Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TELAVIV1059
2006-03-16 10:31:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

Tags:  IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

161031Z Mar 06
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 001059 

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:
--------------------------------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 001059

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. The Jericho Operation


2. Mideast

--------------
Key stories in the media:
--------------

Jericho Operation:
*Israel Radio this morning quoted Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice as saying that the US has never been
responsible for the Jericho prison security. She said
that according to the agreement between the US,
Britain, Israel and the Palestinians, the latter were
the ones in charge. The American and British guards
were only supervisors.
*The media reported that in the coming days Attorney-
General Menachem Mazuz will hold consultations to
determine whether to try the six Palestinian men taken
from Jericho in a civil trial or a military trial.
*Leading media reported that Jordan's King Abdullah
said, regarding the Jericho raid, that it is an
"unfortunate escalation." On the other hand, British
Prime Minister Tony Blair was quoted as saying that one
of the reasons that Britain decided to withdraw its
monitors from the prison was Hamas's declaration that
it intended to free Ze'evi's murderers.
*PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called the raid an ugly
crime.
*Hatzofe reported that the Popular Front members that
were captured in the Jericho operation tried to
assassinate Ehud Olmert when he was the Jerusalem
Mayor.

Elections:
*Maariv published Shimon Peres's vision on the Middle
East. According to the paper, Peres has been working
hard on his new initiative, an enormous economic-
development zone that will spread out over hundreds of
kilometers and will be a joint project between Jordan,
the Palestinians and Israel. Recently, the White House
told Peres, through the Israeli ambassador in
Washington, that the United States intends to give
official support to the ambitious plan, which is
estimated to cost approximately USD 8 billion.
*All media reported that elections in Israeli embassies
have began on Wednesday.
*Maariv reported that senior Kadima members are saying
that a unity government with the Likud is still

possible if Sylvan Shalom will head the party after the
election, assuming that if the Likud crashes in the
elections, Netanyahu will be dismissed.

POLLS:
-Channel 10-TV and Ha'aretz published the results of a
survey conducted this week by Prof. Camil Fuchs of the
Amanet Group's Dialogue Institute:
"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom
would you vote?" (Results in Knesset seats -- in
brackets, results of poll conducted on March 9.)
-Kadima 37 (37); Labor Party 20 (19); Likud 16 (17);
Shas 10 (10); National Union-National Religious Party 8
(10); Yisrael Beiteinu 10 (8); Arab parties 8 (8);
United Torah Judaism 6 (5); Meretz 5 (4)
-The poll found that the ratio of undecided voters
("floating votes") corresponds to 28 (24) Knesset
seats.

- Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling
Institute survey:
-"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom
would you vote?" (Results in Knesset seats -- in
brackets, results of last week's poll.)
--Kadima 39 (38); Labor Party 20 (19); Likud 15 (17);
Shas 9 (9); National Union-National Religious Party 9
(9); Yisrael Beiteinu 8 (9); United Torah Judaism 5
(5); Arab parties 9 (9); Meretz 5 (5).
-"Did the IDF operation in Jericho affect the
likelihood that you will vote for Kadima?"
-The likelihood grew, 10 percent.
-The likelihood dropped, 6 percent.
-The likelihood did not change, 81 percent.

-A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll held on
Wednesday shows:
-"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom
would you vote?" (Results in Knesset seats -- in
brackets, results of last week's poll.)
-Kadima 39 (37); Labor Party 19 (20); Likud 15 (14);
Shas 11 (11); Yisrael Beiteinu 10 (10); Arab parties 8
(8); National Union-National Religious Party 8 (8);
United Torah Judaism 6 (6); Meretz 4 (6).

Security related issues:
*Israel Radio reported that an IDF soldier was killed
in an IDF activity in Jenin where troops surrounded a
house in which Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Brigades
gunmen were hiding.
*Israel Radio also reported that this morning two
Israeli security guards were wounded in a West Bank
shooting attack.
*The IDF have launched an air strike targeting access
roads in the Gaza Strip after a barrage of Qassam
rockets was launched towards the Western Negev.
*Leading media reported that Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz has extended the complete closure on the
territories due to high terror warnings of Palestinian
retaliation for the IDF raid on the Jericho prison on
Tuesday.

Ha'aretz's front page report says that American doctors
have joined those who criticize the medical care given
to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by physicians at
Hadassah University Hospital. The paper notes that the
negative assessment has been published in an American
official medical journal.

Both the Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz reported that
special Quartet envoy, James Wolfenzon and US Security
Coordinator, General Keith Dayton, have warned Congress
against tough legislation regarding the PA. According
to the envoy, strict legislation could generate chaos
and limit the role of the international community in
dealing with moderate Palestinians.

The Jerusalem Post reported that a US congressional
committee approved a new bill intended to toughen the
sanctions against Iran.

Ha'aretz reported that the PA has begun paying overdue
salaries to its workers.

--------------

1. The Jericho Operation:
--------------

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

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The
key to the Palestinians' future is now in the hands of
Hamas. Once the Hamas government in the making frames
its policy, it will be possible to determine the
direction in which the Palestinians are headed
regarding its relations with Israel and other states."

Senior columnist Yaron London wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "From the
Palestinians' point of view, Ze'evi's assassins are
heroes. The two contradictory narratives are one of
the fundamental elements in the war in this land. We
will continue to kill and to be killed until the two
peoples realize the justice is not the sole possession
of either one."

Columnist Yael Paz-Melamed wrote in popular, pluralist
Maariv: "The question is not whether the murderers
needed to be captured, but whether we need to cast them
in such disgrace."

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


I. "On the edge of chaos"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (March
16): "The military operation in Jericho marks the
beginning of a new era. The minimal cooperation among
Israel, the Palestinian Authority and other states
apparently will not continue along its current lines.
New rules will be drawn up among these parties....
Abbas already had announced after the PA elections that
he was unable to prevent the release of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine commander and the
five other wanted Palestinians, and that if they were
released, then it could be assumed that the Israel
Defense Forces would capture or kill them. After his
premature return from Europe, Abbas said that Israel
had carried out an 'unforgivable crime' by capturing
the prisoners, but it is doubtful that Israel had an
alternative. The departure of the British and American
monitors left only one option. During this interregnum
in the PA, it is impossible to guess which of the
agreements it signed will be honored and which will
not.... The key to the Palestinians' future is now in
the hands of Hamas. Once the Hamas government in the
making frames its policy, it will be possible to
determine the direction in which the Palestinians are
headed regarding its relations with Israel and other
states."

II. "Jericho"

Senior columnist Yaron London wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (March 16): "A
sovereign state cannot forsake the blood of one of its
cabinet ministers. Olmert was not guided by electoral
motives. Every Israeli leader would have acted the
same, even knowing that the blow in Jericho was not
going to change the way the Palestinians think and that
they would take revenge on us for their humiliation.
From the Palestinians' point of view, the Ze'evi
assassination was no different at all from the acts
that were committed by the Jews to break free of the
yoke of British oppression.... From the Palestinians'
point of view, Ze'evi's assassins are heroes. The two
contradictory narratives are one of the fundamental
elements in the war in this land. We will continue to
kill and to be killed until the two peoples realize the
justice is not the sole possession of either one."

III. "The Euphoria of Force"

Columnist Yael Paz-Melamed wrote in popular, pluralist
Maariv (March 16): "We haven't seen this kind of
euphoria and consensus in Israel for many years now....
Not just elation, but mainly pride. Here, once again
the IDF struck at our enemy swiftly and elegantly,
humiliating them, making them appear ridiculous and
pathetic.... And those words do not conceal any
skepticism about the degree to which this operation was
justified and crucial. No government could have
permitted the assassins of an Israeli cabinet minister
to walk about freely.... The problem is with that same
Israeli spirit that rises only when force is used. We
love seeing the Palestinians humiliated.... That was
the real celebration for many of us, and we can only
hope that the leaders of our country were not party to
that enjoyment. Because, after all, there is a gross
and gratuitous danger in humiliating the
Palestinians.... There can be no doubt that this evil
cycle has been reopened with redoubled force. A
response to a response to a response. The question is
not whether the murderers needed to be captured, but
whether we need to cast them in such disgrace."

--------------

2. Mideast:
--------------

Summary
--------------

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Acting Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert has declared his intention of
eliminating all settlements beyond the separation fence
in the West Bank within the next four years.... This is
the time to tell the Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza)
settlers: You have failed."

Block Quotes
--------------

"Settlers, you have failed"

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 16): "Acting
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has declared his intention
of eliminating all settlements beyond the separation
fence in the West Bank within the next four years....
This is the first time that an incumbent prime minister
is declaring his intention of dismantling dozens of
settlements, and nothing is happening. No
demonstrations and protests, no rebellion within the
party, and no media uproar. Olmert's message sounds
natural, understood, and not revolutionary. This is
the time to tell the Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza)
settlers: You have failed. Your grandiose project,
which is about to be dismantled, has registered a
triple failure. The first failure was in achieving the
ultimate goal.... The second failure was in the
settlers' disengagement from the public.... The third
failure was security related. The settlements did not
bring quiet, and when the war broke out, they proved to
be irrelevant.... Olmert's declarations herald the end
of the dream of populating the hilly areas and the
Jordan Valley with Jews. His test will be in his
ability to implement."
JONES