ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 006166

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


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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Mideast


2. Syria Governance


3. Germany: New Government

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Key stories in the media:
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All media (lead stories in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post)
reported on President Bush's meeting with PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on
Thursday. The media reported Bush's demand that Abbas
disarm the terrorist organizations and that the
President did not address the issue of Hamas's
participation in the Palestinian Legislative Council
elections. However, Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian
officials as saying, following the meeting, that the
U.S. will not actively oppose Hamas's participation in
the elections. Jerusalem Post reported that President
Bush publicly supported Abbas and praised his
leadership. However, the newspaper writes that in
private, the differences between the U.S. and the PA
over the question of Hamas's participation in the
elections still remain. The media note that Bush only
referred to "armed gangs," and did not mention Hamas by
name. Major media reported that Bush hinted that a
Palestinian state might not be established during his
term. The media also note that the President urged
Israel to halt settlement construction.

Ha'aretz reported that PM Sharon's bureau insisted that
there is no real disagreement with Washington over
Hamas's participation in the PA elections, although
other officials disputed this claim. The newspaper
says that Sharon's position continues to be that Israel
will not facilitate the elections if Hamas runs.
Ha'aretz also cited Sharon's bureau as saying that
Bush's demands and criticism of Israel are not new,
that "the pressure continues to be on the Palestinians
to fight terror as a first step," and that the fact
that Bush voiced no criticism of Israel's military
responses to terror since the disengagement was also an
achievement. Ha'aretz also quoted Israeli officials
who are not part of Sharon's inner circle as saying
that Sharon's bureau is not listening to increasingly
unhappy messages from the U.S. administration.
Leading media (banners in Maariv and Yediot) reported
that last night, UN investigator Detlev Mehlis
presented his interim report about the assassination of
former Lebanese FM Rafiq Hariri to UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan. Without establishing a direct connection
with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Mehlis's report
indicates that the order to kill Hariri came from
Damascus and that the Syrian regime tried to obstruct
the investigation. Leading media reported that the
U.S. and France are preparing an ultimatum to Assad,
according to which severe sanctions could be imposed on
Syria at the UN Security Council. Israel Radio
reported that Syria and Lebanese President Emile Lahud
rejected the accusations in the report.

Leading media quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as
saying in London Thursday that Israel does not intend
to permanently ban Palestinian vehicle traffic on the
West Bank's main roads, and that Israel's latest action
was temporary. Mofaz was quoted as saying that it does
not make sense to separate Israeli and Palestinian
traffic.

Echoed by major media, Israel TV Washington
correspondent Yaron Dekel revealed last night that a
USD 100-million deal between Israel Aircraft Industries
and the Venezuelan Air Force to upgrade 42 F-16 fighter
planes has been suspended following U.S. pressure on
Israel. The media say that the U.S. is concerned
about Venezuela's growing strength and about Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez's growing ties with Cuban
President Fidel Castro. Maariv cited a Defense
Ministry statement, according to which the U.S. and
Israel are clarifying the issue. Jerusalem Post quoted
Israeli sources as saying that it is not clear yet if
the deal was only delayed on a temporary basis or if it
would be canceled altogether. Yediot quoted senior GOI
officials as saying Thursday that the move was the
result of U.S.-Israel consultations. Ha'aretz quoted
Israeli defense sources as saying that the U.S. is
trying to transfer the deal to the American aircraft
manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Maariv reported that Knesset Member Binyamin Netanyahu
is considering retiring from political life.

Maariv quoted right-wing activists as saying that for
the first time in decades, they prayed on the Temple
Mount on Wednesday. The newspaper cited the police's
denial of their claim.

Leading media reported that a Palestinian teen
suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli cars
was shot dead by IDF troops on Thursday evening near
the town of Hussan, west of Bethlehem. Israel Radio
reported that subsequently, Palestinians threw stones
last night at Israeli vehicles traveling on the road
bypassing Hussan, near the neighboring settlement of
Betar Illit, wounding five Israelis.

Yediot, Maariv, and Ha'aretz quoted Maj. Gen. Rick
Lynch, a senior U.S. commander, as saying on Thursday
that an Israeli is among the more than 300 foreign
fighters who have been captured in Iraq by U.S.-led
troops and Iraqi security forces since April. Yediot
and the Israeli-Arab newspaper Kul Al-Arab conducted a
joint extensive interview with Attorney Khalil Dulaimi,
one of Saddam Hussein's defenders. Dulaimi reportedly
said that Saddam is convinced that Israel poisoned
Yasser Arafat.

Leading media reported on Thursday's Israeli-Jordanian
meeting regarding ways to combat avian influenza.
Ha'aretz reported that it was decided that Jordanian
veterinarians would attend study sessions about the
disease in Israeli labs. Jerusalem Post reported that
the two countries have set up a hotline on the issue.

Former O/C Southern Command Maj. Gen Dan Harel was
quoted as saying in an interview with Jerusalem Post
("A Reluctant General Goes To America") that he is
looking forward to serving as Israel's military attache
in Washington.

Yediot reported that former U.S. president Bill Clinton
will be the keynote speaker at the November 14 event
marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination of
the late PM Yitzhak Rabin, which will be attended by
dozens of world leaders.

Leading media reported that Microsoft founder and
Chairman Bill Gates will arrive in Israel for the first
time Tuesday evening as part of his annual European
tour, presenting this year his vision for the "new
world of work."

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "[The
Palestinians] did not advance a millimeter Thursday
toward their national goal of establishing a
Palestinian state.... [But Israel's] sense of victory
... is liable to turn into a Pyrrhic victory, because
becoming aware of the reality in the territories will
exact a heavy price in Israeli lives."

Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "It is not certain whether more
Palestinian voters will now feel that their man has
conquered the Israeli Bastille on the Potomac River."

Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in Yediot
Aharonot: "On Thursday in the Rose Garden, it looked as
though the Middle East had never been farther away from
President Bush. The accomplishment that will succeed
in creating a turnabout will not come from there."

Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in left-
leaning, independent Ha'aretz: "The main reason for
[the Palestinian leadership's] satisfaction was Bush's
hint that Washington would not object to Hamas's
participation in the PA's parliamentary elections."

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


I. "Abu Mazen Got Nothing"

Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (October 21):
"The Palestinians have no reason to feel optimistic
over President Bush's remarks on Thursday. They did
not advance a millimeter Thursday toward their national
goal of establishing a Palestinian state.... Bush
adopted Sharon's conception, which talks about progress
in small steps while being strict about completing each
step on the Roadmap, and refused to promise that a
Palestinian state would be established by the end of
his term in 2009.... The demands that Bush made of the
Israeli side are worn out with their familiarity: ease
restrictions for the Palestinians, stop building in the
settlements and remove the illegal outposts. As for the
issue of Hamas and the elections, Abu Mazen did not
blink and did not concede to the Americans, saying: all
the organizations will take part in the democratic
process, only after elections will we deal with the
issue of disarming them. What could be learned from
the meeting last night is that Sharon will have to
continue to deal in the future with the Palestinian
entity alongside Israel with complications of economic
dependency and security problems. In other words: the
sense of victory over what didn't happen on Thursday in
Washington is liable to turn into a Pyrrhic victory,
because becoming aware of the reality in the
territories will exact a heavy price in Israeli lives."

II. "A Presidential Embrace For the Rais"

Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (October 21): "The United States
received Abu Mazen with regal honors.... [But] it is
not certain whether more Palestinian voters will now
feel that their man has conquered the Israeli Bastille
on the Potomac River, or whether they view Abu Mazen as
someone who went to Canossa this week.... Sharon has
built a steady friendship with Bush and a verbal U.S.-
Israeli understanding that matches the war on terror."

III. "Bush Has Problems of His Own"

Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in Yediot
Aharonot (October 21): "On Thursday, President Bush
looked like someone stuck at a party to which he had
been dragged, without any desire to go at all. He did
not really listen to the words of Mahmoud Abbas. His
glance went from place to place, as though he were
looking at the reporters in order to see from which
side the blow would come. He spoke of the need for
peace between Israel and the Palestinians and of the
vision of two states, but his voice was apathetic and
at times he sounded like a worn-out record.... The
first question asked of Bush on Thursday, precisely as
he had feared, was about the leaks from the White
House.... Bush wants to work on his place in history,
as second-term American presidents do. On Thursday in
the Rose Garden, it looked as though the Middle East
had never been farther away from President Bush. The
accomplishment that will succeed in creating a
turnabout will not come from there."

IV. "Palestinian Satisfaction"

Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in left-
leaning, independent Ha'aretz (October 21): "The
Palestinian leadership was pleased with the results of
Thursday's meeting between Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. President George W.
Bush. The main reason for their satisfaction was Bush's
hint that Washington would not object to Hamas's
participation in the PA's parliamentary elections....
Israel's demand that Hamas not be allowed to run in the
elections and its threat to disrupt the elections in
the West Bank frightened the Palestinian leadership....
Senior Palestinian officials therefore expressed the
hope Thursday night that America's position would not
change, and that Washington would ultimately accept
Abbas's plan for dealing with Hamas, a plan that would
enable the diplomatic process to resume following the
Palestinian elections."

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2. Syria Governance:
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Summary:
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Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "For
now, it must be hoped that the diplomatic approach [vis-
a-vis Syria] led by [Secretary of State Condoleezza]
Rice, who is more moderate than other voices in the
Bush administration, will achieve the desired results
without any military entanglements."

Block Quotes:
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"Bashar in the Eye of the Storm"
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized
(October 21): "The establishment of an international
front against Syria regarding Lebanon is a welcome
development from Israel's standpoint. From the U.S.
standpoint, however, Iraq is the burning issue.... If
it becomes clear today that Assad was responsible in
any way for Hariri's murder, this suspicion will be
linked with his role as an abettor of terror in Iraq,
as well as with his efforts to continue to tie Lebanon
to his coattails. As a result, he will be labeled,
almost officially, as a 'superfluous leader,' whose
country would be 'appropriate' for American military
action. But if this is the operative conclusion
derived from the investigative report, it is liable to
be hasty and simplistic.... The regime's opponents
represent extremist ideologies, both religious and
nonreligious. An American invasion of Syria -- even if
it had British and French support along with UN
approval -- would be liable to create a second Iraq,
this time on Israel's border. In the aftermath of a
western invasion, the terror trickling from Syria into
Iraq might also start trickling south and east, into
Israel. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted
this week that the military option is always on the
President's desk. But for now, it must be hoped that
the diplomatic approach led by Rice, who is more
moderate than other voices in the Bush administration,
will achieve the desired results without any military
entanglements."

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3. Germany: New Government:
--------------

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

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
" We congratulate [Angela] Merkel as she prepares to
assume the chancellorship and hope that under her
leadership Germany will help tip Europe toward becoming
more of a partner in confronting the Islamist jihad
that threatens us all."

Block Quotes:
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"Merkel's Challenge"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(October 21): "Germany's reluctance to adopt America's
view, that the Middle East's main problem is its
totalitarianism, has been particularly disappointing
considering its own past. Germany should not only
back, but indeed lead the effort to confront the
current totalitarian threat to the West, this time from
militant Islam. This means openly and more robustly
backing Israel inside the EU and the UN. Berlin must
lead the way in demanding that the Palestinian
leadership disarms terrorist groups or face a loss of
financial aid. It also means forcing Iran to abandon
its nuclear program and support for terrorism. We
congratulate [Angela] Merkel as she prepares to assume
the chancellorship and hope that under her leadership
Germany will help tip Europe toward becoming more of a
partner in confronting the Islamist jihad that
threatens us all."

JONES