ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 001819 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. Mideast ¶2. Iran: Nuclear Program -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Yediot quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying Tuesday, at an international convention of mayors taking place in Jerusalem, that Israel will wait for six months to see whether there is a partner on the Palestinian side, and if there is none, it will carry out unilateral actions. Olmert warned that Israel would not negotiate with the PA if it did not accept the three conditions set by the international community -- as the newspaper said he defined them: recognition of Israel, abandonment of violence, and acceptance of previous agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel. Yediot quoted sources in Olmert's office as saying that Israel does not expect President Bush to make a decision regarding the convergence plan at his upcoming meeting with Olmert. The newspaper quoted the sources as saying that one should not forget that before the Americans supported former PM Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, at least 20 meetings took place between American and Israeli officials. In its lead story, Ha'aretz reported that members of the Quartet, which is meeting in New York, reached a "silent agreement" Tuesday to establish a trust fund that it claimed will pay the salaries of Palestinian civil servants through the office of PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas. Ha'aretz's web site quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying at a news SIPDIS conference with other Quartet members: "The thrust of the statement is that the international community is still trying to respond to the needs of the Palestinian people." Ha'aretz and Yediot quoted Secretary Rice as saying: "It is to provide assistance to the Palestinian people so they do not suffer deprivation." Yediot quoted Secretary Rice as saying that the international community will not talk with the Hamas government, which encourages terrorism. Israel Radio quoted Rice as saying that the EU had initiated the move. Ha'aretz quoted sources close to Quartet representatives as saying that the initiative for the trust fund came from France. Israel Radio claimed that the US had given in to pressure by its Quartet partners. Ha'aretz quoted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as saying that the international mechanism to be used, which has not yet been fully decided on, should begin as soon as possible and be reviewed after three months. Ha'aretz reported that senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat told Reuters the Quartet's plan did not go far enough. Ha'aretz said that in parallel, the Quartet members reiterated the three demands posed to the Hamas government if any cooperation between the international community and the Palestinian government is to be resumed -- recognition of Israel, abandonment of terrorism, and acceptance of previous agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that the US administration views new legislation regarding Hamas as "unnecessary" and that it is calling on Congress to make revisions that would moderate the limitations the bill imposes on providing assistance to the Palestinians. Yediot reported that Palestinian FM Mahmoud Zahar's claim that he met with a European minister turned out to be no more than a chance encounter with Portuguese FM Diogo Freitas Do Amaral in an Abu Dhabi hotel. Ha'aretz reported that in an assessment of the situation at the Karni crossing over the weekend, Defense Minister Amir Peretz adopted the line of his predecessor, Shaul Mofaz, saying he would reopen Karni according to the security situation. The newspaper reported that the Peres Center for Peace disseminated a report to relevant GOI ministers, saying that the closure of the Karni crossing causes an economic and humanitarian collapse in the Gaza Strip. Yediot and The Jerusalem Post cited the NGO Physicians for Human Rights-Israel as saying in a report published Tuesday that the Palestinian health system has collapsed as a result of the cessation of transfers of tax money by Israel and the termination of international assistance. Ha'aretz reported that four Palestinian kidney patients died in Gaza because of the economic crisis in the PA. Citing AP, The Jerusalem Post quoted US officials as saying that the US plans to spend USD 10 million of the money it took back from the PA on a new medical program rather than let it get into the hands of Hamas. Leading media reported that 15 Palestinians, five of them youths, were wounded Tuesday in the Gaza Strip in a series of clashes between Hamas supporters, on one hand, and activists of Fatah and the Palestinian Preventive Security forces. Today, Israel Radio reported that the Hamas-led government and Fatah issued a joint announcement forbidding Palestinians from carrying weapons. Yediot and Israel Radio reported that MKs Avshalom Vilan (Meretz) and Colette Avital (Labor Party) will today present a bill according to which residents of settlements will be able to leave their homes in exchange for compensation starting today. The Jerusalem Post reported that hoping to unify religious Zionist ranks in advance of their anticipated fight against further territorial withdrawal, settler leaders are seeking spiritual advice from former Ashkenazi chief rabbi Avraham Shapira and 10 other prominent rabbis. Major media reported that the Israel Navy foiled an attempt to smuggle a massive quantity of explosives into Gaza last week. The news was released for publication only Tuesday, after navy divers finished retrieving some 550 kilograms of TNT from the sea. Leading media quoted IDF Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin as saying Tuesday before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that provided there are no interruptions to the Iranian nuclear program, Iran will have a nuclear weapon by 2010. The Jerusalem Post and other media quoted Brig. Gen. Yosef Kuperwasser, the head of Military Intelligence's Research Division, as saying Tuesday: "Iran is interested not only in turning into a superpower, but also in changing the world order." Leading media reported hat IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz and the Defense Ministry's diplomatic adviser Amos Gilad protested Tuesday against Vice Premier Shimon Peres's warning that Iran could also be wiped off the map. Yediot reported that members of the UN Security Council have decided to offer Iran a choice -- either incentives or sanctions -- to drop its nuclear ambitions. Yediot quoted sources in New York as saying that the US agreed to this compromise "unenthusiastically" as it believes that this is a "return to a point where we have already been." Yediot reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters that the US demands that the Security Council's draft resolution be mandatory under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The Jerusalem Post quoted Dr. Jurgen Ruttgers, Minister- President of North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest German federal state, as saying Monday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will not be a welcome guest for June's World Cup soccer tournament. Visiting Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was quoted as saying in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that he was impressed with Israel's use of technology to fight terrorism and provide security for its citizens. Hatzofe reported that on Monday, British PM Tony Blair told a delegation of European rabbis that the war in Iraq helps Israel. Ha'aretz quoted British Ambassador to Israel Simon McDonald as saying Tuesday that his government did not believe that academic boycotts were productive and preferred academic cooperation. He was responding to a report in Tuesday's Ha'aretz that academics in the UK were planning to back a far- reaching boycott of Israeli academics and academic institutions that do not dissociate themselves from GOI policy in the territories. Maariv reported that former PM Ariel Sharon will be moved next week to the rehabilitation hospital at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, in the Tel Aviv area. Ha'aretz cited an Amnesty International report that will be published today that states that Israeli arms vendors are feeding wars in the developing world. All media (banner in Maariv) reported that the subject of the "questionable appointment" to which State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss referred on the eve of Tuesday's publication of his annual report is Civil Service Commissioner Shmuel Hollander's veteran assistant, Edna Alfasi, who was named deputy director. The appointment allegedly was made without a public tender, notwithstanding the candidate's lack of the necessary qualifications for the position. In his report, Lindenstrauss also reported that Olmert, who chaired the Israel Land Council as minister of industry, trade and labor, exceeded his authority and became overly involved in a 2004 sale by the Israel Lands Administration of commercial properties at Jaffa Port to the Tel Aviv Municipality. Yediot ran a lengthy feature ("The Pink House") of Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary. Major media reported that on Monday in Van Nuys, California Superior Court Judge Martin Herscovitz sentenced Benjamin Frandsen, who murdered the Israelis Ben Wertzberger and Arad Ne'eman in December 2002, to life imprisonment without parole. Channel 10-TV, Yediot, and Maariv reported that Dorit Moussaiof (phon.),the Israeli-born wife of Icelandic President Olafur Grimsson, was detained at Ben Gurion Airport Monday for one-and-a-half hours because she did not present an Israeli passport as required by law. The media quoted Moussaiof as saying: "Because of this, everybody hates the Jews." Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a poll taken among Israelis by the Israel Democracy Institute, according to which some 62 percent of Israelis believe that the government should encourage the country's Arab citizens to emigrate. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Palestinian affairs researcher Moshe Elad, a former senior IDF official in the West Bank and former head of Israel-PA coordination, wrote in independent, left- leaning Ha'aretz: "Revolution will come indeed. Yes, it might not be a revolution but a coup.... Perhaps this is the only way Palestinian society can be redeemed from its harsh situation." Conservative columnist Prof. Efraim Inbar, Director of the Begin-Sadat Strategic Center at Bar-Ilan University, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The future of Olmert's [convergence] program will probably be determined by domestic factors, rather than by whatever international support he may gather." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "A Crossroads in Palestine" Palestinian affairs researcher Moshe Elad, a former senior IDF official in the West Bank and former head of Israel-PA coordination, wrote in independent, left- leaning Ha'aretz (5/10): "'Al-Thawra Hatta Al-Nasr!' ('Revolution Until Victory') was and remains the Fatah organization's famous battle cry.... The Palestinians are now at an unfamiliar crossroads from which there are three ways out: The first one, in absence of a central administration, regime chaos may lead to a lawless situation.... The second one, a cantonization of diadochs -- the creation of autonomous cantons ruled by diadochs (kinds of regional rulers combining authority over clans and the means of maintaining armed militias straddling parties and organizations). For instance, Jibril Rajoub would rule in Hebron, and Muhammad Dahlan and his men would rule in Gaza. The third one, which is increasingly plausible, would be a military and civilian coup initiated by the heads of Fatah with the support of the [PA] security branches and quiet assent by Israel for retaking power. The West, Israel, and the Palestinians themselves, understand that it's easier to make the PLO improve its moral behavior than to make Hamas cancel its Charter and recognize Israel. Revolution will come indeed. Yes, it might not be a revolution but a coup; it apparently won't be directed at the Zionist entity, as an entire generation of Palestinians had dreamt, but against Hamas's grunting. Perhaps this is the only way Palestinian society can be redeemed from its harsh situation." II. "What Motivates Unilateralism?" Conservative columnist Prof. Efraim Inbar, Director of the Begin-Sadat Strategic Center at Bar-Ilan University, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (5/10): "The appeal of unilateral steps, including the completion of the separation fence, is probably also an expression of the naive aspiration for a simple solution. The Peace Now slogan was given a try. Now it is the turn of 'us on one side, them on the other.' And the idea is convincing and attractive, even though Palestinian terrorism does not really allow Israel to disengage from the territories.... In fact, the Israeli leadership understands that pure unilateralism, appealing as it may be to the people, is not a true policy option. The withdrawal from Gaza was not entirely unilateral as it was approved first in Washington and only afterwards by the Israeli cabinet. Leaving the Palestinians to their own devices may well be what they deserve, but even Israeli unilateralists view international involvement positively in order to prevent a large-scale humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian territories. Moreover, the Olmert government intends to secure international support -- or at least some level of understanding for its unilateral program. Nevertheless, the future of Olmert's program will probably be determined by domestic factors, rather than by whatever international support he may gather." -------------- ¶2. Iran: Nuclear Program: -------------- Summary: -------------- The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The choice before Russia and China is unmistakable: Will they join the world in an attempt to peacefully prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, or will the US and Europe be forced to move ahead without them?" Block Quotes: -------------- "The Choice For Russia and China" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (5/10): "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter [to President Bush], far from diverting the UN from its path toward imposing sanctions on Iran, should reinforce Western determination to confront this delusional regime. Through it make little sense when seen through the West's prism of nations acting in their rational self-interest, it has become abundantly clear that the mullahs are, ironically, on a crusade to confront the entire West and everything it stands for. Rather than seeking to avoid a 'clash of civilizations,' the mullahs seem to be relishing this prospect, and view every escalation in their own belligerence as helping to protect, rather than endanger, their regime.... It should be obvious at this point that even draconian sanctions may not be sufficient to turn Iran away from its present course; it is all the more clear that non-binding resolutions are at best a waste of time. The choice before Russia and China is unmistakable: Will they join the world in an attempt to peacefully prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, or will the US and Europe be forced to move ahead without them?.... As US Senator John McCain puts it, 'There's only one thing worse than the United States exercising the military option, that is a nuclear-armed Iran.'" JONES