ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 003727

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. U.S. Israel Security Exports Crisis


2. Mideast

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Key stories in the media:
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Israel Radio reported that Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe
Kaplinsky clarified to Palestinian Deputy Interior
Minister Jamal Abu Zayd Tuesday that there will be no
disengagement under fire, that if IDF troops are shot
at, the IDF will tackle the sources of possible fire
and that only then will disengagement proceed. Later
this morning, the radio reported on substantive
progress in the Kaplinsky-Abu Zayd talks.

Yediot reported that President Bush assessed, at his
meeting with British PM Tony Blair in Washington a few
days ago, that the implementation of the disengagement
plan would cause a political trauma in Israel, which
will lead to elections within 12 months of the
withdrawal. The newspaper says that Blair expressed a
similar opinion.

Jerusalem Post reported that Deputy National Security
Advisor Elliott Abrams and A/S David Welch are expected
to focus on how to improve disengagement coordination
between the two sides in their talks with both Israeli
and Palestinian officials on Wednesday, ahead of
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the

SIPDIS
region.

Hamodi'a quoted a senior IDF source as saying that the
IDF is prepared to send entire divisions to the Gaza
Strip "if the terrorists open fire during the
evacuation." Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources
as saying that the IDF will hand over security
responsibility over Jenin to the Palestinians before
the disengagement. The radio cited a response by
Israeli sources that such a development depended on
calm being achieved in the area.

Israel Radio quoted Israel's Ambassador to Egypt Shalom
Cohen as saying that the disengagement is not linked to
an agreement with Egypt regarding the Philadelphi
Route, and that it will take place even without a
border arrangement with Egypt. The radio also quoted
Cohen as saying that Israel will withdraw from the Gaza
Strip, but that its presence along the Philadelphi
Route will continue until it is certain that smuggling
has ceased.

Both Ha'aretz and Yediot bannered remarks by IDF Chief
of Staff Dan Halutz on Tuesday that the IDF will not
let its soldiers be sitting ducks if right-wing
extremists open fire during the disengagement. Leading
media reported that a "city of tents" has been erected
in Sa-Nur, one of the northern West Bank settlements.
Yediot reported that the settlers are "promising" that
200 additional youths from the extremist "hill youth"
will move to Sa-Nur. The newspaper cited IDF concerns
that that Sa-Nur will be one of the most difficult
places to evacuate.

Jerusalem Post cited a claim made by the PA Tuesday
that Israel has been flooding the Palestinian market
with carcinogenic juice and "suspicious" computers used
by its Defense Ministry. The newspaper notes that such
allegations, which were common under Yasser Arafat's
rule, have resurfaced in recent weeks in the
Palestinian media.

Jerusalem Post quoted Halutz as saying Tuesday that the
deepening crisis between Israel and the U.S. regarding
the sale of advanced weapons to China would be settled
quietly. Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Knesset's
Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, was quoted as
saying, in an interview from Paris with Israel Radio
Tuesday that the demand by the U.S. to oust senior
Israeli defense figures is "illegitimate" and has an
"element of humiliation." Steinitz also dubbed the
United States' expansion of the ban of Israeli weapons
sales to India and Singapore "illegitimate."
Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit was quoted as
saying, in an interview from Paris with Israel Radio,
that the argument with the U.S. over security exports
stems from U.S. considerations -- aiming to prevent
competition with U.S. manufacturers. A headline in
Yated Ne'eman calls the U.S. "friendly but hostile."
Yediot notes that representatives of Israeli companies
showing their products at Le Bourget air show near
Paris are careful not to meet openly with Chinese
representatives, which they used to do openly before
the crisis with the U.S.

Jerusalem Post reported that, "under international
pressure this week to open up its nuclear inspections,"
Saudi Arabia pointed the finger at Israel and insisted
on Monday that it sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty and open its nuclear facilities to international
inspectors.

Maariv cited the Egyptian weekly Al-Ousbou as saying
that the Mossad and elite IDF units are behind the
terrorist attacks in Iraq and assassinations of Iraqi
nuclear scientists.

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1. U.S. Israel Security Exports Crisis:
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Summary:
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Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized:
"Israel can continue to wage a war of attrition with
America; but can only come out the loser in such a
battle."
Block Quotes:
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"Time To Make Peace With the U.S."

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (June
15): "Israel has sinned over the years in creating
negative sentiment among the American security and
intelligence community. The sense conveyed from
Jerusalem, and even more so from the Kirya [Defense
Ministry compound] in Tel Aviv, is that Israel has no
qualms about putting one over on its benefactors in
Washington, as a supplement to the generous aid heaped
upon it. Just as Israel customarily objects to
American initiatives to sell -- as a superpower and out
of economic considerations -- sophisticated weaponry to
moderate Arab states that could endanger Israel, so too
is the United States disgruntled about the export of
arms and technology from Israel to countries that are
viewed as a threat to American interests. For a year
or so, Israel hoped the conflict would die down with
time. It appears there is no chance of this happening.
The Prime Minister and Defense Minister must intervene
directly and put an end to the affair -- both its
institutional and personal aspects -- as soon as
possible. For their part, the Americans must make
haste in formulating their position in the joint
memorandum. Israel can continue to wage a war of
attrition with America; but can only come out the loser
in such a battle."

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2. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"The appointment of Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman as
one of 21 vice presidents of the UN General Assembly is
a symbolic advance for Israel, and an equally small
step in the rehabilitation of the UN."

Liberal columnist B. Michael wrote in mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "There is no reason in the
world for the Palestinian Authority not to declare
publicly and seriously that it is inviting every
settler who so desires to continue to live in his home
as a resident with equal rights in the Palestinian
state."
Gershon Baskin, the co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine
Center for Research and Information, wrote in Jerusalem
Post: "The most essential element of creating the
Palestinian state is effective and good governance of
Gaza first. It is also essential for the Palestinians
to understand that Israel will not make it easy."

Gideon Bachar, deputy director of the Foreign
Ministry's Jordan, Syria and Lebanon Department, wrote
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "[Israel] should
avoid ... the adoption of the anti-Shi'ite Sunni trend
that characterizes many Arab states."

Block Quotes:
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I. "VP Gillerman"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(June 15): "The appointment of Israeli Ambassador Dan
Gillerman as one of 21 vice presidents of the UN
General Assembly is a symbolic advance for Israel, and
an equally small step in the rehabilitation of the UN
as an organization that might positively contribute to
peace and security in the world. The fact that this
step is imbued with such significance is a sign of how
far the UN has to go in treating Israel equally to
other nations.... None of this, of course, will matter
unless the fundamental political discrimination that
Israel suffers from at the UN changes. This
discrimination could conceivably continue even if
Israel is allowed to fully participate in all UN
bodies. Israel's real problem at Turtle Bay is that an
organization that is supposed to protect innocent
nations against unprovoked aggression has, in the
immortal words of then U.S. ambassador to the UN Daniel
Patrick Moynihan, 'joined the jackals'.... The
continuing Arab refusal to make peace with Israel and
accept our existence is an assault on the UN Charter
and on the decisions of the League of Nations and the
United Nations that affirm our rights in this land and
as a member state. On many levels, including its
unique definition of refugees in the Palestinian case,
to include their descendants, the UN continues to
indulge this assault. To the extent that Gillerman's
new status marks a changed approach, it is to be
welcomed, but it should not be seen as more than a
small step toward repairing a record that continues to
undermine the prospects for peace, security and freedom
in this region."


II. "The Palestinian Option"
Liberal columnist B. Michael wrote in mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (June 15): "The
[disengagement] plan's obdurate unilateralism was born
in the framework of its authors' intentions to cause
damage.... With that having been said, the Palestinian
leadership still has one option available: to take
unilateral steps of its own. For instance, with regard
to the settlers and their future: the general
Palestinian approach towards the settler issue is
featured solely by anger, hatred, bitterness and a
yearning to see them disappear from view and from the
horizon. All those emotions are quite justified, but
it would be a good idea to propose, even to demand that
the Palestinian leaders formulate a position that is
somewhat wiser, somewhat more balanced, somewhat more
productive. There is no reason in the world for the
Palestinian Authority not to declare publicly and
seriously that it is inviting every settler who so
desires to continue to live in his home as a resident
with equal rights in the Palestinian state. After all,
an ethnic or religious minority most certainly can live
in their future state just like minorities live in
other properly run states. Breaking zealously guarded
ethnic purity is one of the best aspirations of peace,
coexistence and reconciliation.... There is no point
denying that such an invitation has tactical and
strategic public relations value as well. Beyond its
fundamental human and democratic decency, it will quite
effectively dull the impression of the supposedly
necessary 'uprooting' of the settlers and will render
their evacuation an act of volition. It will create
another option in the internal-Israeli debate about the
future of all the settlements in their entirety. And,
of course, it will at long last put an end to the
demagogic chatter about 'judenrein' and other inanities
that are argued."

III. "Palestinian Opportunity"

Gershon Baskin, the co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine
Center for Research and Information, wrote in Jerusalem
Post (June 15): "In projecting 'day after' scenarios,
it is essential to conceive of a plan that will ensure
that Gaza 'first' will not result in Gaza 'only' -- the
biggest Palestinian fear. So something must be done to
gain support from both Palestinians and Israelis for a
bilateral peace process.... It is time to reverse the
strategy, to embrace a plan for reaching Jerusalem,
sovereignty and full statehood by working from the
bottom up. The foundations for the achievement of the
end-game goals can be achieved by accepting the Gaza
first plan. If the Palestinians can build the first
layer of statehood in Gaza, the other layers will
follow with greater ease. The most essential element
of creating the Palestinian state is effective and good
governance of Gaza first. It is also essential for the
Palestinians to understand that Israel will not make it
easy.... The Palestinians can issue declarations that
the Palestinian state will be within the 1967 Green
Line; they can announce their determination that Gaza
first will be the first real concrete step toward the
establishment of sovereignty and independence for the
Palestinian state. I don't think the Palestinians will
adopt this strategy. But I believe that if they did,
they would be taking their own fate in their own hands,
creating a new and more positive reality for
themselves."

IV. "Not Every Shi'ite Is an Enemy"

Gideon Bachar, deputy director of the Foreign
Ministry's Jordan, Syria and Lebanon Department, wrote
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (June 15): "The
Middle East in is the middle of processes of change,
the strength of which has recently been growing.... The
rising forces include Islamic terrorism and radicalism
... the Kurds, principally in northern Iraq but also
increasingly in Syria.... Alongside those forces, U.S.
military and diplomatic involvement is increasing....
The declining forces are first and foremost Arab
regimes and states ... as evidenced during the latest
Arab League [summit]... All this necessitates in Israel
new thinking about its geo-strategic place in the
region: can it find new allies?.... Among other things,
what [Israel] should avoid is the adoption of the anti-
Shi'ite, Sunni trend that characterizes many Arab
states. Not every Shi'ite is an enemy; there are many
moderate Shi'ites who are prepared to engage in
dialogue with Israel. Regarding Iran, it is only the
activity of the regime, not the people and society that
must be fought.... Sensitivity to the changes now
taking place in the Middle East also creates a chance
of being integrated into it and building a life of
peace and prosperity for Israel and its neighbors --
both Arabs and non-Arabs."

CRETZ