Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TELAVIV1632
2006-04-26 14:46:00
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.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 001632 

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 08 TEL AVIV 001632

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. Sinai Bombings


2. Mideast


3. Mordecai Vanunu

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

In its lead story, Ha'aretz quoted senior US
administration officials in Washington as saying in
unofficial conversations that the US will not recognize
a border created after a unilateral withdrawal from the
West Bank as Israel's permanent border. The newspaper
reported that a discussion of Interim PM Ehud Olmert's
plan of a unilateral pullout, as promised to his
voters, is at a very preliminary stage. However,
Ha'aretz quoted a number of sources as saying
unofficially that they believed the administration
would probably support such a withdrawal, but that it
would not recognize it as one "after which there would
be no more need for negotiation," according to one
source. One official was quoted as saying that he
believed the US would agree to see the post-withdrawal
line as a temporary border, "which would become
permanent, obviously with slight changes, following
future negotiations between Israel and the PA."
Ha'aretz quoted sources in Washington as saying they
believed the US would want to maintain a united
European-American front on the issue. The newspaper
quoted an administration source as saying: "We need
them for too many things; we won't get into a conflict
with them over this issue." Ha'aretz quoted a source
in Washington as saying that if the Israeli withdrawal
receives the blessing of the international community,
"it will be assuming that any reduction of the
occupation is good for both sides, but it certainly
won't be support for a new border."

Israel Radio reported that Egyptian security forces
have identified the three suicide bombers who carried
out Monday's attacks in Dahab. The radio cited the
Egyptian daily Al-Gumhuriya as saying that five
suspects, who probably belong to the Al-Jihad Wa-Al-
Tawhid organization that carried out the Taba and Sharm
el-Sheikh attacks, have been arrested. Israel Radio

quoted the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram as saying that
three suspects were arrested in central Sinai, in
addition to ten others who were apprehended earlier.
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli security officials as
reiterating that Al Qaida and Global Jihad are slowly
closing in on Israel and that they are attempting to
establish cells in the Palestinian territories.

Major media reported that on Tuesday, Abu-Mussab Al-
Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaida in Iraq, released a
videocassette in which he threatens Israel for the
first time. Al-Zarqawi was quoted as saying that the
"crusade" in Iraq helps Israel. Maariv headlined:
"Zarqawi: The Jews Will Not Enjoy Peace."

Both Yediot and Maariv led with criticism expressed by
senior members of the Labor Party of party chairman and
designated defense minister Amir Peretz. Israel Radio
reported that Kadima and the Labor Party have agreed to
implement the recommendations of the Sasson report on
illegal settler outposts. The radio reported that the
Labor Party demands that the new government prevent the
revocation of the citizenship of Israeli Arabs, a
demand rejected by Yisrael Beiteinu. Israel Radio
said that Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu are still divided
over political issues. Ha'aretz reported that Yisrael
Beiteinu and Kadima are fighting over the interior
ministry portfolio. Israel Radio expected that pending
last-minute difficulties, Kadima is expected to sign a
coalition agreement with the Gil Pensioners' Party
today. The radio reported that Gil Pensioners' Party
leader Rafi Eitan is expected to become pensioners
minister -- a new post in the Prime Minister's Office -
- and that Gil MK Yaacov Ben Yizri is slated to become
health minister.

Israel Radio reported that on Tuesday MK Azmi Bishara,
the leader of the Israeli Arab faction Balad-National
Democratic Assembly, met with Palestinian FM Mahmoud
Zahar in Doha, Qatar. The radio cited an announcement
by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which stated that
the two discussed ways to break the siege imposed by
the US and Israel on the Palestinian people.

Israel Radio reported that this morning, Olmert will
convene an urgent debate regarding the separation fence
and the "Jerusalem envelope" fence. The radio said
that only 335 km of the proposed 870-km security fence
are currently operational. The Jerusalem Post reported
that Orit Koren of the State Attorney's Office told the
High Court of Justice on Sunday that there have been 82
attempts by suicide bombers to enter Israel through the
gaps in the separation fence since the beginning of

2006.

Ha'aretz cited the Ir Amim advocacy group as saying
that right-wing nonprofit associations are building the
new Judea and Samaria [i.e. West Bank] District Police
building in the E1 corridor between Jerusalem and
Ma'aleh Adumim. In exchange they are said to receive
the current police building, located in the heart of
the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud.
Ha'aretz reported that Ir Amim made this claim in a
petition to the High Court of Justice against the
construction of the new station.

Israel Radio quoted PA Finance Minister Omar Abdel
Razek as saying Tuesday that banks fearful of U.S.
retribution are preventing USD 120 million in foreign
aid from reaching the Palestinians. The radio reported
that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
called for the resumption of financial aid to the
Palestinians.

Yediot reported that on Tuesday, Hamas pointed a finger
at Jordan for surrendering to Israeli and US pressure
by taking part in a campaign against it. The newspaper
said that Hamas's statement was a response to Jordan's
announcement that a Hamas cell that originated in Syria
received instructions to carry out operations against
senior Jordanian figures. Israel Radio quoted
Palestinian sources as saying that Imad El-Alami, the
commander of Hamas's military wing, gave the order to
eliminate those figures. El-Alami is based in Tehran
and has recently been residing in Damascus. Israel
Radio earlier cited the Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal
as saying that it was Khaled Mashal, the head of
Hamas's political bureau, who had given orders to
assassinate the Jordanian officials.

Major media reported that the Israeli satellite Eros-B
(not Adom-B, as the media reaction report erroneously
reported on April 14) was successfully launched from a
mobile launch-pad at the Svobodny cosmodrome in
Siberia. Media quoted officials as saying that the
satellite would enhance Israel's ability to spy on and
follow developments at Iran's nuclear facilities.
Maariv quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying
that Israel relies first and foremost on itself.

Ha'aretz and Maariv's online service NRG reported that
a 17-year-old Palestinian was critically wounded
Tuesday by IDF gunfire in Nablus. Israel Radio
reported that Border Police uncovered an important
cache of weapons in the village of El-Majd near Hebron.

The Jerusalem Post and other media cited the Jerusalem
Municipality as saying Tuesday that it has authorized
17 construction plans for Arab building in East
Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Post wrote that this was an
"unusual move."

Yediot reported that on Thursday, "Aqua," a new fund
investing in water infrastructure around the world, was
launched by the Israeli company Solomon Energy. Aqua
was bought from Israel's largest bank, Bank Hapoalim,
and has already issued 30 million shekels
(approximately USD 6.6 million) worth of shares.

Israel Radio reported that the New Israel Fund NGO
urges the GOI not to deport 100 refugees from Darfur.

The Jerusalem Post reported that this week US
Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones attended the
traditional Mimouna festivities as a guest of the Baba
Baruch Abuhatzeira in Netivot.

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

1. Sinai Bombings:
--------------

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

Arab affairs correspondent Jackie Hoogie wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv: "The covert contest that
Egypt declared against Israel over Middle East hegemony
is currently being pushed aside."

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized: "Ultimately, Arabs, Israelis, Americans,
and Europeans must either join to defeat the Islamist
jihad, or fall together."

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


I. "Rapprochement Due to Terror"

Arab affairs correspondent Jackie Hoogie wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv (4/26): "As time goes by, and
indiscriminate terror expands its range of targets,
Egypt and Israel draw closer to one another.... It is
true that we should thank the Americans for the free
trade zone agreement [with Egypt], and thank Sharon's
bureau for removing the barriers to the gas deal. But
with all due respect to them, the strategic
rapprochement between Cairo and Jerusalem is being
caused by the pincer movement that envelops the two
together. This is evident in three areas. For over
two years, Egypt and Israel have been fellow sufferers
in the area of terrorism, but lately this trend was
significantly strengthened.... In addition, the two
countries have only recently felt the touch of
burgeoning Islam.... A new cloud should be added to all
of this. The 'Shi'ite bomb' is not only Israel's
problem. The Egyptians, along with all the Arab
states, view this as a danger to their sovereignty. A
nuclear Iran would be a regional power and would
overshadow Egypt's standing, as well as Israel's....
Israel has long since ceased to be the severest problem
of the Arab regimes. The covert contest that Egypt
declared against Israel over Middle East hegemony is
currently being pushed aside. In its stead, our
neighborhood is being divided into two camps: The
fundamentalists, and all the rest. The second camp
includes figures, entire societies and regimes, even
those who were considered enemies -- Israel and Saudi
Arabia, for example. In the past year, Lebanon has
also joined this club, thanks to al-Qaida in Iraq....
Shimon Peres was right. It is indeed a new Middle
East. But he was also wrong. For our region does not
match his vision. This is a Middle East where the
molecules are arranging themselves in a different order
than we have become accustomed to for decades."

II. "Jihad in Sinai"
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized (4/26): "Unlike Hamas, the more moderate
Arab states, such as Egypt, have some time ago given up
the attempt to distinguish between 'good' terrorism
against Jews and 'bad' terrorism against Arabs. Egypt
is even reportedly pressuring Hamas to take steps
toward recognizing Israel's right to exist. But
Monday's bombings in Sinai demonstrate the untenability
of the continuing Arab attempt to straddle the worlds
of radicalism and democracy, of war and peace. The
tool of terrorism, whose use against Israel was once
enthusiastically endorsed by the entire Arab world, has
now been turned against Arabs themselves. Most of the
casualties on Monday were Egyptians, none of those
killed were Israelis.... The goal of the Islamists is a
Taliban-like regime stretching across the entire Arab
world; a vast dictatorship bent on subduing the Arab
peoples and the West as well. For the Arab
governments, the best antidote to this threat is not
further crackdowns and attempts to keep the embers of
the Arab-Israeli conflict alive, but rather the
opposite: domestic liberalization and full
normalization with Israel.... There is no neutral place
for the Arab world in the militant Islamist war against
the West; this is part of the message of the latest
massacre in the Sinai. That jihad will either be
defeated by Muslims themselves and the West, or it will
engulf the Arab world and the West. Ultimately, Arabs,
Israelis, Americans, and Europeans must either join to
defeat the Islamist jihad, or fall together."

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

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

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

Columnist Shaul Schiff wrote in nationalist, Orthodox
Hatzofe: "We can hear the voices of the generals who
promise to respond mightily to Qassam rocket fire. In
the meantime, everything remains the same -- idle
talk."

Block Quotes:
--------------
"All Red Lights Are Switched On"
Columnist Shaul Schiff wrote in nationalist, Orthodox
Hatzofe (4/26): "No one intends to create a panic, but
-- believe me -- former [Israeli] generals, who are
balanced and reasonable, believe that Israel is under a
real existential threat. They say so in circles of
friends -- it's a shame they don't have the courage to
speak out openly.... During the Yom Kippur War, we saw
how promises made by generals melted; only a heavenly
miracle allowed the crossing of the Suez Canal and the
reversal of the battle's outcome. Today as well, we
can hear the voices of the generals who promise to
respond mightily to Qassam rocket fire. In the
meantime, everything remains the same -- idle talk. In
those circumstances, it is only natural that prime
minister-designate Ehud Olmert should act courageously
and resolutely and reject irrelevant demands made by
the leeches [i.e. Olmert's prospective coalition
partners]."

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

3. Mordecai Vanunu:
--------------

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

Intelligence affairs correspondent Yossi Melman wrote
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The state
claims that [Mordecai] Vanunu remains a tangible risk
to its security. That is a baseless argument,
worrisome, immoral and unjust."

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

"Let Him Go Already"

Intelligence affairs correspondent Yossi Melman wrote
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/26): "Almost
secretly, with the information modestly tucked away in

SIPDIS
the margins of the news, the [Israeli] Justice Ministry
has extended by a year the strict limitations imposed
on Mordecai Vanunu.... The state claims that Vanunu
remains a tangible risk to its security. That is a
baseless argument, worrisome, immoral and unjust. It
is baseless because Vanunu stopped working at the
Dimona nuclear reactor more than 20 years ago.... In
any case, Vanunu speaks about what the world already
knows and continues to know: Israel is a nuclear power.
Morally and legally, and from a democratic perspective,
it is intolerable that someone who has been punished
should be punished over and over again for the same sin
for which he served such a heavy sentence. It should
be remembered that it is precisely through the same
argument of knowing state secrets that the Soviet Union
prevented Jewish scientists from immigrating to Israel.
By the same logic that guides the defense establishment
and the judicial system, as long as Vanunu's memory
works, he can never leave Israel."

JONES