ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 001805

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 major media led with various disengagement-related
issues.

Last night, Israel Radio reported that Finance Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu met with Shas party mentor Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef in an attempt to make him reconsider his
ruling against the proposed referendum bill. The radio
reported that Rabbi Yosef conditioned his assent on
obtaining an assurance that 50 Knesset members would
vote in favor of a referendum. (Jerusalem Post prints
a similar report.) The station cited an unofficial
response by PM Sharon's bureau that Netanyahu is acting
behind Sharon's back, and not for the first time.
Ha'aretz bannered attempts by Sharon to find Shinui
Knesset members prepared to defy their party leader
Yosef (Tommy) Lapid and vote in favor of the 2005 state
budget. All media reported that Sharon met with the 13
"rebel" Likud members Wednesday.

Yediot leads with a "rare insight" into the modus
operandi and the world of young far-right activists
determined to stop the disengagement move.

Maariv cited the GOI's belief that the PA is not
interested in coordinating the civilian aspects of
disengagement with Israel and that it has decided to
let Israel carry it out unilaterally. The newspaper
says that in exchange for coordination, the
Palestinians are demanding Israel or U.S. guarantees
regarding the "day after," as well as a detailed list
of further areas Israel is prepared to pull out from,
or an Israeli pledge to resume negotiations toward the
final-status agreement. Maariv writes that Palestinian
PM Ahmed Qurei is not prepared to meet with Vice
Premier Shimon Peres at this time, and that the GOI's
main concern is the fate of the efforts to hand over
evacuated houses of settlers to the PA.

Jerusalem Post reported that Israel dismissed as a
"reiteration of old and anachronistic positions" the
Arab League's decision to relaunch the 2002 Saudi peace
initiative. The newspaper quoted an official Jordanian
source as saying Wednesday that fear of being
shortchanged caused Syria to torpedo the original
Jordanian peace proposal last week. Jerusalem Post
reported that FM Silvan Shalom told the Knesset that
Jordan's "welcome" initiative was blocked by countries
such as Syria and Algeria, and by Arab League Secretary-
General Amr Moussa, "the same Moussa who as foreign
minister of Egypt blocked during his tenure all
attempts at normalization with that country."
Ha'aretz reported that U.S. envoys Elliott Abrams and
David Welch have expressed their objections over the
planned construction of 3,500 housing units in Ma'aleh
Adumim. Jerusalem Post says they sought clarifications
about the plan. Ha'aretz reported that Sharon told the
envoys that he is strongly opposed to "shortcuts" in
the diplomatic process and to proceeding directly to
final-status talks. Ha'aretz further reported that
Sharon told the envoys that Israel will not leap over
any stage of the road map, and that he knows this is
President Bush's view as well. The newspaper reported
that Abrams and Welch discussed the handover of
security responsibility in five Palestinian cities with
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. Abrams and Welch are
scheduled to meet with PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud
Abbas today.

Ha'aretz reported that FM Shalom gave his ministry the
challenge of having 10 Arab countries open legations in
Israel. The media reported that Shalom Cohen, the
Foreign Ministry's Deputy D-G for the Middle East and
the Peace Process, was appointed ambassador to Egypt.

Leading media quoted security officials as saying today
that an Israeli Arab from Baka al Gharbiya who
transported the suicide bomber who blew up at the Stage
nightclub in Tel Aviv on February 25 was also involved
in deciding on the location where the attack would take
place.


Yediot reported that hundreds of Israeli visa
applicants every day do not manage to enter the U.S.
Embassy building in Tel Aviv, since the Embassy has set
a limit of 150 applicants per day. The newspaper
quoted the Embassy spokesman as saying that the number
of applicants is tremendous, and that the Embassy will
improve its services.

Erratum: Wednesday's Tel Aviv Media Reaction Report
referred to Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser as IDF
Intelligence chief. He is the head of IDF
Intelligence's research department.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "American
slackness, due to lack of interest or a change in
attitude, could bring about more destructive results in
the Middle East than the preexisting ones -- in this
case, the radical and extremist elements could win."

Liberal columnist Meron Benvenisti wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The inventors of
the 'unilateral' strategy don't need the agreement of
the other side, just a wink from the Americans."

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"Once again, the governments meeting in Algiers missed
an opportunity to lead toward the peace they insist
they want, and to assuage Israeli concerns about their
true intentions."







Block Quotes:
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I. "Bush Has Fled"

Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (March 24): "Is
it possible that after all the warnings concerning a
'sheriff' looking for someone to shoot at in the Middle
East, President George Bush, in his second term, is
much softer than during his first term? This suspicion
is increasingly entering the consciousness of the Arab
rulers, following their scrutiny of U.S. policy in
recent weeks. This surprises them and even revives
their spirits.... The new American policy grants the
European bloc diplomatic freedom when facing Tehran....
[King Abdullah of Jordan] has warned the Americans that
should Bashar [Assad] win, the credibility of
Washington's staunch supporters, like himself, would
plummet. As it currently appears, the U.S. has
practically renounced the disarming of Hizbullah and
the expulsion of Hamas and Islamic Jihad headquarters
from Syria, and it is not pressing Abu Mazen to disarm
the terrorist organizations or to unite his security
branches as he has pledged.... American slackness, due
to lack of interest or a change in attitude, could
bring about more destructive results in the Middle East
than the preexisting ones -- in this case, the radical
and extremist elements could win."

II. "Even Fewer at the Next Demonstration"

Liberal columnist Meron Benvenisti wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 24): "The
minute the administration in Washington accepts the
Israeli claim that the construction freeze does not
cover 'planning procedures,' it will accept the
argument when the planning is over that the
construction in Ma'aleh Adumim is only meant 'to
strengthen the Jewish settlement blocs,' as President
Bush has already affirmed.... Since no serious
Palestinian will accept a plan for a state without
territorial contiguity, it is clear that the plan to
link Ma'aleh Adumim to Jerusalem will torpedo any
chance for the establishment of a Palestinian state as
laid out by the road map. But Sharon and Mofaz aren't
worried. The inventors of the 'unilateral' strategy
don't need the agreement of the other side, just a wink
from the Americans. And in general, who cares about
Plan E-1 when in front of our eyes the vision of peace
is once again unfolding? And most of all: why wake up
suddenly, 'when the plan is not new and was approved by
Rabin?' There is no doubt that when the "peace camp"
calls for a demonstration against the tying of Ma'aleh
Adumim and Jerusalem and the strangulation of the
Palestinian state, even fewer demonstrators will show
up than showed up for last Saturday night's rally.
Sharon has already tamed them."

III. "The Arab Summit"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(March 24): "Arab League summits can hardly disappoint,
since expectations are so low to begin with. This
time, however, there was some hope that the leaders
gathered in Algiers on Wednesday would adopt a
Jordanian proposal to begin normalization with Israel.
Instead, they opted to readopt the 'Saudi plan' passed
in Beirut in 2002.... What Egyptian and Jordanian
diplomats profess not to understand is why Israelis did
not appreciate an element in the plan that, in their
eyes, was a significant olive branch: 'A just solution
to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in
accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.'
The great concession, we are told, is that the solution
to the refugee problem must be 'agreed upon' with
Israel.... Perhaps it is unrealistic to expect the Arab
states to show leadership on this issue when Europe and
even the United States have been reluctant to
unequivocally state that there is no 'right of return'
to Israel and that demanding such a right conflicts
with the two-state solution. President George W. Bush
tentatively made such a statement in his exchange of
letters with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last spring,
but he has not repeated it since. The fact is that,
once again, the governments meeting in Algiers missed
an opportunity to lead toward the peace they insist
they want, and to assuage Israeli concerns about their
true intentions. There is a simple measure of
leadership: will these states take steps that encourage
the Palestinians to moderate their demands, most
importantly concerning the 'right of return'? Will
they encourage the Palestinians to take more realistic
positions that are fully consistent with Israel's
sovereignty and right to exist? The answer from Algiers
was, unfortunately, a resounding no."

KURTZER