ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 000305 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. Lebanese-Syrian Track -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Today, all major media led with stories related to Wednesday's scheduled elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. Ha'aretz quoted GOI sources in Jerusalem as saying that the U.S. administration has promised Israel that the U.S. will not recognize any Palestinian government in which Hamas participates. Yediot reported that members of the defense establishment presented to Acting PM Ehud Olmert a scenario toward the elections, according to which Fatah would win and collaborate with Hamas. All media reported that on Sunday, jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti called on Hamas and other Palestinian factions to join a broad national coalition after the elections. He said Fatah and Hamas "are heading toward being partners in the field and in parliament." The media noted that Barghouti spoke from prison in an interview with Al Jazeera-TV and Al Arabiya-TV, which Olmert authorized. Major media reported that Olmert appointed a monitoring team that will present recommendations to the government. Dov Weisglass will head the team, which will be composed of IDF C-o-S Dan Halutz, Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin, and Foreign Ministry DG Ron Prosor. Maariv and Israel Radio reported that Olmert also instructed National Security Adviser Giora Eiland to present separate recommendations pertaining to scenarios in the PA. On Sunday, Yediot quoted high-ranking Israeli political officials as saying that Israel will not resign itself to a situation in which Hamas takes part in the Palestinian government, unless Hamas is disarmed and rescinds the organization's charter that calls for the destruction of Israel. On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that senior IDF officers told the newspaper recently that Hamas is expected to continue its pause in attacks after the Palestinian elections. Maariv and Israel Radio reported that the IDF will avoid acting in the territories for three days leading up to and during the elections (according to the radio, this excludes cases of "ticking bombs"). Leading media quoted Halutz as saying Sunday at the Herzliya Conference that there is likely to be a violent clash between Fatah and Hamas, should Hamas win the elections. Halutz was also quoted as saying that Israel must prepare for the possibility that the elections will result in new violence against it. On Sunday, Ha'aretz wrote that Olmert is expected to reaffirm Israel's commitment to the Roadmap, but not to call for a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank during his speech at the Herzliya Conference on Tuesday. On Sunday, Maariv quoted Mofaz as saying at the conference Saturday that he would support unilateral moves if there is no Palestinian partner. Leading media quoted Likud Chairman MK Binyamin Netanyahu as saying Sunday at the Herzliya Conference that he is prepared to make territorial concessions as part of an interim agreement and final-status agreement with the Palestinians. Netanyahu called for fortifying the security zones and completing construction of the separation fence around the major settlement blocs. Major media quoted Labor Party Chairman MK Amir Peretz as saying Sunday at a party convention that he is willing to withdraw from parts of the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The media noted that Peretz moved back from The Labor Party's dovish platform. Yediot quoted him as saying that he will follow the courses of Clinton and Blair." At the same time, media quoted Peretz as saying that Israel would retain united Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel. The Jerusalem Post's web site and Israel Radio quoted former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who arrived in the region to monitor the PA elections, as urging the Palestinians at the Herzliya Conference this morning to use every means possible, including "direct military confrontation," against those in their community who advocate violence and "despicable" suicide bombings. Major media cited The Washington Post as saying Sunday that the U.S. is helping Fatah through USAID-funded projects in PA-controlled territories. Ha'aretz and Maariv quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi as saying on Sunday that Israel would be making a "fatal mistake" by initiating military action against Iran. His comments came in response to statements made by Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz at the Herzliya Conference on Saturday that "Israel will not be willing to accept nuclear armament in Iran" and must prepare to defend itself, "with everything it entails." On Sunday, Yediot quoted a senior Israeli defense source as saying that Syria is turning into a vassal state of Iran, as Syrian President Bashar Assad is entrusted with carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets, which would be planned by Iranian intelligence. The newspaper wrote that the source's remarks are based on classified intelligence received over the weekend by Israeli intelligence officials. On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post quoted National Security Council head Giora Eiland as saying at the Herzliya Conference Saturday that Israel is more concerned about Lebanon than Syria, and worried that Al Qaida will exploit the weak government there for its benefit. Maariv quoted Foreign Ministry DG Ron Prosor as saying at the Herzliya Conference Sunday that Israel is engaged in secret diplomatic contacts with a number of Muslim countries, with a view of establishing official ties in the future. Over the weekend, the media reported that on Saturday, a Virginia court sentenced former Pentagon analyst Larry A. Franklin to 12 years and seven months in jail for sharing classified information with AIPAC lobbyists and Israeli diplomat Naor Gilon. He was also fined USD 10,000. On Sunday, Maariv reported that Israeli officials refused to comment on the affair, and quoted Israel's Ambassador to Washington Danny Ayalon as saying that this was a "domestic matter." Today, Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that major American Jewish leaders Abe Foxman and Malcolm Hoenlein expressed their dismay at the sentence. On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post printed a Jewish Telegraphic Agency story that in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal, Jewish groups in the U.S. are closely watching to restrict lawmakers' lobbyist-sponsored travel, which could have a devastating impact on Israel trips that build support for Israel in Congress. Leading media reported that the Jerusalem District Court has ordered Hamas to pay 90 million shekels (around USD 19.5 million) to two families from the West Bank settlement of Elon More who lost four family members in a terrorist attack in 2002. Leading media cited a report published by State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss on Sunday, according to which the defense establishment has dragged its feet unconscionably over protecting towns near the Gaza border from rocket and mortar attacks in the post- pullout era. The Jerusalem Post quoted former Spanish FM Ana Palacio as saying at the Herzliya Conference Sunday that in the age of global terrorism, NATO should expand into the Middle and Asia to include countries such as Japan, Australia, and Israel. On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Dalai Lama will visit Israel next month. The newspaper wrote that his visit will focus on the spiritual, rather than the political. The newspaper noted that his visits to Israel are controversial because of Israel's close relationship with the Chinese government. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "[The U.S. administration] applied to [Mahmoud Abbas] the rule that any child knows from playing chess: once you make your move, you cannot take it back." Independent, left-left leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Whether the new Palestinian leadership constitutes a 'partner' will depend first and foremost on its willingness to talk with Israel.... But it will also depend on Israel's leaders and the strategy they adopt." Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz: "The partnership with Hamas will make it clear to Abu Mazen that he is authorized to conduct negotiations with Israel, of course, but that neither he nor Fatah has the exclusive right to define the borders of Palestinian nation consensus." Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: "The platforms of the leading parties in both Israel and the territories are badges of honor for Israeli and Palestinian public opinion." Anti-Zionist Baruch Kimmerling, a Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University, wrote in Ha'aretz: "A unilateral and forced determination of borders, even with the support of the United States, will lead to the escalation and deepening of the conflict with the Palestinians." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Snake on Your Doorstep" Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in mass- circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 23): "Hamas's running in the elections is an Israeli diplomatic failure. When Abu Mazen was in Washington in September, he persuaded Bush and Rice that without elections he cannot govern. First Hamas will run in the elections, and then it will become a political party and disarm, he said. Tzipi Livni traveled to Washington and raised an outcry. It did not help: the Americans were fixated on the conception of the elections. Afterwards, when Abu Mazen was alarmed at the rise in Hamas's strength and asked to postpone the elections, the administration told him: it is too late. It applied to him the rule that any child knows from playing chess: once you make your move, you cannot take it back. Most Israelis have despaired of the Palestinian Authority. Their only interest at present is in reducing terrorism. From the standpoint of Kadima, the only party that is currently represented in the government, there is another interest here, an electoral interest: a wave of terror on the eve of the elections could transfer votes to the right-wing parties. The government, like all our governments, seeks eternal calm, but it is particularly important for it to maintain the calm until March 28. Reducing the scope of terror, even a short-term reduction, is an important goal. The question is what price Israel is willing to pay for this in the long term. A poisonous snake is building its nest on our doorstep. The fact that it is sated at the moment does not mean that it will be sated forever." II. "A Test For Democracy" Independent, left-left leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (January 23): "The Palestinian public in the territories and East Jerusalem will decide in another two days what the new Palestinian leadership will look like.... It is possible to derive encouragement from the fact that this time, Hamas and some of the radical Palestinian organizations have agreed to operate within the same political framework as the leadership of the Palestinian Authority -- an institution established on the basis of the Oslo Accords. This creates a chance for implementing the principle that Mahmoud Abbas has advocated, and that Israel supports: one government, one law, one gun.... Israel can join several states in both the Middle East and the rest of the world that are fearful and suspicious of the possibility that the next Palestinian Authority will include elements that are defined as terrorist organizations and that do not recognize Israel's right to exist. But it cannot ignore the fact that any such new Palestinian leadership would be the direct result of long years of occupation, armed struggle and a freeze in the diplomatic process.... Whether the new Palestinian leadership constitutes a 'partner' will depend first and foremost on its willingness to talk with Israel. As for the substance and quality of this leadership, this will depend to a great extent on the individuals who head it. But it will also depend on Israel's leaders and the strategy they adopt." III. "Tzipi Livni's Complaint" Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz (January 22): "Alas, 'the elections in the Palestinian Authority were supposed to be part of the democratic process, but they are not. There is no democracy in the world that would allow a terrorist organization to participate in elections,' cried the new Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni. There is no basis, of course, for this emotion. Even the United States agreed to allow people suspected of terror activity to participate in its two new 'democracies' -- Iraq and Afghanistan -- if only in the hope that it might help the governments in these states win some sort of legitimacy.... Livni, therefore, can calm down and turn her attention to several other non-democratic matters that are happening in the PA areas -- the checkpoints, the felling of trees, the theft of land. Hamas's participation in the parliamentary elections is the least of her worries. She will find alongside Hamas, in the same parliament, representatives of other terror organizations, such as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the Fatah Hawks, and perhaps even the Popular Front, as well as independent activists, including some who have led armed street gangs and some who have participated in terror attacks. The participation of these people is designed to build the legitimate political infrastructure for Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen),and not for Ehud Olmert.... This is the political product of the Intifada: the partnership with Hamas will make it clear to Abu Mazen that he is authorized to conduct negotiations with Israel, of course, but that neither he nor Fatah has the exclusive right to define the borders of Palestinian nation consensus." IV. "Public Opinion Is the Torch" Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz (January 23): "The sizable public of Kadima supporters will thus have a unique opportunity to influence the government in the coming years. A host of surveys show that this public, which likes to call itself the 'center,' is actually located in the heart of the left: a majority of Israelis support resuming negotiations with the Palestinians on the basis of two states with the border more or less along the Green Line, a division of Jerusalem and a solution to the refugee problem outside the framework of the 'right of return.' They have cold-shouldered the Zionist leftist parties and flocked to Kadima not because they have reservations about a compromise along the lines of the Clinton outline or the Geneva Initiative, but because they lack faith in our Palestinian partner. A similar phenomenon can be observed in our neighbors' public opinion.... Even Hamas members, who considered signing the Oslo Accord to be worse than eating pork, cannot swim against this current, and they are fighting over every seat in the parliament that was established by dint of that accord. Hamas, like the Israeli right, is relying on the other side to do its work and confirm the claim that 'there is no partner.' The platforms of the leading parties in both Israel and the territories are badges of honor for Israeli and Palestinian public opinion. This public opinion is the torch that precedes the march, and ultimately, it will force the politicians to make the right decisions." ¶V. "The Fence Will Never Be a Border" Anti-Zionist Baruch Kimmerling, a Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University, wrote in Ha'aretz (January 23): "There is no doubt that a unilateral and forced determination of borders, even with the support of the United States, will lead to the escalation and deepening of the conflict with the Palestinians, will increase their motivation to fight Israel and will not contribute to its citizens' security.... [Likewise], the route of the [separation] fence -- which runs inside the West Bank, joins about 10 percent of its territory to Israel, seriously interferes with lives of nearly half a million Palestinians and cuts up the West Bank into at least three enclaves -- will never be a recognized border but will only exacerbate and prolong the conflict between us and the Palestinians." -------------- ¶2. Lebanese-Syrian Track: -------------- Summary: -------------- The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "This ruthless organization [Hizbullah] is not just Israel's problem, it symbolizes a status Lebanon seeks to shed -- that of Syrian satrapy plagued by marauding militias." Block Quotes: -------------- "Disarm Hizbullah" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (January 22): "Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah last Thursday attempted to wash his hands of Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad, and announced, while concocting a convoluted plot, that Arad is dead and responsible for his own demise. Nevertheless, Nasrallah continues to demand the release of all Lebanese incarcerated in Israel, some with heinous terrorist records.... The yarn spun by Nasrallah a few days ago is a recycled version of one already peddled 10 years back. It's as fantastic and patently unbelievable as is much of what was hitherto relayed to Israel.... Because Nasrallah now claims he has no information to bargain with, we must be extra vigilant to make sure he doesn't successfully resort to more deadly extortion in the aid of the same agenda. In addition, the international pressure on Lebanon to disarm Hizbullah and deploy its own army on its southern border, and on Syria to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon, should be increased. This ruthless organization is not just Israel's problem, it symbolizes a status Lebanon seeks to shed -- that of Syrian satrapy plagued by marauding militias." JONES