ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 001871

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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Mideast

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Key stories in the media:
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The Jerusalem Post reported that the US will oppose
European attempts to use the new money transfer
mechanism created by the Quartet to pay the salaries of
PA employees. The newspaper wrote that US
administration sources have made it clear in the past
two days that the agreement reached by the Quartet on
Tuesday does not compel the US to agree that
international funds will be used to pay salaries of all
or part of the 165,000 PA employees. Israel Radio
reported that Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa
informed PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas that the
League is unable to transfer money to the PA because of
American banks' fear of retribution.

Major media reported, and Yediot bannered, that PM Ehud
Olmert reprimanded Defense Minister Amir Peretz,
following the latter's demand that the GOI engage in a
dialogue with Abbas. Yediot reported that Olmert told
Peretz that he will decide whether to meet with Abbas.
The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that
Israeli defense sources advised Peretz to authorize
additional measures at the Erez and Karni crossings to
ease the Palestinians' lives, and that Peretz said that
those would be taken provided the circumstances are
favorable. Maariv quoted Tourism Minister Yitzhak
Herzog (Labor) as saying that he will not support
convergence "like a foolish fan" and that the option of
dialogue with a Palestinian partner, if he exists,
should be explored first.

Israel Radio quoted Khaled Mashal, the Damascus-based
head of Hamas's political bureau, as saying that Hamas
and Fatah should join forces against Israel instead of
fighting each other. The radio said that Mashal
refrained from referring to an agreement reached
between Fatah and Hamas leaders imprisoned in Israeli
jails (cited in the major media),which reportedly
includes recognition of Israel in the 1967 borders.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the PA's new 3,000-
strong police force, under the proposed command of
Jamal Abu Samhadana, one of Israel's most wanted
terrorists, is set to formally become operational in
Gaza this Sunday.

Israel Radio quoted Undersecretary of State for
Political Affairs Nicholas Burns as saying Thursday at
the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy that
if Iran did not comply with the demands of the
international community, the US would consider by the
end of the year alternative ways to deal with the
crisis. The radio said that this was the first time a
US official mentioned a timeframe in the Iranian
nuclear program conundrum.

Israel Radio reported that an activist of the Al-Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades was killed in a clash with IDF troops
in Nablus. Yediot reported that around one month ago,
the Shin Bet and IDF thwarted the formation of a
terrorist group that planned to kidnap soldiers. Two
Hamas activists from the Gaza refugee camp of Jebalya
were arrested in the case. They had infiltrated Israel
from Egypt and were on their way to the West Bank.

Maariv reported that a group of former settler leaders
plans to create a new body that would be a moderate
alternative to the Yesha Council of Jewish Settlements
in the Territories. Hisdai Eliezer, the head of the
local council of Alfei Menashe, is the initiator of the
move.

Yediot and Maariv quoted MK Ibrahim Sarsur (United Arab
List/Arab Movement for Renewal),who heads the southern
branch of Israel's Islamic Movement, as saying Thursday
at an inter-religious meeting that he supports the
presence of Jews who will be willing to remain in the
territory of a future Palestinian state.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was quoted as saying
Thursday in Rome in an interview with Maariv that he is
not anti-Semitic and that he recognizes the legitimacy
of the Palestinian regime. He was also quoted as
saying that were Iran to be attacked, it should stop
supplying oil, and that Venezuela would do so if it
were attacked.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Menderes Turel, the Mayor of
the Turkish coastal city of Antalya as saying this week
that Turkey and Israel are negotiating the construction
of a multi-million-dollar energy and water project that
will transport water, electricity, natural gas, and oil
pipelines to Israel, with the oil to be sent onward
from Israel to the Far East.

Ha'aretz reported that leading Israeli Holocaust
researcher and Israel Prize laureate Yehuda Bauer told
the newspaper this week that despite the lessons of
World War II, Israel is as likely to commit genocide as
any other nation.

Ha'aretz's top story reported on a decision expected to
be made today by ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism's
(UTJ) leading rabbis about whether the party will join
the coalition in exchange for Kadima's offer to
increase child allowances by 400 to 500 shekels (around
USD 90 to 115) a month for families with at least four
children. Yediot reported that UTJ's entrance into the
coalition would cost the state around one billion
shekels (approx. USD 225 million).

All media, except the ultra-Orthodox newspapers,
highlighted the death on Thursday of writer, actor, and
singer Yossi Banai, one of Israel's most beloved and
admired artists, at 74 after a serious illness.

Yediot reported that a senior food critic wrote in the
"leading American web site" Star Chefs that Israel has
turned into one of the most interesting culinary
destinations in the world.

Leading media reported on the affair of "call detail
records," information which has enabled US intelligence
agencies to track who calls whom, and when.

Major media reported on the death of New York Times
editor A.M. Rosenthal on Wednesday at age 84.

Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that this week
Democrats Abroad (DA),the US Democratic Party's
international arm, launched an online registration
wizard they hope will allow prospective voters to
easily navigate complicated state regulations that have
deterred some Americans from requesting an absentee
ballot. The site, VotefromAbroad.org, is for all
American expatriates who are eligible to vote,
regardless of party affiliation. Ha'aretz (English
Ed.) wrote that the American Embassy in Israel welcomed
the developments. The newspaper quoted the Embassy
Spokesperson as saying that the DA initiative is one of
"several sites working to improve access to absentee
voting."

Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that American retirees
living in Israel are giving a lukewarm response to a
new arrangement that allows for the direct deposit of
their monthly Social Security payments into a local
bank account. The newspaper cited claims by some
retirees that they get their checks deposited into
their American accounts for free. Ha'aretz (English
Ed.) quoted officials of the American Embassy in Israel
as saying that the USD 10 service charge is a
"specially negotiated fee that is actually lower than
would normally be charged by the Israeli banks, and is
lower than the fees usually charged to cash a paper
check here in Israel."

Hatzofe cited a poll conducted by the Palestinian
Center for Public Opinion over the first three days of
April that over one-third (33.9 percent) of
Palestinians are considering emigrating.




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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Political parties commentator Sima Kadmon wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The American
consent [to Olmert's convergence plan] is an axiom for
Israel. Without us, nothing remains of the plan."

Contributor Rafael D. Frankel wrote in the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "[President
Bush and Prime Minister Olmert's] need for one another
could be the biggest advantage they both have."

Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "Thank you, Europeans and Americans
of the [Jimmy] Carter kind, who have unwittingly paved
the road for the convergence plan."

Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Hamas evidently
finds it hard to admit to the concessions it is being
compelled to make under heavy Arab and international
pressure."

Hebrew University Political Science Professor, liberal
contributor Zeev Sternhell wrote in Ha'aretz: "The job
of a far-seeing government is to stop the deterioration
[of Israeli-Palestinian relations] and to offer the
rulers of the Palestinian Authority a life preserver."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Going Without, Returning With"

Political parties commentator Sima Kadmon wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/12): "Olmert
will not hurry in Washington to declare that the
[convergence] plan will be implemented tomorrow
morning. The conversation will consist of formulating
the plan as an alternative idea: The road map is the
main plan, and convergence is its alternative. The
question is when the alternative will become the main
plan. In other words: When will the international
system understand that this is a dead end?....
[Olmert's] only way of keeping his hold on power is to
converge. First of all, because he promised. Because
he turned his plan into a referendum. But this is also
his only option for survival in the practical sense:
Convergence will put an existential national problem on
the agenda. It will postpone the preoccupation with
the regular matters with which a government deals....
This is an internal window of opportunity. The
external window of opportunity is Bush. We have two
years in which the President of the US is gradually
weakening, losing the backing of his people. The
American consent is an axiom for Israel. Without us,
nothing remains of the plan. This is the reason that
Olmert's first trip is so important. It marks the
beginning of a process, in the absence of which his
political future will be in danger."

II. "Funnel Vision"

Contributor Rafael D. Frankel wrote in the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (5/12): "With
Amir Peretz using his newly won pulpit as defense
minister in loud support of talking to Abbas, and the
Europeans increasingly speaking out against further
unilateralism on Israel's part, the politics of
'convergence' are growing more problematic by the day.
Add to that the price tag it is likely to cost the US
and Europe ... and its shelf life as the main, viable
option for Israel going forward appears increasingly in
danger of expiration, Olmert's upcoming trip to
Washington, therefore, once sold as s mere 'getting to
know you' jaunt by the newly elected Israeli prime
minister, is taking on added weight. If Olmert does
not come back from the American capital with a strong
wind in his sails for 'convergence,' the plan may
whither on the vines back home before a second round of
talks with President George W. Bush -- previously
assumed to be the time when a grand deal would be
struck-- can materialize. In this aspect, the two
leaders' need for one another could be the biggest
advantage they both have."



III. "Hamas Can Bend"

Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/12): "The Hamas
spokesman in Gaza was dismissive of the national
consensus document signed by prisoners' representatives
from all Palestinian organizations -- but the document
is, nevertheless, en important one. This is how it is
viewed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas,
who welcomed it, and the document will apparently
provide the basis for the Palestinian national dialogue
slated to take place in 10 days.... Hamas spokesmen
have employed a more moderate tone in recent days and
some have already mentioned they are prepared to accept
a state within the 1967 borders.... Nevertheless, they
hardly made mention of the document on Thursday -- in
contrast to the enthusiastic praise from Fatah
spokesmen. Hamas evidently finds it hard to admit to
the concessions it is being compelled to make under
heavy Arab and international pressure."
IV. "The Carter Legacy"

Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (5/12): "Any experienced observer
knows that [former US President Jimmy] Carter's article
[in The New York Times this week] anticipates the
collapse of the European-Western protective barrier
against the Hamas regime and the resumption of the flow
of money to Palestinian terrorism..... But good things
could come out of the bad ones. A Hamas government
with coffers full of money might stiffen its neck. If
there is money, there is no flexibility. This would
boost the need to carry out the unilateral convergence
move.... Thank you, Europeans and Americans of the
Carter kind, who have unwittingly paved the road for
the convergence plan. But the only condition for its
implementation would be Ehud Olmert selling it to
George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice. The Prime
Minister ... has started talking about unilaterally
setting 'defensible lines' instead of 'permanent
borders.'"


V. "Before Another 30 Years Go By"

Hebrew University Political Science Professor, liberal
contributor Zeev Sternhell wrote in Ha'aretz (5/12):
"It is true that the Palestinians have always been
their worst enemy, but at the same time, they keep
dragging Israel into dead-end situations. The job of a
far-seeing government is to stop the deterioration and
to offer the rulers of the Palestinian Authority a life
preserver. So far, Israel has tried every method in
its approach to the Palestinians, except for a little
generosity.... This is where the new Labor Party comes
into the picture. The current coalition could go down
in history in the Golden Book, or it could crash with a
loud bang. It all depends on three elements: the
degree to which the Likud people in Kadima, headed by
Olmert, sincerely wish to put an end to the long war;
the loyalty of Labor to its platform and voters; and
the government's ability to look ahead and read the
global map.... It is reasonable to assume that the
start of the campaign for the presidency [in the US],
no matter who the two candidates are, will symbolize
the end of the neoconservative reign in Washington."

JONES