Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TELAVIV2087
2006-05-31 13:31:00
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 002087 

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
CDR USCENTCOM 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 002087

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
CDR USCENTCOM 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. Lebanese-Syrian Track


3. Iran

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

Maariv reported that associates of PM Ehud Olmert are
speaking of a "split realignment." The newspaper wrote
that one of the options that Olmert is considering is a
three-stage realignment: the first one in the western
West Bank; the second one in the West Bank hills; and
the last one in the Jordan Valley, where Israel is to
maintain a military presence.

Ha'aretz and Israel Radio quoted senior IDF officers as
saying that the army is planning to step up ground
operations by special forces in the northern Gaza
Strip. The radio quoted Defense Minister Amir Peretz
as saying that Tuesday's operation prevented the firing
of Qassam rockets. Israel Radio reported that this
morning, four Qassam rockets landed in Israel, two of
which landed in Sderot (one near Peretz's private
residence). Ha'aretz reported on the plight of Hamdi
Aman, a Palestinian from Gaza whose entire family was
hit in the assassination of Islamic Jihad operative
Muhammad Dadouh in Gaza a week and a half ago. The
newspaper cited responses by the IAF and IDF that the
army is still investigating reports about the case.

Leading media reported that PM Olmert will meet with
Jordan's King Abdullah II in two weeks.

Yediot, Maariv, and The Jerusalem Post's website cited
an uproar at a UN Security Council debate on
international terrorism Tuesday over remarks made by
Israel's representative at the UN Ambassador Danny
Gillerman that the war on terror was a "third world
war" declared by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
while he planned the next Holocaust. Maariv and The
Jerusalem Post's website reported that Syria's UN
representative blamed Israel for the start of World
Wars I and II.
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, PA
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas decided to appoint
Col. Mahmoud Damra, a.k.a. Abu Awad, who has been

accused by Israel of involvement in terrorist attacks,
as overall commander of his Force 17 "presidential
guard" in the West Bank.

All media reported that on Tuesday, the cabinet voted
to cut the defense budget by 500 million shekels (about
USD 110 million). No ministers opposed the proposal,
but all Labor Party ministers abstained. Maariv and
Hatzofe bannered IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz's
comment that the cuts are insulting.

The Jerusalem Post reported that in radio interviews,
President Moshe Katsav and Justice Minister Haim Ramon
defended their decision to grant partial pardon to four
of the heads of the right-wing pirate radio station
Arutz 7 (Arutz Sheva). Israel Radio's legal
commentator Moshe Negbi had said in his program that
Katsav and Ramon were allowing people who had been
responsible for "vitriolic attacks" against PM Yitzhak
Rabin before his assassination to compete in the tender
for a new radio station meant to serve the Jewish
settlements in the West Bank.

Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu was quoted as saying in
an interview with Ha'aretz that an attempt was made to
bribe him early in his tenure as finance minister.
Netanyahu was quoted as saying that corruption in
Israel "has become a cancer" that is blocking growth
and "is liable to develop to Argentine dimensions."
Netanyahu was quoted as saying that associates of
former PM Ariel Sharon interfered with his work in the
Treasury.

Last night, Channel 10-TV reported that State
Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss might ask AG Menachem
Mazuz to prosecute Vice PM Shimon Peres over USD
320,000 of foreign contributions he received in the
Labor Party primaries. Maariv reported that
Lindenstrauss denied the report.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel climbed 22
places to rank as the 20th strongest domestic economic
power among the 61 countries surveyed in this year's
IMD World competitiveness rankings. The newspaper
cited the Federation of Israel Chambers of Commerce as
saying that this helped Israel maintain its 25th place
in overall economic competitiveness in a report
compiled by the Swiss-based International Institute for
Management Development (IMD).

The Jerusalem Post cited AP that US Treasury Secretary
John Snow resigned Tuesday and that President Bush
nominated Goldman Sachs CEO Henry M. Paulson as his
replacement.

Ha'aretz reported that developments in Nigeria could
thwart a USD 250-million deal in which the Nigerian
government selected Israeli company Aeronautics Defense
Systems to protect the Nigerian oil industry. The
newspaper wrote that the central development was a
failed attempt by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
to amend the constitution in order to present his
candidacy for a third term in office.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli convict Lior
Atuar is set to be extradited from the US to Turkey
after losing an appeal last week that claimed torture
had been used to obtain evidence against him, according
to his lawyers.

Major media reported on the resignation of Sabina Biran
from the post of CEO of the Israeli airline Israir. In
an interview with Yediot, Biran denied that her move
was related to a near-incident involving an Israir
plane at New York's JFK airport in July 2005.

Yediot ran a feature ("Israel vs. Lebanon") on the
finalists of Donald Trump's reality TV program "The
Apprentice 5" -- Lee Bienstock, an Israeli who resides
in the US, and Sean Yazbeck, a Briton of Lebanese
origin.

Maariv reported that the American Consulate-General in
Jerusalem has built a small bridge at its Agron Street
location in contravention of a Jerusalem Municipality
ban.

The Jerusalem Post reported that US Ambassador to
Israel Richard Jones and his wife, Joan, hosted a
"truly wonderful" recital by the International Choir of
Israel, which is made up largely of members of the
diplomatic community.
Maariv's online service NRG cited the results of a poll
commissioned by the leaders of the Geneva initiative:
-59 percent of Israelis support conducting negotiations
with the Palestinians with the aim of reaching a final
status arrangement. Only 25 percent support the
implementation of a unilateral realignment plan.
-68 percent support holding negotiations with Abbas.
- 26% support negotiations with Hamas.
-Only 31 percent believe that Israel will not be able
to determine its permanent borders unilaterally without
coordinating this in advance with the Palestinians.
-56 percent believe that the permanent borders will
only be finalized in coordination and in agreement with
the Palestinians.
-38 percent are opposed to the Geneva agreement, 33
percent support it, 13 percent are undecided, and 16
percent are unfamiliar with the text of the agreement.

Maariv bannered a Geocartographia poll, according to
which 44 percent of West Bank settlers are prepared to
be evacuated, compared with 25 percent in June 2005 and
35 percent in August 2004.
-64 percent of secular settlers, 47 percent of ultra-
Orthodox settlers and 23 percent of religious settlers
are prepared to be evacuated.


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

1. Mideast:
--------------

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

Liberal Tel Aviv University Prof. Tanya Reinhart wrote
in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "All
that remains is to hope that Europe will come to its
senses, and influence the US to also accept the
democratic choice of the Palestinian people."

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

"Recognize the Hamas Government"
Liberal Tel Aviv University Prof. Tanya Reinhart wrote
in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/31):
"Since 1993 we have become accustomed to having the
negotiations with the Palestinian Authority only deal
with the question of what is good for Israel -- to what
degree are the Palestinians willing to recognize its
right to exist as a Jewish state and to ensure its
security. Suddenly, an elected Palestinian government
has arisen that is no longer willing to play this
game.... No Palestinian leadership has yet been found
to be a worthy partner for peace, but a leadership that
breaks the rules of the game and declares that it only
represents the Palestinian people is in the eyes [of
Israel's government and army] a true enemy, which must
be destroyed. Olmert may have obtained a majority in
the US Congress for boycotting the Hamas-led
government, but he has no majority in Israeli society.
According to a March 2006 poll by the [Hebrew
University's] Truman Institute, 62 percent of Israelis
are in favor of conducting negotiations with Hamas.
But the majority in Israel has long since ceased to
decide. At present, all that remains is to hope that
Europe will come to its senses, and influence the US to
also accept the democratic choice of the Palestinian
people."




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

2. Lebanese-Syrian Track:
--------------

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

Senior columnist Shaul Schiff wrote in the editorial of
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "The same Lebanon that
ousted Syria must also throw out the weapons
threatening Israel's security."

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

"Go For the Strategic Weapons"

Senior columnist Shaul Schiff wrote in the editorial of
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (5/31): "On Sunday,
Lebanon asked for a cease-fire and the IDF acceded to
that request. But the same Lebanon that ousted Syria
must also throw out the weapons threatening Israel's
security. This demand can't be allowed to leave the
agenda -- directly or indirectly. Hizbullah's honor
was harmed this week. It might attack again. If the
[IDF] Chief of Staff hit Hizbullah's entire strategic
infrastructure far away from the Lebanese border, it
would be his finest hour."

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

3. Iran:
--------------

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

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "A common
definition of the threats that would justify American
intervention on behalf of Israel, and the start of an
orderly process of operational planning for an
emergency are required."

Prof. Uzi Arad, the Director of the Institute of Policy
and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, who was a
senior advisor to former prime minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, wrote in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot: "[Israel] must contribute to blocking Iran's
nuclear program to the best of its ability, and must do
so quietly and wisely, while already mobilizing and
gathering its resources and strengths for the events to
come."

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


I. "An Umbrella or Handcuffs?"

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/31): "President
George W. Bush's declaration, during his meeting with
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that in the event of an
Iranian attack on Israel the U.S. would come to
Israel's aid is the expression of a strategic change in
relations between the two countries. It is a
presidential commitment, stronger than ever, to bring
Israel under the American defense umbrella.... Bush's
statement seemingly is a step in the direction of the
defense alliance, even if it is a verbal promise that
is not enough to send a military force. For it to be
translated into practical steps, a common definition of
the threats that would justify American intervention on
behalf of Israel, and the start of an orderly process
of operational planning for an emergency are required.
Otherwise, it is only a statement with moral authority
that expresses friendship and support, but not much
beyond that."

II. "The Campaign for Blocking Iran"

Prof. Uzi Arad, the Director of the Institute of Policy
and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, who was a
senior advisor to former prime minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, wrote in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot (5/31): "If even under sanctions, Iran does
not halt its progress towards nuclear capability, the
United States' determination will then be tested, and
military force will be the last measure left in its
hands.... If the US chooses not to take military
action, and effectively throws up its hands, then the
dilemma will reach Israel, which will have to decide
whether to take military action or not. Israel has not
known such a fateful dilemma in the last generation,
and this is not the place to spell out the
considerations that will guide it in making such a
decision. If, under these circumstances, Israel
decides for its own reasons not to exercise the
military option -- then, and only then, is the forecast
in which Iran achieves its goal liable to materialize.
Israel will then have to adjust to the new strategic
situation, and adapt its security policy
accordingly.... One thing is clear. Israel should not
be following the evolving confrontation stoically. It
must contribute to blocking Iran's nuclear program to
the best of its ability, and must do so quietly and
wisely, while already mobilizing and gathering its
resources and strengths for the events to come."

CRETZ