ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 001402

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. Global War on Terror

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Key stories in the media:
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Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported on seemingly
moderate gestures and pronouncements from Hamas vis-a-
vis Israel. Ha'aretz reported that Hamas has been
sending go-betweens to Israel recently with a proposed
agreement for "quiet in return for quiet." Ha'aretz
wrote that according to the proposal, conveyed to
Israel by, among others, Egyptian envoys, Hamas would
pledge not to carry out any violent actions against
Israel and would even prevent other Palestinian
organizations from doing so. Israel, for its part,
would pledge by means of a third party not to take
action against the organizations operating in the
territories. Ha'aretz reported that Hamas is even
prepared to declare a unilateral hudna (cease-fire),
should Israel not want to appear to be maintaining
contact with a body that calls for its destruction.
According to this offer, Israel would respond with
positive measures of its own. Ha'aretz said that
political and defense officials in Israel define the
initiative as a "trick." Israel Radio reported that
Palestinian FM Mahmoud Zahar hinted in an interview
with the British daily The Times that Hamas could be
ready for a two-state solution. However, the radio
quoted Zahar as saying in an interview with Al Arabiya-
TV that attacks against Israel in the territories are
legitimate. Ha'aretz reported that Hamas announced on
Thursday that the ministers serving on its behalf in
the new Palestinian government had resigned their
membership in the organization and that others would
inherit their posts in the movement. Ha'aretz quoted
Hamas officials as saying informally that the
organization had issued the statement in an effort to
reduce the international pressure and economic siege on
the PA government by presenting it as "separate" from
Hamas. The Jerusalem Post reported that EU envoy Marc
Otte told the newspaper that European leaders are
likely to approve contacts with PA functionaries, even
if they are affiliated with Hamas-led ministries, to
ensure the flow of humanitarian aid.

Yediot reported that the Israeli defense establishment
will recommend to Olmert that Israel conduct a dual
policy vis-a-vis the PA: on the one hand, all daily
contacts with the PA would be cut; on the other hand,
Israel would provide humanitarian aid and basic
supplies in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis in
the Gaza Strip, which would strengthen Hamas. Maariv
reported that senior Israeli defense sources told the
newspaper that Israel Discount Bank is the last Israeli
bank still working with the PA. The Jerusalem Post
reported that on Thursday, PA Chairman [President]
Mahmoud Abbas decided to appoint Gen. Rashid Abu
Shabak, one of his loyalists, to the newly created post
of director-general of internal security. The
Jerusalem Post said that this was yet another move to
undermine the new Hamas cabinet.

All media reported that Qassam rocket launchings from
the northern Gaza Strip are continuing. On Thursday, a
Qassam rocket landed in the center of Sderot. The IDF
responded with artillery fire, and air and naval
strikes. The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported
that FIFA, the world soccer's governing body, has
raised concerns with the GOI after the IDF targeted the
main soccer stadium in the Gaza Strip with artillery
fire.

The leading news web site Ynet and Israel Radio
reported that on Thursday, the Joint Standing Committee
on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Department of the
House of Representatives approved the "Palestinian Law
Against Terror 2006," which bans the US from holding
contacts with and giving aid that is not classified as
humanitarian to the Hamas-controlled PA. The bill
passed with a 36-2 vote. The bill gives Congress
extended powers to make sure that American taxpayers'
money doesn't reach "an authority controlled by a
terror organization." Tough restrictions will be
imposed on PA envoys in the U.S. Israel Radio quoted
GOI sources as saying that Israel is satisfied with the
move. Israel Radio quoted State Department Spokesman
Sean McCormack as saying Thursday: "We're not going to
provide US funds to a Hamas-led government. We don't
deal with terrorists. We don't give money to
terrorists.... We ... wanted to make sure that we
retain the ability to provide humanitarian assistance
directly to the Palestinian people."

The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior IDF officer
told the newspaper on Thursday that fearing a harsh
Israeli response, Syrian military forces stationed
along the border with the Golan are under order to
prevent Al-Qaida and Global Jihad cells from launching
anti-Israel attacks from within Syria. Maariv quoted
political sources in Jerusalem as saying that in talks
that Syrian officials held with representatives of
Western countries following the Israeli elections, they
conveyed messages to Olmert -- peace in exchange for
the Golan. Maariv quoted a senior political source in
Jerusalem as saying that the Syrian offer sounds like a
futile media spin.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Yisrael Beiteinu
leader Avigdor Lieberman plans to fight Olmert's
"convergence" plan from within the government
coalition. Leading media reported that Shas is opposed
to Olmert's plan to name Prof. Uriel Reichman (Kadima),
the founder of the Shinui movement, to the post of
education minister. Ha'aretz and other media reported
that Olmert favors handing the justice portfolio to
Haim Ramon (Kadima). Maariv quoted Likud Chairman
Binyamin Netanyahu as saying in private talks that
former FM Silvan Shalom only waited for the election
results to challenge his leadership. The newspaper
reported that Acting PM Ehud Olmert told his associates
that he wants Shalom and the Likud at his side in the
government coalition. Ha'aretz reported that Shalom is
planning a "putsch" within the Likud.

Israel Radio reported that settlers took over a house
in the Hebron neighborhood of Avraham Avinu.

The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday, the US
House of Representatives passed a unanimous, non-
binding resolution calling on Saudi Arabia to drop its
boycott of Israel and that it urged the Bush
administration to press the desert kingdom on the
issue. The Jerusalem Post wrote that the resolution
came in the wake of a report in last month's Jerusalem
Post.

Leading media reported that on Thursday, a British
court decided that British cinematographer James
Miller, who was fatally shot in Gaza in May 2003 by an
Israeli soldier, was murdered.

Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that US Ambassador to
Israel Richard Jones and Mrs. Joan Jones, and Mexican
Ambassador to Israel Carlos Rico, attended an event
organized for a high-level delegation of Latin American
leaders, academics, and journalists who arrived this
week for a nine-day visit in Israel. The newspaper
reported that the visit is sponsored by the American
Jewish Committee (AJC) and co-hosted by the National
Council of La Raza [NB: The largest national Hispanic
civil rights and advocacy organization in the US].
Leading the delegation is Dina Siegel Vann, a Jewish
Mexican-American who serves as director of the AJC's
Latino and Latin American Institute in Washington.

Yediot quoted Shimon Peres, No. 2 in Kadima, as saying
in Rome that Pope Benedict XVI will visit Israel next
year.

Yediot reported that Israel and Turkey have decided to
freeze the water agreement they signed three years ago,
after concluding that it was not worthwhile.




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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz:
"Tactically, at this stage, the most important thing
for Hamas is buying time."

Regional correspondent Ronni Shaked wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Perhaps the
people in Gaza will realize that Qassam rocket fire
harms Gaza itself above all."

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized: "With genuine concern for the well-being
of ordinary Palestinians, the only way forward is for
the West to ... not capitulate to Hamas's literally and
figuratively bankrupt policies."

Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in Ha'aretz:
"Olmert wants a broad coalition base.... To this end,
he is blurring the primary goal of his government in a
shameful way."

Former US mediator Dennis Ross wrote in The Jerusalem
Post: "[The US administration is ... likely to be open
and encouraging about separation, seeing an Israeli
withdrawal from most of the West Bank as an historic
accomplishment."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Buying Time"

Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz
(April 7): "While Israel and the US are trying to
figure out what strategy to use vis-a-vis Hamas, the
movement has already come up with a clear strategy of
its own.... Tactically, at this stage, the most
important thing for Hamas is buying time.... If quiet
prevails, Hamas will be able to prevent domestic
conflicts and a Palestinian civil war. In such a
scenario, it will also be able to act more effectively
vis-a-vis international players and to win their
recognition. Therefore, there is no doubt that the
movement will send intermediaries to Israel, with this
message: We are prepared at this time to provide quiet
to Israel and its inhabitants, and in return to get
quiet from the Israeli side. This quiet will not be in
the context of an agreement that outlines the
obligations of the sides, but rather a quiet that Hamas
can violate whenever it wants, just as when it used to
defy understandings concerning truces with the PA in
the past."

II. "A Hunger Bomb"

Regional correspondent Ronni Shaked wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (April 7):
"Israeli shelling is making a lot of noise in the Gaza
Strip, causing panic among the children, but the real
concern of the inhabitants of Gaza is for bread,
chicken, fish and vegetables, which no one has money to
buy.... The real explosion threatening Gaza is not that
of tanks or aircraft but of want and distress.... No
one in Gaza is demanding that the rocket fire [into
Israel] cease. Hamas spokesmen are encouraging the
launchers to continue. The anarchy in Gaza is as it
was, but like always, the Gazans, not only the
leadership, but also the street, are blaming Israel.
Who can stop the launching of the Qassam rockets? Abu
Mazen and his security troops have no influence. The
only address is that of the Hamas government. If
[Prime Minister Ismail] Haniyeh wants to, he can do it
easily enough. But they do not want to stop Qassam
rocket fire, and the public, which is no longer
affected by Israeli bombs, is busy with its own
distress, with pita and hummus, not with rockets. If
salaries are not paid within a week, there will be
demonstrations and furious rioting in Gaza, perhaps
against those who launch the rockets and against the
Hamas government. Then perhaps the people in Gaza will
realize that Qassam rocket fire harms Gaza itself above
all."

III. "'Resistance' to Change"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized (April 7): "With genuine concern for the
well-being of ordinary Palestinians, the only way
forward is for the West to hold firm, and not
capitulate to Hamas's literally and figuratively
bankrupt policies.... Given that both the US and Canada
have already firmly committed to withholding aid until,
or unless, Hamas revises its stand, it falls primarily
to the European Union to evince a similar strength of
conviction.... Assuredly, as the circumstances of the
Palestinians deteriorate due to lack of funds, Hamas
will urge its people to find strength in their
suffering; that such is their destiny and that there is
glory in their collective status as economic martyrs.
It doesn't have to be that way. In fact, it is
precisely to avoid condemning large numbers of
Palestinians to such a fate in perpetuity that the
international community must stay the course and
continue to isolate Hamas until it changes its ways, or
until the people who elected it as their government
realize that it offers them no future."

IV. "Olmert's First Lie"

Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in Ha'aretz (April
7): "Olmert wants a broad coalition base (84 seats,
without Meretz-Yahad). To this end, he is blurring the
primary goal of his government in a shameful way. The
first sign of this distortion was in his victory
speech, when the keyword -- 'convergence' -
disappeared. It will also not appear in the basic
guidelines of the government. Haim Ramon from Kadima
explains in his tortuous way that 'the word will
disappear, but not the content.' Who exactly are they
trying to blind? Ramon, as the courtyard prompter,
explains that Olmert has clearly said that there will
be concessions of parts of the homeland. So he said
it. Even Netanyahu gave up on parts of the homeland,
in Hebron. What Olmert promised was something else
entirely -- convergence toward permanent borders within
four years. In order to do that, a lot of homeland
territory will need to be given up. The participation
of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party and Shas
in the coalition, without an explicit commitment to
honor the convergence plan, will lead to one of two
outcomes -- withdrawal from the convergence, or giving
up on Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas as coalition partners
after they get all the spoils."


V. "What Olmert Can Expect From Bush"

Former US mediator Dennis Ross wrote in The Jerusalem
Post (April 7): "In discussions with the United States,
the new Israeli government will seek tangible
recognition of the settlement blocs and the 'permanent
borders that Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has
declared he plans to establish by 2010.... What is the
Bush administration likely to do? It is -- as
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has already

SIPDIS
indicated -- likely to be open and encouraging about
separation, seeing an Israeli withdrawal from most of
the West Bank as an historic accomplishment. But no
one should assume that such talks between the new
Israeli government and the administration will be quick
or easy.... If it is clear that Abu Mazen cannot
deliver anything meaningful, we [the US] should be
prepared that we(and others) will support separation
and will recognize the new borders as political."

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2. Global War on Terror:
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Summary:
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Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "The Bush administration
today is bogged down in a swamp of strategic paralysis
and political distress that prevent it from designing
clear policies regarding the war against global jihad."







Block Quotes:
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"The Rise of the Islamic Axis"

Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (April 7): "For more than
two years, the Israeli government and media have told
the public that no matter how our enemies threaten us,
they can do us no harm because America is protecting
us. Protected by America, Israelis are told that we
have no reason to fear the consequences of IDF retreats
and the transfer of vacated lands to Hamas. Sadly,
this promise is largely untrue. The Bush
administration today is bogged down in a swamp of
strategic paralysis and political distress that prevent
it from designing clear policies regarding the war
against global jihad.... The members of the Iran-led
Islamist axis are actively pursuing and indeed
progressing in their quest to encircle Israel and
entrap the US. This they accomplish -- both separately
and together -- while Israel and the US insist on doing
everything they can to prevent any possibility of
effectively meeting the rising threats. There is no
doubt that the political leadership of at least one of
these states has to snap out of its policy fog
immediately. Our enemies have no consideration for our
desire to ignore them."

JONES