ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TEL AVIV 006946

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

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Key stories in the media:
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Ha'aretz led with a report by Akiva Eldar that on
Wednesday, Israel succumbed to international pressure
and informed the U.S. that it plans to complete
preparations on Friday for operating convoys between
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, to begin next week.
The newspaper says that Israel will issue a formal
announcement on the matter on Friday. According to The
Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio, Israel will present
its convoy plan today. Ha'aretz and Yediot quoted
officials in Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's office as
saying that the use of convoys is dependent on the
security situation and that it might be put on hold in
the event of a terrorist attack. Ha'aretz notes that
this position differs from the one presented on Monday
by IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, who said on Monday
that convoys will not operate until rocket fire into
Israel stops completely. Israel Radio reported that
Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim (Kadima) criticized
the decision, and quoted him as saying that the PA has
not done anything to fight terror and that Israel must
withstand U.S. pressure. Ha'aretz reported that A/S
David Welch announced on Wednesday that bus convoys
between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would begin as
scheduled. The newspaper quoted Welch as saying at a
London conference of donors to the PA: "We fully expect
Israel and the Palestinians to implement all aspects of
the movement agreement on schedule and we will help
them to do so." Yediot headlined: "The Americans
Pressured -- Israel Folded."

All media (lead stories only in the religious
newspapers) reported that at 16:00 on Wednesday, an IAF
missile killed four militants on their way to carry out
an attack at the Karni crossing on the Gaza-Israel
border. The media cited the IDF as saying that one of
the militants worked at the crossing and had been
planning to use the information he had gained from his
job to carry out the attack. The media said that the
militants were members of two Fatah-linked groups: the
Salah a-Din Brigades, which is the military wing of the
Popular Resistance Committees, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades. The media reported that, following the
strike, the Popular Resistance Committees fired two
Qassam rockets and a mortar shell at Sderot. No
injuries were reported. The media also quoted
Palestinian sources as saying that Khader Habib, an
Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip, survived an
Israeli air strike at 21:00. The media cited the IDF
as saying that the attack was aimed at Islamic Jihad
members involved in launching Qassam rockets and mortar
shells at Israel. The media reported that Mofaz
instructed the IDF on Wednesday to act immediately
against rocket-launching cells in Gaza, in the wake of
ongoing Qassam attacks. Leading media reported that
last night in Nablus, an IDF paratrooper unit uncovered
a Hamas bomb factory, which contained 60 kg of
explosives -- one of the largest quantities ever seized
in the West Bank.

Yediot bannered a threat by FM Silvan Shalom's
supporters that, should Knesset Member Binyamin
Netanyahu win in the Likud primaries, they would vote
for PM Sharon's Kadima party. The newspaper quoted
Shalom's supporters as saying at a gathering Wednesday
that Netanyahu has harmed Sephardic Israelis. Yediot
quoted Netanyahu as saying that he would free Israel
from poverty.


Leading media reported that leaders of the Fatah
movement's young guard have registered a separate list
for the PA's parliamentary elections next month.
Ha'aretz reported that Marwan Barghouti, the Tanzim
leader jailed in Israel, heads the list (according to
Israel Radio, it is not sure whether Barghouti would be
No. 1 on the Fatah list or establish a new party),
followed by Civilian Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan,
National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub, and a senior
Fatah activist from the Gaza Strip, Samir Mesharawi.
Ha'aretz wrote that the independent list, named Al-
Mustaqbal (Arabic for "The Future"),was presented to
the Central Elections Commission in Ramallah on
Wednesday. Israel Radio reported that Sharon's bureau
authorized a phone conversation between Barghouti and
PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas.
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli and international
sources as saying at the conference of donors to the PA
that the PA was denied extra funds at the conference
because it failed to adhere to spending limitations.

Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday, FM Shalom called
on all countries in the world to condemn comments by
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called the
Holocaust a "myth." The newspaper reported that on
Wednesday, Meretz-Yahad chair Yossi Beilin called on
all countries to recall their ambassadors to Iran.
Leading media reported that on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad
suggested that Israel should be moved to the U.S. -- in
particular to Alaska -- or to Canada.

Ha'aretz quoted Sharon aides as saying on Wednesday
that pollster Kalman Gayer is not a member of Sharon's
inner circle and that he is therefore not privy to the
PM's secret plans. In an interview Gayer reportedly
gave to Newsweek magazine, Gayer was quoted as saying
that "theoretically" Sharon would be willing to pull
out of most of the West Bank and divide Jerusalem for
peace with the Palestinians. Leading media reported
that on Wednesday, Sharon again denied the comments at
a gathering of a road-safety organization at Tel Aviv
University. He was quoted as saying: "There is no
limit to the incitement and lie spreading these days.
We have reached the peak of absurdity yesterday with
slogans that I intend to divide Jerusalem." However,
Yaron Dekel, Israel TV's Washington correspondent, who
first reported on the affair, said Wednesday that the
conversation between the Newsweek reporter and Gayer
was held face to face and was documented. Dekel said
that Gayer had not denied or protested the report, and
that none of Sharon's advisers had asked to clarify the
issue.

Ha'aretz cited a report released by Physicians For
Human Rights-Israel, according to which the section of
the West Bank separation fence surrounding Jerusalem
seriously impinges on the accessibility and quality of
medical services received by tens of thousands of
Palestinian East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza
residents.

Ha'aretz and Yediot reported that the security cabinet
decided on Wednesday that responsibility for issuing
security warnings to Israelis traveling or residing
abroad will be transferred from Israel's National
Security Council to the Foreign Ministry in three
months' time, in the wake of quiet wrangling between
the two entities.

Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on
Wednesday, the chairman of the Knesset Subcommittee for
Strategic Security, Knesset Member Ephraim Sneh
(Labor),criticized the fact that there is no
protection for Israeli passenger planes against
shoulder-launched missiles, and called this a "grave
security failure." Ha'aretz quoted Sneh as saying that
the reason for this failure is that the Rafael Armament
Development Authority was forced to stop manufacturing
the protective equipment, which costs USD 1 million for
each plane. The Jerusalem Post quoted Sneh as saying
that Netanyahu was to blame for the budget cuts.
Ha'aretz also quoted Sneh as saying that the cuts to
the defense budget have hurt Israel's ability to
protect itself against the Iranian threat.

Yediot and The Jerusalem Post reported that on
Wednesday, the UN decided to grant a special status to
three Israeli NGOs: Shatil (an umbrella organization of
groups advocating social change in Israel),the Israeli
Women's Lobby, and Zaka, which works in rescue and
recovery assignments following terrorist attacks.

Israel Radio reported that the UN Security Council has
agreed to extend by another six months the work of the
investigation commission into the assassination of
former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri.

Jerusalem Post led with a story by its Washington
correspondent Matthew Guttman, who covers the Iraqi
legislative elections on the ground.

Ha'aretz reported that two Israeli-Arab comics from
Haifa, Ayman Nahas and Hanna Shammas, who criticize the
state and the IDF, enjoy great popularity among Israeli-
Arab audiences.

Ha'aretz front-paged the results of a Ha'aretz/Channel
10-TV poll carried out last night by the Amanet Group's
Dialogue Institute, which indicate that after three
weeks of an unfettered rise in the polls, Sharon's
Kadima party is changing direction and beginning to
slide backward. The survey found that, were elections
held now, Kadima would win 35 seats, four seats fewer
than last week, and Labor would win two more seats,
bringing to 24. Likud stayed stable at 12 seats.
Ha'aretz quoted Sharon associates as saying that the
loss is a slightly belated result of the "Hanegbi-Mofaz
effect," a reference to two Likud officials -- Tzachi
Hanegbi and Mofaz -- who switched their allegiance to
Kadima last week and apparently deterred some Labor
voters who had been willing to support Sharon's party.
The poll shows that Labor's gain seems came at Kadima's
expense, but that some 20 percent of Likud voters who
switched to Kadima shortly after founded it have left
in the last few days.
-The survey also asked respondents whether they
believed in Gayer or Sharon. While 47 percent believe
in Gayer, 28 percent believe in Sharon, and 25 percent
are undecided.
-The survey asked who would better handle the Iranian
threat. Sharon: 43 percent; Netanyahu: 13 percent;
Amir Peretz: 6 percent; and Silvan Shalom: 4 percent.

Ha'aretz reported that the Dialogue Institute poll
found that 40 percent of registered Likud members would
vote for Netanyahu; 23 percent for Shalom; 9 percent
for far-right contender Moshe Feiglin; and 2 percent
for Yisrael Katz. In the case of a runoff primary,
Netanyahu would defeat Shalom, 46 to 29 percent.

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1. Mideast:
--------------

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

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "One
could have expected that such a brave leader [Sharon]
would respond to the new-old Likud slogan ['Sharon will
divide Jerusalem'] by saying that Jerusalem will be
divided -- because that is in Israel's interest."

Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in the editorial
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "There
is no choice but to lead the election campaign towards
a discussion of Sharon the man, and draw conclusions
from his past regarding his future."
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It is time for
Washington to realize that the renewed outburst of
radicalism in the Middle East is being caused by it, in
many ways."

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


I. "Jerusalem Will Be Divided"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized
(December 15): "Jerusalem has never been united. The
fundamental key to the division was determined by Bill
Clinton: what's Jewish goes to the Jews and what's Arab
goes to the Arabs.... Election campaigns tend to hide
controversial messages so as to win as many votes as
possible. For that reason, it is clear why Kadima
officials were alarmed by comments on Jerusalem [made
in an interview with Newsweek by Sharon's adviser on
polling affairs, Kalman Gayer]. But when the sole
justification for the existence of Kadima is those same
'painful concessions' that Sharon was unable to
implement under the Likud, this frenzy is a worrying
sign that Sharon himself does not know what his
political objectives are. Perhaps he is planning to
spend an entire term resting on the laurels of the
disengagement from Gaza. One could have expected that
such a brave leader would respond to the new-old Likud
slogan ['Sharon will divide Jerusalem'] by saying that
Jerusalem will be divided -- because that is in
Israel's interest."

II. "The Platform Is the Man, the Man Is the Platform"

Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in the editorial
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot
(November 13): "Kadima is Ariel Sharon, and it would
appear that no one knows what this man wants....
Therefore, there is no choice but to lead the election
campaign towards a discussion of Sharon the man, and
draw conclusions from his past regarding his future.
His actions are well known, but people have a short
memory and are inclined to be impressed by the near
past and to forget what took place in the many decades
in which he filled important political positions.
There is no doubt that one of his most important
actions was his great contribution to the settlements
in the occupied territories.... On this matter, one
cannot avoid a dichotomous judgment: either Sharon is
making a terrible mistake in aspiring to remove the
settlements located in the heart of the Palestinian
population, or else he made a terrible mistake by
establishing them.... Rivers of ink and cascades of
words have been spent on Sharon's role in the Lebanon
War. Many things, mainly the secrets of the grandiose
plan that aimed to remove the Palestinian refugees
living in Lebanon to the kingdom of Jordan, are still
concealed, but what is known is enough to fear the
thought that this charismatic and reckless person, who
misled the members of the cabinet in which he served,
will determine our future.... The war he initiated cost
us over 1,000 fatalities, thousands of people injured,
a sizeable fortune and a deep rift in Israeli society.
A responsible citizen will not go to the polls before
refreshing his memory with the aid of books [by Israeli
journalists] about this [war], books whose reliability
was tested in court."

III. "Returning From the Point of No Return"

Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (December 15):
"An unbelievable provocation, this is the logical
meaning of the anti-Semitic challenge recently issued
by Tehran -- statements the likes of which the world
has not heard from such a senior echelon since World
War II -- and Damascus's defiant actions.... Iran and
Syria do so knowing that no harm will be done to them
by the United States or the world.... Washington has
only itself to blame: the zigzag in its policy has
brought it to the regional crisis. In President Bush's
first term of office, Washington advocated the 'axis of
evil' theory.... In the second term, however,
Condoleezza Rice displayed a new, softened, European
approach towards the Arab dictatorships.... It is time
for Washington to realize that the renewed outburst of
radicalism in the Middle East is being caused by it, in
many ways, and that it should return to the old policy
of deterrence accompanied by firm diplomatic action.
Not only condemnations, which are currently being
voiced with regard to the Iranian statements and the
Syrian assassinations, but real action, including
economic and diplomatic sanctions, as were imposed on
Libya, until this country yielded to the international
dictates.... This also means that the concept of the
point of no return should be abandoned.... If ... steps
are not taken immediately, there is a high probability
that the old Middle East will soon return, along with
terrorism, despair and lack of hope -- and above all
these will hover an Iranian nuclear umbrella. The
entire world should understand clearly the significance
of nuclear weapons over the world's reserves of fuel in
the Persian Gulf."

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2. Syria:
--------------

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

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized: "The United States is practically alone
in urging punishment for Syria."

Nationalist writer Uri Dan commented in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "The current U.S. administration has
drawn a clear separation line between democracy and
dictatorship, good and evil, and the threat of
sanctions is aimed at those who earned it by means of
lies and murders."

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


I. "Bullying the West"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized (December 15): "Even after [Gibran]
Tueni's car was blown up on Monday -- it was the third
political assassination of a prominent Lebanese critic
of Syria since the murder of former prime minister
Rafiq Hariri in February -- the United Nations has so
far only shaken its finger at Syria, opening an
investigation of the Hariri murder but not yet
considering imposing any sanctions.... The United
States is practically alone in urging punishment for
Syria.... Much of the international diplomatic
community is resisting U.S. efforts to do so.... The
Syria situation, though not as potentially catastrophic
as the Iranian nuclear threat, is just as crucial a
test for the UN. For years, Israel's military presence
in southern Lebanon served as Syria's excuse for
brutalizing its neighbor. But when the IDF withdrew
from Lebanon, it removed that excuse and exposed the
Assad regime as just an opportunistic bully of the
Lebanese people. Teheran and Damascus are, indeed,
displaying all the hallmarks of the classic bully....
The bullying cycle of condemnation and escalation only
ends when the bully's normally peaceable victims tire
of living in fear and collectively stand up to their
tormentors. Sometimes this can be put off, but not
indefinitely. Bullies do not just go away, they try to
amass more power with which to intimidate. To that
end, the people of Lebanon showed more courage and
conviction in Beirut on Wednesday than the leaders of
the free world have shown."

II. "The Penny Has Dropped"

Nationalist writer Uri Dan commented in popular,
pluralist Maariv (December 15): "In December 1955,
Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Abba Eban, dispatched
urgent messages to [then prime minister] David Ben-
Gurion, which stated that the U.S. and the [UN]
Security Council threatened to impose sanctions on
Israel over retaliatory actions it had carried out
against Syrian outposts east of the Sea of Galilee.
The goal of the operation had been to remove the threat
of Syrian fire on Israeli fishermen in the Sea of
Galilee.... Now, 50 years later, in December 2005, the
current U.S. administration has drawn a clear
separation line between democracy and dictatorship,
good and evil, and the threat of sanctions is aimed at
those who earned it by means of lies and murders.
Neither Clinton's Democratic administration nor Ronald
Reagan's Republican administration were able to
perceive that distinction.... 'Haste is the work of
Satan,' says an Arabic proverb. Fifty years have gone
by since the Sea of Galilee operation. Only now --
perhaps -- are the bad ones being punished."

CRETZ