ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 006103

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

Please note: no Tel Aviv Media Reaction report Tuesday,
October 18, 2005, due to Sukkoth holiday.

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Mideast


2. Syria Governance


3. Iraq

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Key stories in the media:
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In their lead stories, all media reported that nearly
simultaneous drive-by shootings, one at the Gush Etzion
Junction and the other at the settlement of Eli in the
northern West Bank, left three Israelis dead and eight
wounded Sunday and prompted the Defense Ministry to
clamp down on the Palestinians -- notably by forbidding
travel in the West Bank by Palestinians in private
vehicles and encircling Palestinian cities -- and cut
contacts with the PA. Leading media quoted Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying: "We want the dialogue
with the Palestinians to continue but we can't if the
PA doesn't start taking significant and active steps
against the terrorist organizations." Leading media
reported that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed
responsibility for the Gush Etzion attack, but Israel
Radio said this morning that the organization's
leadership refuted that assertion.

On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that the PA has asked
Israel not to meddle in the elections to the
Palestinian Legislative Council, and not to attempt to
prevent the participation of Hamas, lest this serve
only to strengthen the organization. On Sunday,
Jerusalem Post quoted PA security officials as saying
on Saturday that Russian military experts have arrived
in the Gaza Strip to help the Palestinian security
forces enforce law and order. Ha'aretz reported that
at a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian officials
Sunday, the Palestinians agreed to Israel's demand that
a third party -- probably European -- supervise the
Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and that this
supervisory role include defined enforcement powers
that will be exercised should the Palestinians fail to
fulfill their part of the border agreement. Jerusalem
Post reported that the PA "capped a largely disastrous
first month of rule in the Gaza Strip" with an
announcement late Saturday night that it prevented 17
terrorist attacks and confiscated a significant number
of weapons.

On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that on a number of recent
occasions, the U.S. has asked Israel to keep out of
efforts to bring pressure to bear on Syria, and to
leave things to Washington's devices. The newspaper
quoted GOI sources as saying on Saturday that they had
no knowledge of a so-called "Qadhafi Package" that the
U.S. had offered Syria to bring it in from the
international cold, as reported in the British
newspaper The Times. On Sunday, Jerusalem Post quoted
a senior Israeli diplomatic official as saying that
while Israel has complained bitterly for months that
Syria is actively aiding and abetting terrorism both
from Lebanon and inside Israel, it is not interested in
seeing President Bashar Assad's regime fall.

IDF Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi was quoted
as saying in an interview with Maariv that 10 Al-Qaida
activists have infiltrated the Gaza Strip. Jerusalem
Post reported that in the wake of a purported,
unauthenticated Al-Qaida letter threatening to "clash
with Israel," the Foreign Ministry has expressed
increased concerns of Al-Qaida crossing Israel's
border.

Ha'aretz, Yediot, and Jerusalem Post quoted Afghan
President Hamid Karzai's spokesman Karim Rahimi as
saying Sunday that Karzai would recognize Israel's
government if an independent Palestinian state was
first established. Ha'aretz quoted Israeli political
sources as saying that they viewed earlier reports in
the Afghan media as "another step on the road to
recognition of Israel by the Muslim world." (On
Sunday, Yediot bannered remarks by Afghan diplomats
that their country would recognize Israel.) During the
weekend, the media reported that Pakistan has acceded
to Israel's offer to send humanitarian assistance in
the wake of the earthquake on the Indian subcontinent.
The media reported that Pakistan has condition its
acceptance of Israeli aid upon it being forwarded via a
third party, such as the U.S. or the UN.

On Sunday, major media (banner in Maariv) reported that
on Saturday, the Shin Bet found an unexploded
Palestinian Qassam rocket on PM Sharon's ranch in the
Negev, near the grave of his deceased wife Lily. The
rocket was probably launched several weeks ago.

On Sunday, Yediot reported that U.S. intelligence
elements have discovered that Iran is developing
nuclear warheads.

On Sunday, Jerusalem Post cited a report by the
Jordanian news agency Petra as saying that a huge fire
destroyed a clothing factory Saturday in one of seven
joint Jordanian-Israeli manufacturing zones in Jordan,
causing several million dollars worth of damage.

Citing the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jerusalem Post
reported that Elizabeth Nicole Jacobson, believed to be
the first female U.S. pilot killed in the line of duty
in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, had a Jewish
father, David Jacobson. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency
reported that David Jacobson told the Florida Jewish
News, "Elizabeth knew that by fighting in Iraq, she was
in effect protecting Israel. She was very proud of
that."





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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "If
the PA does not rethink its approach to terror, it is
doubtful that the PA's parliamentary elections will be
able to take place."

Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It has
already happened that Israel failed to understand -- or
understood too late -- processes that were taking place
on the Palestinian side."

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


I. "The Palestinian Population Will Pay the Price"

Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz
(October 17): "Even if Israel refrains from harsh
reprisals for Sunday's lethal terror attack, there is
no getting around the fact that the Palestinian
population will suffer from the steps the IDF will take
to prevent other such attacks, such as the erection of
additional checkpoints. The IDF will also continue its
large-scale arrest operations, which, to date, have
nabbed some 700 terror suspects in the West Bank.
Sunday's attack in Gush Etzion was the most serious
attack in the West Bank since the disengagement, and it
should be viewed as proof that some of the terror
organizations want to reignite the fighting in the West
Bank. There is still no confirmation of the claim of
responsibility issued by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,
but if this Fatah-affiliated organization was
responsible, it makes the incident even more serious
from the standpoint of Palestinian Authority Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas, who is now on a diplomatic tour
overseas. In any event, if the PA does not rethink its
approach to terror, it is doubtful that the PA's
parliamentary elections will be able to take place."

II. "End of the Concessions Season"

Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (October
17): "The Palestinians very badly wanted to receive
control over the city of Bethlehem in advance of
Christmas. After Sunday's shooting attacks, they can
forget about it.... The army and the Shin Bet are
constantly measuring the temperature on the ground, in
an attempt to understand and detect the telltale signs
that indicate the outbreak of the third Intifada, the
outburst of a wave of terror attacks in the West Bank,
which everyone foresaw would come after the pullout
from Gaza. On Sunday too, the question was asked: Are
these the two terror attacks the first rain that marks
the arrival of the deluge? Or is this, still, a
statistical success, meaning that after dozens of
terror attacks that were prevented, two succeeded....
But perhaps the thermometer is mistaken? It has
already happened that Israel failed to understand -- or
understood too late -- processes that were taking place
on the Palestinian side. It is very possible that
Sunday's two terror attacks mark the turnabout. In any
case, the 'tahdiya' [calm] is scheduled to expire at
the end of 2005. So it is possible that someone
decided that breaking the rules of the game can be
moved up by a month or two."

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2. Syria Governance:
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Summary:
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Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"If Syria is forced into a Libya-style deal with the
U.S., that will be a victory for the West, including
Israel. But if Syria refuses, as could well happen, it
should be obvious that Israel should encourage, not
stand in the way of, increasing international pressure
on Damascus as much as possible. If that regime falls,
it will once again prove that Arab radicalism does not
pay."


Block Quotes:
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"Coercing Syria"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(October 17): "This war [on global terror] should be
measured in the number of terror-supporting regimes
that are either replaced or are forced out of the
terror (and nuclear weapons) business. By this metric,
the outcome of America's ultimatum to Syria will tell
us much about where the West stands in beating back the
wider jihad against it. At this moment, only Iran
represents a greater challenge than Syria within the
Muslim world. In this context, the Israeli reaction to
the Syrian regime's predicament is strange, to say the
least. Certainly, Israel's main interest is that Syria
stops supporting terrorism. But is there any
understanding in Jerusalem that the regional democratic
transformation that the U.S. is seeking is also in
Israel's interest?.... If Syria is forced into a Libya-
style deal with the U.S., that will be a victory for
the West, including Israel. But if Syria refuses, as
could well happen, it should be obvious that Israel
should encourage, not stand in the way of, increasing
international pressure on Damascus as much as possible.
If that regime falls, it will once again prove that
Arab radicalism does not pay."

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3. Iraq:
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Summary:
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Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Americans ...
can consider it an achievement that the referendum even
took place."







Block Quotes:
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"The Vote Itself Is an Achievement"

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (October 16): "The
Americans, who invested tremendous effort in recent
weeks to obtain a consensus of sorts on the wording of
the constitution, can consider it an achievement that
the referendum even took place, considering it was
jeopardized by both the Kurds and Sunnis. However,
because of the various sectarian threats, it was
decided that even if the constitution is approved, it
will be temporary and open to amendment even after
parliamentary elections -- in keeping with a new
referendum. Hence, Iraq may face a complex political
process of elections and negotiations between the
factions in the coming months -- while bombs continue
exploding on the streets."

JONES