ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TEL AVIV 003582 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: -------------- Gaza Disengagement -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- 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. -------------- Gaza Disengagement: -------------- Summary: -------------- 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: -------------- ¶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