ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 003844 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. Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank June 18-19 ¶2. Mideast ¶3. Lebanon: Elections -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Israel Radio reported that PM Sharon and PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas will meet at Sharon's Jerusalem residence on Tuesday morning. Jerusalem Post led with comments made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday also cited in other media, according to which Israel will raze settler homes slated for evacuation and take other steps to ensure an economically viable Palestinian state, including allowing for a flow of people and goods in and out of Gaza. Ha'aretz quoted Secretary Rice as saying during her meeting with Sharon, "The most important thing right now is to ensure the pullout passes peacefully, without any harm to the withdrawing settlers and the Israel Defense Forces. Israel and the Palestinian Authority share a commitment to ensure that disengagement happens smoothly, without violence." Maariv reported that, during her meetings with senior Israeli officials, Secretary Rice stressed that while Abbas is weak, the U.S. is aware of it, that there is no other Abbas, and that he must be helped before it is too late, and that this should be done now and immediately. Ha'aretz reported that Secretary Rice asked the Palestinians not to "burden the withdrawal agenda with superfluous issues" (such as demands that they be allowed to control the Philadelphi Route, as well as the border crossings into Egypt, that Gaza airport be reopened, and that understandings be reached with Israel on a safe corridor between Gaza and the West Bank). The newspaper reported that, during her talks with the PA leaders, Rice questioned the PA's ability to restore order to its security mechanisms in the Gaza Strip prior to the disengagement, and the PA's apparent inability to preserve the period of quiet and prevent Islamic Jihad and certain elements in Fatah from escalating the situation in the Strip ahead of the pullout. Ha'aretz quoted Sharon as saying before his meeting with Rice, "Israel is a peace-seeking country. After so many years of terror and bloodshed, the achievement of security, peace, and tranquility is not an easy task." Yediot quoted Rice as saying that Sharon is a close friend of the U.S., and that she and President Bush admire him. Ha'aretz reported that Sharon told the cabinet after his meeting with Secretary Rice, "The Americans are aware of our SIPDIS position that the transition from the disengagement to the road map is dependent on the dismantlement of the terror groups, an end to the incitement, the rounding- up of arms and the implementation of reforms." A PA official was quoted as saying in an interview with Jerusalem Post: "Rice did not come up with anything new. She only repeated the same statements, which President Abbas heard during his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington." Jerusalem Post quoted another Palestinian official as saying that Rice chose to focus mainly on the issue of disengagement, ignoring Israel's recurring violations of the unofficial truce declared earlier this year by the Palestinians. All media reported that an IDF soldier, Sgt. Maj. Avi Karuchi, was killed and two others were wounded Sunday in an assault by Palestinians along the Philadelphi Route. Islamic Jihad and Fatah's Abu Rish Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to Israel's violation of the so-called truce. Ha'aretz writes that the incident, the first in which a soldier has been killed since the Palestinian factions declared a "period of calm" in January, is also putting to test the IDF's policy of restraint in the Gaza Strip, and could bring about the renewal of raids into PA territory. Israel Radio reported that this morning, an Israeli was killed and another was wounded in an ambush in the West Bank. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. Yediot published the draft of the first agreement reached between the GOI and Gush Katif settlers, who will reportedly be allocated one dunam of land (0.223 acres) per family in the Nitzanim area. Leading media reported that on Sunday, police and IDF troops placed a roadblock near the entrance to the Maoz Hayam hotel in Gush Katif after some far-right extremists living there attacked and injured three Palestinians on Saturday. Speaking on Israel Radio Sunday, FM Shalom apologized to Secretary Rice over Israeli arms sales to China: "If things were done that were not acceptable to the Americans, then we are sorry but these things were done with the utmost innocence." The media quoted Rice as saying, "I believe that the Israelis now understand our concerns." Ha'aretz reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's bureau issued a clarification on Sunday following media reports (in Yediot on Sunday) that the U.S. had demanded the resignation of Defense Ministry D- G Amos Yaron and the ministry's head of security Yehiel Horev in connection with arms deals with China. In an unrelated development, Ha'aretz and Yediot reported that on Sunday, visiting Chinese FM Li Zhaoxing promised FM Silvan Shalom that the scope of trade between China and Israel would double by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Jerusalem Post quoted Vice Premier Shimon Peres as saying it had been agreed in his talks with Secretary Rice that a joint American-Israeli team would be established to examine the issue of developing the Galilee and the Negev in line with the commitments made by President Bush to Sharon. The newspaper notes that the issue was also raised in a subsequent meeting between Peres and James Wolfensohn, the Quartet's special envoy on economic issues. Ha'aretz, Maariv, and other leading media quoted Egyptian FM Ahmed Abu el-Gheit as saying on Sunday, during a meeting with Peres, that if the disengagement plan is not backed up by further Israeli concessions on the West Bank, the Gaza Strip will "explode." Yediot and Israel Radio reported that Peres will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh today. Maariv reported that the Egyptian censorship board has instructed Egyptian film producers not to refer to Israel negatively. Maariv reported that Secretary Rice expressed public support on Sunday for Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., Danny Ayalon, whose relations with FM Shalom are strained. -------------- -------------- ¶1. Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank June 18-19: -------------- -------------- Summary: -------------- Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Rice joined a long and illustrious list of American secretaries of state who tried unsuccessfully to bridge the differences, the hatreds and the profound gaps in the fundamental positions maintained by the parties in the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians." Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "It is vital ... to ensure that Abbas comes across as a proud partner in talks with Sharon -- and not as a collaborator with Israel." Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The problem is that, in Washington's own terms, the gap between the parties' actions is much wider than Rice made it out to be [during her visit to the region]." Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon asserted in nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "[Sharon and his friends] haven't been attentive to remarks made by Condoleezza Rice at the press conference, according to which the withdrawal from Gush Katif is just the beginning of the process." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "No Discounts" Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (June 20): "Just as Rice announced with satisfaction the agreement she secured with the Israelis and Palestinians to coordinate the evacuation of the Gaza Strip and to spare no effort to make the evacuation process happen quietly, news of the grave incident on Philadelphi Road broke. Rice joined a long and illustrious list of American secretaries of state who tried unsuccessfully to bridge the differences, the hatreds and the profound gaps in the fundamental positions maintained by the parties in the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Rice did not come only to 'maintain' the process and to ensure that Israel indeed withdraws from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria [i.e. the northernmost part of the West Bank] in another two months. Her principal task was to ensure that the American investment in Sharon's disengagement plan does not go down the drain. The Bush administration is deeply invested in disengagement, since the Americans believe that the evacuation will produce an earthquake in the region and may even herald the beginning of the end of the conflict. Against the backdrop of the standstill in Iraq, Rice hopes that at least in our arena a miracle will happen and a breakthrough on the way to a peace arrangement will be achieved. Sharon, who has received warm words of praise from President Bush and Secretary Rice, did not make life any easier for his American guest yesterday.... He warned her that the Palestinians were liable to miss another opportunity to reach a state of their own if the chaos in the Palestinian Authority did not end." II. "By the Ballot of the Bomb" Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (June 20): "If Sharon and Bush can accept Hamas entering the elected Palestinian body via the front door, without any preconditions and in violation of existing agreements, how can Abbas be expected to slam the door shut in Hamas's face?.... In order to weaken Hamas, its political rivals must be bolstered. It is vital, therefore, to ensure that Abbas comes across as a proud partner in talks with Sharon -- and not as a collaborator with Israel. If not as a partner for a final status agreement -- at least as the new landlord in the territories, someone who Israel can turn to, someone who controls who enters and who leaves his territory. If not as the liberator of Al-Aqsa, then as the leader who freed prisoners, smashed barriers, lifted roadblocks and froze the settlements. Without all of these achievements, the withdrawal from Gaza will turn into Hamas' victory parade, and then there will be no need for elections or for international recognition in order to launch the third Intifada." III. "Mind the Gap" Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (June 20): "The U.S. ... is in full diplomatic mode: praising where it deems praise is due, coaxing, cajoling, and generally trying to get 'both sides' to behave and get on with the program. Nor can the administration be accused of blind evenhandedness, since it clearly recognizes that Sharon is acting boldly while Abbas is much further from advancing Washington's vision. So what's the problem? The problem is that, in Washington's own terms, the gap between the parties' actions is much wider than Rice made it out to be [during her visit to the region]. Israel is embarking on a reversal of the settlement project on a scale that Washington could not have dreamed of, let alone demanded, let alone expected to receive. The Palestinians, by contrast, not only have failed to begin to fulfill America's most basic demands, but have even moved in the wrong direction, denying even the principle that weapons must be confiscated. In this context, it makes no sense to apply roughly the same medicine in slightly different doses.... The U.S. needs to say bluntly to the Palestinians that they must accept the Jewish people's national rights in this land, just as Israel has accepted their national rights.... If the U.S. is unwilling to say such things in a straightforward manner, with the clarity of Bush's June 2002 call on the Palestinians to rid themselves of Yasser Arafat, than it should not be surprised to see its plans unravel." IV. "Diplomatic Talks Under Rocket Attacks" Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon asserted in nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (June 20): "The Secretary of State, who took part in a press conference [during her visit to Israel], at first tried to evade a question she was asked about whether the evacuation of Gush Katif was part of a comprehensive plan to evacuate Jewish settlers from the West Bank as well. Eventually, after journalists repeated the question several times, she said, naturally, that there is a road map and that the U.S. would implement it some time.... The Prime Minister and his friends are unable to foresee the future. They haven't been attentive to remarks made by Condoleezza Rice at the press conference, according to which the withdrawal from Gush Katif is just the beginning of the process, in the framework of a plan leading to a total pullout from the West Bank and Jerusalem, which is included in the road map." -------------- ¶2. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Einat Hurvitz, chairperson of Amnesty International - Israel Section, and Claudio Cordone, senior director of Regional Programs at Amnesty International - International Secretariat, wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The AI [Amnesty International] annual report is an overall record of efforts made throughout the year to protect people's lives and dignity. Hopefully, the lively debate that its publication triggered in Israel and elsewhere will provide momentum for positive change in the reality of people's lives." Block Quotes: -------------- "Amnesty Is Not 'Out To Get' Israel" Einat Hurvitz, chairperson of Amnesty International - Israel Section, and Claudio Cordone, senior director of Regional Programs at Amnesty International - International Secretariat, wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (June 20): "Amnesty International investigates, documents and takes action on human rights violations around the globe using one standard -- that of international human rights and humanitarian law -- and strives to do so in an impartial way. Nevertheless, the annual Amnesty International Report 2005 covering human rights violations around the globe in 2004 generated criticism in this newspaper from David Forman ... and Michael Ehrlich.... Forman accuses Amnesty International (AI) of being 'out to get' Israel while ignoring serious human rights violations elsewhere in the world.... As for suicide bombings and other deliberate killings of Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups, we have consistently condemned them as crimes against humanity.... There is plenty of evidence that far too many killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces were unlawful. AI and Israeli human rights organizations have raised numerous cases over the years with the Israeli authorities, who [sic] have hardly ever provided evidence to disprove the allegations or shown that proper investigations were taking place and that perpetrators were brought to justice and held accountable.... The AI annual report is an overall record of efforts made throughout the year to protect people's lives and dignity. Hopefully, the lively debate that its publication triggered in Israel and elsewhere will provide momentum for positive change in the reality of people's lives." -------------- ¶3. Lebanon: Elections: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Syria will apparently be able to continue exerting its influence in Lebanon, since after its withdrawal, no one can demand that it disarm Hizbullah. That's Lebanon's job now." Block Quotes: -------------- "New Parliament, Old Policy" Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (June 20): "The strange coalitions revealed during elections between past and present supporters of Syria, between some Druze and some Christians, the Christian right and Sunni Muslims, and some Shi'ites and other Druze, attest more than anything else to the fact that Lebanon's politics, in spite of the tremendous achievement of Syria's removal, still suffers from chronic malaise. The main question is to what extent the new government and parliament can withstand external pressure as it continues to implement UN Resolution 1559 to oust Syria from Lebanon. With the Shi'ite bloc and Hizbullah holding 35 seats, both Aoun and Hariri will need extraordinary political virtuosity to convince Hizbullah to disarm. And since whoever wins does not hold a convincing majority, any external pressure will push political rivals into each other's arms in order not to appear to have buckled under international pressure. Under such conditions, Syria will apparently be able to continue exerting its influence in Lebanon, since after its withdrawal, no one can demand that it disarm Hizbullah. That's Lebanon's job now." KURTZER