ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 006297 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. Syria ¶3. Iran -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Israel Radio quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying in Washington Wednesday, at a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, that Israel will SIPDIS not frustrate the PA's legislative elections, despite Hamas's participation in them. The radio quoted Secretary Rice as saying that Israel should facilitate SIPDIS a solution to the border crossing issue at Rafah. The radio also reported that Mofaz met with U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday, in a meeting with the leadership of the Israel Policy Forum (a pro-Israel, pro-peace advocacy group),Secretary Rice put the onus of moving forward on the PA and said she would like to see PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas act against terrorism even before the January PA elections. All media reported that an Israeli civilian was lightly wounded and five others treated for shock on Wednesday evening when a mortar shell exploded after striking a house in Netiv Ha'asara, a moshav located near the northern Gaza border. Israel Radio reported that the IDF used artillery fire against areas in the Gaza Strip where the Palestinian fire originated. In its lead story, Ha'aretz quoted many residents in the western Negev communities as saying recently that they want to leave the area, in view of continued rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip. Israel Radio cited Palestinian claims that a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by IDF fire in the West Bank this morning. Citing the London-based Al-Hayat, Israel Radio quoted senior Palestinian sources as saying that the PA has acceded to Israel's demand that foreign citizens enter and leave the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing instead of through the Rafah crossing. The radio said that Israel and the PA agreed that the Palestinian civilians would use the Rafah crossing and that goods would pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Ha'aretz cited the EU's executive commission as saying, in a statement issued on Wednesday, that the EU was sending senior officials to the Middle East to evaluate a possible role in helping monitor the Rafah crossing. Ha'aretz reported that the commission said it "stands ready to play its part" should Israel and the Palestinians both request an EU role on the border. Ha'aretz reported that Mofaz has for several months contravened a cabinet decision aimed at making it more difficult to establish illegal settler outposts and easier to punish offenders. The cabinet decision was taken on March 10 following completion of a report on illegal outposts by former senior state prosecutor Talia Sasson. The Jerusalem Post interviewed Ammar Abdulhamid, a Damascus resident who openly criticizes his "stupid" president. The Jerusalem Post reported that President Moshe Katsav issued a public invitation to King Mohamed VI of Morocco on Wednesday night to come to Israel on an official visit and to help sow the seeds of peace in the region. Ha'aretz reported that Jewish-American millionaire Irwin Moskowitz is behind a plan to establish a new Jewish neighborhood in the Sheikh Jarrah quarter of East Jerusalem. Leading media reported that on Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups -- Physicians For Human Rights-Israel and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program -- petitioned the High Court of Justice to compel the IAF to stop causing sonic booms over Gaza, citing psychological damage and calling the practice "collective punishment." Ha'aretz reported that residents of the Gush Etzion settlements are divided over the planned security fence, which, some residents say, would slice the settlement bloc in two. Ha'aretz reported that, addressing the Knesset on Wednesday on the matter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statement that "Israel must be wiped off the map," FM Silvan Shalom said: "With this antagonizing and scandalous announcement, the president of Iran lowered the facade of rationalism and normalcy that Iran tries to don in its dealings with the West and showed the whole world exactly what sort of ideological party the world is dealing with." Leading media reported that pro-Israel demonstrations were held in front of the Iranian embassies in Paris and Rome on Wednesday. Leading media reported that events marking the 10th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination will begin this morning with the lighting of the "Yitzhak Candle" at President Moshe Katsav's residence. Leading media reported that the head of the Education Committee of the Elkana local council in the West Bank has suggested that educational institutions in his council condemn Rabin, who "was the man who acted to achieve the vision of our enemies." Israel Radio and other media quoted Vice PM Ehud Olmert as saying this morning at a memorial for Rabin: "From the distance of time and perspective, Yitzhak Rabin's Oslo Agreement brought on a process of disillusionment by the Israel public and the formation of a more realistic, sober and balanced perception of the moves Israel has to make." Ha'aretz quoted Vice Premier Shimon Peres as saying Wednesday that members of the Israeli-Arab public will take part in drawing up a strategic plan for developing the Galilee. Israel Radio reported that Sen. Hillary Clinton will come to Israel next week to discuss bilateral relations and meet with PM Sharon. Yediot quoted Prof. Mina Teicher, the Science and Technology Ministry's chief scientist, as saying on Wednesday that the number of Israeli-born Israeli scientists who immigrated to the U.S. is almost equal to that of the senior academics on the staffs of all Israeli universities. Yediot reported that the Israeli airline Israir has fired senior employees who had demanded that Israir pilots lie about a near-accident that involved one of the company's airliners at New York's JFK airport almost four months ago. All media (banners in Yediot and Maariv) reported that on Wednesday, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss announced that he is investigating seven cases of corruption, which he has not yet disclosed. However, Yediot reported that Education Minister Limor Livnat's husband is allegedly involved in one of the cases, and Maariv wrote that the acquisition of part of the company Elisra by Israel Aircraft Industries. The media also cited former Israel Electric Corporation chairman Eli Landau's alleged conflict of interests in the natural gas deal with Egypt. Yediot reported that the Pakistani rock BAND Haro (phon.) wants to visit Israel and to cooperate with an Israeli band. The newspaper says that Prof. Judah Pearl, the father of Jewish-American journalist and musician Daniel Pearl, who was assassinated in Pakistan, told Israel's Consul General in New York Arye Mekel and FM Shalom about the Pakistani band's wishes. Yediot reported that the American singer Madonna has expressed her desire to visit Israel again during the Chanukah holiday in December. Ha'aretz, Yediot, Maariv, and Israel Radio cited the results of the Democracy Index 2005 survey, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, which found that: -84 percent of Israelis believe that a political murder could occur again, in the wake of the disengagement plan. -42 percent believe that a civil war could take place in Israel over the fate of the territories. A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll conducted on Wednesday among Labor Party members found that in the race for the party leadership, the gap between Shimon Peres and Histadrut Labor Federation Secretary- General Knesset Member Amir Peretz is narrowing. Peres would garner 37 percent of the votes in the party's primaries; Peretz 34 percent; Minister-without- Portfolio Matan Vilnai 15 percent; Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer 11 percent. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Positive [Israeli] actions will bring the world closer; negative actions will distance it." Liberal columnist Yael Paz-Melamed wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv: "When a targeted killing operation, which is going to be followed by revenge, is carried out ... that is negligence towards the [Israeli] public." Nationalist writer Uri Dan wrote in Maariv: "This week, senior Palestinian Authority official Jibril Rajoub dubbed the Israeli cabinet a 'government of crazies.' Rajoub couldn't have given a more pleasant compliment to the Jerusalem government." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Changed Attitude at the World Body" Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (November 3): "The UN General Assembly this week unanimously approved Israel's proposal to mark an annual international remembrance day for the Holocaust and its victims on January 27.... The latest decision joins a series of positive UN events and activities from Israel's standpoint over the past two years.... The improvement in Israel's relations with the UN stems from a change in the Foreign Ministry's policy toward the organization, the supportive position of Secretary- General Kofi Annan, and a reward for the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.... Maintaining membership in the UN and joining forces with states with which Israel wishes to establish ties mean that Israel must adopt appropriate behavioral norms, make progress in the peace process, and improve its attitude toward human rights in the occupied territories. Positive actions will bring the world closer; negative actions will distance it." II. "Closed-Circuit Assassinations" Liberal columnist Yael Paz-Melamed wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (November 3): "There is no moral question here. It is clear that anyone who sends suicide bombers or car bombs on their way should be assassinated. The only question is how much human life will the decision to assassinate him cost. If once upon a time Israel used to assassinate senior activists from the murderous groups once every few weeks, now this has become a far more frequent event, almost daily. In other words, this is the main tool used against the terror organizations. Hence, we can expect a renewal of terrorism on a scope we had hoped never to see again. God help us.... When a targeted killing operation, which is going to be followed by revenge, is carried out -- even though parts of the fence are still breached and the crossings are still not sealed -- that is negligence towards the public. As long as the security forces cannot ensure that our border with the Palestinians is sealed, the leaders need to calculate far more carefully the chances that Israeli civilians are going to be hurt as a result of the targeted killing operation.... We keep killing and killing, and the revenge and terror attacks keep on coming. Could it be that the time has come to begin to look for other ways?" III. "Thanks to 'Madness'" Nationalist writer Uri Dan wrote in Maariv (November 3): "In an interview to an Arab television station this week, senior Palestinian Authority official Jibril Rajoub dubbed the Israeli cabinet a 'government of crazies.' Rajoub couldn't have given a more pleasant compliment to the Jerusalem government for conducting a very sane and normal policy of raids in Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank] and assassinations in Gaza against Palestinian terrorists.... According to Rajoub and his friends in the PA, 'normalcy' is expressed through Israel's make-believe, delusion or self- delusion, when the 'peace' process continues despite the terror. Peace is not dead, because it has never been alive between Israelis and Palestinians." -------------- ¶2. Syria: -------------- Summary: -------------- Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The United States must understand that the Middle East won't achieve conditions of stability if the Syrian regime is left in place." Block Quotes: -------------- "What's To Be Done With Assad?" Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (November 3): "Should Assad feel that Washington has decided to leave him in power just because of the chaos in Iraq, he would do whatever he could to increasingly sow anarchy there. Iraq's destruction would turn into a guarantee of his success. This is how Washington would dig its own chasm -- through fear of being entangled again in Syria, it would increasingly deepen its predicament in Iraq. The United States must understand that the Middle East won't achieve conditions of stability if the Syrian regime is left in place -- neither in Iraq, nor in Lebanon, nor in the Palestinian context, nor in Jordan, and neither in the contest of Israeli Arabs. Syrian intelligence is involved in all those.... A new regional order and the achievement of Middle Eastern stability, democracy, and human rights make necessary the termination of the second Ba'ath regime [after Saddam's]. In Iraq and Syria, Ba'ath dictatorships constitute the problem, not the solution." -------------- ¶3. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The UN did good Tuesday; Annan shouldn't dilute it by going ahead with his misguided trip [to Iran]. " Block Quotes: -------------- "The UN Vote" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (November 3): "Let's start by saying up front that the United Nations did a good thing Tuesday by adopting a resolution instituting January 27 as worldwide Holocaust Awareness Day. Not only did it do good, but it went a distance toward washing out one of the world body's long-standing stains -- up until now there had not been one substantive UN resolution or document dealing with the Holocaust.... The anti- Israeli animus that infected the UN during [former UN secretary-general Kurt] Waldheim's reign did not crawl SIPDIS out of Turtle Bay when he left.... Much work, obviously, does remain to be done. UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan would be wise to start the ball rolling by canceling his upcoming visit to Iran. Annan said last week he was dismayed by Ahmadinejad's comments. But he should do much more than just issue a statement. He should refuse to go to Iran and shake hands, thereby lending legitimacy, to a man who says proudly and publicly that he wants to do to Israel today what Hitler wanted to do to the Jewish people 65 years ago -- wipe it off the map. The UN did good Tuesday; Annan shouldn't dilute it by going ahead with his misguided trip. " JONES