ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 003970 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. Africa: International Aid -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- All major newspapers, except Jerusalem Post, led with a leaked report that the IDF and police have decided to raid the Maoz Hayam Hotel in the Gaza Strip settlement of Neve Dekalim, rather that wait until the disengagement plan is under way. The media reported that dozens of activists have rushed to join the stronghold. The operation was postponed due to the leak. Maariv quoted a senior police official as saying that there is a "mole" in the defense establishment. Jerusalem Post reported that, if disengagement opponents succeed in extensively disrupting public order during the planned evacuation of the Gaza Strip in August, the police will consider ordering the public at large to remain inside their homes. Ha'aretz reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the IDF on Thursday to prepare to hand over responsibility for Bethlehem to the PA as early as next week. Leading media reported that the IDF has evacuated a position in Hebron. Leading media reported that representatives of the Quartet, who convened Thursday in London, requested that Israel grant free movement to the Palestinians during the disengagement period. Jerusalem Post cited a statement by the Quartet, according to which it "urges Arab states to engage fully" in supporting withdrawal from Gaza, a process in which Israelis and Palestinians "must work directly and cooperatively with each other." Jerusalem Post cited a response by Sharon's media adviser Raanan Gissin: "The money they [the Arab states] contribute is the money that goes to terrorism, and that's what we want to limit." Leading media reported that Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz asked PM Sharon on Thursday not to sign an agreement to post 800 Egyptian troops on the Philadelphi route before he examines its legal aspects. Yediot quoted IDF Intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi- Farkash as saying this week, at a closed Foreign Ministry conference on strategy attended by Israeli diplomats from all over the world, that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is unstable, and that the Syrian-Lebanese ensemble is falling apart. Zeevi- Farkash was also quoted as saying that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas is really opposed to terror, but that the PA's efforts in this field are minimal and not serious. Israel Radio reported that a Syrian legislator told Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Majalli Wahbee (Likud) in Brussels that his country is ready to achieve "closer links" with Israel and that Israel should make a similar step. The radio quoted senior GOI sources, including Mofaz, as saying that Syria is trying to bypass U.S. measures against Syria via an apparent attempt to create links with Israel. Several media quoted U.S. officials, including Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying that the U.S. is considering imposing additional sanctions on Syria. Citing the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, Maariv cited assessments in Iran that by September the IAF could attack the nuclear complex being built in the Persian Gulf. Yediot reported that, marking the conclusion of the U.S.-Israel crisis over security exports, Mofaz and Defense Ministry D-G Amos Yaron will leave for the U.S. in late July to sign a memorandum of understanding regarding weapons sales procedures to "problematic states." The newspaper writes that Yaron will retire after the disengagement. Zeev Schiff of Ha'aretz writes: "One doesn't have to be an expert detective to understand that some of the material against Pentagon official Larry Franklin was also based on wiretapping of the Israeli Embassy in Washington." Citing Reuters, Ha'aretz reported that an American, Karen Koning Abu Zayd, is expected to be named head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Leading media reported that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will make his first trip to Israel in late October as part of his annual visit to Europe. Leading media reported that a labor dispute could bring Ben-Gurion Airport to a complete standstill. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in left-leaning, independent Ha'aretz: "It was almost as if the whole visit [by Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice to the region] did not take place. Not a single gap was bridged." Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv: "Bibi holds the keys.... The disengagement opponents could create a chain reaction ... at the last moment to stop the evacuation." Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in Maariv: "Terror is continuing because of a clear reason: it is not the occupation that terror wants to eliminate, but Israel. Terror wants to thwart the separation [between Israel and the Palestinians]." Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Since both [the U.S. and Israel] are committed to 'solutions' that have no connection to the real world, the steps they adopt to achieve their goals are both counter- productive and dangerous." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Diplomats Without Diplomacy" Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in left-leaning, independent Ha'aretz (June 24): "Regarding [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice's meetings with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, you could almost say that their importance lies in the fact that they didn't happen. Because it was almost as if the whole visit did not take place. Not a single gap was bridged. As for the Sharon-Abu Mazen meeting, one could say the damage exceeds the benefit.... Like Abu Mazen, [James] Wolfensohn, [the Quartet's special envoy for the disengagement,] found that Sharon has decided that you don't switch horses in midstream; the strategy of insisting on a 'fight against terror' is useful for warding off the danger of negotiations.... As long as the President of the U.S. agrees that the occupier will be the authority that judges the occupied's performance, as well as the branch that executes the verdict, the chances of the pragmatic bloc retaining a majority in the legislative branch [i.e. the Knesset] will narrow." II. "Bibi Holds the Keys" Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (June 24): "As usual, Binyamin Netanyahu reaches the moment of decision even as he doesn't know what to decide. Heavy pressure is applied on him.... The next milestone awaiting him is on Wednesday in ten days. It is the scheduled date for the introduction of a bill proposal (by [right-wing Knesset members] Zevulun Orlev and Uzi Landau) to postpone the disengagement by three months.... Bibi holds the keys. If he votes in favor of the proposal, there is a certain chance that additional Likud ministers who can't afford to remain alone could join him.... Thus, the disengagement opponents could create a chain reaction ... at the last moment to stop the evacuation." III. "Disengagement, Terror, and Post-Zionism" Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in Maariv (June 24): "Terror is continuing because of a clear reason: it is not the occupation that terror wants to eliminate, but Israel. Terror wants to thwart the separation [between Israel and the Palestinians]. Terror wants Israel to sink into the quagmire of Gaza and Jenin, so that a single large country is established here.... The large-state vision works along three courses. The post- and anti-Zionist course prepares the ideology: comprehensive citizenship, a state of all its citizens, opposition to separation, support for immigration, and the right of return. The route of settlement advocates prepares the practical side: opposition to separation and to disengagement, and the creation of reality in which it won't be possible to separate the nations. Palestinian terror completes the picture: an attempt to carry out the big terrorist attack that will blow up the disengagement. The objectives are different. The consequence is the same." IV. "Irrelevant 'Visions'" Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (June 24): "Rather than withdraw U.S. support for Abbas as a result of his blatant failure to deliver on even the smallest American expectation from him, during her visit over the weekend, Rice simply shored up U.S. support for him.... Since Fatah coexists harmoniously with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, by backing Fatah, the U.S. is effectively backing all Palestinian terror groups.... And at the same time, by calling for Israeli 'confidence-building measures' to strengthen Abbas, the U.S. is effectively weakening its ally. One cannot be too harsh with the Americans for acting on their delusions since the policies of Israel's own government are even more hallucinatory -- and dangerous.... In responding to Rice's demands that it coordinate the withdrawal with the Palestinians, Israel has gone back on its previous demand to retain control of the international crossing points to Gaza.... If either Washington or Jerusalem were willing to base their policies on reality rather than 'visions,' they would both come up with multiple options for fighting Palestinian terrorism and transforming Palestinian society. In so doing both would be making a great contribution to the cause of democracy and counterterrorism throughout the Arab world. But since both are committed to 'solutions' that have no connection to the real world, the steps they adopt to achieve their goals are both counter-productive and dangerous." -------------- ¶2. Africa: International Aid: -------------- Summary: -------------- Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "As they seek new ways to cure Africa, the rich powers would do well to take stock of Israel's unique approach to Africa's development." Block Quotes: -------------- "The Forgotten Continent" Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (June 24): "Measured by any yardstick Africa's decline is arguably this era's single largest tragedy.... In its summit next month in Gleneagles, Scotland, the G-8 forum of the world's leading industrial nations will be focusing on Africa. That alone is a kind of attention that has long been lacking in major international forums.... In this regard, Israel can serve as a source of inspiration. The Mashav program, administered by the Foreign Ministry, annually brings here hundreds of Africans for various training in anything and everything from farming economics to educational management, and sends Israeli experts to help build and run hospitals, schools, and ranches. This essentially altruistic activity has been going on since the 1960s.... In the long term, the relations Israel nurtured in Africa proved more effective than the post- '73 Arab effort to obstruct them, which initially resulted in the entire continent's severance of its formal ties with Israel. The reason Africa returned to Israel was, at the end of the day, its realization that the Jewish state was both able and eager to help it on its feet, not by sending foreign-aid assistance - - which Israel could never offer -- but by sending Israelis to Africa and welcoming Africans in Israel, as part of an ongoing effort to equip Africans with the tools that building Africa demands. As they seek new ways to cure Africa, the rich powers would do well to take stock of Israel's unique approach to Africa's development." CRETZ