ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 002528 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: -------------- Mideast -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Maariv reported that PM Sharon decided Thursday that the date of the disengagement would be August 15. Israel Radio quoted White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan as saying Thursday that a possible delay in the disengagement move is an "internal Israeli matter," that the U.S. appreciates Israel's moving forward on disengagement, and "that's why it's so important that the parties in the region coordinate closely as this occurs, and that we make sure that it's a successful transition." Ha'aretz quoted a Jerusalem source as saying that Sharon is expected to meet with PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas before the latter's scheduled trip to Washington next month. Israel Radio reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz clarified to PA Minister of Civilian Affairs Muhammad Dahlan at their meeting in Tel Aviv Thursday that Israel will not pull out from the Gaza Strip under fire. The radio quoted Mofaz as saying that security coordination between Israel and the PA is in the interest of both sides, but that it is not a condition for disengagement. The station reported that Dahlan told Mofaz it will disarm the Palestinians wanted by Israel in the cities of Jericho and Tulkarm, in which security responsibility was handed over to the PA, but that this will take him some time. This morning, Israel Radio reported that two Palestinians suspected of involvement in the February 25 bombing in Tel Aviv escaped from their jail in Tulkarm. The PM's Passover interviews: -Sharon was quoted as saying in an interview with Jerusalem Post that although the U.S. has never supported settlement, "there will doubtless be more discussion" of the issue with the U.S. administration. -In an interview with Yediot, Sharon said that it was the conditions that had changed, not he, and that he wanted to reach an agreement with the Americans, knowing time was not unlimited. He said that if he waited, another plan would sprout, and that he wanted to save what he could from the settlement drive. He showed more consideration of Abbas than in his previous negative "chicken without feathers" metaphor, saying he was a "chicken that was trying to fly." Asked if he believed whether a Palestinian state would be established in this age, Sharon told the newspaper's Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer: "You are young people. You have many years to live." When reminded that President Bush conditions such a state upon contiguity of land, Sharon mentioned the possibility that contiguity could be ensured through the construction of tunnels and bridges in the West Bank. -In an interview with Ha'aretz, Sharon remarked that he does not suggest that Israel accept the Saudi initiative or any other Arab initiative, since there is a recognized initiative -- the road map. In that interview, Sharon also stated that the problem between Israel and the Arabs is the Arabs' lack of readiness to recognize the Jews' right to an independent state in their land. -On Israel Radio, Sharon stated his belief that the U.S. administration will not turn a blind eye to construction in the settlements, but that "Israel's governments have felt it was very important to hold areas in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]." -Asked by IDF Radio whether Israel was prepared for the disengagement, Sharon said it was, and that he was not going to respond to comments on the matter by cabinet ministers. -Talking to leading Internet news service Ynet, Sharon said: "All settlement blocs will be fenced and remain in Israeli hands forever as part of the State of Israel. The American approach on the matter has not changed at all." Regarding Abbas, Sharon was quoted as saying: "As opposed to his predecessor, whom I viewed as personally responsible and never shook his hand, I cannot treat Abu Mazen the same way. I can address him as being responsible for not doing the things that need to be done. It's clear to me that he wants to [act] -- the question is whether he will." -Sharon said that Israel would react harshly to attacks that would follow disengagement. -Sharon stressed the importance of healing rifts among Israelis. Citing documents it obtained, Ha'aretz reported that the continuing failure of the security forces' campaign against the smuggling tunnels in the Gaza Strip is the result of a series of unnecessary delays and unclear decisions that will soon be reviewed by the State Comptroller's Office. President Moshe Katsav was quoted as saying in an interview with Jerusalem Post that a formal apology in the name of successive governments should be issued to Katif Bloc settlers who moved there at the state's behest and are now facing evacuation. All media reported that an IDF soldier was moderately wounded Thursday when the jeep in which he was traveling was hit by an explosive device near the Gaza Strip security fence. Leading media cited an announcement by police Thursday that Jerusalem police recently foiled a plan to murder three policemen, chop up their bodies, and steal their guns for sale on the black market. Police named the would-be assassins as brothers Walid and Nidal Shubaki from the A-Ram village north of Jerusalem. Four of the 14 suspects are Israeli citizens -- one Jewish and three Arab -- and the rest are Palestinians living in or near Jerusalem. Maariv cited Wall Street Journal as saying Thursday that Israel's Discount Bank was among the financial institutions that unwittingly channeled around USD 20 million to over 45 terrorist groups or charities that were used as front organizations. Ha'aretz reported that on Thursday, IDF Advocate General Brig. Avihai Mandelblit appealed the acquittal of an IDF officer who opened fire during a May 2003 incident in which James Miller, a British photojournalist, was killed in the Gaza Strip. Leading media cited complaints by employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington that Anne Ayalon, the wife of the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., humiliated them. Yediot reported that the Civil Service Commission will investigate the matter. A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll: -64 percent of settlers say they will not resist evacuation; 22 percent say that they will resist passively; 4 percent say they will forcibly resist the security forces; 4 percent say they will take part in demonstrations; 3 percent say they will take part in the opposition (without stating how); 3 percent are undecided. -49 percent of settlers say they will obey the army rather than the rabbis during evacuation; 39 say they will obey the rabbis; 2 percent say that it depends on the rabbis' identity; 10 percent are undecided. A Ha'aretz survey found that Sharon's popularity is declining. His performance is rated 5.95 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest (figures in January: 6.25; February: 6.6; and March: 6.6). -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Chances that the Palestinian people will be satisfied with Islamists leaders are low, and prospects that the same people power that crowns them eventually will depose them are high. The choice, in any event, cannot be Israel's or any other foreign power's; it can only be made by the Palestinian public." Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "At first, the process of Israeli-American negotiations seemed to create a convenient starting point for Israel.... However, it makes negotiations between the sides superfluous." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Whom Should We Back?" Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (April 22): "Today, those of Oslo's supporters who concede its general failure often agree also about its misconception concerning democracy. In the spirit of the American analysis of the Middle East since the September 11 attacks, Israelis of all stripes should finally understand that it its not up to them to choose their neighbors' leaders, nor to back or trip them. That also goes for Abbas.... Many outside the PA still question the wisdom of allowing Abbas's regime to be toppled, one way or another, by Islamists. The answer to them is that if he has failed to win the people hearts no external power will salvage him, however unpalatable Israel might consider such a shift. And if the people's genuine democratic choice is Islamism -- and we'll presumably get a good sense of this should elections to the Palestinian National Council take place as scheduled in July -- then that it what they will have. Chances that the Palestinian people will be satisfied with Islamists leaders are low, and prospects that the same people power that crowns them eventually will depose them are high. The choice, in any event, cannot be Israel's or any other foreign power's; it can only be made by the Palestinian public." II. "The Coming Pax Americana" Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (April 22): "President Bush is relentlessly promoting the road map, which he views as an important instrument to execute his policy. At first, the process of Israeli-American negotiations seemed to create a convenient starting point for Israel and appeared to give Israel achievements in relation to the U.S. position regarding various aspects of the permanent solution. However, it makes negotiations between the sides superfluous. It makes the United States the exclusive arbiter in all issues of the conflict and in the future will make it impossible for Israel to exert pressure on the Palestinians in relation to subjects on which the Americans adopt the Palestinian position. The assumption that the U.S. will always reject Saudi or Egyptian or Palestinian approaches that are not acceptable to Israel requires proof. If there are developments in the region that adversely affect the situation of the U.S. to the point where it must repay one of the countries of the Arab world, or if the U.S. is asked to intervene in Saudi Arabia or in the northern system and feels it must prove that it is not facing off frontally against the Arab world, there are clauses in the road map that will make it possible for Washington to accept a particular Arab position without departing from the road map." CRETZ