ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 002667 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. Syrian-Lebanese Track ¶3. Vladimir Putin's Visit to Israel, April 27-28 -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Israel Radio quoted President Bush as saying at a press conference Thursday: "We're working closely with the Russians on the issue of vehicle-mounted weaponry to Syria. We didn't appreciate that, but we made ourselves clear. As to Iran, what Russia has agreed to do is to send highly enriched uranium to a nuclear civilian power plant, and then collect that uranium after it's used for electricity -- power purposes. That's what they've decided to do." Ha'aretz reported that Israel has rejected a proposal by the U.S. to supply the Palestinians police officers in the West Bank with weapons that would assist them in performing their duties. The newspaper reported that Israeli officials told U.S. officials: "Let them first take the weapons from the terrorists." Ha'aretz further reported that Israel has flatly rejected plans by PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas to absorb wanted Palestinians and their weapons into the PA's security mechanisms and thus "launder" their possession of arms in the future. Instead, Israel has stipulated five conditions for reaching an agreement concerning wanted me who have been involved in terror activities so as to facilitate the continuation of the IDF's withdrawal from the Palestinian cities, with Qalqilya next on the list. Maariv reported that next week the IDF will send draft orders to thousands of reservists ahead of the disengagement. This is the most important call-up since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. All media reported that 15,000 to 20,000 people attended an anti- disengagement rally in the northern West Bank Thursday. Yediot reported that the state has acquired 300 dunams (around 67 acres) of land next to Nitzan, between Ashdod and Ashkelon, on which 450 housing units will be built for the Neve Dekalim (Gaza Strip) settlers, at a cost of 31.5 million shekels (around USD 7.2 million). All media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin reassured Israel, in meetings with President Moshe Katsav and PM Sharon, regarding the Russian arms sale to Syria and Russian assistance to the Iranian nuclear program. Yediot quoted Putin as saying that the U.S. attempt to impose democracy in the Middle East destabilizes the region, that the U.S. policy encourages the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and that the U.S. is holding secret talks with the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. Israel Radio cited a clarification by visiting Russian FM Sergey Lavrov that his country has not proposed an international conference on the Middle East, but a professional meeting. IDF Intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi-Farkash was quoted as saying in an interview with Yediot that the Mossad and Shin Bet have thwarted over 10 terrorist attacks against Israel abroad in that past two months. Israel Radio reported that a mortar shell was fired at an Israeli target. The radio cited an Al Jazeera-TV report that the PA's Preventative Security has arrested two members of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades on suspicion of involvement in firing mortar shells at Israeli settlements. In protest, several members of the Brigades in Gaza demonstrated opposite Abbas's home, demanding that the two men be released immediately. Leading media reported that MK Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash) was among 10 left-wing activists and a press photographer who were lightly injured Thursday when security forces dispersed a demonstration against the separation fence close to the West Bank village of Bil'in. All media reported that two residents of the village of Ghajar, which straddles the Israel-Lebanon border, were kidnapped to Lebanon by Hizbullah in early April and released after four days. Jerusalem Post quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying in an interview with NBC that Syria must cease all "covert activity" in Lebanon. Ha'aretz quoted former U.S. mediator Aaron David Miller as saying that the U.S. policy adopted a distinct pro- Israeli policy during the 2000 Camp David talks that, together with other mistakes, led to the failure of the negotiations between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. Leading media reported that Stanley Fischer, the new Governor of the Bank of Israel, will enter his post on Sunday. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Sharon-Peres duo ... must take the irreversible step that will compel the future leaders of this country to keep going ... until Israel's establishment is complete and the state has permanent, occupation-free borders." Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "A majority of Israelis is probably indifferent to the [disengagement] plan, but indifference cannot be confused with support." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "The End of a Generation" Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (April 29): "Disengagement from Gaza will happen. Even if Sharon denies that there will be another round of disengagement in the West Bank, it is clear as day that the U.S. administration will push for Stage B and Stage ¶C. Because the alternative is a bloody Intifada the likes of which we haven't seen yet. In the same way that Ben-Gurion took the irreversible step of declaring the establishment of the state, Begin took the irreversible step of signing a peace agreement with Egypt, and Rabin took the irreversible step of endorsing the Oslo Accord, the Sharon-Peres duo, with their combined age of 159, must take the irreversible step that will compel the future leaders of this country to keep going -- no matter what the extremists and crazies say -- until Israel's establishment is complete and the state has permanent, occupation-free borders." II. "How Will Israel Speak?" Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (April 29): "The Prime Minister's supporters claim that a majority of Israelis support the [disengagement] plan. But the truth is probably different. A majority of Israelis is probably indifferent to the plan, but indifference cannot be confused with support.... In the absence of a referendum -- and assuming that the government will not fall before the withdrawal because the Labor, Yahad (Meretz) and Arab parties will protect Sharon to ensure that elections are out of the question -- what is the vehicle through which Israelis will be able to voice their opposition to a plan adopted without their consent with which they are becoming increasingly disenchanted?" -------------- ¶2. Syrian-Lebanese Track: -------------- Summary: -------------- Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "For the first time in decades, [Lebanon's] destiny is its own to shape." Block Quotes: -------------- "Good Morning Lebanon" Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (April 29): "Now, with Syria gone, Beirut must make the most of its American and French backing, and lose no time unleashing its famous economic zest. However, even the morning after its upcoming election, Lebanon will not be able to immediately restore its role as a regional economic engine. To accomplish that, Beirut will have to dispose of its invaders not only from without, but also from within.... For the first time in decades, [Lebanon's] destiny is its own to shape. Plainly put, the Lebanese people's choice is between reaction and progress, poverty and prosperity, even life and death. Hopefully, they will make the right choice, and gradually inspire more in the oppressive Middle East to follow in their footsteps." -------------- -------------- ¶3. Vladimir Putin's Visit to Israel, April 27-28: -------------- -------------- Summary: -------------- Columnist Doron Rosenblum wrote in independent, left- leaning Ha'aretz: "Political-security-minded Israel ... wavers between striking a blow and whining, in a kind of perpetual childhood." Block Quotes: -------------- "The Parable of Putin's Visit" Columnist Doron Rosenblum wrote in independent, left- leaning Ha'aretz (April 29): "In response to the deep bombings in the [1967-70] War of Attrition the Russians came to defend Egypt with a crowded network of missiles, which was one of the causes of the disaster of the Yom Kippur War; in response to the destruction of the PA infrastructure, there is nobody to fight terror; in response to the showcase flights over Lebanon, the entire north of the country turned into a hostage of the Hizbullah rockets; in response to the flights over Assad's palace, Syria received missiles. When the long-term results become evident, we go over to the other extreme: the arrogance turns into 'astonishment,' and the 'let 'em have it' turns into [a panic cry of] 'oy gevalt': that's when we run to the apron strings of our American nursemaid. That is the nature of political-security-minded Israel: it wavers between striking a blow and whining, in a kind of perpetual childhood. For decades, nothing has changed and no lesson has been learned, as has been well demonstrated by the mini-parable called Putin's visit. (But wait a minute, we almost forgot the 'political achievements' of the visit, which are also typical: a condemnation of anti-Semitism and a rejection of the despicable attempt by the guest to propose a peace plan.)" KURTZER