ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 005113

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD

WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM
NSC FOR NEA STAFF

SECDEF WASHDC FOR USDP/ASD-PA/ASD-ISA
HQ USAF FOR XOXX
DA WASHDC FOR SASA
JOINT STAFF WASHDC FOR PA
USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR
COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD
COMSIXTHFLT FOR 019

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:
--------------

Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement

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

All media bannered the first day of the forced eviction
of Gaza Strip settlers. Yediot says that 6,000
settlers have left their Gush Katif homes without
violence. The media reported that a prominent right-
wing activist from the West Bank settlement of Kedumim
was badly hurt Wednesday after setting herself on fire
to protest the disengagement. Ha'aretz quoted senior
officers in the IDF's Southern Command as saying they
expect all of the Gaza Strip settlements to be
evacuated by next Tuesday, and perhaps even by Sunday.
The media reported that Kfar Darom, Shirat Hayam, and
the synagogue compound in Neve Dekalim, where between
1,000 and 2,000 people are holed up, most of whom teens
from outside the Gaza Strip, will be evacuated next.
Yediot devotes its daily supplement, which -- akin to
the other media -- is filled with photographic records
of the evacuation, to a "day of tears." This morning,
the electronic media reported that a soldier refused
orders and was arrested.

All media reported that on Wednesday afternoon, Asher
Weissgan, a resident of the West Bank settlement of
Shvut Rahel, shot to death four Palestinians with whom
he worked and wounded two others, one of them
seriously, in the settlement of Shiloh. Israel Radio
reported that PM Sharon condemned the killings, calling
them a "grave terrorist act." Ha'aretz reported that
top Sharon aide Dov Weisglass called PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas's senior advisor Rafiq
Husseini to express Israel's regret over the incident.
Leading media reported that Hamas and Islamic Jihad
have vowed revenge. Major media reported that Abbas
issued a statement in which he called on "the
Palestinian public not to respond to provocations and
not to provide any pretexts or excuses to those wishing
to halt the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza." Leading
media reported that U.S. State Department Spokesman
Sean McCormack condemned the attack and called on the
sides to show restraint.

Israel Radio quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
as saying in an interview with The New York Times that
"something very dramatic is changing in the Middle
East," but that Israel must also take confidence-
building steps. Secretary Rice was also quoted as
saying she expected the PA to take responsibility for
disarming Hamas. Jerusalem Post reported that the U.S.
administration will not present any new demands to
Israel and the Palestinians before the disengagement
process is complete. The newspaper quoted diplomatic
sources in Washington as saying that the sole interest
of the U.S. at this time is to see the withdrawal go
through in a peaceful manner and that it will leave the
"day after" issues to be dealt with when the process is
over. Jerusalem Post reported that Members of Congress
have begun to circulate a letter to the administration
demanding that the U.S. not supply arms to the PA
forces in Gaza. The letter, supported by Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Elliot Engel (D-NY) calls on
Secretary Rice not to provide the PA with weapons,

SIPDIS
because it has not yet proven its commitment to fight
terrorism.

Israel Radio reported that two mortar shells fell last
night on the Gush Katif settlement of Gadid. All media
reported that security forces thwarted a terrorist
attack by Islamic Jihad in Gush Katif. The would-be
suicide-bomber and his dispatcher were arrested.

Citing AP, Ha'aretz quoted Israel's Ambassador to the
U.S., Danny Ayalon, as saying Tuesday that Hamas is
engaged in a massive buildup of manpower and weapons
and that the PA must dismantle it. Leading media
quoted Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal as saying
in Beirut Wednesday that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza
is an important achievement, but that it will not lead
to Hamas's disarmament. Jerusalem Post highlighted
Mashal's comment that the pullout is the beginning of
the end for Israel.

Ha'aretz reported that the Interior Ministry is
preparing to evacuate hundreds of foreign workers
employed by Gush Katif settlers, whose forced
evacuation began on Wednesday.

Ha'aretz reported that the Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish Organizations issued a statement
on Tuesday supporting the disengagement. The newspaper
notes that the stance comes amid a long and sometimes
heated debate among U.S. Jewish organizations in the
U.S. regarding taking a stance on GOI policy.
Jerusalem Post reported that the International
Committee of the Red Cross resumed its field activities
in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, after security guarantees
regarding its operations were issued by the PA and
others.

Maariv cited the results of a Teleseker poll:
-"How will the disengagement affect the Israeli
economy?" Positively: 43.2 percent; negatively: 27.2
percent; it will not affect the economy: 17.2 percent;
12.4 percent were undecided.

--------------
Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement:
--------------

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

Liberal contributor Prof. Tanya Reinhart wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "If the U.S.
continues to lose in Iraq, we might well leave the West
Bank, too."

Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in the lead
editorial of Yediot Aharonot: "The greater force [of
the army and police], and not unconditional love, is
the explanation for the sudden humility of the
Settlers' Council leaders and their rabbis."

Columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "The UN, the EU, and the
U.S. have all said openly in recent weeks that
following the withdrawal, they expect Israel to move
rapidly to realize the road map's plan.... None of the
three has conditioned this demand on positive
developments in Gaza following the pullout."

Senior Editor Nehemia Strassler wrote in independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The disengagement should be
exploited to send a message of conciliation, of civil
behavior. The British did not demolish, and neither
did the Turks. Sharon should therefore stop the
bulldozer today."

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: " We do
not have the slightest doubt that the worst person on
the Left would have acted this way with the evacuated
Gush Katif residents."

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


I. "This Is How Israel Left Gaza "

Liberal contributor Prof. Tanya Reinhart wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 18):
"Bush won't give up Iraq so quickly. But he doesn't
need the headache called Palestine that much. Early
this year, the U.S. started pressuring [Israel]. At
first, it quietly neutralized Israel's all-powerful
lobby in the United States.... It later froze military
aid to Israel under the shadow of the crisis over
weapons sales to China.... The declared date of the
pullout from Gaza was approaching. Following
preparations in Israel for a military operation, the
U.S. administration became increasingly concerned that
Sharon wouldn't implement the settlements' evacuation.
According to an August 7 item in the New York Times,
the Bush administration acted to prevent the [military]
operation and to impose on Sharon the implementation of
the withdrawal from the settlements.... Over time, we
got used to viewing 'American pressure' as toothless
declarations. But the phrase suddenly has a new
meaning. When the U.S. truly pressures, no Israeli
leader can even dream to oppose it (not even
Netanyahu). This is how we left Gaza. If the U.S.
continues to lose in Iraq, we might well leave the West
Bank, too."

II. "Disengagement -- Temporary End"

Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in the lead
editorial of Yediot Aharonot (August 18): "A ...
dangerous error that could take root in the [Israeli]
public consciousness is that from the outset, the
Settlers' Council did not plan to forcibly thwart the
decision of the elected institutions. Due to the
passion for national reconciliation and the admiration
for the lack of bloodshed, many are inclined to adopt
this interpretation of recent history.... The Settlers'
Council [actually] called for an uprising against the
government, and recruited all its organizational
talents and all its troops for this purpose, but in the
hour of truth it saw that the security forces were
obedient to the government, and there was no point in
persisting in the face of their overwhelming force.
The greater force [of the army and police], and not
unconditional love, is the explanation for the sudden
humility of the Settlers' Council leaders and their
rabbis. Imagine what would happen if the government
had been seized by panic by their demonstrations and
incitement, and if the security forces had not acted
with wondrous skill. We have no doubt that in such a
case, the rabbis and leaders of the uprising would have
led to the collapse of the republic."

III. "From Beirut to Gush Katif"

Columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (August 18): "If there is
one thing that the Lebanese pullout conclusively
proved, it is that no ... diplomatic benefits will be
forthcoming.... The UN, the EU, and the U.S. have all
said openly in recent weeks that following the
withdrawal, they expect Israel to move rapidly to
realize the road map's plan for a Palestinian state in
all of the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem. None
of the three has conditioned this demand on positive
developments in Gaza following the pullout. Moreover,
pursuant to that goal, they have issued a series of
specific concessions that they expect Israel to make
immediately after the pullout. All of them potentially
devastating to Israel's security. Yet even the U.S.,
traditionally both the most sympathetic to Israel's
security concerns and the toughest on Palestinian
terror, has declared that Israel must make these
concessions even if the Palestinian Authority has not
yet started taking action against the terrorist
organizations.... Far from showing greater
understanding for Israel's security needs following
disengagement, the international community's response
has been to demand that Israel concede all the
safeguards most essential to its post-pullout security.
But given the Lebanon precedent, that is hardly
surprising. The only surprising part is that Sharon,
or anyone lese, should ever have expected otherwise."

IV. "You Have to Read Sharon's Speech"

Senior Editor Nehemia Strassler wrote in independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (August 18): "In his dry and
declamatory way, Ariel Sharon turned the Israeli
reality on its head this week. In the speech that he
delivered to the nation, he did not apologize to the
settlers (the truth is that they should be apologizing
to the citizens of Israel, who were forced to pay --
monetarily and in human terms -- for the expensive
adventure in Gaza). He spoke words of truth that no
prime minister before him ever dared to say. For the
first time, we heard the reason for the shift in his
position: demography. It is demography that forced the
evacuation of Gaza on anyone wishing to live in a state
with a Jewish majority and who is not prepared to rely
on the messiah.... Sharon's speech indicates that he
has very belatedly reached the obvious conclusion that
the immense gap between the villas and the tin shacks
would end with a huge explosion, a bloodbath, and this
is what he wishes to prevent.... He [also] opened the
door to the continuation of the process [in the West
Bank].... At this point, Sharon has the opportunity to
stop the demolition of the 2,000 homes in the evacuated
settlements. Why destroy a means of production that
can slightly reduce the poverty and suffering?.... The
disengagement should be exploited to send a message of
conciliation, of civil behavior. The British did not
demolish, and neither did the Turks. Sharon should
therefore stop the bulldozer today."


V. "Sickly Lack of Sensitivity"

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (August
18): "The Guinness Book of World Records will chronicle
Sharon as a person and a Jew who demonstrated the
greatest lack of sensitivity toward good and honest
citizens who have been stricken by a terrible
personal/family tragedy -- the Gush Katif residents....
We do not have the slightest doubt that the worst
person on the Left would have acted this way with the
evacuated Gush Katif residents.... Intoxicated by fate,
people armed with pens are instilling poison against
the salt of the earth.... Their gaping eyes and alcohol-
impregnated brains haven't even started to count the
'Oslo Accord' dead. They are the false messiahs of
illusory peace, who are about to bring upon us a
terrible catastrophe."

KURTZER