of the disengagement plan. On Sunday, Yediot
emphasized a recommendation by Mofaz that the
evacuation of outposts be delayed, while Maariv
reported that the Labor Party demands their immediate

evacuation. Israel Radio cited statistics compiled by
the GOI's Civil Administration in the West Bank,
according to which 65 files on illegal construction
around settlements have been opened in the past two
months.

Israel Radio reported that Mofaz will meet with PA
Interior Minister Nasser Yousef today in order to
finalize the handover of security responsibility of
West Bank cities to the PA. Ha'aretz reported that the
first meeting of the joint Israeli-Palestinian
committee discussing the release of prisoners will be
held this evening in Jerusalem. Maariv reported that
Deputy Internal Security Minister Jacob Edery (Likud)
is demanding the delay of the second phase of the
security prisoners' release because of the PA's
decision to execute 15 residents of the territories who
are suspected of collaboration with Israel.

Yediot reported that 250 high-school students have sent
Sharon a letter, stating that they refuse to serve in
the "occupation army." Jerusalem Post web site
reported that a coalition composed by the Young Guards
of Likud, Labor, Shinui and the National Religious
Party, has presented President Katsav with "Youth
Against Refusal," a proclamation aimed at establishing
a united front against soldiers who refuse to obey
orders.

On Sunday, all media reported that Hamas will take part
in the PA's legislative elections. The media reported
on clashes between Fatah and Hamas supporters at Hebron
University on Sunday.

On Sunday, all media quoted the UN's Middle East envoy
Terje Roed-Larsen as saying on Saturday that Syria has
provided a calendar of the pullout of its troops from
Lebanon.

Interviewed on Israel Radio this morning, Vice Premier
Shimon Peres (Labor) and Vice PM Ehud Olmert (Likud)
expressed opposite views regarding the future status of
the town of Ma'aleh Adumim: while Peres said the status
of the town was open for negotiations, Olmert stated
that the route of the security fence would include
Ma'aleh Adumim, which is an indivisible part of Israel,
and that Israel has not informed of its intentions
regarding the city. However, Olmert was confident that
the U.S. would understand Israel's move.

Ha'aretz reported that the head of the Disengagement
Administration, Yonatan Bassi, is expected to promise
U.S. rabbis and Orthodox community leaders on Wednesday
that the evacuation of the Katif Bloc will be
accomplished while taking special care to preserve the
dignity of the settlers and respect their feelings.
Jerusalem Post reported that 40 Jews from the New York
area, led by Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind from New
York's 48th district will come to Israel on Monday for
a three-day tour of the Gaza Strip's Katif Bloc.
Leading media reported that the Erez Junction border
crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip was reopened
Sunday for a limited amount of Palestinian traffic into
Israel.

Leading media cited London's Sunday Times as saying
Sunday that Israel has drawn up plans for a combined
air and ground attack on Iranian nuclear installations
if diplomacy fails to halt Tehran's nuclear program.
Some media cited a denial by Sharon's bureau. All
media reported that on Saturday, Iran rejected U.S.
overtures concerning its nuclear program.

On Sunday, Maariv reported that last week Peres met
with Afghani President Hamid Karzai during Madrid's
international conference on terrorism.

Jerusalem Post cited an announcement by Bank Hapoalim,
Israel's largest bank, on Sunday, that it has decided
to sell its remaining 59 percent stake in its New York
private banking subsidiary, Signature Bank, for an
estimated USD 490 million.

During the weekend, leading media reported that the USG
reached a USD 25.5 settlement on Friday with the
families of Hungarian Holocaust victims and will
acknowledge the U.S. Army's role in commandeering a
trainload of the families' treasures during World War
II.

During the weekend, leading media cited a Bar Ilan
University poll commissioned by associates of Finance
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, that a Sharon-led
coalition would garner 41 Knesset seats, while a
Netanyahu-led party would get 29 Knesset seats. The
poll contradicts with a large-scale poll commissioned
by Sharon associates, the results of which were cited
in Friday's morning media review.

--------------

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

Summary:
--------------

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "If
Sharon and Mofaz are sincere in their intentions to
evacuate the outposts and in their acceptance of Bush's
visions, they must order the army and police already to
begin planning for the evacuation of the outposts
immediately after that of the settlements of Gaza and
the northern West Bank is finished."

Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The question
whether the Sasson recommendations [regarding the
evacuation of settler outposts] will be carried out
depends only on the pressure that the U.S.
administration applies on Sharon."

Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in Ha'aretz:
"[The] American recognition of the 'new realities on
the ground' was accompanied by the important words that
'any final status agreement will only be achieved on
the basis of mutually agreed upon changes that reflect
these realities.'"


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


I. "Little Evacuation, Big Evacuation"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (March
14): "According to the IDF's plan, most of the standing
army will be busy evacuating Gaza and the northern West
Bank [this summer]. That is why Mofaz is so reticent
about an immediate evacuation of the outposts in the
West Bank: the little evacuation would set in motion
the movement to foil the bigger evacuation. The
settlers are correct in regarding the evacuation of the
outposts, like the evacuation of Gaza and northern West
Bank area, as a significant, irreversible step toward
fulfillment of the two-state solution to which
President Bush has committed. But if Sharon and Mofaz
are sincere in their intentions to evacuate the
outposts and in their acceptance of Bush's visions,
they must order the army and police already to begin
planning for the evacuation of the outposts immediately
after that of the settlements of Gaza and the northern
West Bank is finished."

II. "Narrow Perspective, Broad Perspective"

Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (March 14): "The
State Comptroller's first report [on illegal settler
outposts] was published in September 2003. He focuses
on the actions of the defense minister's assistant for
settlement affairs. The second report was published in
May 2004. It focuses on the actions of the Housing and
Construction Ministry. The state comptroller's two
reports tell the same story as that of Talia Sasson:
illegal actions that cost tens and hundreds of millions
of shekels, carried out by government ministries,
regional councils and the World Zionist Organization's
Settlement Division. However, [State Comptroller
Eliezer] Goldberg's reports came and went like water
under the bridge, while the Sasson report gave rise to
a ministerial committee, and will probably bring about
legislative changes. Why did Goldberg meet with a
bitter fate, and Sasson with a relatively favorable
one?.... First of all, [owing to] Condoleezza Rice.
Due to the pressure that she and her colleagues in the
U.S. administration applied, Sharon was forced to
launch an investigation into the settlement outpost
affair. Due to the same pressure he hurried to adopt
the conclusions. Behind Justice Goldberg stood only
the law and the authority of the state comptroller.
That is not much compared to Condoleezza.... The
question whether the Sasson recommendations will be
carried out depends only on the pressure that the U.S.
administration applies on Sharon. The conclusion is
sad. Israel has a state comptroller, but the name of
the comptroller is not Eliezer Goldberg. Her name is
Condoleezza Rice and her address is the State
Department, Foggy Bottom, Washington DC."

III. "Time For Annexation"

Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in Ha'aretz
(March 14): "Ever since Sharon returned from the White
House last April with a letter full of promises from
President George W. Bush, the prevailing view has been
that the problem of the settlements has finally reached
its resolution. The U.S. will allow the 'settlement
blocs' to remain. However, that American recognition
of the 'new realities on the ground' was accompanied by
the important words that 'any final status agreement
will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed
upon changes that reflect these realities.' When
Israel asks the Palestinians to agree to those changes,
they will be presenting it with a clear choice:
immediate annexation of the settlement blocs with all
the settlers, in exchange for suitable compensation,
meaning a 1:1 territorial change, or annexation in the
not-so-distant future of all the territories, with all
'the Arabs of Judea and Samaria' [i.e. the Palestinians
in the territories] included. Experts on the right
argue that the demographic problem is overblown. Okay,
then let them annex it all."











--------------

2. Lebanon and Syria:
--------------

Summary:
--------------
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"[Hizbullah] is by nature inimical to democracy and an
antithesis to what the U.S. claims to advocate.... The
rehabilitation of Nasrallah would be a signal victory
for the global forces of terror."
Block Quotes:
--------------


I. "The Pullout and Its Significance"

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (March 14):
"The heaviest pressure that was applied on Assad came
from the European states, which are not that moved by
the presence of the Syria army in Lebanon and the fact
that the Lebanese government is Assad's puppet cabinet.
Europe is interesting in making use of the withdrawal
of the Syrian forces in order to set up as broad a
front as possible, so that Israel's withdrawal from the
territories is accelerated, and the establishment of a
Palestinian state made possible. European leaders
still have to express that context, but it will be
clearly and loudly enunciated when Assad starts
pulling out his troops from Lebanon in significant
numbers. Israel will be presented in the Middle East
and the world as a country that hanging on to its
conquests. Thus, a cycle of threats of sanctions and
more would begin."

II. "Don't Sanitize Nasrallah"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(March 13): "From Europe come wan, belated, non-binding
references to the terrorist nature of Hizbullah.
Simultaneously, worrying reports from across the ocean
point to a possible regression in American policy
toward Hizbullah and to its quasi-legitimization as a
political component in the Lebanese equation....
Hizbullah may indeed be a powerful player on the
Lebanese arena, but it is not the type of player who
should be tolerated, primarily because it will wreck
the democratic process, not promote it. Hizbullah is
not a political party, it is a ruthless and heavily
armed militia with political ambitions. It is by
nature inimical to democracy and an antithesis to what
the U.S. claims to advocate.... The rehabilitation of
Nasrallah would be a signal victory for the global
forces of terror. As tempting as it might be to view
his transformation into a peaceful politician as a
victory for the West, there is a simple test for who is
fooling whom: does Hizbullah disarm or not? So long as
Hizbullah remains armed to the teeth, it will threaten
the nascent Lebanese democratic movement, Israel and
the prospects for further democratization in the
region. Just as the U.S. couldn't accept an Afghan
democracy with al-Qaida as a major political
participant therein, or an Iraqi democracy in which
Saddam's Ba'ath is regarded as a normative party, so it
is unthinkable that it consent to Hizbullah as a
feature of the Lebanese body politic."

KURTZER