ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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TAGS: IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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Gaza Disengagement

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Key stories in the media:
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All media quoted PM Sharon as saying Wednesday at a
meeting of the ministerial committee on disengagement
that the move will be implemented as scheduled.
Sharon's comments followed harsh criticism leveled
against preparedness for disengagement by National
Security Adviser Giora Eiland. Sharon blamed
"political elements ... groups that are working against
the disengagement" for what he called "disinformation"
about the non-implementation of the GOI's preparations
ahead of the evacuation. Ha'aretz reported that
Sharon's bureau has grown increasingly concerned about
the matter in recent days. Maariv quoted a senior GOI
source as saying that settlers who refuse to be
evacuated will be fined USD 40,000. Leading media
reported that, rejecting 12 petitions, the High Court
of Justice ruled this morning, 10-1, that the
disengagement is legal. However, the court rejected
four particular provisions of the law that deal with
the terms of the compensation to be paid to evacuating
settlers. The court's assertion that the territories
are not legally part of Israel produced protests on the
Right and expressions of satisfaction on the Left.

Last night, Channel 2-TV released a poll that showed
that support for disengagement has dropped below 50
percent for the first time: 48 percent of the public
support the plan, 33 percent are opposed and 19 percent
are undecided.

Leading media reported that Sharon told visiting
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Wednesday that
despite Palestinian mortar and rocket attacks and a
drop in disengagement support in the polls, the
withdrawal from Gaza will proceed as planned. At the
same time, Sharon told Straw that Israel would not
tolerate disengagement under fire.

Jerusalem Post quoted Straw as saying Wednesday in
Ramallah, after meeting with PA Chairman [President]
Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian officials, that
Britain will not talk to Hamas until it recognizes
Israel's right to exist and renounces violence.

Yediot and Israel Radio reported that on Wednesday,
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and PA Interior Minister
Nasser Yousef agreed to start coordination of the
disengagement next week. Ha'aretz reported that in
recent days, the U.S. administration has pressed Israel
to strengthen Yousef. The newspaper says that Israel
will ask the U.S. to clarify to Abbas that he must act
against Hamas every time violence breaks out. Ha'aretz
writes that Israel has warned the U.S. that further
escalation would bring about erosion in the Israeli
public's support for disengagement.

Leading media (banner in Hatzofe) reported that former
Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliahu, the mentor of
religious Zionism, said in remarks to be broadcast
today in the ultra-Orthodox weekly Hamishpaha and
Channel 2-TV that soldiers should obey IDF orders to
evacuate settlements.

Leading media reported that, for the first time since
the renewed outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip, an
IAF plane fired missiles at a car belonging to three
Hamas militants in the southern Strip on Wednesday
evening. Some media reported that the strike's target
was a mortar launch site. The media quoted Palestinian
witnesses as saying that none of the targeted
Palestinians were injured in the strike. The media
quoted Abbas as saying: "Actions such as this can
destroy the calm, and have no logic in them." Israel
Radio reported that a Qassam rocket was fired at Gush
Katif last night.

Yediot reported that IAF commander Maj. Gen. Eliezer
Shkedy, who returned last week from a visit to the
U.S., told senior U.S. administration and defense
officials that Israel is concerned about an erosion of
Israel's qualitative edge following the supply of state-
of-the-art weapons to Arab countries.

Yediot quoted leading liberal author Amos Oz as saying
during a visit to Norway: "If violence continues,
Israeli moderates, too, will find it difficult to take
the road map into account."

Ha'aretz quoted Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski as
saying Wednesday that the Jerusalem Municipality does
not intend to issue demolition orders for houses in the
Arab neighborhood of Silwan.

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Gaza Disengagement:
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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: "With the
unilateral disengagement, Israel starts disengaging
from the grip of enslavement it had imposed upon
itself, and it is reclaiming control over its life."
Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv: "Along with the criticism
and the reservations, we must continue to stick to
supporting disengagement, which has the potential to
put a stop to the settlers' sense that they are the
bosses in Israel."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Israel Definitely Has Something To Gain"

Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (June 9): "An
allegation has recently built up in Israel. According
to it, unilateral disengagement is being carried out
'without anything in exchange' -- neither
diplomatically nor militarily. Thus, it is unwanted.
Actually, unilateral disengagement offers Israel
something extremely important in exchange. The Oslo
process gravely erred when it placed the fate of the
Jewish state in the hands of the Palestinians. The
accord stipulated that Israelis would receive
stability, recognition and quiet, should they abide by
Palestinian conditions -- the right of return,
Jerusalem, and Palestinian statehood. Since the
resolution of those issues is not -- and has never been
-- possible, Israel acquired neither quiet nor
stability, to the point of being under an existential
threat.... With the unilateral disengagement, Israel
starts disengaging from the grip of enslavement it had
imposed upon itself, and it is reclaiming control over
its life. This is the most important thing it can get.
Thus, Israel is reducing the pressure that the
Palestinians have applied on it in order to achieve
their nationalistic goals. In the future, Israel's
hands will be freer regarding arrangements with them."

II. "Disengagement or the End of Democracy"

Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv (June 9): "There is no
question that from a political and security
perspective, there are many flaws in the disengagement
plan, most of which can still be fixed.... Along with
this, the major importance of the disengagement plan is
neither political nor military. Its chief importance
is, first and foremost, internal, and its
implementation has a major role in shaping the face of
Israeli society as a democracy, and in carrying out the
will of the majority as reflected in the cabinet and
Knesset decisions. This is an historic step, which has
a critical role in shaping Israeli society for
generations to come. For the first time since ... the
establishment of the first settlement, the question of
the fate of the settlements and their evacuation is
facing a practical test on the ground, while touching
on one of society's most sensitive nerves....
Therefore, on the eve of the plan's implementation, as
the settlers' battle escalates, the Israeli Left must
internalize what the Right has long since realized: the
battle over disengagement is not over the fate of the
settlements. It is a battle over the character of
Israeli society as a democratic society, a law-abiding
society, which intends to leave the territories and to
create new and clear borders. Therefore, along with
the criticism and the reservations, we must continue to
stick to supporting disengagement, which has the
potential to put a stop to the settlers' sense that
they are the bosses in Israel, that there is no law and
no judges, where everyone does what they like."

KURTZER