ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 006855 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 -------------- SUBJECT COVERED IN THIS REPORT: -------------- ¶1. Israel and the Iranian Nuclear Program ¶2. Israeli Election Campaigns ¶3. Palestinian Leadership and the West -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- The Jerusalem Post reports that the IDF resumed "targeted assassinations" in the wake of the Netanya terror attack and killed a prominent Rafah terrorist commander Mahmud Arkan. Some 10 bystanders were injured when an Air Force aircraft fired at Arkan's car. Haaretz reports that Israel halted discussions with the PA on the establishment of the safe passage, a shuttle service between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The passage was agreed on when Secretary of State Rice visited Israel, and was to be opened on 15 December. The Israeli cabinet noted that contact with the PA would resume once the latter take steps against terror organizations. In a related report, the Jerusalem Post said that the Palestinian Football Association decided that Palestinian soccer players who attended the highly publicized game in Barcelona last week would be punished. Yediot Aharonot reports that yesterday, the PA endorsed an act according to which families of Palestinians who were "martyred" will be given a $250 monthly allowance or more. Israel is reportedly trying to obtain a copy of the act "to show the world that Abu-Mazen is not fighting terror as expected of him." The Jerusalem Post reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Diplomatic Security Service operating out of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv are in the midst of an ongoing fraud investigation against the Black Hebrews of Dimona. Members of the community are suspected of social security and passport fraud to the tune of millions of dollars. The Jerusalem Post and other media carry front-page stories on Tzahi Hanegbi's transition to Sharon's Kadima party, announced Wednesday. Hanegbi quit his post as interim Likud chairman and resigned from the Knesset. Cosmetics queen Pnina Rosenblum is set to replace Hanegbi in the Knesset, and a group of Likud officials led by HEALTH Minister Dan Naveh will take over the interim leadership of the party until the December 19 Likud primary. Addressing the media Wednesday, Hanegbi announced his move, saying he could no longer support any of the Likud leading candidates, Haaretz reported. Reacting to the move, a Sharon associate remarked: "We dismantled the Likud," Haaretz says. Netanyahu said Hanegbi is in trouble with the police, so he should not be judged harshly; while Mofaz, another Likud contender, warned that the party is in "deep crisis," and might become extreme right under Netanyahu. In a related story, the Jerusalem Post says Likud MK Binyamin Netanyahu, candidate for party leader, signed a document calling for strengthening West Bank settlements and holding referenda on future territorial concessions in return for MK Uzi Landau's endorsement of his candidacy and quitting the party leadership race. The document, said to "shift the Likud rightwards," also rules out unilateral withdrawals and negotiations with the Palestinians before they eliminate terror, violence, and incitement. The media report that, starting today, the current cabinet is a transition government in which the prime minister may appoint ministers without the Knesset's approval. Haaretz reports that Sharon is considering new nominations, as Likud ministers are expected to quit the cabinet after a new Likud chairman is elected on 19 December. The Jerusalem Post reports that the United States and Israel signed an agreement Wednesday to begin a joint effort to help detect the smuggling of radioactive materials. Citing a senior defense official, Yediot Aharonot reports that Iranian procurement of nuclear weapons would make the entire Middle East obtain nuclear arms. The source said that under an Iranian nuclear umbrella, the Middle East conflict would become completely different. The official said the Iranians would be able to prove that persistence and determination is enough to repel the international community, make the NPT collapse, and start a nuclear arms race in the region. The presence of nuclear arms in Iran, he said, would pose a direct and unique threat against Israel, and even if a bomb were not thrown at Israel once obtained, Israel would not be able to live with such a constant threat. The source added that Iran's religion- based hatred for Israel would not be toned down through dialogue or compromises as Iran keeps trying to export the Islamic revolution to the Middle East, the sources remarked. Haaretz reports that the United States is trying to "torpedo" a $1.25 billion arms deal between Israel and South Korea, in which Israel's bid for the sale of four early-warning and intelligence aircrafts is some $400 million lower than US Boeing's. The Israeli systems include US-made components, and US sources have reportedly told the South Koreans that Israel will encounter difficulties trying to obtain the US permission to sell them. Israeli defense sources expressed concern over the "increasing involvement of the US Administration in Israeli security exports policies", saying it has been "held hostage" by the Administration that does not hesitate to impose its will on the Israeli Government, guided in most cases by commercial competition. Yediot Aharonot reports that CIA agents toured the site of the Netanya bombing Wednesday to study damages caused by such explosions which, police sources said, serves the US Army in Iraq. Maariv reports that, speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Deputy Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky said that only some 275km of the planned 759km-long separation fence are in place and active, and that of the planned 39 passages, 11 have been built. He added that the fence will be completed by the end of 2006 at the cost of some 9.5 billion shekels. Committee Chairman Steinintz blamed the High Court of Justice for the delay and the "heavy price" this collects from the Israeli citizens. ¶1. Israel and the Iranian Nuclear Program Summary -------------- Veteran columnist Uri Dan writes in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "From Israel's perspective, the danger of the Iranian nuclear program is different from the Iraqi ONE - not only geographically, topographically and technologically - but also internationally. Now, not only the United States recognizes the existence of the great danger, but so does Europe - including, this time, France.. The Iranian nuclear program is being carried out with more deceit and trickery than Saddam Hussein employed in 1981. Teheran's bazaar has always been more dangerous than Baghdad's thieves' market. We can assume that Sharon, who as agriculture minister was instrumental in bringing about the bombing of the Baghdad reactor, knows a quarter of a century later as prime minister what he is talking about when he declares that 'Israel and others cannot allow a situation to emerge where Iran becomes a nuclear power.'" Bloc quotes -------------- "Between Baghdad and Teheran" Veteran columnist Uri Dan writes in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "From Israel's perspective, the danger of the Iranian nuclear program is different from the Iraqi ONE - not only geographically, topographically and technologically - but also internationally. Now, not only the United States recognizes the existence of the great danger, but so does Europe - including, this time, France. Unlike the world's indifference to the threat made by Saddam Hussein in spring 1990 that he would 'burn half of Israel,' the international community recently hurried to condemn the threat made by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad to 'wipe Israel off the map.' The international pressure on Iran may already have led to delays in the implementation of its nuclear program. Life has taught Sharon how difficult it is to keep secrets. 'I cannot shut people up,' he says. 'Israel SIPDIS does not need to be the ONE to lead the struggle,' he recently explained to me. 'We must enable the US and the European community to manage the diplomatic battle, including in the Security Council, against Iran's secret nuclear plan. If Israel spearheads this SIPDIS campaign, the Europeans - who have important economic interests in Iran - will view themselves as exempt from having to deal with it. And that is unacceptable given that the situation has only gotten even more grave since the election of the new Iranian president.' That is why Sharon has given orders to maintain continual contact with the White House, the Elysee Palace in Paris and 10 Downing Street in order to update the leaders in real time. The Iranian nuclear program is being carried out with more deceit and trickery than Saddam Hussein employed in 1981. Teheran's bazaar has always been more dangerous than Baghdad's thieves' market. We can assume that Sharon, who as agriculture minister was instrumental in bringing about the bombing of the Baghdad reactor, knows a quarter of a century later as prime minister what he is talking about when he declares that 'Israel and others cannot allow a situation to emerge where Iran becomes a nuclear power.'" ¶2. Israeli Election Campaigns Summary -------------- Senior diplomatic correspondent Shimon Schiffer writes in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The step Tzahi Hanegbi took yesterday is liable to be viewed in another few months as the last nail that was hammered into the Likud's coffin.. The real and powerful political earthquake will strike Israel on the day after the elections are held, once all the ballot boxes have been opened: the absolute collapse of the Likud, and two parties that will compete against ONE another over who forms the next government-Kadima under Sharon's leadership or the Labor Party under Peretz. The Likud will trail far behind, somewhere between Shas and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu." Bloc quotes -------------- "The Last Nail" Senior diplomatic correspondent Shimon Schiffer writes in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The step Tzahi Hanegbi took yesterday is liable to be viewed in another few months as the last nail that was hammered into the Likud's coffin. It dashed the dream of the greater Land of Israel once and for all. Hanegbi's departure for Kadima lends greater weight to the assessment that the upcoming elections have already been decided, for all intents and purposes. The real and powerful political earthquake will strike Israel on the day after the elections are held, once all the ballot boxes have been opened: the absolute collapse of the Likud, and two parties that will compete against one another over who forms the next government -- Kadima under Sharon's leadership or Labor under Peretz. The Likud will trail far behind, somewhere between Shas and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu. Binyamin Netanyahu chose to respond to Hanegbi's decision to quit the party in the nastiest way conceivable: he said that Hanegbi is in a state of distress because of the police decision to recommend that he be indicted. Please, come on. Netanyahu, apparently, suffers from amnesia. He has had his own personal share of experience being questioned by the police, and he managed to emerge intact only by the skin of his teeth. Tzahi Hanegbi decided to join Sharon irrespective of the police investigation. He intended to convene a press conference and to announce his decision on Monday -- two days before the police announced their recommendation -- but the terror attack in Netanya prompted him to delay his announcement by a day. The prime minister never explicitly asked Hanegbi to join him in Kadima, but that option remained a possibility as soon as Sharon quit the Likud. Sharon gives Tzahi Hanegbi the highest marks among his former Likud colleagues. Sharon highly values Hanegbi's level- headedness and the fact that he can hold a conversation with him without the details immediately leaking to the press. Hanegbi, conversely, admires Sharon's ability to make decisions in crisis situations and his leadership qualities, which he feels to be absent in Netanyahu, Mofaz, and any of the other candidates for the Likud leadership. Sharon's external advisers, mainly the people responsible for doing the internal polling, were opposed to having Hanegbi join Kadima. They were afraid that Hanegbi would paint the list in colors that were too blatantly right wing. Sharon overruled his advisers.[...]The prime minister's aides have been gleefully following the turn of events in the ruins of what was once the Likud. People in Sharon's bureau told a joke that is making the rounds in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market at the Likud's expense, and mainly at the expense of the person who is most likely to be its leader. People in the market say: 'Bibi's a ten [the equivalent of an A+ grade in the Israeli school system]. Ten! He'll win the Likud ten seats, but he's a ten.'" ¶3. Palestinian Leadership and the West Summary -------------- Independent, left-leaning Haaretz carries an article by contributor Moshe Elad: "The political culture in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip over the past four decades shows a phenomenon unique to the Palestinian society: the leadership confronting Israel is always more democratic than its preceding leadership, but its demands of Israel are more extreme.. Assuming that history is repeating, come January we might find out that the new partner Israel will have is very democratic, but also presents Israel with extreme demands. This will again place the key in Western hands. All the pressure levers it has -- from severing diplomatic ties to stopping the transfer of funds -- must be used against the future democratic PA leadership to make it flexible, compromise, and seek peace." "The Key to Negotiations Is in Western Hands" Independent, left-leaning Haaretz carries an article by contributor Moshe Elad, the former IDF general who served in the territories and currently studies the Palestinian society. "The US failure to introduce a democracy in Iraq should have taught the West at least one important lesson -- when speaking of democratization in the Middle East, it is not a choice between an Arab dictatorship and a Western democracy, but between a secular dictatorship with democratic elements (such as in Egypt, Jordan, or Morocco) and a fundamentalist-Islamic dictatorship (as in Iran and Saudi Arabia). It is thus possible that a new Palestinian leadership would be democratically elected on 25 January, but the hope that such a leadership would attain a peace accord with Israel is far from realistic.. The political culture in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip over the past four decades shows a phenomenon unique to the Palestinian society: the leadership confronting Israel is always more democratic than its preceding leadership, but its demands of Israel are more extreme.. The first intifadah ended with the PLO's arrival in the territories, but because its leadership was eventually viewed as too centrist, complacent, and moderate, the Palestinian public quickly found an alternative. The Al-Aksa intifadah brought forth a combination of fundamentalist Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders with leaders of anarchistic gangs that operate under the Palestinian government. They will be the ones elected to the Legislative Council. It is therefore rather nave for the US and Europe to believe that 100 years of bloody conflicts between Zionism and the Arab nationalist movement and more than three decades of violent struggle between Israel and the Palestinian would end if only Marwan Barguti and his men are elected. Assuming that history is repeating, come January we might find out that the new partner Israel will have is very democratic, but also presents Israel with extreme demands. This will again place the key in Western hands. All the pressure levers it has -- from severing diplomatic ties to stopping the transfer of funds -- must be used against the future democratic PA leadership to make it flexible, compromise, and seek peace." Jones