ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 005983

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. Syrian Track


3. Iraq

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

All media reported that PM Sharon and PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas are slated to meet on
Tuesday, October 11. The meeting was organized under
the auspices of Jordan's King Abdullah II. Leading
media reported that top Sharon aide Dov Weisglass and
chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat will meet on
Friday or Sunday to prepare for the encounter. Yediot
reported that upon this occasion, Israel is bound to
introduce measures to ease the lives of the
Palestinians -- roadblocks between Palestinian cities
would be lifted; prisoners "with blood on their hands"
would be released; Palestinians who were deported to
Europe would be allowed to return to the territories.
The newspaper quoted Sharon associates as saying that
the gestures will strengthen Abbas. However, Israel
Radio notes that a prisoner release would depend on a
decision by a governmental panel. Speaking on Israel
Radio this morning, Vice PM and Acting Finance Minister
Ehud Olmert said that Abbas could not expect Israel to
release prisoners who killed Jews.

Ha'aretz reported that Egypt is considering tendering a
proposal to postpone the Palestinian elections
scheduled for January 2006. The newspaper, which noted
that Egypt is concerned about Abbas's weakened status,
cited the belief of Israeli sources that Egypt's
proposal could succeed. All media reported that on
Monday, the Palestinian Legislative Council decided to
dissolve the current government under Ahmed Qurei and
to form a new cabinet within two weeks. (Major media
reported that Qurei was hospitalized in Jordan after
undergoing a cardiac incident.) Leading media cited
anarchy prevailing in the Palestinian territories as
the motive for the move. Leading media reported that
on Tuesday, the PA kidnapped two Hamas activists.
Citing AP, Jerusalem Post reported that Hamas political
leader Khaled Mashaal accused the U.S. and Israel of
responsibility for Sunday's clashes between Hamas
activists and Palestinian security forces in the Gaza
Strip. Maariv bannered an interview that Hamas leader
Mahmoud Zahar granted to the Arabic-language web site
Ilaf, in which he propounds what Maariv says is Hamas's
plan to "turn Gaza into Tehran" -- an Islamic theocracy
that would ban all contacts with Israel.

Leading media reported that on Wednesday in Alexandria,
Va., top Pentagon analyst Lawrence (Larry) Franklin
pleaded guilty to giving classified information to
Israeli Embassy official Naor Gilon and members of
AIPAC. U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III set
sentencing for January 20. Leading media note that
Gilon and Israel were explicitly named for the first
time.

Israel Radio and leading Israeli news web sites
reported that today, the High Court of Justice ruled it
was illegal for the Israel Defense Forces to use
Palestinian civilians as "human shields." Chief
Justice Aharon Barak, ruling in response to petitions
from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the
Adallah human rights organization, said the practice
violates international law.

Ha'aretz reported that the rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin
Square to mark the 10th anniversary of the
assassination of PM Yitzhak Rabin is expected to be
moved from November 5 to November 12, in order to
enable former U.S. president Bill Clinton to attend.
Clinton allegedly asked for the date change after
finding himself in the middle of infighting between the
rally's organizers.

All media reported that there were two knife attacks by
Palestinians against IDF soldiers near Nablus over the
Jewish New Year. A female attacker was killed and a
solider and bystander were lightly wounded in the
incidents.

Jerusalem Post printed an AP item that quoted
Palestinian FM Nasser al-Kidwa as saying in Cairo
Wednesday that the PA will respect the decision of Arab
countries if they choose to have relations with Israel,
even if those decisions are not in the Palestinians'
interests.

Maariv reported that during his visit to Damascus,
Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad warned
Israel against attacking his country's nuclear
installations. Maariv reported that Syrian President
Bashar Assad expressed his support for the development
of Iran's nuclear program. The newspaper quoted Assad
as saying that no one can separate Iran and Syria.

Ha'aretz cited a recent study by the Jerusalem
Institute for Israel Studies, according to which the
separation wall, which cuts off tens of thousands of
Palestinians, is not only having a negative effect on
the lives of East Jerusalem's residents, but is also
harming that city's Jewish inhabitants and its position
as the nation's capital.

Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday, the English-
language Indonesian newspaper Jakarta Post published an
op-ed piece by FM Silvan Shalom, in which he wrote:
"Israel does not see Islam as an enemy and has never
seen it as such. On the contrary, history has shown us
that Jews and Muslims lived in peace, harmony and
friendship for many years in the past. This should be
the aim in the future." Jerusalem Post notes this is
the first time an Israeli minister has had an op-ed
article printed in an Indonesian newspaper.

Citing AP, Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post reported that on
Wednesday, the European Commission proposed doubling
its annual aid to the Palestinians -- now totaling some
250 million euros a year -- to help them build a
credible government and develop trade with Israel and
other neighbors.

During the past few days, all media reported on the
aftermath of last Thursday's maritime collision near
Japan's Hokkaido Island, in which seven Japanese
fishermen lost their lives, apparently after being hit
by an Israeli cargo ship. Yediot quoted a senior
Foreign Ministry official as saying on Wednesday that
Israel has managed to minimize the damage caused to
diplomatic relations with Japan in the wake of the
affair.

Jerusalem Post reported that last week, the Haifa
District Court ruled against music-sharing web sites.
The newspaper writes that the related lawsuit follows
the U.S. Supreme Court's decision at the end of June
regarding the on-line file-sharing services Grokster
and Streamcast.

Ha'aretz, Yediot, and Jerusalem Post reported on the
nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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

1. Mideast:
--------------

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

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The
'enormous progress' that Sharon promises for this year
must also include isolated settlements and not only
illegal outposts."

Veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin Eytan Haber opined in the lead
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot: "The key for the next [Jewish] year is in the
hands of Khaled Mashaal of Hamas and Arik Sharon of the
[Israeli] government. Let's wish them wise and correct
decisions."

Conservative columnist Amos Gilboa wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "If one can certainly understand Abu
Mazen and his friends, it is quite difficult to
understand the Left and its leader Beilin."

Columnist and former head of IDF Intelligence Shlomo
Gazit wrote in Maariv: "Has anyone considered that we
are running the risk of turning Hamas into the leading
movement among the Palestinians, and is it indeed in
our interest to reach this goal?"

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


I. "Progress Means Withdrawal"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized
(October 6): "On one hand, [Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon] emphasizes that the ball is now in the
Palestinians' court and until the Palestinians stop the
terror and disarm the militant organizations, Israel
does not need to take any additional steps. On the
other hand, Sharon promises, according to a Jewish New
Year interview with Yediot Aharonot, that 'in the next
year there will be enormous progress in the peace
process and in the implementation of the road map.'
'Enormous progress' can only be a reference to an
enormous withdrawal.... The evacuation of the illegal
outposts is a done deal between Israel and the United
States, and only the timing is still undecided. Thus
the 'enormous progress' that Sharon promises for this
year must also include isolated settlements and not
only illegal outposts.... The end of the Qassam rocket
attacks on Sderot created an opportunity to hold the
planned meeting between Sharon and Palestinian
Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the next several
days. This meeting, even if nothing significant is
said there, will create a dynamic of joint action that
has been lacking. It will also raise expectations....
One can only express happiness over the fact that
Sharon is not stopping at expecting change from the
Palestinians and is not speaking about small and
measured steps but rather about giant steps. The
occupation has been waiting too many years for a
bulldozer to end it. Political support for such steps
is a function of determined leadership."



II. "Caution, Fragile!"

Veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin Eytan Haber opined in the lead
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot (October 6): "[In the mid-nineties] Arafat
told [the Israelis]: 'I have opened the gate of the
world to you.' However loathsome he was, he was also
right. The first agreements with the PLO turned the
world around.... [Today], politicians and journalists
would be well advised to speak modestly. They are the
best placed to know how quickly the wheel turns....
Even if Sharon, Netanyahu, and others deserve praise
for their achievements, they don't have the key....
What can't be denied is that today, like in the '90s,
the world loves us and extends its hands to us,
following the implementation of the disengagement plan.
It turns out that the world wants this to continue. In
the future, residents of West Bank settlements will
have to pay for every clap of Tony Blair's hands.
Sharon himself not only wants to enter history books,
but he wants them printed now. Thus, the key for the
next [Jewish] year is in the hands of Khaled Mashaal of
Hamas and Arik Sharon of the [Israeli] government.
Let's wish them wise and correct decisions."

III. "Return of the Illusions"

Conservative columnist Amos Gilboa wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (October 6): "The Israeli left wing,
primarily the Geneva initiative band, has recently been
calling with great vigor to launch a political
initiative with the Palestinians, based on holding
negotiations over a final status arrangement with the
Palestinian partner. It has its reasons: there is a
partner, in the person of Abu Mazen; the various stages
of the road map, which is being used by Sharon to
freeze the situation, should be skipped.... If one can
certainly understand Abu Mazen and his friends, it is
quite difficult to understand the Left and its leader
Beilin. They are like someone who advises people to
come and live in a house that is going up in flames, in
order to give hope to its unfortunate tenants.... Abu
Mazen's strategy is clear, and its practical purpose is
to do away with the road map.... From Israel's
standpoint, the road map is not without problems, but
at present this is the best route that Israel should
stick to publicly, and in its declarations. First of
all, it is currently the recognized international main
route to political progress towards an arrangement with
the Palestinians. Secondly, in sharp contrast to the
Oslo Accords, it makes any progress contingent on
eliminating terrorism and imposes the responsibility
for this on the Palestinian Authority. Thirdly, it
faces the Palestinians with a clear political horizon,
which ends in a state. Their hope is in the road map,
if they are only able to take responsibility, to take
care of themselves and stop playing the underdog. The
heart of the problem is that the chances for this are
very low, in the near future.... In future, the
disengagement from Gaza will become a model for the
Israeli strategy versus the Palestinians and the
international community."
IV. "How to Strengthen Hamas"
Columnist and former head of IDF Intelligence Shlomo
Gazit wrote in Maariv (October 6): "In a lecture at the
Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, [O/C Operations
Directorate] Maj. Gen. Yisrael Ziv addressed the
conclusions drawn by the IDF in the five years of the
Intifada and reported the emergence of the 'operational
concept.' He did not expand on this concept, save to
clarify that within this new concept the decision was
also made to liquidate all members of the Hamas
leadership.... My ... main reservation refers to the
substance of the decision. In the short term -- has
anyone deluded himself that it will be possible to
paralyze Hamas by liquidating the leadership of the
organization? Will a new and younger leadership not
arise immediately, a leadership that will be more
cautious, but also more militant and vengeful? And in
the longer term -- how will the assassinations affect
the status of Hamas in Palestinian society, and the
political balance of power between Hamas and the PA and
Fatah? Has anyone considered that we are running the
risk of turning Hamas into the leading movement among
the Palestinians, and is it indeed in our interest to
reach this goal?"





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

2. Syrian Track:
--------------

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

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "There appears to
be no reason to feel pressured over the issue [of the
Golan] and ... it is possible to put off a solution for
a few years. Nevertheless, while Assad's chair is
shaky, it is worthwhile thinking about a creative
response on the Syrian track."

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

"The Return of the Golan"

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (October 6): "If the
Americans succeed and Assad is replaced by some sort of
Syrian Abu Mazen who will speak in moderate tones and
represent the country's Sunni majority, the Golan will
soon be back on the agenda. Assad's successors would
demand of the Americans that they strengthen their
regime by means of an Israeli territorial concession.
This is apparently the reason why Israel prefers an
Assad who is weak, isolated and under pressure to a
change of government that would upset the 'northern
system.' An Assad in power means that the Golan
remains in Israeli hands.... There are disadvantages to
a unilateral withdrawal from the Golan Heights. It
would mean forgoing the agreement that has ensured
quiet on the Syrian border for 31 years. It would mean
abandoning the demand for new security arrangements.
Above all, there is no oppressive occupation of a
hostile population on the Golan, there is no terror,
and there is no demographic problem or international
pressure as there is regarding the West Bank. This is
why there appears to be no reason to feel pressured
over the issue and that it is possible to put off a
solution for a few years. Nevertheless, while Assad's
chair is shaky, it is worthwhile thinking about a
creative response on the Syrian track."

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

3. Iraq:
--------------

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

Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "The U.S., with divine
intentions and amazing recklessness, broke Iraq. It
cannot walk away from this mess."

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

"Fight, Not Flight"
Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (October 6): "What the U.S.
does in Iraq will affect the fate of the whole world.
So whether the U.S. should have gone to war isn't
relevant anymore. All that matters is what should be
done now, with an eye to the future. Unfortunately,
there is only one clear, understandable proposal --
unilateral withdrawal. It holds that since everybody
sees by now that the war is a disaster, that the
killing keeps getting worse, America should cut its
losses and save the lives of American soldiers by
packing up and getting out of Iraq ASAP. Agree with
this or not, it's at least a cogent argument.... Well,
I'm very sorry, but it's time for Americans to grow up,
to stop being the spoiled, shallow adolescents they've
become. There is this thing in life called
responsibility. When you make a mess, you have to
clean it up. Or, as Colin Powell, the only grown-up
ever to be employed by the Bush administration, put it
in the case of Iraq, Pottery Barn rules apply: you
break it, you own it. The U.S., with divine intentions
and amazing recklessness, broke Iraq. It cannot walk
away from this mess. If it does, there would be a
bloodbath.... What's more, the worst killers on earth
would win a colossal, historic victory. America's self-
confidence would be crippled. Al-Qaida and its like
would be supercharged on every continent where Muslims
live. The defeat of the U.S. by the insurgents in Iraq
would have an electrifying effect across much of the
world, and an intimidating effect across the rest of
it.... I say bring back the draft and raise taxes. To
anyone who opposes bringing the troops home now -- what
do you say?"

JONES