ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 000222 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. U.S.-Russia Relations ¶3. Stanley Fischer's Bank of Israel Nomination -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Israel Radio reported that this afternoon the Knesset approved the 2005 state budget in a first reading, 64- 53, as the "rebel" Likud Knesset members -- except former FM David Levy and Yehiel Hazan -- decided to endorse it. All media had led with the possibility that the vote of the "rebels" could have toppled PM Sharon's new national unity government. Leading media reported that United Torah Judaism (UTJ) is splitting into its two component factions -- Agudat Yisrael and Degel Hatorah -- which will remain in the government coalition. Leading media reported that Tuesday Sharon congratulated PA chairman-elect Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on his "personal achievement" in the elections, and told the cabinet that he would be meeting him in the "near future." Israel Radio quoted Secretary of State Colin Powell as saying Tuesday on Fox News-TV that if Abbas fights those who support violence, "the U.S. will be able to support him.'' The radio reported that Powell talked on the phone with Sharon and FM Silvan Shalom, and urged them to advance the peace process. Israel Radio reported that Jibril Rajoub, the PA's National Security Advisor, has tendered his resignation. However, he could receive a new position after the establishment of a new Palestinian government. Jerusalem Post quoted sources close to Abbas as saying that at least six PA ministers would lose their job in the Palestinian government reshuffling. Nagi al-Ghatrifi, deputy chairman of Egypt's Al-Ghad Party, was quoted as saying in an interview with Jerusalem Post that Sunday's election was the jolt that the totalitarian political systems of the rest of the Arab world needed. Israel Radio reported that this morning an Israeli was killed and three IDF soldiers were wounded in an explosion near the southern Gaza Strip settlement of Morag. Qassam rockets have been fired at Israeli targets in the Gaza Strip. All media reported that an Israeli who was wounded by a shell at the Erez Crossing 10 days ago died of his wounds. Israel Radio reported that this morning IAF helicopters fired at targets in the south of Gaza City. The radio also reported that IDF troops killed two wanted Hamas men in a clash near Ramallah, and that security forces made arrests in the West Bank. Yediot and Israel Radio reported that the defense establishment has finalized its settlement evacuation plans. Yediot says that the project will be approved at Sharon's office on Thursday. Yediot reported that, at the conclusion of the plan's implementation in the Katif Bloc, the settlers' houses will be buried under sand. Ha'aretz cited recommendations submitted to the GOI by the IDF, according to which the IDF is planning to maintain a mobile presence in the areas of the four settlements to be evacuated from the northern West Bank. The newspaper also quoted Col. Uzi Buchbinder, a Home Front Command official as saying Tuesday that 46 communities in the western Negev will be exposed to Qassam rocket fire after the disengagement plan is implemented. Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, experts told the Knesset's Interior Committee that strategic energy facilities in Ashkelon and water supplies in northern Israel could be in danger if the disengagement plan is carried out. Maariv reported that incoming Interior Minster Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor) has decided to dry up the settlers' anti-disengagement PR campaign, whose cost thus far has been estimated at USD 7 million. Following a petition to the High Court of Justice by Peace Now Secretary- General Yariv Oppenheimer, Pines-Paz will enforce the ban on fund transfers from the local councils. Ha'aretz quoted O/C Northern Command Maj. Gen. Benny Ganz as saying Tuesday that the wave of threats from pro-settlement elements to refuse to obey army orders to evacuate settlements "is more dangerous than any flying rocket." Israel Radio reported that Israel has asked the U.S. administration and Congress to help it set up new border crossings to the PA, and to improve existing crossings. The station quoted Washington sources as saying that the cost of the plan is USD 450 million, and that Israel is asking the U.S. to participate with USD 180 million. The radio also reported that the U.S. is preparing a new aid package for the Palestinians, in the sum of USD 200 million, to bolster Abu Mazen. This aid comes on top of a similar sum that the U.S. is transferring to the Palestinians, by means of the UN and other organizations. Citing AP, Maariv reported that Israel has returned parts of repaired Harpy drones to China -- after the U.S. expressed concerns over the matter. Israel Radio reported that Tuesday UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan forwarded a letter to the UNGA setting out a framework and the next moves for the creation of a UN register of the damage Israel's construction of a separation barrier is causing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The UNGA called for the registry last summer after demanding that Israel comply with an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Israel Radio and Ha'aretz quoted IDF Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash as saying Tuesday that Iran will be capable of enriching uranium in six months. Maariv quoted him as saying that Abbas is weak and unpopular, and that he will not fight the Palestinian public. Zeevi was speaking at Haifa University. All media reported that the Haifa District Court is due on Wednesday morning to sentence the leaders of the radical northern branch of Israel's Islamic Movement, after they reached a plea bargain agreement with the state prosecution. The Islamic leaders had mainly been indicted for contact with a foreign (Iranian) agent and abetting Hamas. Raed Salah, the group's leader, will be released in six months, and the other defendants in a few days. While citing the prosecution a saying that the case represents one of the first actions against financing of world terror, Israel Radio cited the Islamic Movement as saying that "the mountain gave birth to a molehill." The Shin Bet opposed the deal. Ha'aretz reported that Israel has reported to the U.S. administration on the recent crisis with Russia. The newspaper says that Israel did not ask the U.S. to intervene in solving the problem that caused the crisis to erupt, even though the U.S. has dealt with this matter in the past. Yediot cited a denial by official Israeli sources of a Channel 2-TV report that the bilateral crisis was the result of a claim by President Vladimir Putin that Israeli elements have assisted and funded Viktor Yushchenko's election campaign. Ha'aretz also reported that tension is mounting in Jerusalem ahead of Syrian President Bashar Assad's visit to Moscow, on January 24. Jerusalem Post reported that, three weeks after Israel and Syria agreed that Golan Druze could sell their apples in Syria, bureaucratic snags are delaying the deal. Israel Radio reported that the UN Security Council asked Israel and Hizbullah on Tuesday to respect the "Purple Line" demarcating the Israeli-Lebanese border. Ha'aretz reported that an Arabic translation of portions of the most extensive planning document ever produced in Israel -- the master plan for the year 2020 -- has been published by the Center of Arab Unity Studies in Beirut. This institution brings together intellectuals from the Arab countries with the goal of reviving pan-Arabism and addressing "Zionism and imperialism." Yediot reported that Orly Benny-Davis, a former Israeli who resides in South Carolina and is a "respected political activist in the Republican Party," will arrive in Israel next week to promote the construction of a "third temple." She is prepared to hear any suggestion, except blowing up the mosques on the Temple Mount. Ha'aretz quoted a well-placed official Israeli source as saying that the GOI believes that Stanley Fischer's appointment to the post of governor of the Bank of Israel will increase Israel's chances of acceptance to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Jerusalem Post reported that visiting state attorneys from U.S. states, in particular Delaware Attorney- General Jane Brady, have expressed their admiration for Israel's state of preparedness against terrorist attacks. Maariv, Jerusalem Post and Hatzofe reported that at a news conference Tuesday, President Bush presented the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, who Maariv says is a Jew, and Jerusalem Post "a rabbi's son." Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post quoted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as saying Tuesday that he will convene a special session of the UNGA on January 24 to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the extermination camps in Europe. Over 110 member nations of the UN have already agreed to hold the meeting -- there have only been 27 such sessions since the foundation of the UN. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman observed in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "As things appeared this week, Sharon and his new government intend to grab the opportunity offered with the election of Abu Mazen and not repeat the mistake of the previous government, which waited for Abu Mazen the chick to grow its feathers." Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote in nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "Ariel Sharon has broken [a] record. A Likud-led government -- Sharon's -- is being supported by the votes of the Left and the Arabs." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Helping the Chick Grow Its Feathers" Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman observed in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (January 12): "Official Jerusalem understands that something happened this week: a new government arose in Ramallah and in Israel, and in another week a new administration will take office in Washington. And there's the rub. The powers that be in Israel are taking into account that the second Bush administration will not necessarily be identical with the first: neither in its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its composition, nor the balance of power inside it. A significant change is expected in Bush's attitude toward the Palestinians, as could already be seen in the president's warm congratulations to Abu Mazen and the invitation to the White House that Bush extended to the new Palestinian president. The U.S. administration will be the power supply that sends current to Jerusalem and Ramallah to divert the violent conflict to a track of political dialogue. He will demand that Abu Mazen make a major change in his government's capability for enforcing his will on the Palestinian street and foremost on the terror organization, and he will demand that Israel help Abu Mazen and thus fulfill its part in the actualization of the road map. As things appeared this week, Sharon and his new government intend to grab the opportunity offered with the election of Abu Mazen and not repeat the mistake of the previous government, which waited for Abu Mazen the chick to grow its feathers." II. "An Illegitimate Government" Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote in nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (January 12): "Ariel Sharon has broken [a] record. A Likud-led government -- Sharon's -- is being supported by the votes of the Left and the Arabs, without a Jewish or Zionist majority. All those who, a decade ago, claimed that the Rabin government was illegitimate because it didn't enjoy a Jewish or Zionist majority, cannot evade this contention today when we're talking about the extreme Left government headed by Ariel Sharon -- the government of the transfer [of Jews from their homes]." -------------- ¶2. U.S.-Russia Relations: -------------- Summary: -------------- Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Foreign Ministry ... has been warning in recent weeks about the formation of a Sino-Russian axis as a counterweight to the American supremacy in the world." Block Quotes: -------------- "A Cold Wind Is Blowing" Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (January 12): "The Foreign Ministry's center for political research, the smallest and poorest of Israel's intelligence branches but perhaps the most sober of all of them in its political assessments, has been warning in recent weeks about the formation of a Sino-Russian axis as a counterweight to the American supremacy in the world, which would have a bad influence on Israel's strategic position. Such an alliance could rip open a hole in the front that has formed against a nuclear Iran. Bush prefers to devote 2005 to political activity, to go through two more elections in Iraq (for a constitution and the permanent government),and only after 2006 go to war against the ayatollahs. But Sino-Russian opposition could speed up Bush's military moves. The incoming American foreign policy leadership -- Condoleezza Rice, the designated undersecretary Robert Zoellick and the designated deputy secretary for political affairs Nicolas Barnes, now ambassador to NATO -- is considered friendlier to Israel than the outgoing trio -- Colin Powell, Richard Armitage and Mark Grossman. That leadership is more aggressive toward Iran, more suspicious of Russia and more combative toward Syria, against whom the U.S. has suspended its tensions for the coming weeks in exchange for a promise from Damascus to freeze its aid to the opponents of an Iraqi election. This is all far from being a replay of the Cold War, the conflict that had so many ramifications for the Israeli-Arab front, but there is a searing cold in the air. It may be seasonal, but it could last." -------------- --- ¶3. Stanley Fischer's Bank of Israel Nomination: -------------- --- Summary: -------------- Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Should we not ... be proud that we, a small country, have attracted an economist of such global stature?" Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The opposition to the appointment of a new immigrant to a senior position is narrow-minded." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Welcome, Stanley Fischer" Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (January 12): "The choice of Stanley Fischer as the eighth governor of the Bank of Israel was not an obvious one, nor without risks. But it was a brave and possibly inspired choice, both on the offering and accepting ends.... The reaction of some, that this choice is a slight against our own qualified economists and business leaders, is somewhat small-minded. Should we not instead be proud that we, a small country, have attracted an economist of such global stature? Are we not signaling, properly, that our economy is not an island, and not just a bystander, but a potential competitive player in the global economy?" II. "Stanley Fischer, One of Our Own" Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (January 12): "The opposition to the appointment of a new immigrant to a senior position is narrow-minded. It is as if Israelis are willing to see new immigrants, at least in the early days of their integration, only as street-cleaners or standing behind the supermarket check-out counter, no matter what their profession. Opposition to the appointment of a bank governor, either from Israel or America, who represents too right- wing -- essentially Thatcheresque -- a worldview, could be understood. But as long as the policy of the government and the finance minister is such, it is impossible to expect the appointment of a governor with a different worldview." KURTZER