ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 006270 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. Syria ¶2. Mideast ¶3. International Holocaust Commemoration Day -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Israel Radio reported that Staff Sgt. Yonatan Evron was killed early this morning during an arrest operation in the village of Mirka near Jenin. The radio cited Hamas's claim of responsibility for the killing. All media (banners in Ha'aretz and Hatzofe) reported that Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades vowed to take revenge upon the assassination of two senior Palestinian militants in the Jebalya refugee camp north of Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon. An IAF missile killed Fatah activist Hassan al-Madhoun and Hamas operative Fawzi Abu al-Qarea, a passenger in al- Madhoun's car. Speaking on Israel Radio this morning, FM Silvan Shalom said, referring to the assassination policy: "It is not our goal to continue this activity. It can end immediately. It's all up to Abu Mazen [PA President Mahmoud Abbas]. If Abu Mazen takes the strategic decision which he still refuses to take and acts against the infrastructure of terror ... [our activity] in Gaza will end the same day." Israel Radio reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz will arrive in Washington today and meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the post- disengagement situation. The radio reported that Mofaz's Friday meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will focus on concluding the bilateral crisis involving Israel's security exports to China. Israel Radio also reported that Secretary Rice will come to Israel in mid-November to attend the ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the late PM Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. Leading media reported that on Tuesday, senior cabinet ministers approved a plan calling for EU officials to inspect travelers entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing. Ha'aretz writes that if the plan is realized, it will mark the first time Israel will allow the EU to play a major role in Israeli-Palestinian relations. The Jerusalem Post reported that according to diplomatic assessments in Jerusalem, France and Spain have been pushing for an EU role, while Britain was "less enthusiastic" and Germany was hoping some other solution could be found. Maariv's Internet service NRG reported that visiting Italian FM Gianfranco Fini told FM Silvan Shalom on Tuesday that Europe was not prepared to serve as Israel's Border Police. Leading media reported on differences between Israel and the PA regarding the role of the EU monitors -- the cabinet decided that Israel wants the Europeans to have greater authority than observers and be able to intervene in dangerous security situations, while the Palestinians want more limited authority for the EU. Israel Radio reported that at a meeting last night, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators disagreed about Israel's demand that closed- circuit TVs be installed at the border crossing. The radio quoted Israeli negotiators as saying that the Palestinians view Israel's demand as an expression of lack of trust and an attempt to continue to control the border crossing. Leading media reported that Egyptian police have killed two Bedouin smugglers who were trying to sneak across the Sinai desert border into Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that Ramallah sources told the newspaper on Tuesday that talks between various Palestinian factions are expected to resume in Cairo after the Muslim feast of Id al-Fitr, which begins later this week. Hatzofe quoted Palestinian sources as saying that the Fatah delegation will be headed by Central Committee member Fathi Abu Maher Ghneim, and not the hard-line secretary general, Farouk Kaddoumi, as was the case until now. Leading media reported that the U.S. will design a new Qualified Industrial Zone and expand two existing ones to strengthen Egyptian-Israeli trade and political relations. Ha'aretz printed an AP story saying that on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a statement to this effect. Israel Radio quoted Foreign Ministry sources as saying that FM Shalom intends to replace Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon soon, regardless of the findings of the internal investigation being conducted against Ayalon. However, speaking on the radio this morning, Shalom said he was unaware of such a move. Israel Radio quoted associates of PM Sharon as saying that Sharon fully trusts Ayalon, who will be replaced only if the investigation finds his performance faulty. Yediot reported that only 191 of the 1,522 anti- disengagement protesters who were arrested will be indicted. The newspaper cited the indignation of many legal experts over the government's soft policy vis-a- vis violent settlers. Leading media reported that the IDF has postponed drafting five settler youths who are suspected of participating in violent illegal protests against the disengagement from Gaza and attacking members of the security forces. Israel Radio reported that the IDF will remove an electronic barrier surrounding the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar after settlers had damaged it. Ha'aretz reported that the 1994 Egyptian-French movie "Bab el Shams" ("The Gate of the Sun"),based on a romance by Lebanese writer Elias Khoury, which tells the story of the Palestinian people from 1943 through 1994, has been a blockbuster among Israeli-Arab audiences during the past few weeks. All media reported that nine Palestinian political prisoners from Gaza, who are detained in four different Israeli jails, have recently informed the prisoners' leadership that they have "moved" to Al-Qaida. The media cited the Prison Service's intelligence branch that the nine prisoners meant to express their opposition to what they view as the "moderation" of the Hamas leadership in the prisons, and to try to get financial support from Al-Qaida. All media reported that on Tuesday, the UN General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution by consensus establishing an annual day to commemorate the Holocaust. The International Day of Commemoration will be held every year on January 27, the day in 1945 when the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. This was the first ever Israeli-initiated resolution that was adopted by the UN. The media reported that representatives of countries such as Egypt said after the vote that the day should commemorate all victims of genocide, and not be limited just to victims of the Holocaust. Ha'aretz quoted FM Silvan Shalom as saying: "This is a historic decision that means that the U.N. relates to Israel as a country equal to other countries, and a step that contributes to Israel's international standing." The Jerusalem Post reported that the PA has appointed Afif Safieh as its representative in the U.S., replacing Hassan Abdel Rahman who served for the past 17 years. Safieh was previously the Palestinian General Delegate in the UK. Ha'aretz cited Arabic-language media as saying Tuesday that PM Sharon, along with U.S. President George Bush and British PM Tony Blair, will be tried in absentia at the end of the month on charges of crimes against humanity. The reports did not say where the open trials would take place. Sharon will reportedly be accused of carrying out ethnic cleansing, participating in a massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon, and assassinating Palestinian leaders, including Yasser Arafat, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, FM Shalom asked Italian FM Gianfranco Fini to refrain from giving money to West Bank cities under Hamas control. Maariv reported that Al Jazeera-TV is looking for Israeli reporters, photographers, and producers for its new English-language station. Maariv quoted Gideon Meir, the Foreign Ministry's DG for public affairs, as saying Tuesday: "We have met with representatives of Al Jazeera-TV and told them that we hope the media coverage of the new network will comply with the standards and journalistic ethics shared by the media world." Yediot and The Jerusalem Post reported that in a highly unusual move, Yad Vashem will host an international seminar dealing with the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s. Maariv and Israel Radio reported that the U.S. Congress has allocated a special quota of 50,000 "green cards" for foreign -- including Israeli -- nurses. The radio cited Israeli nurses' complaints about the lack of professionals in the field in Israel. Maariv quoted associates of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard as saying that there was nothing new in the date appearing on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons web site, which projects his release for 2015. Yediot reported that the Los Angeles-based Jewish- American businessman Meir Azeri (phon.) has offered to purchase Bank Igud for 1.2 billion shekels (approx. USD 258.6 million). Ha'aretz cited an announcement made on Tuesday by the RAD group company that strong U.S. sales boosted Radvision (NASDAQ: RVSN) to revenues of USD 19.1 million for the third quarter of 2005. The company, which offers products and technologies for videoconferencing, video telephony, and the development of converged voice, video and data over IP and 3G networks, saw its net earnings more than double in the quarter. -------------- ¶1. Syria: -------------- Summary: -------------- 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: "America has been angry since that awful 9/11. When America is angry, even Allah cannot save Bashar Assad." Block Quotes: -------------- "Beware Assad, They're Waiting For You" 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 (November 2): "Despite the fact that he has been in power for five years, the young and still inexperienced Assad may not be reading the map correctly, and especially the current U.S. president and his administration. Should he go on sitting in his Damascus palace and thinking of flouting George W. and his friends, he would be making the mistake of his life: the President and his administration hasten to pull their triggers; they are Texans who are convinced that the entire world is a doormat lying at their feet.... America has been angry since that awful 9/11. When America is angry, even Allah cannot save Bashar Assad." -------------- ¶2. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Gideon Behar, deputy director of the Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon department at Israel's Foreign Ministry, wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "We must utilize the Anti-Terrorist Fence and the disengagement in order to promote ties of peace, from a position of security, while continuing to extend a hand of peace to our neighbors." Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left Palestinian sympathizer Amira Hass opined in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "In impersonating an ordinary 'government' to the world and to its people, at best [the Palestinian Authority] is perceived as a corrupt and failing organization and at worst, as a sub-contractor for the bureaucracy of the occupation." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "What Kind of Peace Does Israel Seek?" Gideon Behar, deputy director of the Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon department at Israel's Foreign Ministry, wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (November 2): "Severing contact with our Arab neighbors would be very bad for the State of Israel. History has shown that self-imposed isolation has always been a guaranteed recipe for disaster and failure. Nevertheless, one hears voices among the Israeli public demanding the severing of ties with the Arab world and, particularly, with the Palestinians. This rupture will not work in our favor. It will only increase alienation on both sides, resulting in the creation of a dangerous vacuum that will be filled by forces of destruction and hatred. We cannot expect peace if there is no human contact between the sides.... Without ties and contacts, there will be less peace and, consequently, less security. We must utilize the Anti-Terrorist Fence and the disengagement in order to promote ties of peace, from a position of security, while continuing to extend a hand of peace to our neighbors. If we do not shake hands, no fence will give us the security we crave." II. "How the PA Failed" Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left Palestinian sympathizer Amira Hass opined in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (November 2): "A recent study placed the Palestinian Authority a dubious 107th on a list of corrupt countries, with number 159 being the most corrupt.... As the leadership of an occupied people, the PA is not exempt from integrity.... [Still], it has the right and the moral obligation to stop the wild behavior of the armed gangs vying with each other to see who possesses the biggest weapon without regard for the consequences. But its ability to do so has been impaired, because in impersonating an ordinary 'government' to the world and to its people, at best it is perceived as a corrupt and failing organization and at worst, as a sub-contractor for the bureaucracy of the occupation." -------------- - ¶3. International Holocaust Commemoration Day: -------------- - Summary: -------------- On page one of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot, the American Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof. Elie Wiesel commented about the creation by the UN General Assembly of an International Holocaust Commemoration Day: "This [victimization] has always happened in history: the Jews were the first, but not the last ones. Perhaps this is the true, deep reason for Tuesday's UN resolution." Block Quotes: -------------- "Consciousness Is Awakening" On page one of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot, the American Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof. Elie Wiesel commented about the creation by the UN General Assembly of an International Holocaust Commemoration Day (November 2): "Even after a 60-year delay, it is important that the representatives of the world's nations have woken up, or have let their consciousness wake up. Does this mean that the world has improved? Has the world learned a lesson of the horrendous event that will be inscribed in the history of humankind as a terribly cruel occurrence? I am not sure of that, but the amazing work done by the Israeli delegation [at the UN] and his head Ambassador Gillerman is worthy of every praise. Until a few years ago, no one would have believed that such an achievement was possible. The world has decided to remember. Why? Maybe because it has understood that what the Germans and their acolytes have done to the Jewish people was only the beginning. This [victimization] has always happened in history: the Jews were the first, but not the last ones. Perhaps this is the true, deep reason for Tuesday's UN resolution." JONES