ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TEL AVIV 001160

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. Iran: Nuclear Program

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Election polls:
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A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll held on
Wednesday shows that the Labor Party and Avigdor
Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu are getting stronger and
that Kadima and the Likud are weakening:
-"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 36 (39); Labor Party 21 (19); Likud 14 (15);
Shas 11 (11); Yisrael Beiteinu 11 (10); National Union-
National Religious Party 9 (8); Arab parties 8 (8);
Meretz 6 (4); United Torah Judaism 5 (6).
-Yediot's poll found that 57 percent of young Israelis
eligible to take part in the elections for the first
time will actually cast their votes. Yediot published
those young Israelis' voting intentions, according to
the poll (in percentage points): Kadima 26; National
Union-National Religious Party 18.8; Shas 9; United
Torah Judaism 9; Arab parties 8.3; Meretz 6.5; Labor
Party 8.3; Likud 5.5; Green Leaf (a party advocating
the decriminalization of soft drugs) 4; Avraham Poraz's
Secular-Zionist Party 2.2.; and Yisrael Beiteinu 2.2.

Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling
Institute survey conducted on Wednesday, which also
shows a decline in support for Kadima and the Likud:
-"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 37 (39); Labor Party 21 (20); Likud 14 (15);
National Union-National Religious Party 11 (8-9);
Yisrael Beiteinu 10 (8); Shas 9 (9-10); Arab parties 7-
9 (9); United Torah Judaism 5 (5); Meretz 5 (6).

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Key stories in the media:
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All major media echoed remarks made last night by
Acting PM Ehud Olmert in an interview with Channel 10-
TV's Yaron London and Motti Kirschenbaum. Olmert told
the station that any party that wants to join his
coalition must agree to the "convergence plan," which
several newspapers recalled he described in separate
interviews with them two weeks ago. In particular,
Olmert told Channel 10-TV that if Avigdor Lieberman,
the chairman of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party
does not adopt his political plan, Yisrael Beiteinu
cannot join the coalition. Olmert was quoted as making
similar comments in an interview with Yediot, in which
he reportedly declared: "There will be no more rebels.
I won't allow rebels to hold the coalition to ransom."

Israel Radio quoted Kadima sources as saying that
Olmert's remarks on Channel 10-TV were mostly directed
at Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas, and the Likud. Yediot wrote
that Olmert's coalition could include Kadima, the Labor
Party, and Meretz.

Israel Radio reported that Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch and the Quartet's
special envoy James Wolfensohn will visit the region
next week, mainly for talks with senior PA officials
regarding humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians.
Ha'aretz reported that US officials told security
officials at the Israeli Defense Ministry that the Bush
administration has decided to halt funding for an
infrastructure development project in the PA, and that
it will provide the Palestinians with humanitarian aid
only. Ha'aretz wrote that the new policy was
implemented to make sure U.S. foreign aid money does
not reach a Hamas-led government, and to prevent
administration officials from having to make contact
with representatives of a terror organization.
Ha'aretz quoted a GOI source in Jerusalem as saying
that the US rejected Israeli requests that it continue
funding a few projects in the territories, such as the
new sewage system in Hebron, saying that all contact
with the Hamas government was prohibited. Ha'aretz
reported that the US would, however, continue funding a
project to install new X-ray machines at checkpoints
between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza. Ha'aretz
reported that James Kunder, Assistant Administrator for
Asia and the Near East at USAID, arrived in Israel on
Wednesday to discuss the formation of the Hamas
government. The newspaper reported that Kunder met
with representatives of Palestinian organizations that
receive US aid, and that he is set to meet Thursday
with Israeli security officials and visit the Karni
crossing near Gaza. Ha'aretz said that the US has been
pressuring Israel over the last few days to reopen the
crossing, despite warnings that Palestinians are
planning to carry out a terror attack there. The
newspaper reported that U.S. Ambassador to Israel
Richard Jones and the U.S. security coordinator, Lt.
Gen. Keith Dayton told Israeli officials that it's
important to open the Karni crossing before the Hamas
cabinet takes power. Ha'aretz quoted Jones and Dayton
as saying that if the crossing remains closed, Israel
will be held responsible for a humanitarian crisis in
the Gaza Strip, and that it was important to make sure
the crossing was operating while there was still
someone to talk to on the Palestinian side. Jones and
Dayton were quoted as saying that the U.S.
administration will cut off all contact with the
Palestinian government after Hamas takes power.

Major media reported that Wednesday in Ramallah,
Israeli security forces arrested a Tanzim (Fatah)
activist on his way to carrying out a bombing in
Israel, together with two facilitators. In its lead
story, Hatzofe cited the belief of Israeli security
officials that Iran and Hizbullah were behind recently
foiled terrorist attacks. This morning, Israel Radio
reported that IDF troops fired at three Islamic Jihad
militants near the Gaza Strip border fence in the
Kissufim area. The three were in the process of trying
to plant a 30-kg bomb beside the border fence. Two of
the cell members were killed by the gunfire. The third
escaped.

Ha'aretz reported that at a multi-party debate on the
issue of dividing Jerusalem, held Wednesday at the
Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, former setter
leader Otniel Schneller, who represented Kadima,
revealed some details of the party's vision of a
divided Jerusalem, saying a future Palestinian state
would include the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur,
but not the Old City.

The Jerusalem Post reported that British sources told
the newspaper Wednesday that Palestinian prisoners
rioted some three weeks ago inside the Jericho prison
that Israel raided last week, underscoring the
insecurity of the unarmed US and British prison
monitors there.

Major media reported that Israel is helping the PA
tackle bird flu, after initial tests conducted on dead
chickens indicated that the deadly H5N1 strain of bird
flu has spread to Gaza.

Ha'aretz reported that the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court
ruled out the route of the separation fence in the
Sheikh Sa'ad neighborhood east of Jerusalem, following
a petition filed by 700 of its residents that the
barrier would cut them off from the village of Jebel
Mukaber, which served as an artery between Sheikh Sa'ad
and Jerusalem.

Major media reported that the PLO's Executive
Committee, which met Wednesday in Ramallah under PA
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, is demanding that
Hamas change the proposed platform for its government,
and include recognition of the institutions of the
Fatah-controlled PLO and recognition of Israel and
agreements between Israel and the PA. Ha'aretz
reported that Hamas and its prime minister-designate,
Ismail Haniyeh, declared the PLO's Executive Committee
demand to be non-binding, and announced their intention
to present the new cabinet and its platform directly to
the Hamas-controlled Palestinian parliament within
several days.

The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday, the
organization Friends of Earth Middle East presented a
group of Jordanians and Israelis with a map of a
proposed trans-border ecological peace park along the
Jordan River. The newspaper also quoted researchers at
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as saying that
proper use of the Judean (southern West Bank) aquifer
could provide more than enough drinking water for
Ma'aleh Adumim, Bethlehem, and Hebron.

Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on
Wednesday, Palestinians and extreme leftists asked
Canadian authorities to arrest former IDF Chief of
Staff Moshe Ya'alon upon his arrival in Canada later in
the day, arguing that he was guilty of war crimes as
head of the Israeli military during much of the
Intifada. The Jerusalem Post reported that Ya'alon
told the newspaper that Israel's Ambassador to Canada
Allan Baker told him that did not have to worry about
being arrested or barred from entering the country by
Canadian authorities.

Major media reported that last night, an IAF Cobra
helicopter made an emergency landing in southern
Israel. Israel Radio reported that the whole fleet of
Cobra helicopters was grounded.

The Jerusalem Post and Maariv reported that late
Tuesday night, a Libyan official refused entry to Libya
to the three Israeli participants in the Breaking the
Ice mission of peace, saying that Libya does not allow
"occupiers" to enter its territory.

Globes reported that the American company VeriFone is
conducting negotiations to purchase its Israeli rival
Lipman for USD 800-900 million. The price reflects a
premium of 20-30 percent over electronic payment
technology company Lipman's current share price.
VeriFone, which has a market cap of USD 2 billion,
provides electronic credit card clearance services, a
similar line of business to that of Lipman.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the Friends of the IDF
collected USD 12.5 million during two gala dinners in
Miami and New York this week.

Maariv featured the tribulations of dozens of Africans
from various areas, including Darfur, who illegally
made their way to Israel, where they are now
incarcerated.

Maariv reported that Um Muhammad, who served as a chef
for the late Saudi King Fahd for 15 years, moved to
Jerusalem's Shuafat neighborhood and is now working in
a restaurant in Abu Gosh (inside Israel).

Ha'aretz and other media cited the results of a poll
conducted among Israeli Jews by the Geocartography
Institute for the Center Against Racism, which found
that 68 percent of Israeli Jews would refuse to live in
the same apartment building as an Israeli Arab. Yediot
highlighted the finding of the survey that one-third of
Israelis believe that Israeli Arabs should not be
allowed to vote in Israeli elections. Maariv stressed
the fact that 63 percent of the respondents said that
Israeli Arabs constitute a security threat.

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

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

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

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Olmert's gamble is
not simple: Even if he manages to sell the evacuated
settlements in exchange for political support from
Washington, he could find out that the angry
Palestinians have set out to foil his plans."

Veteran journalist Yaron London wrote in the editorial
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "These
elections are a referendum that will either approve or
reject the Convergence Plan."

Very liberal columnist Meron Benvenisti wrote in
Ha'aretz: "A de facto trusteeship will undoubtedly
establish a new Palestinian Authority that is not based
on the Oslo Accords, of which the only sections left
are those that are comfortable for Israel... The
opening of the Karni crossing due to American pressure
should serve as an example of more daring steps."

Yonatan Touval, a researcher at the Economic
Cooperation Foundation, an NGO founded by the
architects of the Oslo Agreement, whose objectives are
to build, maintain and support Israeli-Palestinian and
Israeli-Arab cooperation in the political, economic,
and civil society spheres, wrote in Ha'aretz: " If the
international community wants to map the road ahead
constructively, it should start by turning the page on
a plan the rumors of whose death were never premature
and whose end had best be finally and officially
declared."

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


I. "Olmert's Gamble"
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 23): "There's
no doubt Israel deserves 'defensible borders.' But the
word 'defense' has two meanings, military and legal,
and the gap between the meanings represents Israel's
political dilemma. Nowadays, tanks, fortifications and
fighters are not enough to protect the border. A good
defense attorney is also required.... Olmert wants to
achieve both a military and legal defense, and believes
he will be able to leverage in his favor the Hamas
victory in the Palestinian election and the rest of the
Bush administration's term in office.... Olmert's
gamble is not simple: Even if he manages to sell the
evacuated settlements in exchange for political support
from Washington, he could find out that the angry
Palestinians have set out to foil his plans."

II. "The Vote as a Referendum"

Veteran journalist Yaron London wrote in the editorial
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (March
23): "This time, this time of all times, participation
in the electoral process is even more important than
usual. These elections are a referendum that will
either approve or reject the Convergence Plan, an
ambitious project by means of which its architects
presume to establish Israel's permanent borders. This
plan is fiercely controversial and, if the government
pursues it, we are sure to have stormy years ahead,
outbreaks of violent rebellion, vehement Palestinian
resistance and tremendous costs that probably will not
leave anything for our own welfare. The plan's
proponents believe that there is no avoiding this
historical decision, difficult as it may be, and the
opponents rejoin that it will end in catastrophe for
us. That is a question that only brutes can say is of
no interest to them. Let there be no doubt: Ehud
Olmert means what he says.... In order to underscore
his commitment, Olmert announced [last night] that no
party that was opposed to the Convergence Plan would be
party to his coalition government and, by so doing --
if a politician's vows are of any value -- demarcated
its borders. Neither the Likud (if Netanyahu survives
as the party leader) nor Yisrael Beiteinu will be part
of that coalition, not to mention those parties even
further to the Right. The assertion was clear and the
decision ahead is sharp and painful. May none of us
evade making it."
III. "The Trusteeship Alternative"

Very liberal columnist Meron Benvenisti wrote in
Ha'aretz (March 23): "[Acting Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert's spokespeople confirmed that it's not the
humanitarian crises itself that's bothering him, but
the 'international reverberations' the closure [of the
Gaza Strip] has caused. It has also become clear that
the 'international reverberations' -- rather than
general elections - are the sole factor liable to
change Israel's policy, and an American edict
undermines any 'sovereign and proud' Israeli
position.... The status quo that Israel wants to
perpetuate generates boredom and revulsion that push
the international community away from intervention, but
dismantling the PA would force a de facto trusteeship,
if only to monitor the continued financial support of
the Palestinian people.... A de facto trusteeship will
undoubtedly establish a new Palestinian Authority that
is not based on the Oslo Accords, of which the only
sections left are those that are comfortable for
Israel... The opening of the Karni crossing due to
American pressure should serve as an example of more
daring steps. Whoever does not want to speak with the
Palestinian Authority or pay a billion dollars a year
to rule over the occupied territories should not
complain when faced with the alternative."

IV. "Epitaph For a Roadmap"

Yonatan Touval, a researcher at the Economic
Cooperation Foundation, an NGO founded by the
architects of the Oslo Agreement, whose objectives are
to build, maintain and support Israeli-Palestinian and
Israeli-Arab cooperation in the political, economic,
and civil society spheres, wrote in Ha'aretz (March
23): "Tailor-made to bypass Yasser Arafat, satisfy
Ariel Sharon, and (no less challenging) bridge the
differences between the Quartet members themselves, the
[Roadmap] plan was deeply flawed and probably destined
to fail. Yet to insist that the newly-formed
Palestinian government adopt the Roadmap is not only to
raise a ghost, but to continue turning a blind eye to
Israel's role in aborting this ill-conceived plan from
the outset.... Anyone who believed that Israel's
unilateral pullout would lead the parties back to the
road map, however, could only be in for a
disappointment. Although the disengagement plan was a
resounding success for Sharon, the pullout, it turned
out, had only further distanced Israel from the road
map, since it placed Israel, as Sharon was soon to
announce, in a' pre-road map stage.' The prospect of
movement 'post' disengagement could only be, to put it
mildly, preposterous. Now that Sharon is gone and
Arafat is long dead, the road map remains a ghostly
specter. But it need not haunt us still. If the
international community wants to map the road ahead
constructively, it should start by turning the page on
a plan the rumors of whose death were never premature
and whose end had best be finally and officially
declared."













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2. Iran: Nuclear Program:
--------------

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


The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized: "If there is no Western threat to bypass
the UN, either through NATO or an ad hoc 'coalition of
the willing,' Russia and China will have little
incentive to go along."

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

"Bypass UN on Iran"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized (March 23): "Sanctions remain a long-shot
effort to change Iran's course.... What is clear is
that lowest common denominator sanctions of the sort
Russia and China might accept will be insufficient --
unless, perhaps, these countries face a choice of
joining in an international effort or being bypassed
entirely. The standard must be what the situation
demands, not what Russia and China will agree to....
Russia and China ... have a lot to lose if the US and
Europe make a habit of bypassing the UN Security
Council. It is only in that body that they wield a
veto that gives them power disproportionate to their
economic and diplomatic weight in the world. But if
there is no Western threat to bypass the UN, either
through NATO or an ad hoc 'coalition of the willing,'
Russia and China will have little incentive to go
along."

JONES