ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 004203 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. Global War on Terrorism -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- 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Vice Premier Shimon Peres said that the decision to destroy the evacuated settlers' homes in Gush Katif should be rescinded, because no international body has yet expressed its willingness to fund the evacuation of the ruins.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. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- 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: -------------- ¶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." -------------- ¶2. Global War on Terrorism: -------------- Summary: -------------- 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: -------------- "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