ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 002789 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: -------------- Israel-Lebanon Crisis -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Major media quoted President Bush as saying Thursday: "Israel has the right to defend herself. Secondly, whatever Israel does should not weaken ... the government of Lebanon. The President was speaking at a news conference after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Israel Radio and other media reported that on Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to exercise restraint in its attacks against Lebanese targets and demanded Syria press Hizbullah guerrillas to stop attacking Israel. Israel Radio reported that Israel's leaders exposed the GOI's position to visiting Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams and Assistant Secretary of State David Welch. The radio said that Israel expected Washington to use levers such as Syria to resolve the crisis. All media led with the intensive Katyusha rocket attack on northern Israel and Israel's vigorous response. Yediot bannered: "The Target: Nasrallah" and Maariv: "Crushing Hizbullah." Besides the woman killed in Nahariya, as reported here on Thursday, a man was killed in Safed and up to 115 other Israelis were wounded. Last night, a Katyusha rocket struck Haifa. In response, the IAF set alight fuel storage tankers at Beirut International Airport and targeted the Shi'ite neighborhood of Dahiya, which houses Hizbullah's HQ and the residence of the movement's Secretary-General, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. The Jerusalem Post reported that Justice Minister Haim Ramon suggested Thursday that Nasrallah was a target for assassination. The media also reported that Israel hit around 100 targets, bombarding major roads, including the Beirut-Damascus highway. Major media reported that at least 58 Lebanese were killed in Israeli attacks. Leading media quoted Defense Minister Amir Peretz as saying Thursday that Hizbullah will not be allowed to return to the Israeli border and that Israel "is changing the rules of the game entirely." Ha'aretz quoted Israeli political sources as saying that Israel will demand that all Hizbullah forces withdraw from the Israeli border and that a buffer zone is created in southern Lebanon as a condition for any cease-fire agreement. Major media reported that Lebanon has announced that it is interested in a cease-fire. Leading media reported that some Lebanese cabinet ministers have strongly criticized Hizbullah and Syria for their role in the current developments. Leading media reported that the UN Security Council scheduled an urgent meeting for today. Israel Radio quoted US Representative to the UN Ambassador John Bolton as saying that the draft resolution presented to the Council was "unbalanced." Major media quoted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as saying Thursday that a SIPDIS UN team will come to the Middle East in the coming days to try to defuse the conflict with Hizbullah and Hamas. Leading media reported that on Thursday, the EU accused Israel of using "disproportionate" force in response to Wednesday's raid by Hizbullah. Yediot and other media quoted senior Israeli political sources as saying that the international window of opportunity that opened to an Israeli military action has started to close following the positions expressed by world countries regarding the escalation in the region. Israel Radio and other media quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Thursday in a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar Assad that an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world that would bring a "fierce response." Israel Radio reported that in an announcement released Thursday, Saudi Arabia placed indirect responsibility for the events on Hizbullah. Today at midday, Israel Radio quoted Syria's Ambassador to the UK as saying that Hizbullah must desist from its rocket fire against Israel. Maariv and other media quoted Deputy Foreign Ministry DG Gideon Meir as saying Thursday that Israel knows that Hizbullah intends to move the two captured soldiers to Iran so that they cannot be rescued by the IDF. Israel Radio cited Iran's denial that the two soldiers were moved to its territory. Ha'aretz cited Israel's belief that Hizbullah has missiles that can hit most of Israel, and which could even strike Beersheva under optimum conditions. Yediot cited Israel's concern that the IDF actions in Lebanon might lead to retaliatory attacks against Israeli tourists and Israeli embassies abroad. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday, PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas expressed fears that the latest tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border could deteriorate into a regional war. Abbas vowed to do his utmost to ease tensions between Israel on the one hand and Hamas and Hizbullah on the other. Abbas was speaking to reporters after meeting with visiting Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi. Israel Radio cited Arab sources that Shin Bet head Avraham Diskin met with Abbas in Amman last week. Major media reported that early Thursday morning, the IAF bombarded the Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Gaza City, seriously damaging the building and wounding 10 Palestinians. Yediot and Maariv cited the IDF's belief that Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who was wounded in an IAF bombardment in Gaza City on Wednesday, is paralyzed and in a critical condition. This morning, Israel Radio reported that the IAF continued its strikes on infrastructure targets in the Gaza Strip. Leading media reported that the IDF will not appoint an external committee of inquiry into Hizbullah's attack along the northern border on Wednesday, in which eight soldiers were killed and two others were kidnapped. Instead, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has decided to make do for now with an in-house review by Northern Command officers. Leading media reported that on Thursday, the Beersheva District Court indicted two young Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. They are accused of being members of Hamas and of having infiltrated Israel in order to kidnap and murder a soldier or a civilian. Ha'aretz reported that major Jewish-American organizations and several US Christian organizations have voiced their support for the IDF's actions in Lebanon. Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that an increasing number of American immigrants in Israel are working for US firms by "telecommuting" with them through the Internet. Hatzofe cited the results of a poll conducted by Maagar Mohot, an institute directed by Prof. Yitzhak Katz, on behalf of the newspapers Makor Rishon, Yisraeli, and Hatzofe, which found that 73 percent of respondents support PM Ehud Olmert's realignment plan, and that 27 percent are opposed to it. The poll also found that 87 percent of respondents believe that Israelis have no knowledge of the plan, whereas 13 percent believe that Israelis know about the plan. [The three newspapers, including Yisraeli, a free daily distributed in the streets of Israeli cities, belong to one single group with a strong right-wing orientation]. -------------- Israel-Lebanon Crisis: -------------- Summary: -------------- Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The US will think twice before acting on its own, and will pay extra attention to what is said in Europe and the rest of the world before taking any steps." Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "If it is possible to achieve our security goals through diplomacy, a temporary cease-fire should be declared -- and hopefully, these aims can be achieved without inflaming the entire region." Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv: "The [world's] feeble behavior during the nuclear crises in Iran and North Korea, and the American entanglement in Iran, must make clear that can Israel solve its own problems only by itself." Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The Shi'ite leader erred in his reading of the Israeli political map and his analysis of Olmert, Peretz, and Halutz." Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in Maariv: "[Israel's response to Hizbullah] stems from Israel acting in its interest." Former Ambassador to the US Prof. Itamar Rabinovich wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "The dividing line between the Lebanese and Syrian arenas is a virtual one." Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "Today, Nasrallah is the nightmare of the Lebanese. No one will shed a tear the minute he disappears." The Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The international community cannot expect Iran to take its brinkmanship seriously when, at the same moment it threatens sanctions, it refuses to clearly take Israel's side against Iran's blatant act of proxy aggression." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Backing Off" Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (7/14): "Why is the US staying on the sidelines of this crisis? One reason may be bad timing.... As a lead-in to the summit in Russia, President Bush is trying to project a new US image to replace that of 'cowboy diplomacy,' as Time Magazine labeled it in this week's cover story -- one that embrace multilateralism, diplomacy, and negotiations.... What it means for the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is that the US will think twice before acting on its own, and will pay extra attention to what is said in Europe and the rest of the world before taking any steps. The US, to be sure, remains the world leader of the anti-Hamas approach. It is also the country setting the tone on the issue of not legitimizing terrorist groups -- even democratically elected ones. But as far as executing concrete measures is concerned, the process will be long and subtle. The other reason the US is having difficulty with the current situation in Israel is its lack of effective channels of communication with Hamas, Hizbullah, and Syria." II. "Time Out In the Fighting" Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (7/14): "The launching of Qassam and Katyusha rockets at Israeli citizens in Sderot and the Galilee is unacceptable; the sole question is, what it the best way of stopping them?.... Israel has a very powerful military and everyone in the region understands this. But even when there are grounds for employing force, the military's full power should not be used, no matter how justified the action may be. If it is possible to achieve our security goals through diplomacy, a temporary cease-fire should be declared -- and hopefully, these aims can be achieved without inflaming the entire region." III. "Let Them Not Preach" Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (7/14): "Proportion is a question of geography, or at least of perspective. The IDF has hardly begun to pound Lebanon, and many important people have started talking to us about proportion. They say that what the Israel Air Force is doing in Lebanon is not proportionate to what Hizbullah did to us. This is what Russia said on Thursday. That country left its proportion on every building that is still standing in Grozny, the Chechnyan capital.... The [world's] feeble behavior during the nuclear crises in Iran and North Korea, and the American entanglement in Iran, must make clear that can Israel solve its own problems only by itself." IV. "Nasrallah's Mistake" Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/14): "The strategic mistake belongs to Nasrallah. The Shi'ite leader erred in his reading of the Israeli political map and his analysis of Olmert, Peretz, and Halutz. That trio is demonstrating serenity and is prepared to fight back in dimensions hitherto unknown in this region. This is not the first time in Israel that a government composed of 'peace lovers' and not of right- wing 'warmongers' has no compunction about making extreme moves, which involve harming 'innocents.'" ¶V. "The Time of Fire Has Come" Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in Maariv (7/14): "No less that the killing and abduction of IDF soldiers ... Hassan Nasrallah's speech left the government in Jerusalem no choice but to strike forcefully and immediately.... This was not done because of a whim frustration, and anger.... Neither was it done as to punish Hizbullah, although it would be legitimate; the reason was not the honor of the Jewish state, although this is legitimate too. It stems from Israel acting in its interest. [Nasrallah] acted as if Olmert, Amir Peretz, and Dan Halutz are no more than Neville Chamberlains. The must prove through their operation that ... they are built like scions of Winston Spencer Churchill." VI. "On the Way to a Confrontation With Syria" Former Ambassador to the US Prof. Itamar Rabinovich wrote in Yediot Aharonot (7/14): "At this stage, Israel focuses its responses on the deterioration along its northern border and in Lebanon -- both in its offensive and public relations. But the dividing line between the Lebanese and Syrian arenas is a virtual one, and the chances of the conflict developing into a tripartite Israeli-Lebanese-Syria one-- and even in a quadripartite one with Iran -- are high." VII. "Nasrallah Has Become Lebanon's Nightmare" Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in Yediot Aharonot (7/14): "Over the past two days it came clear to Nasrallah that his removal from the arena and the disarming of Hizbullah are not only Israel's dream, but also the dream of many Lebanese who are sick of paying the price of his whimsy.... There is no doubt that Nasrallah has gotten Lebanon into trouble. There is no doubt that he did not guess to what extent the pictures from Gaza terrify the ordinary citizen in Lebanon. After the murder of Hariri, Lebanon had learned not to fear and to get out into the streets in order to dispel the nightmares. Today, Nasrallah is the nightmare of the Lebanese. No one will shed a tear the minute he disappears." VIII. "Fighting Seamless Jihad" The Jerusalem Post editorialized (7/14): "It is inconceivable that Hizbullah attacked Israel without the knowledge and blessing of Iran, on which it is wholly dependent. The international community cannot expect Iran to take its brinkmanship seriously when, at the same moment it threatens sanctions, it refuses to clearly take Israel's side against Iran's blatant act of proxy aggression. We cannot even say we have reached the end of the beginning before free nations show something of the solidarity and clarity of purpose that the jihadis -- in Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Al Qaida -- show against us." JONES