ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 005253 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: -------------- ¶1. Mideast ¶2. Global War on Terror -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Israel Radio quoted Vice PM and Finance Minister Ehud Olmert as saying, after his meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington Wednesday, that the PA must disarm the Palestinian terror groups. Jerusalem Post quoted Olmert as saying that, though Rice expressed her interest in moving forward on the road map, they did not discuss any timetable, and that the U.S. did not set any date for beginning its implementation. Israel Radio reported that Olmert discussed the issue of the separation fence with Secretary Rice, following A/S David Welch's criticism SIPDIS of Israel's announced plan to build in Area E-1, between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim. Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that the Planning Council of the Civil Administration in the West Bank is expected to approve relocating the HQ of the Judea and Samaria police district from Jerusalem to Area E-1 in coming days. Speaking on Israel Radio, Olmert said it would be "strange" if Israel did not receive special disengagement-related aid from the U.S. Israel Radio reported that today, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni will meet with Secretary Rice. The station notes that Olmert and Livni are both Sharon associates. Israel Radio reported that Olmert and his Egyptian counterpart, who is also visiting Washington, have asked the U.S. to expand their joint free-trade zones. All media (lead stories in many of them) reported that a British yeshiva student, who was a tourist in Israel, was stabbed to death last night, close to Jaffa Gate, in the Old City of Jerusalem, whereas his companion, an AmCit, was moderately wounded. Leading media reported that last night in the Tulkarm refugee camp, Special Forces of the IDF killed five Palestinians, three of them senior wanted men from Islamic Jihad and Fatah. Israel Radio cited Palestinian claims that the IDF had killed teenagers and a denial by the IDF. Leading media reported that Fatah and Islamic Jihad (or Hamas) vowed to take revenge on Israel. Israel Radio reported that late this morning, a mortar shell landed next to Margaliot, along the Lebanese border. There were no casualties. Maariv reported that following a special security meeting convened by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Wednesday, Egyptian forces defined as "border police" could deploy along the Philadelphi route in two weeks. For its part, Jerusalem Post reported that the defense officials decided that the IDF would withdraw from the corridor by the end of the year. Leading media note that the cabinet is expected to vote on the Israeli- Egypt agreement on Sunday, and the Knesset during the course of next week. Jerusalem Post reported that representatives of various Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip (the Popular Committee for Defending Palestinian Lands) accused Israel on Wednesday of burying "toxic materials" under the rubble of dismantled settlements to prevent Palestinians from exploiting the land. Leading media cited a statement issued on Wednesday by the UN Security Council, which says: "The members of the Security Council welcome the beginning of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank and they commend the ongoing implementation of this process." Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian sources in Gaza as saying it would be difficult for the PA police to guard the evacuated settlements and prevent the Palestinian public and armed groups from entering them. IDF Radio Wednesday cited the Popular Resistance Committees militant network as saying that it has developed a rocket capable of striking targets 15 km away from the Gaza Strip -- enough to strike Ashkelon. Maariv reported that the Shin Bet has fortified Sharon's Sycamore Farm against Qassam rockets. Israel Radio reported that elements in the Arab world are prodding Islamic Jihad to participate in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections. Maariv reported that senior IDF officers told residents of the northern West Bank settlements of Hermesh and Mevo Dotan this week that they are "next in line" for evacuation. Hatzofe reported that the government and the settlers had reached an agreement postponing the evacuation, but that Sharon thwarted it because he wanted a tough image of Gush Katif residents to be engraved in the public eye. Leading media reported that the Likud leadership is preparing for early Knesset elections. Citing conversations with aides of PM Sharon and other figures in Israeli politics, Ha'aretz reported that most of Sharon's close advisers believe that he should leave the Likud and set up a new party. Maariv bannered a TNS/Teleseker Polling Institute survey that found that Binyamin Netanyahu would overcome Sharon in internal Likud elections, but that the party would come out weakened from the contest: -Should Sharon retire from politics, a Netanyahu-led Likud would garner 32 Knesset seats; Peres-Led Labor would obtain 31 seats. -Should Sharon remain in politics, a Sharon-led Likud would garner 38 Knesset seats; Peres-Led Labor would obtain 22 seats. -Should the Likud split, "Sharon's Likud" would get 34 seats; "Netanyahu's Likud" would get 20 seats. -Should the "big bang" in Israeli politics happen, a Sharon-Peres-Lapid party would reap 54 seats; "Netanyahu's Likud" would obtain 23 seats. Yediot and Jerusalem Post reported that the American computer chip giant Intel plans to base its next generation of processors on the models developed in its Israeli branch. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "After a stormy week of disengagement, Israel and the U.S. appear to see eye to eye on the next stage." Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach commented in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Like an experienced magician [Sharon] draws all of the public's attention to his one hand, assuming that their dull wits will prevent them from seeing what his other hand is doing." Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "The automatic hold on the Gaza Strip has become, for Israel, a conditioned reflex like that of Pavlov's dog.... Israel must let go of its hold since the situation has changed and we have left." Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "Bush enjoys that achievement [the disengagement], which he'll certainly credit to himself -- as well as the one- on-one understandings he reached with Ariel Sharon." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Washington: It's the Palestinians' Move Now" Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (August 25): "Official Washington was quite open this week about its expectations for a continuation of the diplomatic process in the Middle East. The President himself said bluntly that what 'must happen now is the establishment of a working government in Gaza'.... In Israel, of course, people are happy with the remarks. The ball is now in the other court. Thus, after a stormy week of disengagement, Israel and the U.S. appear to see eye to eye on the next stage. Israel has proven its determination in carrying out the pullout from Gaza, and now the Palestinians must implement the required reforms. The message was clearly spelled out in telephone calls from Washington to Ramallah in the past days.... The diplomatic dialogue between Israel and the U.S. this week indicated mutual satisfaction.... In the background is the understanding of the political difficulties Sharon faces in his party.... Even the issue of settlements is now being mentioned by the administration in more hushed tones.... Therefore, one should not expect too much fuss about the building of the fence in the Ma'aleh Adumim area: the administration is not going to argue with Israel about its security needs and its right to defend itself, [Assistant Secretary of State David] Welch said. The question is the fence's route, and this must first be studied. Then if necessary, it can be discussed." II. "What the Other Hand Is Doing" Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach commented in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 25): "[The erection of a separation fence encompassing Ma'aleh Adumim] will create a state of physical separation that will render impossible most of the existing ideas for how to solve the question of Jerusalem and how to create a Palestinian state with territorial contiguity. The next stage will be to present the construction plans that will build houses right up beside the fence and will create a situation that will be difficult to reverse.... Under the cover [of disengagement] and against the backdrop of the public's deep sleep, Sharon swapped ... Greater Israel for Greater Jerusalem. On the very day when all eyes were turned to Kfar Darom and Sa-Nur, facts began to be established on the ground in Jerusalem -- the place where, if no solution is found, no political arrangement will ever be achieved between us and the Palestinians. All this was done far from the eyes of the public, when a somniferous cabinet voted 'yea' without knowing for what, and in a way that is destined yet to cost Israel dearly in blood and money: either this initiative will be scuttled as a result of international and legal pressure, as was the case with the separation fence, or it will be completed and will create a reality that complicates the achievement of a political solution. While the Left rose to cheer its new hero, Sharon took steps to complete the implementation of his plan, and established facts on the ground elsewhere. Like an experienced magician he draws all of the public's attention to his one hand, assuming that their dull wits will prevent them from seeing what his other hand is doing." III. "Israel and Pavlov's Dogs" Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot Aharonot (August 25): "The Palestinians claim today that Israel's decision to reserve responsibility for air, sea and land entry into the Gaza Strip rules out any such recognition by the UN regarding Gaza. For this reason, it is not certain whether Israel will receive world legitimacy any time soon. Worse than that, after the terrible sacrifice Israel made, it could be criticized in the world and this trend has already begun -- with the claim that the withdrawal only made the problem worse, since now Gaza is imprisoned in an Israeli cage and the occupation is being done by remote control. In order to nip this claim in the bud, Israel must allow the Palestinians in Gaza full control over their border crossing with Egypt.... The automatic hold on the Gaza Strip has become, for Israel, a conditioned reflex like that of Pavlov's dog, which connected the sound of a bell ringing to the meal he was supposed to receive. Israel must let go of its hold since the situation has changed and we have left. That is the meaning of the word 'disengagement' and the possibility of gaining international legitimacy. As of now Israel is reserving to itself air and sea supervision of Gaza due to fear of terrorism, but in everything concerning life itself, the Gaza Strip should be connected with Egypt by land and with the entire Arab world in the most free and complete manner." IV. "Bush Has Failed in Iraq -- the Compensation Is a Deportation of Jews" Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (August 25): "U.S. President George Bush 'applauds' Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the completion of his work -- the deportation of the Gush Katif Jews. So do [Bush's] partners in the military coalition that is rolling in its own blood in Iraq. Bush enjoys that achievement [the disengagement], which he'll certainly credit to himself -- as well as the one-on-one understandings he reached with Ariel Sharon. The U.S. is enduring countless blows in Iraq, which has turned into one big slaughterhouse.... Bush also experiences humiliations from the number one enemy of Christendom and the Western world -- Al-Qaida.... Israel is the heart of the nations; when it bleeds, the Western world, too, will have to take part in its torments." -------------- ¶2. Global War on Terror: -------------- Summary: -------------- Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "A vast gulf separates Amman and Cairo on the issue of border security. That divide must be bridged as soon as possible." Block Quotes: -------------- "From Aqaba to Taba" Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (August 25): "Only a few dozen kilometers, at most, separate the Red Sea resort cities of Aqaba in Jordan and Taba in Sinai. Yet a vast gulf separates Amman and Cairo on the issue of border security. That divide must be bridged as soon as possible.... No matter whether Palestinians or global jihadists are the source of [terror] threats, they pose serious risks to all three countries.... With that in mind, one would hope that all three countries could agree on the need to clamp down on terrorism at the borders. Unfortunately, though, that is not always the case -- with Egypt lagging noticeably.... Egypt could take a lesson from Jordan, which has been far more reliable in keeping the peace along its border with Israel.... [And] Amman must remain vigilant, all the more so since Iraqi Al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is suspected of trying to take over his native Jordan.... The challenge of border security in our region, always acute, is becoming all the greater as Israel prepares to leave Gaza altogether. The Israel-Egypt peace treaty may be tested as never before. Terrorism is a threat that no country can allow to cross its border." KURTZER