ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 000895

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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. Assassination of Former Lebanese PM Hariri

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Key stories in the media:
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The newspapers -- except Ha'aretz (English Ed.) --
banner either threats against PM Sharon or the
assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri in
Beirut Monday.

Maariv banners a call by Sharon's secretary, Mirit
Danon: "Wake Up." Danon, who has been in the employ of
Israeli PMs since Yitzhak Shamir, warns that the
threats against Sharon's life are exactly like those
against Yitzhak Rabin before his assassination. All
media reported that PM Sharon told the Likud's Knesset
faction Monday that he has hired guards to protect his
late wife's grave, on the grounds of his Sycamore
Ranch. Sharon also accused the Likud "rebels" of
encouraging the threats, but rebel leader Uzi Landau
rejected the charge. Leading media quoted Shin Bet
sources as saying that the Temple Mount is far more
likely to be the target of Jewish extremist attacks
than is Sharon. All media reported on demonstrations
by 600 settlers, who blocked important junctions in
central Israel and around Jerusalem Monday. Ten to
thirty thousand demonstrators (reportss vary) protested
in the Gaza Strip's Katif Bloc.

Although they do not rule out other possibilities, most
media point an accusing finger at Syria for the blast
that killed Hariri. The media reported that Syria
blamed Israel for the murder. Leading media cited
President Bush's condemnation of the killing.

Ha'aretz (banner in English Ed.) says that two
decisions -- the evacuation of settlers in the Gaza
Strip and the northern West Bank, and the route of the
separation fence around the Etzion Bloc and the South
Hebron hills -- will be brought for cabinet approval at
the same time on Sunday, in an effort to neutralize
international criticism of the route of the separation
fence by coupling it with the decision to evacuate
settlements.

All media reported that a disagreement between Israel
and the PA is delaying the handover of security
responsibility to the Palestinians in Jericho.

Leading media reported that the GOI is considering
plans to relocate settlers from Gaza in the Halutza
dunes, south of the Strip. Israel Radio also says that
the government could build a town ("Gvaot") in the
Etzion Bloc. Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak
Herzog (Labor) told the radio this morning that
although the government will not prevent evacuees from
moving to the places of their choice, it does not
intend to build housing beyond the Green Line.
Jerusalem Post quoted Yonatan Bassi, head of
Disengagement Authority, as saying Monday before the
Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that
most settlers have realized that they are "running out
of time," and in the past month have had a "significant
change" in attitude about making advance arrangements
for compensation and alternative residency.

Ha'aretz reported that Palestinian ministries are busy
preparing for the post-disengagement era in Gush Katif
and the northwest corner of Gaza, planning among other
things for the construction of thousands of apartments
in the areas evacuated in Gush Katif, to resettle
refugees now living in camps in Gaza. The newspaper
also quoted Sharon as saying before the Knesset's
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the
government has still not decided whether the houses of
settlers evacuated under the disengagement plan will be
razed or turned over to the Palestinians.

Ha'aretz quoted U/S of Treasury Stuart Levey, who heads
the office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, as
saying Monday during a visit to the region that the
U.S. hopes that the PA will cooperate with Israel in an
effort to halt the flow of money to halt the flow of
money to terrorist organizations. Jerusalem Post
quoted Levey as saying that Washington is "greatly
disappointed" with Syria for failing to take adequate
steps to stop the flow of money to terrorist and
insurgent organizations.

Jerusalem Post quoted sources in Gaza City as saying
that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has agreed
to unfreeze Hamas funds held in a number of Palestinian
banks. The sources said that the decision follows a
meeting between Abbas and Hamas leaders last Saturday.

Ha'aretz and Maariv quoted Abbas as saying in an
interview with New York Times that he believes the
region faces a new era, and that the sides should move
to permanent-status talks.

Leading media reported that on Monday Tourism Minister
Avraham Hirchson joined American Jewish and Evangelical
Christian leaders in calling on President Bush to
cancel a travel advisory which encourages Americans to
"defer travel" to Israel.

Maariv quoted sources in Amman as saying that Israel
has approved the positioning of 1,000 men from the Badr
Brigade -- the Jordanian branch of the Palestinian
Liberation Army -- in the West Bank after the
implementation of the disengagement plan.

Leading media reported that French President Jacques
Chirac has turned down a request from FM Silvan Shalom
to support placing Hizbullah on the EU's list of
terrorist organizations, telling Shalom that the timing
was not right for such a move. Ha'aretz quoted Israeli
sources as saying that France does not want to strain
relations with the group, which is running as a
political party in the upcoming Lebanese elections.

Ha'aretz reported that the leaders of the Catholic
community in Israel, headed by Latin Patriarch Michel
Sabbah, wrote President Moshe Katsav on Sunday, laying
responsibility for the safety of the community on
Israel. The appeal comes in the wake on the attacks on
Christians in the Galilee village of Maghar.


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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "It
seems that the opponents [of settler evacuation] are
better prepared for it than its supporters. The
cabinet and Knesset should treat the upcoming period as
a state of emergency, for which the necessary legal and
operational tools must be prepared."

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "The
rampaging right-wing extremists are not demonstrating
only against the cabinet ministers, they also chant
slogans against the Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria
and Gaza [i.e. the territories]."

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"A policy of support for Israeli-Palestinian peace and
for the new PA government cannot be taken seriously
when there is a refusal to even recognize, let alone
confront, a terrorist group [Hizbullah] that is openly
committed to destroying both."

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist
Barry Rubin, wrote in Jerusalem Post: "The Saudi regime
is spreading a view of terrorism which extols attacks
not only on Israel and America, but also on itself."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Ready For a State of Emergency"
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized
(February 15): "The cabinet is slated to convene this
Sunday for one of its most important, and perhaps even
decisive, meetings since the founding of the state. On
the agenda will be Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan
to evacuate all the settlements in the Gaza Strip plus
four settlements in the northern West Bank.... These
are not normal times. Opponents of the evacuation are
determined to sabotage it. For this purpose, they
intend to flood the Katif Bloc with their people and
spark riots, both there and in many other places
throughout the country. They are being helped by the
weakness that the authorities have displayed thus
far.... The evacuation will be too drawn out, 12 weeks,
and too late, by five months. It seems that its
opponents are better prepared for it than its
supporters. The cabinet and Knesset should treat the
upcoming period as a state of emergency, for which the
necessary legal and operational tools must be
prepared."

II. "Against the Extreme Right Wing"

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (February
15): "The unbridled rampage of an unruly group from the
extreme right wing that was aimed against cabinet
ministers received a great deal of attention in the
government compound in Jerusalem.... The rampaging
right-wing extremists are not demonstrating only
against the cabinet ministers, they also chant slogans
against the Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza
[i.e. the territories].... They refuse to accept the
policy of restraint that the residents of the Katif
Bloc have adopted.... It would be a grave mistake were
the government to deal with the extreme right wing and,
while so doing, also try to hurt the Jewish residents
of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. As noted, a clear
distinction needs to be drawn between those two groups.
With that having been said, Israel should refrain from
taking steps that are in violation of the law, since
they could damage the democratic portrait of the State
of Israel.... Democracy needs to be protected by
democratic means, within the boundaries of the written
law. That is a rule that must not be broken!"

III. "Europe and Hizbullah"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(February 15): "If Europe cannot recognize that
Hizbullah is a terrorist organization, it is hard to
take its diplomacy in the nuclear arena seriously
either. Europe has been pressing the U.S. to join in
this process, but what reason would the U.S. have to
join such a feckless policy? Why, for that matter, is
Europe not joining in the U.S. approach?.... In any
case, a policy of support for Israeli-Palestinian peace
and for the new PA government cannot be taken seriously
when there is a refusal to even recognize, let alone
confront, a terrorist group that is openly committed to
destroying both."

IV. "How Saudi Arabia Threatens Itself"

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist
Barry Rubin, wrote in Jerusalem Post (February 15):
"It's a really strange thing. America is supposed to
be the land of public relations; yet it is in the Arab
world that this art has been most perfectly developed
in political terms. Consider, for example, the Saudi
government's international conference on
counterterrorism held in early February. Saudi Arabia
is in an extremely peculiar position on this issue. On
the one hand, Riyadh has been a major financier of
terrorism and propagandist for the main ideology
motivating such behavior. Most of the September 11
hijackers were Saudis. The Saudis have never accepted
responsibility for these acts -- which its leaders
often claim were a Zionist or American plot -- and it
has not taken very effective action to change the
situation.... In other words, the Saudi regime is
spreading a view of terrorism which extols attacks not
only on Israel and America, but also on itself. This
type of manipulation fools some people abroad but may
ultimately be fatal to a Saudi regime which is
inspiring its own would-be gravediggers at home."

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2. Assassination of Former Lebanese PM Hariri:
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Summary:
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Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote on page
one of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot:
"Those who cooperate with the American CIA or the
Israeli Mossad will receive a car bomb. Bashar Assad's
crocodile tears won't help."

Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot
Aharonot: "The U.S. must consider using force to deter
the Syrian regime. Perhaps that way it will be
possible to achieve stability in three bleeding spots
in the region: in Iraq, in the Palestinian Authority
and in Lebanon."

Syrian and Lebanese affairs expert, Prof. Eyal Zisser,
wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv: "Hariri's
elimination pulled the rug from under the [Syrians']
key claim justifying the continuation of their presence
in Lebanon -- a presence supposed to guarantee
continued stability and the upholding of security in
that country."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Bashar Assad's Crocodile Tears"

Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote on page
one of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot
(February 15): "Damascus intelligence refuses to change
the operating disk from 20 and 30 years ago, and
indeed, this disk bears a simple and catchy message:
all those who try and oppose the palace's policy, just
as in the days of the late Hafez Assad, will either
vanish or be assassinated. Those who cooperate with
the American CIA or the Israeli Mossad will receive a
car bomb. Bashar Assad's crocodile tears won't help.
While he did indeed get ride of his main rival, from
all perspectives he is both the main culprit and loser.
If the Lebanese economy is damaged, the deep economic
crisis in Syria will only worsen. If the internal
cease-fire in Lebanon is done away with, then the
administration of President Bush and his new allies in
the Elysee Palace will not let Bashar continue to run
amok in Lebanon.... [Hariri's] assassination is liable
to drag Lebanon into a vortex of blood and terror. The
question is who will win in the battle for Lebanon's
independence: Bashar Assad or the opposition in Beirut.
The legacy that Hariri left behind is meant to lead
Lebanon to split from Syria and hold separate
negotiations with Israel, on condition that this will
be within the power of its leaders, and on condition
that they survive the brutality of Damascus. In any
event, the return of non-quiet to our neighbor in the
north will also put Israel on the alert."

II. "Assad Must Be Dealt With"

Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot
Aharonot (February 15): "The Americans have so far
taken a soft position toward the Syrians. While they
did send a number of top envoys who passed on the
'absolutely last warning' to Assad, mainly that he get
his hands out of Iraq, in practice, Syria's involvement
there continues. The efforts of the UN as well, which
passed a resolution obligating Syria to remove its army
from Lebanon, have not born fruit to this day. The
brutal murder of Hariri and Syria's refusal to all
international demands do not leave the world many
diplomatic choices. The U.S. must consider using force
to deter the Syrian regime. Perhaps that way it will
be possible to achieve stability in three bleeding
spots in the region: in Iraq, in the Palestinian
Authority and in Lebanon."
III. "Syria Will Pay the Price"

Syrian and Lebanese affairs expert, Prof. Eyal Zisser,
wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (February 15): "In
the past, Syria used to strike at those who dared raise
their hands or their voices against it in Lebanon. But
these aren't ordinary working days for Damascus. Syria
is now under unprecedented international -- mostly
American and French -- globally backed pressure....
Whatever the case may be, the Syrians will pay for
[Hariri's] assassination even if they weren't actually
behind it. Hariri's elimination pulled the rug from
under the [Syrians'] key claim justifying the
continuation of their presence in Lebanon -- a presence
supposed to guarantee continued stability and the
upholding of security in that country."

KURTZER