ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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E.O. 12958: N/A
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. Iran: Nuclear Program

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Key stories in the media:
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All media led with PM Sharon's surprise victory at the
Likud Central Committee last night. The proposal to
move up the party primaries was rejected, 1433 votes to
1329 (51.4-47.6 percent). Blank slips represented 0.9
percent of the total. The turnout was 90 percent.
Above pictures of Sharon, Yediot and Maariv bannered:
"The Winner" (as opposed to Knesset Member Binyamin
Netanyahu, "The Loser"). Leading media quoted
Netanyahu as saying that his camp would win the crucial
battle -- the primaries slated to take place in April

2006. Commentators say that Sharon's options --
including leaving the Likud -- are open.

Ha'aretz quoted State Department spokesperson Sean
McCormack as saying that Hamas launched attacks on
Israel after it issued its statement that it would no
longer do so. Saying that McCormack "clearly" doubted
the promise and denounced Hamas as a terrorist group,
the newspaper quoted him as saying: "We understand the
situation in which Israel finds itself and we fully
understand Israel's right to defend itself." The media
reported that on Monday, the IAF continued with its
strikes in the Gaza Strip as more Qassam rockets fell
in Israeli territory. Jerusalem Post quoted Islamic
Jihad as saying on Monday that it was "unhappy" with
Hamas's decision to stop firing rockets at Israel. The
newspaper noted this was the first criticism of its
kind.

Ha'aretz, Maariv, Hatzofe, and Jerusalem Post printed
pictures of new U.S. Ambassador to Israel Richard H.
Jones, as he presented his credentials to President
Moshe Katsav on Monday.

Yediot reported that the U.S. administration has
decided to donate USD 750,000 to the production of an
Israeli-Palestinian television drama series that will
be called 'Open the Hearts,' with the goal of
encouraging co-existence, peace, mutual respect and
tolerance between the two peoples. The series will be
produced by a non-profit organization of bereaved
Israeli and Palestinian parents in cooperation with
Channel 2-TV and Palestinian Television. Yediot writes
that the producers are still looking for financing
before getting down to work, but have already received
significant support from the U.S. administration, by
means of USAID in the American Embassy Tel Aviv.
Yediot cited USAID as saying on Monday that the drama
series is meant to generate changes in each of the
peoples' beliefs and attitudes toward the other.

All media cited the police as saying on Monday that
Sasson Nuriel, a Jerusalem resident, was allegedly
kidnapped by Hamas on Wednesday, and that his body was
found near Ramallah on Monday. In an unrelated
development, major media reported that on Monday,
security forces arrested two Arab terror suspects --
according to Ha'aretz and Yediot, a man in his 30s and
a woman in her 60s or 70s -- after a massive terror
alert. Israel Radio and the leading Internet news
service Ynet reported that IDF forces uncovered and
detonated an explosives lab in Qabatiya, south of
Jenin, and that 94 Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives
were arrested in the West Bank overnight.

Jerusalem Post reported that violence in Gaza and chaos
in the Likud have led to the postponement of Sharon's
scheduled meetings with Jordan's King Abdullah II and
PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas. Israel Radio
quoted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as saying that
Sharon is thwarting the peace process and expanding
settlements. The radio reported that Abbas will travel
to Cairo today for a meeting with Mubarak.

Citing AP, Ha'aretz quoted John Dugard, UN Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian
Territories, as saying on Monday that the disengagement
from the Gaza Strip has allowed Israel to divert
attention from its further expansion into East
Jerusalem and other Palestinian territories. Jerusalem
Post reported that the Public Committee Against Torture
in Israel announced on Monday that it was renewing its
petition against targeted killings in the wake of
Sunday's GOI announcement that it was resuming its
policy of assassinating terrorist leaders. Jerusalem
Post reported that on Monday, the organization
Physicians For Human Rights protested against the
closure of the Gaza Strip, which it says has hampered
medical treatment of Palestinians in Israel, the West
Bank, or Egypt.

Leading media quoted British Chancellor of the
Exchequer (Finance Minister) Gordon Brown as saying on
Monday he would visit the Middle East next month to
look at ways to rebuild Palestinian infrastructure.

Jerusalem Post named the AmCit whom Israel is planning
to deport, reportedly on suspicion that he intended to
assassinate Sharon, as Zalman Hatzkolevitch, a Bratslav
hassid from New York. The newspaper quoted Rabbi Natan
Harush, spiritual head of a Jerusalem-based Bratslav
yeshiva, as confirming that Hatzkolevitch speaks Arabic
and has visited Muslim countries including Iraq and
Lebanon. The newspaper quoted Population Registry
spokeswoman Sabine Haddad as saying that the incident
was the first time in memory that Israel would be
deporting a Jew out of concern over possible security
violations.

Hatzofe reported that Sharon has agreed with
Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to create
the conditions necessary for allowing British Gas to
supply Palestinian natural gas to Israel. The
newspaper notes that Israel ceded gas fields to the
Palestinians following the Oslo Accords.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever
Plotker wrote in the editorial of mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Between 'primary now' and
'peace now,' it was 'peace now' that won in the Likud
Central Committee.... It is on this that Prime Minister
Sharon needs to base his leadership in his party."

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized:
"Creating a border between Israel and Gaza obligates
the Palestinians not to launch Qassams and obligates
Israel not to carry out superfluous military operations
that harm Palestinian sovereignty."

Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "Hamas's participation in the PA
elections is not irrational.... Israel has no interest
in talking with a Palestinian leadership that only
represents one part of its nation."

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in
Ha'aretz: "What is needed more than anything is a
leader on the other side who is no less forceful than
Sharon -- a man who is prepared to fight against the
extremists and the enemies of peace, and be more than a
partner on paper."

Block Quotes:
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I. "'Peace Now' Defeated 'Primary Now'"

Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever
Plotker wrote in the editorial of mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (September 27): "The Likud
party primary will not be moved up. The Party's
Central Committee rejected the motion to hold the
primary earlier than scheduled by a small majority....
A party whose ideological platform is so blurred, so
confused, so replete with zigzags and which
nevertheless is so close to the center of the Israeli
political map, was obliged last night to decide between
two opposing political world views: the dovish world
view of Prime Minister Sharon as opposed to the hawkish
view of former Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu....
[Despite the basically in-house characteristic of
Monday's vote], Sharon's clear victory over his
opponents was also of a clear ideological nature....
Between 'primary now' and 'peace now,' it was 'peace
now' that won in the Likud Central Committee. That is
the truth, and it is on this that Prime Minister Sharon
needs to base his leadership in his party and to pass
this essential ideological message down through the
party ranks. But this will not be the same Likud
movement that Sharon formed with his own two hands a
generation ago; Sharon has clearly divorced himself
from that party. This will be a new movement, one that
is liberated from the tradition of the entire greater
Land of Israel, and even a partial greater Land of
Israel. This will be a movement that appeals to the
center of Israeli society, a movement that has
absolutely nothing to do with the tradition of 'two
banks to the River Jordan,' and a lot to do with the
tradition of 'the occupation is bad for Israel,' as
Sharon himself put it."

II. "The Escalation Temptation"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized
(September 27): "In the case of the separation fence,
Israel misuses the perfectly legitimate pretext of
security concerns to illicitly expand its territory,
and there is a similar concern regarding the renewal of
targeted assassinations. The massive firing of Qassam
rockets at Sderot justifies immediate military action,
but it is not grounds for the wholesale abuse of
military means in order to launch a general offensive
against terrorist organizations.... The unilateral
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is an opportunity for
the Palestinian Authority to prove it is capable of
reining in the terrorist organizations. Mahmoud Abbas
failed the first test when he failed to keep the border
quiet, and the Qassam attacks justify a military
response. That is not to say, however, that Israel
should become entangled in an extended operation.
Creating a border between Israel and Gaza obligates the
Palestinians not to launch Qassams and obligates Israel
not to carry out superfluous military operations that
harm Palestinian sovereignty.... The Palestinian
Legislative Council elections will not be determined by
assassinations or by arresting Hamas candidates.... The
launching of Qassam rockets at Sderot is a very grave
matter. That said, Hamas has undertaken to stop the
attacks. The list of potential targets should now be
put back in the drawer, and the planned meeting between
Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should go ahead -
- to demonstrate that Israel and the PA have a shared
interest in putting an end to terrorism."

III. "The Hamas Dilemma"

Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (September 27): "Ariel Sharon and Dr.
Yossi Beilin hold views that aren't far from each
other: an avowed terrorist organization can't
participate in elections. Both men favor Abu-Mazen....
It is worthwhile to fight Hamas with all the might,
because Hamas committed to the Cairo agreement and it
is now violating it; it shouldn't be allowed to fire
from the Gaza Strip each time it feels like bombarding
Sderot with Qassam rockets. Hamas has no grounds for
doing this, despite claims its chiefs advance such as
the lie that Israel caused the rocket accident at
Hamas's parade, or that the Negev attacks came in
response to IDF strikes against terror in the West
Bank.... What's more, Abu Mazen's and the IDF's
responses made Hamas chief Mahmoud Zahar proclaim the
cessation of rocket fire. He shouldn't be believed....
[However], Hamas's participation in the PA elections is
not irrational.... Israel has no interest in talking
with a Palestinian leadership that only represents one
part of its nation. If the Palestinians have become
extremist to the point of supporting the terrorist
organizations so strongly, it is important for Israel
that the diplomatic process should include Hamas as
well. This might well postpone a final-status
agreement between the two nations. [But] it is clear
that, should Hamas representatives come to the
negotiating table with Israel, they would be made to
recognize its right to exist.... Preventing the
election of Hamas representatives to the PA's
institutions would be turning a blind eye to an
emergent reality. It is important for Israel to
dialogue with existing Palestinians -- not with the
Palestinians it would have liked to see."

IV. "If You Lie Down With Missiles"

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in
Ha'aretz (September 27): "The Palestinians haven't
learned a damn thing. They have a morbid knack for
making the biggest, most stupid mistakes whenever the
door opens a crack and a chance comes their way to
establish a state alongside Israel.... What is the
sense in holding a victory parade in Gaza and then
firing a massive volley of Qassam rockets into
territories that Israel left of its own will? What is
the logic in choosing a critical time, when Sharon is
fighting for his political life against rebels in his
own party, to bombard Israel with 40 Qassams in one
night? What do they want? An Israel led by Bibi and Uzi
Landau?.... He who goes to bed with Qassams should not
be surprised if he wakes up with a boom.... For Israel
to make more painful concessions for the sake of an
agreement, it will take more than the shameful goings-
on at the convention of the Likud Central Committee,
and more than last night's vote and its consequences.
What is needed more than anything is a leader on the
other side who is no less forceful than Sharon -- a man
who is prepared to fight against the extremists and the
enemies of peace, and be more than a partner on paper."

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2. Iran: Nuclear Program:
--------------

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

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The good news is
that despite the chaos in Iraq and the destruction in
New Orleans, America has not retreated into its shell."

Block Quotes:
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"Ahmadinejad's Smile"

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (September 27):
"[Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad came to the UN
to examine the limits of his power versus America and
its European partners.... The result was not in
Ahmadinejad's favor. The Europeans kept their promise
to Israel, and last Saturday achieved a small majority
for a resolution against Iran in the International
Atomic Energy Agency.... Israel commended the 'step in
the right direction' and senior officials predicted
that in the next round in November, the decisions will
have teeth. The Iranian response sounded, how
embarrassing, like Israel's responses to the
resolutions against it in the UN and the International
Court of Justice. The nuclear confrontation is not
over and it is not clear whether Iran will get the bomb
before it caves in to the pressures. Russia and China
are supporting it and the world oil market will have
difficulty coping with another price rise because of
sanctions on Iran. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad can smile.
The good news is that despite the chaos in Iraq and the
destruction in New Orleans, America has not retreated
into its shell but is still dictating the international
and regional agenda. This raises the hope that the
West will succeed in stopping the threatening Iranian
project after all."

JONES