Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TELAVIV1700
2006-05-02 12:07:00
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 10 TEL AVIV 001700 

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


Please note: no Tel Aviv Media Reaction report
Wednesday, May 3, 2006, Israel's Independence Day
holiday.

--------------------------------
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
--------------------------------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TEL AVIV 001700

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


Please note: no Tel Aviv Media Reaction report
Wednesday, May 3, 2006, Israel's Independence Day
holiday.

--------------
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
--------------


1. Mideast


2. Iran


3. Israel's 58th Independence Day

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

All media reported on events related to the Remembrance
Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars, and Israel's 58th
Independence Day, which will be celebrated tonight
through Wednesday night. Prof. Sergio Della Pergola of
the Hebrew University, one of Israel's top
demographers, was quoted as saying in an interview with
The Jerusalem Post that for the first time since the
first century, there are more Jews in Israel than in
any other country, including the US, and that within 30
years the majority of Jews in the world will be living
in Israel.

The media reported that on Monday, Interim PM Ehud
Olmert nominated the following Kadima party members as
ministers in his government: Tzipi Livni -- FM and Vice
PM (Olmert was Vice PM under Ariel Sharon); Shimon
Peres -- Minister for the Development of the Negev;
Abraham Hirchson -- Finance Minister; Haim Ramon --
Justice Minister; Shaul Mofaz -- Transportation
Minister in charge of strategic dialogue with foreign
countries; Avi Dichter -- Internal Security Minister;
Meir Sheetrit -- Housing and Construction Minister;
Roni Bar-On -- Interior Minister; Zeev Boim --
Immigrant Absorption Minister; Gideon Ezra --
Environment Minister; Jacob Edery -- Liaison between
the government and the Knesset. In addition to
Kadima's ministers, the cabinet is to include seven
ministers from the Labor Party: Defense Minister Amir
Peretz; Education Minister Yuli Tamir, National
Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer,
Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon, Minister-Without-
Portfolio in charge of culture, sports, and Jerusalem
affairs Ophir Pines-Paz; and Minister-Without-Portfolio
with responsibility for the Israel Broadcasting
Authority Eitan Cabel. The cabinet will also include

four Shas ministers: Industry, Trade, and Labor
Minister Eli Yishai; Communications Minister Ariel
Attias; and two ministers-without-portfolio, who The
Jerusalem Post said are expected to be Yitzhak Cohen
and Meshulam Nehari, one of whom will have
responsibility for religious services. Lastly, there
will be two ministers from the Gil Pensioners' Party:
Rafi Eitan, who will be in charge of pensioners'
affairs, and Health Minister Ya'acov Ben-Yizri. Israel
Radio reported that Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael
Beiteinu party has announced that it would not join the
government. Leading media reported that Olmert is
still seeking to broaden the government coalition. On
Thursday, after a debate, the Knesset is expected to
approve the agreements, guidelines, and ministers,
after which Olmert and his cabinet will be sworn in.
The media reported that Olmert has chosen Kadima MK
Dalia Itzik to become the next Knesset Speaker -- an
appointment that must be approved by the Knesset. She
would be the first woman to hold the position.

The Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday, government
officials rejected the notion that Mofaz's appointment
as the minister in charge of Israel's strategic
dialogue with various countries around the world would
in any way step on FM Livni's toes.

Peres was quoted as saying on Monday, in an interview
with The Jerusalem Post, that Olmert is likely to meet
with PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas upon his
return from Washington later this month. Peres was
also quoted as saying that the new Israeli government
had not ruled out the possibility of reaching a
negotiated agreement with the Palestinians. The
Jerusalem Post quoted Peres as saying that the Hamas
government would crumble, as it was already unable to
pay salaries and otherwise function as a government.

As customary on the eve of Independence Day, the major
newspapers highlighted interviews with IDF Chief of
Staff Lt. Gen Dan Halutz. In his interview with
Ha'aretz, Halutz was quoted as saying that he is
currently opposed to a ground force operation in the
Gaza Strip. Yediot highlighted Halutz's assertion in
the interview with the newspaper that Iran is concerned
about Israel's capability to harm it. Maariv
emphasized Halutz's remark in the interview with the
newspaper that Iran's nuclear program can be stooped.

Israel Radio reported that on Monday, Quartet special
envoy James Wolfensohn tendered his resignation to
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, because of the

SIPDIS
situation created after Hamas rose to power in the PA.
Israel Radio reported that in a report he handed
Secretary Rice, Wolfensohn criticized the Western

SIPDIS
states' decision to stop aid to the PA, and wondered
whether they intend to abandon the PA after they
invested almost one billion dollars in an effort to
build Palestinian institutions and the Palestinian
economy -- steps that are needed for the establishment
of a Palestinian state. Wolfensohn was quoted as
saying that it is impossible to win through starving
the Palestinians, and that the UN and the aid
organizations would not be able to fill the PA's place,
should it collapse following the growing economic
distress there. Israel Radio quoted Secretary Rice as
saying that the US was increasing its efforts to
transfer humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. The
station reported that Secretary Rice reiterated her
hope that the Hamas government would accede to the
Quarter's demands so that contacts with the PA
government can be facilitated. Shimon Peres was quoted
as saying in an interview with the radio that Hamas is
responsible for the failure of Wolfensohn's mission.
Ha'aretz also reported on Wolfensohn's resignation.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Stuart Levey, Under
Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in

SIPDIS
the US Treasury, arrived in Israel Monday for a 30-hour
visit to FM Livni today to discuss the prevention of
aid from Hamas with high-ranking Israeli officials.
Israel Radio reported that Stuart Levey will meet with
FM Livni today. The station reported that Israel's
National Security Adviser Giora Eiland has prepared for
Levey a list of Palestinian organizations and
institutions, dividing them between those that can
receive funds; borderline organizations; and
organizations that would clearly transfer the funds to
Hamas.

Yediot cited the belief of Israeli politicians that
Olmert will offer the Washington ambassadorship to
former Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor.

Hatzofe reported that Kafah Nuahdeh from the village of
Yamun, one of the Palestinians recently arrested by
Israeli security forces, intended to blow himself up on
Independence Day at Haifa's Central Bus Station.

Ha'aretz reported that on Monday, the Defense Ministry
published an updated map of the separation fence
running through the West Bank. The newspaper said that
the map includes a fenced-in road that will link Ariel
with central Israel.

Yediot quoted Dr. Rahman Gharemanpour, one of the
directors of Iran's nuclear program, as saying in an
interview with the Italian daily Il Giornale that Iran
may recognize Israel in a few years.

Ha'aretz, Yediot, and The Jerusalem Post quoted Abbas
as saying Monday that he does not intend to run for PA
Chairmanship after his term ends in 2009.

Leading media cited the belief of US intelligence
experts that the first signs of a split have recently
appeared in the leadership of Al Qaida.

The Jerusalem Post quoted visiting former Russian PM
Yevgeni Primakov as saying that Russia is looking to
triple its trade volume with Israel by 2010. Primakov
signed a pact in Tel Aviv this week to advance economic
cooperation with Israel.

Yediot and Hatzofe reported that Dov Weisglass, who was
a senior adviser to Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, is
expected to be appointed chairman of the large Israeli
telecommunications company Bezeq. Yediot wrote that
Weisglass will continue to advise Olmert on diplomatic
affairs.

Leading media reported that convicted spy Jonathan
Pollard and his wife, Esther, have petitioned the High
Court of Justice against Olmert and Pensioners' Party
Chairman Rafi Eitan. Ha'aretz quoted Pollard's
attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner as saying that Eitan,
Pollard' former handler, "deserted him [Pollard],
making him a scapegoat at the hands of the Americans,
and helped bring about his trial when the affair was
disclosed." Pollard is asking the High Court to
"investigate Eitan's negligence" and his "intentional
desertion of Pollard to save his skin." This morning
Israel Radio reported that the High Court refused to
issue a temporary ruling barring Eitan from becoming a
minister, but that it asked Olmert and Eitan to answer
the Pollards' petition within three weeks.

Yediot reported that in a year, construction of a
community intended for young and wealthy immigrants
from the US will start in the Negev.

Yediot reported that 50 illegal Israeli workers were
arrested during a Homeland Security Department
operation. The newspaper quoted immigration lawyer
Liam Schwartz as saying they are expected to be jailed
for an extended period before being deported.

Maariv noted that the USD dollar has reached its lowest
point on the Israeli market in the past eight months --
4.484 shekels.







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

1. Ehud Olmert's Emerging Government:
--------------

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

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "From
this moment on, Olmert must focus on one key task,
something he undertook to do in his election campaign:
dismantling the settlement enterprise ... and pulling
Israel's population together within new borders."

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "Today we can say with near-certainty
that there will be no convergence. At most, there will
be mini-convergence."

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


I. "Olmert's Fateful Year"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (5/2):
"From this moment on, Olmert must focus on one key
task, something he undertook to do in his election
campaign: dismantling the settlement enterprise
established by his predecessors and pulling Israel's
population together within new borders. This is to
ensure that Israel continues to enjoy a Jewish majority
and ends the subjugation of millions of Palestinians.
Olmert should learn from those who preceded him that
his first year as prime minister is critical. The
political situation that the election created -- a
state without a dominant ruling party and with chronic
governmental instability -- means that he has no time
to dally.... One cannot overstate the enormity of the
task facing the new prime minister. Implementing the
convergence plan will take a huge political,
diplomatic, financial and military effort. Enlisting
the support of the United States, completing the
separation fence, deploying the IDF, immediately
implementing an evacuation plan, and compensating and
relocating the uprooted settlers are all vital
components of the plan -- but they alone are not
enough. Dismantling dozens of settlements located on
the other side of the separation fence will entail a
conflict with the ideological core of the settlement
movement, which is still clinging to its dreams even
after failing to prevent the evacuation of Gush
Katif.... During the course of the coalition talks,
Olmert used language softer than his pre-election
rhetoric. He avoided using the word 'convergence' and
allowed Shas to join his coalition without committing
to the plan to dismantle settlements. One can only
hope that these were tactical concessions, not a sign
of future vacillation."

II. "Big Bang, Small Effect"

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (5/2): "On Monday, Ehud Olmert
completed the establishment of a government whose
expiration date has already been stamped on it. This is
the broadest narrow government ever established
here.... On Monday, Olmert's people succeeded in
convincing some of the commentators that this is a
personal achievement and a significant victory for the
prime minister. If this is what victory looks like,
God save us from defeat. So what is Kadima's message?
Do they remember Ariel Sharon, with his original
vision?.... Olmert's banner, which he proclaimed under
every green microphone, is 'convergence.' Today we can
say with near-certainty that there will be no
convergence. At most, there will be mini-convergence.
Something symbolic, sane, to meet the obligation.
Olmert boasted loudly that any party that wanted to
join his government would have to accept convergence as
a precondition. And now, Shas is in his government,
celebrating its billions, holding the letter that
exempts it from the curse of convergence. If United
Torah Judaism remains outside, Shas will become the
sole representative of the right wing and the religious
in Olmert's government. History shows that this will
be a temporary representation.... These are the days
after the big bang. As big as it was, its effect is
turning out to be small. Those who eulogize the Likud
do so on their own cognizance. As things appear now,
this bang will soon disperse in all directions,
everything will pass and fade away and things will go
back to what they were before, like before. How sad."



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

2. Iran:
--------------

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

Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "Germany's behavior toward
Iran is a clear sign that for all its Holocaust
memorializing ... Germany has not learned the lessons
of the Holocaust."

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

"Germany's Honored Guest"
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (5/2): "Perhaps in exchange
for Iran's presidential pardon for the Holocaust and
the release of his German hostage, Germany has agreed
to host Ahmadinejad in Germany if he decides to attend
the Iranian national team's opening game against Mexico
in Nuremberg. Germany has also agreed to coordinate
its actions to secure the games with the Iranian
government..... Germany's refusal to isolate
Ahmadinejad goes hand in hand with its appeasement of
Iran's nuclear ambitions.... Germany's refusal to place
any sanction on Iran is disturbing, because as German
political scientist Matthias Kuntzel argued in the
Transatlantic Intelligencer last December, 'If there is
a western nation today that has the means to confront
[Iran's nuclear weapons program] with effective
sanctions, it is Germany'.... Germany's behavior toward
Iran is a clear sign that for all its Holocaust
memorializing, for all its anti-Nazi legislation, and
for all its protestations of friendship with Israel and
the Jewish people, Germany has not learned the lessons
of the Holocaust. The main lesson of the Holocaust is
not that war is bad and must therefore be avoided at
all costs. The main lesson of the Holocaust is that
evil is bad and must be fought with every effective
means. By trading with Iran and protecting Iran from
those who point out its obvious dangers not only to
Israel but to the entire world, Germany is protecting
evil and thus advancing its cause."

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

3. Israel's 58th Independence Day:
--------------

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

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "So what is this
'four years from now' business that Olmert is yapping
about? Who needs four years? We've already got a
doozy of a country."

Economic correspondent Gideon Eshet wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Our bondage to
the Americans has long gone beyond material concerns."

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


I. "A Doozy of a Country"

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/2): "Once a year,
on Independence Day, the grumbling Israeli straightens
up and convinces himself that he lives in a wonderful
country. As a famous critic once said of Mahler's
music: It's not as bad as it sounds. The same applies
to Israel. Really. People whine and complain, but
personally, they are much better off than they think.
All in all, Israelis can look back in satisfaction: The
Israeli army ranks among the world's five strongest
armies; Israel belongs to the club of eight with a
satellite in space; and Israel is one of world's seven
nuclear powers. The trouble is that after a day of
partying and merrymaking, the citizen returns to
reality.... Fifty-five percent of the public says that
the new government is no good. Why didn't they go down
to the polling station on Election Day to make it
better? The real 'existential threat' is the one that
looms over the old people and the terminally ill, whom
the state would just as soon let die. Or the threat of
earthquakes, considering Israel's location along the
Syrian-African Rift. Oh, and let's not forget the
Iranian nuclear threat. But with Amir Peretz as
defense minister and the Red Dawn early-warning system
that alerts us five whole seconds before a Qassam
rocket falls, what do we have to fear? So what is this
'four years from now' business that Olmert is yapping
about? Who needs four years? We've already got a
doozy of a country."

II. "A Celebration of Bondage"

Economic correspondent Gideon Eshet wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/2): "Had the
United States done to Israel what it has done to Cuba
for decades, Israel wouldn't exist. And since we're
talking about independence, and independence being
mainly a material business, we'd better understand that
our existence depends entirely on that country's good
will. The ministers of the Israeli government must at
once bow to the American Embassy in Tel Aviv.... But
our bondage to the Americans has long gone beyond
material concerns. The real bondage is the way in
which we look at the key questions in our lives....
American economic ideology ... includes the rule that
the idea of a welfare state is bad.... When we
celebrate independence, we'd better remember that we're
in fact celebrating bondage."

JONES