ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 004203

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TAGS: IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Mideast


2. Global War on Terrorism

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Key stories in the media:
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Israel Radio quoted PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud
Abbas as saying in an interview with the London-based
Asharq Al-Awsat that he will meet with PM Sharon before
the disengagement. The radio reported that Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz and PA Interior Minister Nasser
Yousef, who met on Tuesday to discuss coordination of
the disengagement, expressed their satisfaction about
the progress of preparations on the ground. The
station quoted Palestinian sources as saying that the
two men have delegated responsibility for the transfer
of Bethlehem to the PA to officers on the ground.
Israel Radio also reported that on Tuesday, Maj. Gen
Yitzhak Harel, the head of IDF planning, met with
Palestinian Deputy Interior Minister Jamal Abu Zayd,
and decided that joint patrols would operate ahead of
the disengagement. Speaking on Israel Radio this
morning, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said that the
decision to destroy the evacuated settlers' homes in
Gush Katif should be rescinded, because no
international body has yet expressed its willingness to
fund the evacuation of the ruins.

Leading media (banners in Jerusalem Post and Hatzofe)
reported that, in what it described as the "opening
shot" of disengagement, the Yesha Council of Jewish
Settlements in the Territories on Tuesday summoned its
supporters to a three-day march on Gush Katif beginning
on July 18 to "cancel the expulsion." Israel Radio
reported that the government, fearing that many
demonstrators will stay in the area to be evacuated, is
considering closing the Gaza Strip to non-residents
ahead of schedule. Yediot says that a total of 63
soldiers refuse to serve evacuation orders. Israel
Radio reported that National Religious Party Knesset
Member Zvulun Orlev has postponed by two weeks his
original request that the Knesset vote today on a delay
of the disengagement, because he could not obtain a
majority for his proposal.

Leading media quoted Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the
Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as
telling the Knesset plenum Tuesday that A-G Menachem
Mazuz has yet to decide whether he thinks the Knesset
should have to approve an Israeli-Egyptian deal that
would see Egyptian security forces deployed along the
Philadelphi route. Jerusalem Post and other media
quoted Mofaz as saying at the joint Knesset committee
Tuesday that the fate of the Philadelphi route depends
on how Egypt would manage a stationing of troops on the
Sinai-Gaza border, and that Israel does not intend to
change the status of the bilateral peace treaty.
Maariv reported that Egypt's intelligence chief Omar
Suleiman has recently promised senior Israeli officials
that Egypt would act against Islamic Jihad if it does
not put an end to its attacks against Israel.
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that PM Sharon will
meet today with the heads of the defense establishment
to discuss the progress of the separation fence. The
newspaper reported that on Tuesday, Mofaz ordered that
construction of the fence be accelerated in the coming
weeks, with top priority given to completing the fence
in Jerusalem.

Israel Radio reported that an Israeli delegation will
leave for the U.S. over the weekend, in order to
present Israel's request for military and civilian aid
following the disengagement.

Israel Radio reported that Qassam rockets and mortar
shells were launched at some Gush Katif settlements
last night. There were no casualties. Ha'aretz
reported that IDF Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Aharon
Zeevi-Farkash told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee Tuesday that terrorism will decline
immediately after the disengagement, but that it is
expected to rise again afterward unless the
Palestinians have hope of an independent state. The
newspaper quoted Zeevi-Farkash as saying that no
weapons were smuggled along the border with Egypt
between April and June.

Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, senior Israeli
security officials denied Palestinian claims that an
agreement has already been drawn up between Israel and
the PA regarding safe passage for Palestinians between
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Leading media reported that anti-disengagement
activists have sent up a "tent city" in Sa-Nur, a
northern West Bank settlement slated for evacuation.
Maariv reported that most of the residents of Homesh,
in the same area, have decided to initiate their own
evacuation on August 14, one day before the official
implementation date of the disengagement. They intend
to leave their settlement in a long convoy adorned with
black flags. Maariv reported that the Gush Katif
leaders agreed on Tuesday to move en masse to the
Nitzanim dunes area.

Ha'aretz cited the state as saying Tuesday, in response
to a petition to the High Court of Justice, that the
IDF is considering the demolition of nine houses that
were recently constructed in the illegal West Bank
outpost of Amona.
Citing Reuters, Ha'aretz quoted Israeli officials as
saying that eight Palestinian houses and a gas station
in East Jerusalem have been razed, after they were
built without permits in areas slated for parks.
Jerusalem Post also reported on the demolition.
Jerusalem Post reported that Lebanon has officially
asked the International Committee of the Red Cross for
the return of the body of the Hizbullah gunman who was
killed by IDF troops in clashes in the Sheba Farms
region last week. The newspaper quoted Sharon's media
adviser Asi Shariv as saying on Tuesday that he doubted
whether such an exchange would jumpstart negotiations
with Hizbullah over the second stage of the prisoner
swap.

Jerusalem Post reported that the Jewish Agency's Fund
for Terror Victims, the foremost organization in
providing financial assistance to families of victims,
will be closing in December after four years of
operation during which it distributed more than USD 18
million to nearly 3,000 families.

Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, during its
biennial general synod in Atlanta, the United Church of
Christ voted to adopt a resolution urging divestment
from Israel.

Maariv reported that, over the past few months, Druze
residents of the Golan have undergone operations and
organ implants in Syria rather than in Israel.

Ha'aretz reported that the coordination center at Ben-
Gurion Airport's new terminal will be named after
Israel's first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, who died in
the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach opined in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Many members
of [Israel's] political and security leadership know
the truth: Hamas will eventually be part of a future
political arrangement -- or there will be no
arrangement."

Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left
Palestinian sympathizer Amira Hass opined in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "In the heart of
every Israeli lives a little settler. Therefore,
today's criticism is narrowly focused and completely
misses the real point, which is [Israel's] illegal and
immoral colonization policy."

Block Quotes:
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I. "The Terrorist Has Won"

Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach opined in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (July 6): "Abu
Mazen's offer to the Hamas movement, according to which
it would join a Palestinian unity government, was
received in Israel in a public shock, as those
responsible for most lethal suicide bombings in Israel
over the past decade are scheduled to be whitewashed.
Under that jolt, many members of [Israel's] political
and security leadership know the truth: Hamas will
eventually be part of a future political arrangement --
or there will be no arrangement. Historically, every
Israeli leadership has demonized the enemy instead of
adopting a composed approach in relation to it. Hamas
is but the latest example, after Arafat and the PLO,
Nasrallah and Hizbullah, and many others.... This is
perhaps the toughest nut to swallow: once again, those
who tried to defeat us by force have only gained
strength. The precision-guided missile, which is the
main tool of Israeli policy, may have hit its target,
but it has accomplished the opposite effect. In a war
in which Israel has sworn to annihilate terror, it is
eventually finding the terrorist on the victor's
stand."

II. "There's a Settler in Every Israeli"

Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left
Palestinian sympathizer Amira Hass opined in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (July 6): "The
hunting season is at its height, and the settlers are
the prey. They have become a target for criticism in
the media to an extent whose like is hard to
remember.... The neighborhood's spoiled brat, who feels
he should get it all, has suddenly lost his temper, and
the neighbors are losing patience. But the child is
spoiled because the entire neighborhood has spoiled
him, and he is convinced he should get it all because
for years all the neighbors have proved through their
actions that this is so. It began with the tolerance
displayed by all Israeli governments, as well as the
legal establishment, for the settlers' behavior toward
the Palestinians.... It was Israel's governments, ever
since 1967, that charted the policy of colonizing the
newly conquered territories.... Even those who do not
intend to move to the settlements benefit from their
existence. The settlements ensure Israel's continued
control over the West Bank and its water sources,
thereby ensuring the continued unfair distribution of
the land's water in a 7:1 ratio, to the Palestinians'
detriment. Therefore we, the Jews, can be wasteful, as
if we lived in a land with abundant water.... In the
heart of every Israeli lives a little settler.
Therefore, today's criticism is narrowly focused and
completely misses the real point, which is the illegal
and immoral colonization policy. This policy
ultimately benefits an ever-growing portion of the
Israeli public -- which is therefore not troubled by
the question of what it is doing to the region's
future."

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2. Global War on Terrorism:
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Summary:
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Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"A European shift toward the U.S. would greatly
strengthen the West and hasten the victory over
militant Islamism."

Block Quotes:
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"Europe's Real Self-Interest"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(July 6): "On Monday, the interior ministers of France,
Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain met to crack down on
illegal immigration to Europe.... It is ironic that
Europe, which is arguably even more threatened [than
the U.S.] and sitting closer to the fault line between
free and fear societies ... is still living in a pre-
9/11 world in which countries like Iran are still
treated as normal trading partners, and 'stability'
still means tolerating whole regions of dictatorships.
If anything, Europe should be egging the U.S. on to
push harder and faster. Why is it in Europe's interest
to be seen as defending rogue regimes, largely out of
narrow financial interests, rather than joining the
U.S. as an inspiration to oppressed peoples? Is Europe
betting that these peoples will not only be forever
powerless, but also have short memories?.... A European
shift toward the U.S. would greatly strengthen the West
and hasten the victory over militant Islamism -- a
victory that is the only solution to many of the
internal and external threats Europe faces. The truth
is that the only hope that rogue regimes like Iran and
Syria have is to continue to divide Europe from the
United States. Monday's immigration summit should help
raise European awareness that its enlightened self-
interest lies not in high-minded fear and loathing of
the U.S., coupled with low-minded financial dependence
on aggressive tyrants, but on the pooling of Western
diplomatic and economic power to advance freedom and
democracy where it is missing most."

KURTZER