Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05TELAVIV4603
2005-07-22 11:27:00
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.

221127Z Jul 05
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 004603 

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 05 TEL AVIV 004603

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. Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank


2. July 21 London Bombings

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

Israel Radio reported that at mid-day today, following
her meeting with PM Sharon at his Sycamore Ranch,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated that the

SIPDIS
U.S. views the disengagement move as an important step,
and that she repeated President Bush's commitment to
provide financial assistance for the Galilee and the
Negev. Ha'aretz's web site cited the satisfaction of
Sharon's bureau over the Rice-Sharon talks. The radio
also cited a report from Beirut that Secretary Rice
will make an impromptu visit to Lebanon today.

Jerusalem Post quoted sources close to Sharon as saying
that his talks with Secretary Rice would center on both
the run-up to disengagement, as well as "the day
after." The leading Internet news service Ynet quoted
GOI sources as saying, on the eve of Rice's visit, that
American criticism should be directed at the
Palestinians, who continue not to act against terror.
Yediot reported that Secretary Rice told Shalom upon
her arrival in Israel that coordinating the
disengagement is critical and that it must be
continued, because some people will try to disrupt it.
Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post and other leading media
reported that Secretary Rice told FM Silvan Shalom that
the road map must be next on the agenda after the
disengagement. She was also quoted as saying that the
first step is a Palestinian commitment to dismantle the
terrorist infrastructure. Leading media quoted
Secretary Rice as saying that the U.S. hopes to convene

SIPDIS
a regional conference after disengagement to promote
the establishment of relations between Israel and North
African and Persian Gulf Countries. Jerusalem Post
writes that the planned conference would be under the
patronage of both the U.S. and Russia, and would also
deal with various regional projects

Ha'aretz and other media quoted sources in Sharon's
bureau as saying that they rejected Thursday a proposal
by Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Vice PM Ehud Olmert
that the disengagement be moved up. Maariv reported
that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas recently

conveyed a secret message to Israel, which says that it
is obvious that only some refugees will be able to
return to Israel. Maariv reported that Abbas's adviser
Jibril Rajoub has promised that there will be no
terrorist attacks until and during the disengagement.

The media (lead story in Ha'aretz) quoted military
sources as saying on Thursday that security forces were
unable to hermetically seal off the Gaza Strip. The
IDF believes that approximately 600 non-residents have
entered the area to join anti-pullout force since the
closure on the Strip was imposed on July 13. Maariv
cited settlers' claims that 2,000 Israelis have
infiltrated the Strip.
All media quoted PM Sharon as saying Thursday, during a
visit to the West Bank settlement city of Ariel, that
the Ariel bloc will "forever be an integral part of the
state of Israel, and will have a contiguous territorial
link to Israel. As will the other blocs." Jerusalem
Post quoted a senior official in Sharon's office as
saying he doubted that Sharon's tour to Ariel and the
comments he made there would be viewed in Washington as
"provocative." The source was quoted as saying that
one of the issues to be discussed would be Israel's
request for USD 2.2 billion in US aid over the next
four years to pay for development in the Negev and
Galilee and for moving the IDF bases out of Gaza.

Ha'aretz and Israel Radio quoted the UN's Middle East
envoy Alvaro de Soto as saying that the disengagement
plan could help jump-start the peace process. The
radio and Maariv's web site reported that The UN
Security Council rejected a request Thursday by
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa to debate
the West Bank security fence, saying the Gaza
disengagement plan trumps all other issues in the
region at the moment.

Jerusalem Post reported that the Yesha Council of
Jewish Settlements in the Territories plans to renew
its attempt to march to Gush Katif next week.

Jerusalem Post reported that IDF soldiers from the
infantry's noncommissioned officers course participated
in a recent NATO exercise in Ukraine, the first time
field troops have ever trained with the force.

Maariv reported in its lead story that the IDF's
Intelligence branch has recently presented an
operational plan against Al-Qaida. However, the
newspaper quoted IDF Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Aharon
Zeevi-Farkash as saying in closed meetings that his
organization does not believe that Israel is in the
sights of Al-Qaida.

All media reported on the acts of terrorism carried out
in London on Thursday.

French President Jacques Chirac was quoted as saying in
an interview with Ha'aretz that if European negotiators
with Iran fail to eliminate the threat of nuclear
proliferation, then the issue will have to be moved to
the UN Security Council.
Yediot and Maariv reported that 110,000 people
worldwide won "green cards" in the 2005 lottery,
including 116 Israelis.

Yediot bannered a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll
conducted this week, with emphasis on the views of
young Israelis aged 15-18:
-55 percent of young Israelis are opposed to the
disengagement; 44 percent support it.
-64 percent of young Israelis support soldiers' refusal
to evacuate settlements; 29 percent believe it is not
legitimate.
-58 percent of the adult public support the
disengagement plan (unchanged from last week's poll);
35 percent are opposed (unchanged from last week's
poll); 7 percent are undecided (12 percent in last
week's poll).

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

1. Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank:
--------------

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

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized:
"Rice's visit at this time illustrates the increasing
recognition by the international community that the
success of the plan, conceived as unilateral, will
create a diplomatic horizon of hope for the future."

Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "Ugly protests will push
mainstream [Israeli public] sympathy away from the anti-
pullout camp."

Deputy Managing Editor and extreme right-wing columnist
Caroline B. Glick wrote in Jerusalem Post: "The time
has come for the people of Israel to freely and
democratically decide which side they are on."

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


I. "Success in the First Test"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (July
22): "At the same time that the settlers' march was
being stopped [on the way to the Gaza Strip], the
Knesset rejected by a large majority a delay in
disengagement. The Qassam rockets, which threatened a
renewal of fighting with the Palestinians on the eve of
the evacuation, was defused by successful military and
diplomatic pressure on the Palestinian Authority's
leadership, without the IDF having to make good on its
threat to open a ground offensive. All these elements
provide a convenient backdrop for the arrival of U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.... In the time

SIPDIS
left before disengagement, the U.S. must bridge the
gaps between Israel and the PA regarding the gaps
between Israel and the PA regarding control of the land
crossings, and the opening of an air and sea port. The
U.S. must also encourage PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to
continue his struggle against Hamas and to ensure quiet
in Gaza during the evacuation.... Rice's visit at this
time illustrates the increasing recognition by the
international community that the success of the plan,
conceived as unilateral, will create a diplomatic
horizon of hope for the future."

II. "Marching on 'Disengagement II'"

Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (July 22): "As things stand,
if civil disobedience is disciplined from now on, it
will be a thick-skinned prime minister, and only one
who has won explicit public support for his campaign,
who will order further unilateral pullbacks in the West
Bank.... Whether or not Sharon would want to oversee a
significant 'Disengagement II,' it is near impossible
to conceive of him attempting to do so from within the
Likud.... Meanwhile Labor, whose leaders are certainly
capable of ordering a major unilateral pullout from the
West Bank, is plain unelectable.... Opinion-poll
fluctuations in recent weeks ... underline the
volatility of the mainstream Israeli public mood. Ugly
protests will push mainstream sympathy away from the
anti-pullout camp.... A sufficient swing of support
might even prompt the oft-anticipated 'Big Bang' in
Israeli politics -- the realignment of our parties
along lines that more effectively represent the new
electoral segments."

II. "The Settlers Show Their True Colors"

Deputy Managing Editor and extreme right-wing columnist
Caroline B. Glick wrote in Jerusalem Post (July 22):
"When a democratic government adopts an immoral policy,
it is the duty of its loyal citizens, through acts of
protest and civil disobedience, to hold up a mirror to
their leaders and fellow citizens to force them to
contend with the implications of their policies. At
Netivot and Kfar Maimon this week, the protesters did
just that. What we saw on the one side was the
dignified, humble, and stubborn Zionism of the citizens
set up to be expelled and of their supporters. On the
other side, we saw the anti-democratic and
discriminatory face of the government that stands
against them. The time has come for the people of
Israel to freely and democratically decide which side
they are on."
--------------

2. July 21 London Bombings:
--------------

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

Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "Judging from Britain's responses to
the lethal bombings two weeks ago, the British are
going to harvest much more experience, because it is
not certain that they have grasped what hit them."

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

"Jenin-on-Thames"

Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (July 22): "This time, London paid a
cheap price. But reports from Her Majesty's capital
are starting to smell the foulness of the Middle East,
perhaps fitting a city whose Mayor feels such empathy
for suicide bombers.... Judging from Britain's
responses to the lethal bombings two weeks ago, the
British are going to harvest much more experience,
because it is not certain that they have grasped what
hit them.... Even before Britain was able to bury all
the casualties of the series of attacks, after a few
days of national unity, its politicians started to
argue over who among them was responsible for the
terror. They are beating one another up, while talking
in unison, extremely tactfully, about peace-seeking
Islam, in which the West's great cleverness and
irresponsible policy succeeds in planting seeds of
terror. Everybody is guilty, except the sheikhs who
are welcomed in the West with pampering hugs, while
they preach the enormity of its rot to their faithful."

KURTZER