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


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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Mideast


2. Syrian-Lebanese Track


3. Vladimir Putin's Visit to Israel, April 27-28

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Key stories in the media:
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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.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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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:
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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?"
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2. Syrian-Lebanese Track:
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Summary:
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Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"For the first time in decades, [Lebanon's] destiny is
its own to shape."


Block Quotes:
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"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."


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3. Vladimir Putin's Visit to Israel, April 27-28:
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Summary:
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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:
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"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