Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05TELAVIV3899
2005-06-22 21:48:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

Tags:  IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 003899 

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:
--------------------------------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 003899

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. Mideast


2. Democracy in Mideast

--------------
Key stories in the media:
--------------

All media reported that PM Sharon hosted PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday at his Jerusalem
residence for their first working visit since the Sharm
el-Sheikh visit. During the two-hour meeting, Sharon
demanded that the PA act against terrorist
organizations and prevent attacks. Abbas demanded that
Israel "strengthen his hand" so that he could act.
Despite their differences, agreements were reached on a
few issues, such as coordination of the disengagement.
Sharon announced a number of goodwill gestures:
Bethlehem and Qalqilya are to be handed over to PA
control within two weeks; the number of Palestinian
workers allowed in Israel will be increased; the
checkpoints will be improved and some frail veteran
prisoners -- with 'blood on their hands' -- will be
released. On the other hand, Sharon turned down
several of Abbas's demands. Sharon said that if the
PA did not act against terror, Israel would be forced
to act. The media reported that senior Palestinian
sources expressed deep disappointment about the
meeting.

Ha'aretz reported that, a few hours before the Sharon-
Abbas meeting, Palestinian sources reported that the
IAF had fired a number of missiles at a structure in
Gaza in an assassination attempt, causing no injuries.
Ha'aretz reported that Israeli security sources would
not comment on the report, but quoted officials as
confirming that targeted assassinations were being
resumed. Jerusalem Post also reported that the IAF had
botched an assassination attempt. Israel Radio cited
threats made by five Palestinian groups to resume
attacks inside the Green Line, should Israel continue
its assassination policy.

The collision of a passenger train with a truck in the
northern Negev on Tuesday afternoon, in which eight
people were killed and close to 200 others were
injured, dominates the headlines. The media reported
that anti-disengagement groups announced that they were
postponing for a week plans to block traffic at major
junctions throughout the country in the wake of the
collision in the Negev. Leading media reported that on

Monday or Tuesday (sources vary),police arrested 11
residents of the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank
after receiving information they were gathering road
spikes and "ninja" throwing stars in preparation for
the demonstration originally planned for today.
Hatzofe reported that the Yesha Council of Jewish
Settlements in the Territories plans to start its
massive anti-disengagement campaign by mid-July.
Israel Radio reported that several hundred reserve
officers and soldiers took part in a meeting last night
in Jerusalem to encourage disobeying orders in the
evacuation of Gush Katif and the northern West Bank.
Israel Radio reported that 11 Islamic Jihad militants
have been arrested in the West Bank.

Israel Radio cited claims by the international group
Human Rights Watch that the IDF has whitewashed
hundreds of cases of killings and injuries during the
Intifada.

Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday, the Jerusalem
Municipality proposed that Arab residents of the East
Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan present the city with
an alternative housing plan to scores of illegally
constructed homes in the area slated for demolition.

Jerusalem Post reported that the Israel Navy has
inaugurated a program to combine its elite Naval
Academy with a degree from the University of Haifa.
While the University has likened its program to the
U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, the Navy sees it as a
way to attract high-caliber youth to its professional
service.

--------------

1. Mideast:
--------------

Summary:
--------------

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Even the Americans
are wondering whether to continue assisting Abbas."

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "The days of grace are over. The
days of reckoning have begun."

Columnist Tovah Lazaroff wrote in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "While Abbas's failure
threatens to rock Sharon's own, it is Abbas's own
future that was more imperiled as he walked out of the
room."

Ha'aretz editorialized: "Egypt can prevent smuggling
without changing the [Israeli-Egyptian peace]
treaty.... The evacuation of Gaza should not be a
hostage to the changing of the peace treaty."
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach commented in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "In an attempt
to assist Abu Mazen, the U.S. administration decided
that the right thing to do was to demolish the
houses.... When the Americans speak ... Jerusalem
listens."

Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized: "[Sharon]
intends to evacuate the Gaza district without getting
anything in exchange, and, if the U.S. pressures him,
an increasing number of areas in the West Bank, too."

Block Quotes:
--------------


I. "No Surprises in Jerusalem"

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (June 22): "In spite
of the expressions of disappointment and disparagement
on both sides, it seems the meeting expressed the exact
state of the relationship between the two sides. They
are trapped in a chicken-or-egg conundrum: which comes
first, the Palestinian war on terror or the
strengthening of Abbas' government with goodwill
gestures by Israel?.... Israeli officials are asking
what the point is of strengthening a person who can't
exert control, and whose weakness is immediately
translated into a rise in terror.... The weakening of
Abbas is very troubling to the U.S. administration.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who came to the

SIPDIS
area last week, was impressed by the seriousness of a
report she received from her security coordinator
[Lieutenant] General William Ward, who described the
crumbling of the PA, power struggles and infighting at
senior levels of Fatah. She asked her Israeli hosts to
do all they could to help Abbas. Washington understands
that Abbas's fall would be considered a failure of
President George W. Bush's policy of democratization.
But even the Americans are wondering whether to
continue assisting Abbas or if the time has come to
realize that nothing will help him, and even if he gets
extra assistance, he won't be able to give anything in
return."

II. "Atmosphere of Missed Opportunity"

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (June 22): "Abu Mazen looked more lost
than ever on Tuesday.... Abu Mazen is very good at
talking. Action is not his forte. Sharon, who is in a
difficult bind himself, is losing his patience. On one
hand, there are the Americans, who are demanding to
strengthen Abu Mazen here and now. On the other hand,
there is the Israeli public. On the third hand, the
political situation -- the mounting terror -- the
attempt to delay disengagement.... [On Tuesday,] a sour
taste of failure hovered in the air. An atmosphere of
missed opportunity.... The days of grace are over. The
days of reckoning have begun. The crucial hour is
approaching, the way disengagement is implemented (if
it does not hit a shoal along the way) will determine
its continuation. As weak as he is, Abu Mazen holds
the keys to what will happen here at the end of the
summer, and in several winters to come after that.
That is how it looks, too."


III. "Abbas and Sharon Need Each Other"

Columnist Tovah Lazaroff wrote in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (June 22): "Unlike his
predecessor, Yasser Arafat, who never understood the
need to move from a terrorist state into a nation,
Abbas apparently believes in a democratic state, not
because of pressure from Israel or the international
community but because he believes it holds the best
promise for the Palestinian people. A strong military
strike is likely to put a more extreme leader in place,
thus helping to ensure that disengagement becomes a
last stand, rather than the first step toward a
peaceful solution. Sharon, therefore, is willing to go
a long way to help Abbas, but his price tag is one that
Abbas does not have the ability to pay: stop the
violence.... The choice, Sharon seemed to be saying to
Abbas, is yours. While Abbas's failure threatens to
rock Sharon's own, it is Abbas's own future that was
more imperiled as he walked out of the room."

IV. "The Philadelphi Excuse"

Ha'aretz editorialized (June 22): "The purpose of
disengagement is to give the Palestinians full
sovereignty over the area to be transferred to their
control. Without removing the Israel Defense Forces
from the Philadelphi route that divides the two parts
of Rafah, Israel cannot argue, politically or legally,
that it has completed the withdrawal. Since the
disengagement is supposed to be unilateral, Israel has
refrained from negotiating conditions or proposing
reciprocal arrangements.... Therefore, Israel did not
work toward an agreement with the Palestinians on the
disposition of the Philadelphi route. Leaving the
route might increase the immediate security risk to
Israel, caused by the smuggling of arms into Gaza and
the threat of renewed firing. Whether or not the
Palestinians do their part to prevent smuggling from
the eastern side of Rafah, the Egyptians have the
capability to thwart these acts from the western side.
This capability is contingent on reinforcing the
Egyptian presence in Sinai.... Egypt can prevent
smuggling without changing the treaty.... Egypt does
not want to do so, for its own reasons. Talks being
conducted with senior Egyptian officials in Jerusalem
and Israeli officials in Cairo are for American eyes
only.... The evacuation of Gaza should not be a hostage
to the changing of the peace treaty."


V. "A City of Hope, an Army of Fear"
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach commented in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (June 22): "The
[IDF] officers didn't want to deal with the destruction
of [settlers'] houses, mainly because of the will to
leave the Gaza Strip as quickly as possible. One of
the officers told me about one month ago that the army
is intent on destroying them, but that, on the other
hand, Hamas is trailing the army. The Israeli defense
establishment's concerns overcome any idea of hope, and
the government indeed adopted the army's position and
decided not to destroy the houses. Then, the Americans
entered the picture. In an attempt to assist Abu
Mazen, the U.S. administration decided that the right
thing to do was to demolish the houses.... When the
Americans speak ... Jerusalem listens. During her
visit to the region this week, Secretary Rice announced
that the houses would indeed be demolished, and that
the Palestinians would deal with the removal of the
ruins and the reconstruction.... [In such cases,] the
only rescue may only come from Washington: if the U.S.
insists on intervening and imposing reason on Israel,
it is the only force that can overcome the IDF, too."

VI. "Unconditional Withdrawal"

Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized (June 22):
"[At the beginning of his term,] Sharon forcefully
announced that there would be negotiations under fire,
and that, before they receive anything from Israel, the
Palestinians must disarm the terrorist groups....
Sharon's declarations aren't guaranteed at all. He
intends to evacuate the Gaza district without getting
anything in exchange, and, if the U.S. pressures him,
an increasing number of areas in the West Bank, too,
even if Palestinian fire is fully resumed.... Only the
cynical Sharon, who has no inhibitions, is capable of
deluding the public, as if there were a connection
between the Israeli withdrawal and the elimination of
Palestinian terror."



--------------

2. Democracy in Mideast:
--------------

Summary:
--------------

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"It is clear that the U.S. is intent on adding fuel to
the fire of democracy that Bush lit in this region."

Block Quotes:
--------------
"Democracy's Voice"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(June 22): "On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice made what was perhaps the most
powerful case for freedom and democracy since President
George W. Bush's second inaugural address in January.
Most importantly, she did so in Cairo, the heart not
only of the Arab world, but of a country that has
symbolized the gap between rhetoric and the nature of
the friends America keeps.... With this speech, it is
clear that the U.S. is intent on adding fuel to the
fire of democracy that Bush lit in this region. Never
has America spoken so bluntly and with such specificity
about so many nations throughout the Arab and Muslim
world, whether 'friend' or foe. We should recognize as
a nation that our security and the prospects for peace
depend not only on our own strength but on the success
of this regional American project."

KURTZER