ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 000545

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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. Iraq

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Key stories in the media:
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All media reported on, and Yediot and Maariv bannered,
an anti-disengagement rally held opposite the Knesset
last night, to demand a national referendum or
elections. The event, which gathered 130,000-150,000
protesters (250,000, according to the organizers),will
continue through tonight. Israel Radio reported on
minor arguments between members of the Yesha Council of
Jewish Settlements in the Territories and far-right
demonstrators, who carried posters comparing PM Sharon
with some of the Jewish people's worst tormentors, like
Titus and Nebuchadnezzar.

Israel Radio reported that the U.S. administration is
satisfied about the relative quiet in the region.
Leading media reported that Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice is likely to visit Israel next Sunday
and Monday. The station reported that Secretary Rice,
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Elliott
Abrams will hold a meeting today in Washington with
Sharon aides Dov Weisglass, Shalom Turjeman, and Maj.
Gen. Yoav Galant, as well as Ambassador Danny Ayalon.
Jerusalem Post reported that Weisglass is carrying a
dual message to Secretary Rice: Abbas is making the
right moves, but they are still insufficient to warrant
discussions on a permanent agreement. On Sunday,
Ha'aretz quoted senior U.S. officials as saying that
the CIA is set to resume its role in security
coordination between Israel and the PA in an effort to
stabilize the situation in the territories.

Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) will ask Sharon
at their meeting to release around 8,000 Palestinian
prisoners. The radio cited the London-based Al-Quds Al-
Arabi as saying that Abbas has finalized the makeup of
this government, in which PLO representative to the UN
Nasser Al-Kidwa will serve as foreign minister. The
station reported that Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and
Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
decided on Sunday to continue their armed struggle
against Israel.

Ha'aretz reported that Israel has promised the U.S.
that it will reexamine a decision made last summer to
confiscate East Jerusalem property owned by
Palestinians, who have been cut off from their land by
the separation fence. The newspaper quoted GOI sources
as saying that Secretary Rice will raise the issue with
Weisglass's team today. On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported
that Sharon is expected to have the cabinet approve the
amended fence route in Gush Etzion (the Etzion Bloc)
before his meeting with Abbas.

Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post highlighted Sunday's
elections in Iraq. The media quoted President Bush as
saying that the elections were "a resounding success,"
while warning that more hard work lay ahead to build a
democracy. Yediot's headline: "Historic Day: Democracy
Defeated Terror." Over the weekend, the media
recounted the stories of Maariv journalist Jackie
Hoogie and of Ha'aretz writer Shahar Smooha, who are of
Iraqi origin. They registered and voted at the polling
station in Amman. Yediot reported that three Jews of
Iraqi origin voted in London.

Maariv reported that following the cease-fire, Israel
has erased the name of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
commander in Jenin Zakaria Zubeidi, as well as other
militants, from its list of wanted Palestinians.

Yediot quoted Ramallah sources as saying that Israel
will hand over security responsibility for the city of
Ramallah on Wednesday. The newspaper cited the GOI's
response that the transfer will not take place
overnight. Leading media reported that Sharon told
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz at Sunday's cabinet
meeting that he should not hurry to hand over control
of the cities to the Palestinians before making sure
they are prepared to take responsibility. Leading
media quoted Mofaz as saying that the number of
terrorist attacks has recently dropped by 70 to 75
percent, but that the quiet is fragile. Reporting that
Mofaz is scheduled to hold a new meeting with
Palestinian security official Muhammad Dahlan today,
Israel Radio cited the dissatisfaction in some
Palestinian circles at Dahlan's self-appointed role.
On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that at a high-level
meeting between Israelis and Palestinian officials in
Davos, Switzerland, the wide gap between their
different visions of the future could not be disguised,
as the Palestinians stated their expectations to see
the renewal of a bilateral diplomatic process, which
would lead to an agreement and an Israeli withdrawal
from the West Bank.

Yediot reported that Sharon has instructed his bureau
to add substantial compensation to settlers who will be
evacuated from their homes. A draft bill on the matter
will be ready by Monday.

Ha'aretz reported that Supreme Court President Justice
Aharon Barak has issued a temporary injunction
prohibiting the Civil Administration in the West Bank
from demolishing homes in the village of Wadi al-Rasha,
near Qalqilya. The newspaper cited Palestinians claims
that Alfei Menashe settlers had pressed to obtain the
demolition of the houses because the petitioners had
refused to rescind their appeal against the separation
fence.

Jerusalem Post reported that Abbas has turned down a
request to apologize to Egypt on behalf of the
Palestinians for celebrating the assassination of the
late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981.

Pakistani PM Shaukat Aziz was quoted as saying in an
interview with Maariv that his country will not engage
in normal ties with Israel as long as there is no
progress in the diplomatic process between Israel and
the PA. Aziz expressed his stupefaction at FM Silvan
Shalom's attempts to meet with him at the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Jerusalem Post quoted senior Israeli security sources
as saying on Sunday that the determination by the UN
Security Council that the Sheba Farms area is Syrian
and not Lebanese totally negated that pretext that
Hizbullah has been using for continuing its terrorist
attacks against Israel. On Sunday, Yediot cited a
similar statement by Israel's Representative to the UN,
Danny Gillerman.

Jerusalem Post reported that a joint Palestinian-
Israeli initiative for monitoring media coverage of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict was launched in Jerusalem
on Sunday by the Jerusalem-based Keshev Center for the
Protection of Democracy in Israel and the Palestinian
Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and
Democracy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying
in an interview with Channel 10-TV over the weekend
that Russia is rejecting criticism of its sale of
shoulder-held SA-18 missiles to Syria. Putin said:
"The weapons do not breach the balance of forces in the
region, which we know ... is significantly in Israel's
favor."

Ha'aretz reported that Israel and Turkey are currently
discussing further security cooperation that would
involve the refurbishment of another 48 of the Turkish
air force's F-4 Phantoms and some 200-300 M48 Patton
tanks belonging to Turkey's armored corps. The
newspaper wrote that Turkey is also looking into the
possibility of purchasing Israeli-made Harpy UAVs. The
deals could amount to USD 1.5 billion.

All media reported on the death on Saturday night of
celebrated satirist Ephraim Kishon.







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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Exemplary
order was maintained at [Sunday's anti-disengagement]
demonstration, which was restrained and disciplined."

Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman opined in independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Behind the series of [settler]
protests, which have been held one after another in
recent months, are calculated individuals trying to
terrify the Prime Minister and the general public."

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "Iran has
a different agenda from that of Ariel Sharon and Abu
Mazen."

Block Quotes:
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I. "An Orange Evening"

Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 31):
"The disagreement is over, but the struggle is not. It
is being waged on two levels. The one is public, and
involves an attempt to enlist the Israeli street's
support so as to force Sharon at the last moment to
hold either a referendum or early elections and, by so
doing, to delay the evacuation and maybe kill it. The
other is surreptitious, and it involves an effort to
create a traumatic public atmosphere that will bog down
the government and the political establishment in
advance of future withdrawals.... Exemplary order was
maintained at [Sunday's anti-disengagement]
demonstration, which was restrained and disciplined.
This may have been the last such demonstration. The
closer the date of evacuation comes, the stormier, the
more threatening the demonstrations will be. [Likud
Knesset Member] Ehud Yatom, the pardoned Shin Bet agent
from the bus number 300 affair [in which he was accused
of killing two captured prisoners], quoted from the
podium the famous [Hebrew] song about the little girl
who stood up and asked: Why?... It was impossible not
to invoke the Holocaust survivor Miriam Yahav, who
stood up last week in Auschwitz and, in front of all
the leaders of the world, asked that very same
question: Why? Why? With all due understanding for
the settlers' pain and for the political calculations
of their supporters, everyone ought to bear in mind the
difference between the one why and the other. The
difference is enormous."

II. "Trauma Made to Order"

Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman opined in independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (January 30): "Behind the series
of [settler] protests, which have been held one after
another in recent months, are calculated individuals
trying to terrify the Prime Minister and the general
public.... Those who interpret the crisis of evacuation
in terms of national trauma are the settlers. Those who
create the conditions that will lead to a violent
confrontation are the settlers. Those who equate the
evacuation with sacrilege are the settlers. And they
have a reason for their behavior: They seek to equate
the evacuation to a disaster of such proportions that
it must be stopped at all costs, and if it is to be -
that no one will ever think to repeat the act in other
parts of the whole Land of Israel [i.e. Israel and the
territories].

III. "The Familiar Headlines"

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (January
31): "There is no doubt at all that a decisive majority
of the Israeli public wants to see the elected
Palestinian leadership turning over a new leaf and
taking part in the elimination of all elements of
terrorism, but we have already seen Palestinian police
changing their uniforms and joining every one of the
militant terrorist organizations, and also exploiting
their position in order to support terrorism in every
possible way. Iran has a different agenda from that of
Ariel Sharon and Abu Mazen. All the intelligence
agencies say that Iran's proxy murderer Hizbullah is
trying to sabotage the understandings between Israel
and the Palestinian Authority, and a senior military
source said there is still no change in the level of
hostilities in the Gush Katif area, according to
Hatzofe reporters.... Moreover, 'hudna' is only a
ceasefire, and there is no guarantee that the period of
quiet will not be exploited by Hamas and Islamic Jihad
to step up their arms production and to improve its
weapons.... Nasrallah's arrogant declaration that he
intends to abduct Israeli civilians to expedite the
release of prisoners, has encouraged the terrorist
organizations to operate against Israel, especially
since they are guaranteed appropriate remuneration. It
is dangerous to be optimistic about the terrorist
organizations, and it is to be hoped that the heads of
the intelligence agencies will keep their eyes open and
will not be deluded by the wishful thinking of
politicians, even if they have long experience in
getting to know the enemy."

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2. Iraq:
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Summary:
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Expert on Iraqi affairs Dr. Ofra Bengio wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv: "The true test of democratic
development in the long term will be at two crossroads:
when concrete power sharing begins, and after the
pullout of the U.S. and its allies."

Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: " Israel has
nothing to expect from a Shi'ite-fundamentalist regime
[in Iraq]."

Block Quotes:
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I. " For Iraqis, True Test Still Ahead"

Expert on Iraqi affairs Dr. Ofra Bengio wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv (January 31): "It should be
remembered that those 'free' elections are being held
under the watchful eyes of no less than 30,000 troop;
in the past, when the Western eyes disappeared, the
entire democratic structure collapsed. Furthermore,
the small turnout among Sunnis could push them even
farther into the political margins, and cause them to
make more radical moves in order to nip democracy in
the bud. Finally, the true test of democratic
development in the long term will be at two crossroads:
when concrete power sharing begins, and after the
pullout of the U.S. and its allies.... In spite of
everything, no one disputes one fact: the historic
makeover ... is irreversible."

II. "Saddam Hussein Is Turning in His Jail"

Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 31):
"This morning, the Arab world is waking up to a new
reality in Iraq, and, no less important, in the Arab
world itself.... Iraq's fate will be determined in
coming days. If the Shi'ites, backed by the Kurds,
start a 'new order' at the expense of the proud,
defeated Sunnis, the country could slide into a civil
war. If the Shi'ites demonstrate maturity and
generosity, and embrace the Sunnis in a future regime,
there is still hope for that large, despondent
country.... Israel has nothing to expect from a Shi'ite-
fundamentalist regime. Should a civil war start in
Iraq, that country would be busy with itself for a few
years, but there would be no warming of relations with
Israel. In a better scenario, the new regime would
ignore Israel."

KURTZER