Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05TELAVIV4030
2005-06-27 11:20:00
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 004030 

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 004030

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. U.S.-Israel Security Exports Crisis


2. Iran: Presidential Election


3. Democracy in Mideast

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

On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that during her visit to
Jerusalem last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice warned against continued construction in the
territories. Ha'aretz reported that she told a senior
Israeli official: "We don't want it to be a problem but
it will." Ha'aretz quoted Rice as saying that
alongside President Bush's April 14 letter to Sharon
recognizing "existing Israeli settlement blocs" in the
territories, the U.S. expected Israel not to create
facts on the ground. She was further quoted as saying:
"We can't be forced to accept changes in the status
quo." Maariv reported that Rice told FM Silvan Shalom
during her visit that she saw Israeli construction
between Jerusalem and Ramallah, but that President Bush
has determined that the final-status borders will only
be determined through negotiations. The newspaper
reported that Secretary Rice stressed the importance of
making no changes in and around Jerusalem. Maariv
reported that Rice refrained from expressing harsh
criticism at her meetings with Sharon and Mofaz.

All media highlighted confrontations between settlers
and security forces in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Ten
members of the security forces were wounded in the
clashes. The IDF demolished abandoned buildings to
prevent anti-disengagement protesters from using them
as an outpost. An IDF soldier refused to participate
in the demolition, defining himself as a "conscientious
objector." This morning, leading media reported that
young anti-disengagement activists in Gush Katif set up
a protest outpost early Monday at the site of the
clashes. Ha'aretz web site cited the IDF as saying
that the settlers and media exaggerate in the
description of the new illegal outpost. This morning,
Israel Radio reported that the Yesha Council of Jewish
Settlements has not obtained police approval for a
demonstration during which drivers on major
thoroughfares will be called to stop their vehicles and
stand next to them for fifteen minutes. The event

aimed at blocking traffic at major junctions throughout
the country is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

During the weekend, all media reported that two teenage
settler boys were killed in a drive-by shooting
incident next to the settlement of Beit Haggai, south
of Hebron, on Friday.

On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that PM Sharon and Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz agreed last week to comply with
all American demands regarding the unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAV) deal with China and changes in
supervision of Israel's arms exports. Today, Ha'aretz
quoted sources familiar with the draft agreement
regulating the reporting of weapons sales that the U.S.-
Israel accord will be worded in an equable manner. The
newspaper writes that the memorandum will state that
the U.S. and Israel are "strategic partners" and that
each country will be considerate of the other's
concerns about military technology being transferred to
other countries. The countries "arousing concern" will
be specified separately. Under the agreement, to be
termed "Declaration of Understanding on Technology
Exports," both countries will undertake to maintain
transparency regarding weapons sales to countries
considered worrisome. Ha'aretz reported that, in
addition to the agreement, Israel will give the U.S. a
written commitment to tighten oversight on defense
exports and put in place new mechanisms and
regulations. Israel will introduce legislative
amendments to increase enforcement and toughen
punishment for selling arms in violation of
regulations. The U.S. will recognize the fact that the
legislation will take time.

On Sunday, leading media reported that the Palestinian
Security Forces arrested 10 Fatah gunmen over the
weekend on suspicion of participating in an armed
attack on a PA police station in Jenin.

On Sunday, all media reported on Tehran Mayor Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's victory in Iran's presidential election.
Referring to Ahmadinejad as a killer of the regime's
political opponents, Yediot bannered: "Executioner
Elected President." The newspaper quoted opponents to
Ahmadinejad as saying that Israel now has a real reason
to fear Iran. Today, Maariv quoted Ahmadinejad as
saying following his win: "Israel's existence is
illegal." Israel Radio and other media quoted Mofaz as
saying that Israel demands that Iran stop funding
terror.

Jerusalem Post quoted Palestinian sources as saying
that leaders of Hamas and other Palestinian radical
groups in Lebanon and Syria are planning to move to the
Gaza Strip after Israel evacuates the area. The
newspaper also quoted an IDF source as saying on Sunday
that Hamas is using the lull in fighting to raise an
"army" of several thousand fighters in the Gaza Strip
to complement its developing arsenal of Qassam rockets
and mortars.

Leading media reported that on Friday, a council of the
worldwide Anglican Communion unanimously urged its
member churches to put pressure on companies linked to
Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories,
including possibly divesting their money from such
businesses.
All media reported that on Sunday, the Labor Party
Central Committee voted to delay the party's leadership
race indefinitely.
Ha'aretz reported that Russia's state prosecutor has
ordered an examination of Shulhan Arukh -- a code of
Jewish religious law compiled in the 16th century -- to
ascertain whether it constitutes racist incitement and
anti-Russian material. The newspaper quoted Jerusalem
sources as saying this is the first time since Stalin's
regime that Russian officials have described holy
Jewish scriptures as incitement.



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

1. U.S.-Israel Security Exports Crisis:
--------------

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

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The
foul-up regarding the Chinese-America issue is a
serious one. It reflects mismanagement, at the director-
general and ministerial level, of Israel's defense
policy in the most sensitive and complex of fields."

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

"The China Syndrome"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (June
27): "Ever since the middle of the past decade, China,
as a power, has become the biggest threat to America's
universal supremacy.... This information was readily
available to every newspaper reader. And it was well
absorbed at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and the
Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. In only one place was it
given very little thought, and if it was given any at
all, its significance was belittled: at the Defense
Ministry in Tel Aviv.... [Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz
has been in his post for almost three years, and has
yet to realize a single lofty declaration concerning
his plans to change the face of the ministry. It
appears that the director general of the Defense
Ministry is also directing the minister above him. The
Pentagon hinted to Mofaz in no uncertain terms that as
long as Yaron continues to serve in his post, a cool
wind will blow between the two defense establishments
and reflect also on other aspects of relations between
the two countries. There was no indication in the
field that Mofaz got the message. Yaron remained in
his post and the cold wind continued to blow, until
last week when Washington brought out the big guns, in
the shape of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and
spokesmen for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Only
then did Mofaz wake up to hasten the lazy handling of
the affair, to spur on his envoys outside the ministry
to come to an agreement with the U.S.
administration.... The foul-up regarding the Chinese-
America issue is a serious one. It reflects
mismanagement, at the director-general and ministerial
level, of Israel's defense policy in the most sensitive
and complex of fields."


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

2. Iran: Presidential Election:
--------------

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

Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "At least one
positive thing will come out of these elections: the
West will no longer be able to hold on to the illusion
of a reformist regime in Iran."

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

"Worrying Surprise"

Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (June 26):
"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's surprising ascent to Iran's
presidency is a gloomy testimony to the fact that
Israel isn't sufficiently familiar about what's going
on in Iran. That very surprise is a very worrying
mishap, since Iran represents the key strategic threat
to Israel, and that a situation in which a president is
elected in Iran, and Israel and the West are surprised,
is inconceivable.... The new Iranian regime will
sharpen its view on the issue of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.... Hizbullah's extremist conduct
... will become more forceful.... The Iranians will
again try to ... drag their feet [in the matter of
their nuclear program. Will the Americans continue [to
grant Europe a negotiating role]? Today, the Americans
mainly chitchat about democratization in Iran. Perhaps
the results of the elections will shake them up. At
least one positive thing will come out of these
elections: the West will no longer be able to hold on
to the illusion of a reformist regime in Iran, which
ought to be encouraged and brought closer. Starting
today, there is a clear division between the 'bad ones'
and the 'good ones.' The new regime in Iran won't
renounce its nuclear program; it won't even have to
pretend."

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

3. Democracy in Mideast:
--------------

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

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The concern is
that the more the U.S. exerts itself in spreading
democracy, the greater the opposition will be to what
it represents."

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

"Interim Report Card For Condoleezza"


Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (June 26):
"[Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's] words about
the charms of democracy in Iraq seem like the
description of the successful makeup on a corpse in a
coffin. But Iraq is just an example of the way in
which ideology dictates policy. It is indisputable
that democracy is a worthy goal, but this goal cannot
be used to justify a war of this magnitude, with so
many killed, with such destruction of infrastructure,
and without any confidence that the Iraqi government,
beyond the show of elections, will ultimately be
democratic.... Herein lies the reason for concern:
alongside the praise for democracy, a new American
attitude is developing: countries like Egypt and Syria
must be compelled to adopt American ideology, while
other countries like Kuwait and China are allowed to
pick and choose.... This is a sweeping conception very
reminiscent of the Cold War, when the world was divided
-- especially by the U.S. -- into the West versus
Communism, liberty versus repression.... The problem is
that because of the belligerent way in which it is
being driven into the region, the vision of American
democracy arouses fierce opposition among movements
that are actually advocating for reform but do not want
to appear to be acting according to an American
diktat.... The concern is that the more the U.S. exerts
itself in spreading democracy, the greater the
opposition will be to what it represents, and the
question before the public in Arab countries will not
be democracy or repression, but between America and the
local regime."

KURTZER