Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TELAVIV407
2006-01-30 12:17:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

Tags:  IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 000407

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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PA Elections: Hamas Victory

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

During the weekend, leading media reported that
international bodies, including the U.S., are
threatening to cut their financial aid to the PA.
Ha'aretz's web site reported that French Ambassador to
Israel Gerard Araud told the newspaper that the EU is
considering transferring financial aid to the
Palestinians through mediators, such as NGOs. The
Jerusalem Post, which cited Western diplomatic sources,
reported that Saudi Arabia could bail the PA out of an
impending fiscal crisis following the landslide victory
of Hamas if it transfers the USD 100 million it pledged
to PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas when he
visited there in late December. The newspaper wrote
that in addition to bailing out the PA, the money would
also give Israel and the world more time to ponder how
to deal with the PA following Hamas's victory. On
Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that Arab-League Secretary-
General Amr Moussa told the newspaper during the
weekend in Davos, Switzerland, that the Arab League
will move as quickly as possible to help raise funds
for the PA. The media reported that during a press
conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela
Merkel on Sunday, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
announced that he has decided to postpone the monthly
transfer of tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf
of the PA, because of Hamas's victory. All media
quoted Merkel as saying that Berlin would have no
contact with Hamas until it disavowed terrorism and
recognized Israel and all agreements signed with it.

On Sunday, leading media quoted Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz as saying over the weekend that if Hamas
perpetrates terrorism against Israel, Israel will
return to the policy of targeted killing. On Sunday,
Yediot quoted former prime minister Shimon Peres, who
holds the second slot on Kadima's Knesset list, as
saying in Davos during the weekend that he believes

that the Israeli government should hold negotiations
with the Palestinian government led by Hamas, on
condition that Hamas "not come to the negotiations with
guns."

Israel Radio quoted Mahmoud Zahar, the top Hamas
representative in Gaza, as saying in an interview with
CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Sunday that if Israel "is ready
to give us the national demand to withdraw from the
occupied area [in] '67; to release our detainees; to
stop their aggression; to make geographic link between
Gaza Strip and West Bank, at that time, with assurance
from other sides, we are going to accept to establish
our independent state at that time, and give us one or
two, 10, 15 years time in order to see what is the real
intention of Israel after that." Zahar also said: "We
can accept to establish our independent state on the
area occupied [in] '67." Ha'aretz quoted the deputy
head of Hamas's political bureau, Musa Abu-Marzouk as
saying in an interview with Fatah-affiliated Al-Haqayiq
that Hamas will not oppose Abbas if the latter decides
to negotiate with Israel. On Sunday, Maariv chose to
highlight remarks by Hamas's political leader Khaled
Mashal that Palestine extends from the Mediterranean
Sea to the Jordan River, while Ha'aretz cited Mashal's
comment that Hamas will the existing agreements
practically.

Israel Radio quoted Likud Chairman MK Binyamin
Netanyahu as saying that Hamas's victory is akin to the
Nazis' in 1933. Yediot reported that the Likud intends
to launch a campaign linking Olmert with Hamas.

On Sunday, Yediot reported that the Palestinians sent a
small group of economists and businessmen from the
private and business sectors, led by PA Economic
Affairs Minister Mazen Senokrot to the World Economic
Forum in Davos, the "clear goal" to show the conference
participants what they saw as Palestinian economic
achievements and to convince as many of them as
possible to come to the business and investors'
conference that the PA has been planning to hold in
Bethlehem in April. Yediot reported that James
Wolfensohn, the former president of the World Bank and
now the Quartet special envoy, told the newspaper: "The
PA desperately needs a hundred million dollars at the
beginning of the month. Without it, there is no way to
pay the salaries of its more than 150,000 employees. It
is completely bankrupt. The people who do not receive
their salaries will go out into the streets. On the
other hand, I don't expect that the donor countries or
any international economic body will be willing to give
aid funds to the government assembled and led by a
terrorist organization that rules out Israel's very
right to exist. Hamas will have to make a decision
over the next several days, and at most, weeks."

Today's major Hebrew-language newspapers led with the
issues of Hebron's wholesale market and the illegal
settler outpost of Amona. The media reported that a
compromise has been reached between the state and the
Hebron settlers, according to which those who invaded
the market's shops will leave them voluntarily and that
other families will legally replace them in the future.
The media, which reported that on Sunday, the High
Court of Justice approved the evacuation of Amona,
expect violent clashes there.

During the weekend, Ha'aretz reported that U.S. Jewish
leaders are considering providing financial support to
Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former American
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) employees on
trial for their entanglement in a high-profile affair
over which former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin was
sentenced to 12 years in prison for providing
classified information to AIPAC -- via Rosen and
Weissman -- and to Israel via senior Israeli Embassy
official Naor Gilon.

All media reported on the death of the famed cabbalist
Rabbi Kaduri on Saturday, and of his funeral in
Jerusalem on Sunday, which was attended by 250,000
people.

Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that three
NASA astronauts -- Steve Robinson, Eileen Collins, and
Andrew Thomas -- arrived in Israel on Sunday to
commemorate the third anniversary of the Columbia space
shuttle disaster, in which Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon
and the rest of the crew lost their lives.

Google's co-founder Sergey Brin was quoted as saying in
an interview with Ha'aretz in Davos that his company
"is in the process of establishing an R&D center in
Israel."

Yediot cited a claim by the defenders of underworld
kingpin Zeev Rosenstein that the state prosecution has
let the expiry date set for his extradition to the U.S.
go by. Rosenstein is supposed to be put on trial in
the U.S. for drug-smuggling offenses.

Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling
Institute survey, which show that Likud is gaining
points, while the Labor Party is weakening: Kadima
would get 42 Knesset seats (41 in the newspaper's
previous poll); the Labor Party would win 19 seats
(22); the Likud would get 16 seats (13).

--------------
PA Elections: Hamas Victory:
--------------

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

Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote on page one of independent, left-leaning
Ha'aretz: "The results [of the Palestinian Legislative
Council elections] will force the American leaders to
shift their emphasis and take more interest in the
possible results of democratic elections in Arab states
that lack a real democratic heritage, and where radical
religious circles wield crucial influence."

Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The spirit of
Hamas is the inner truth of the Palestinian people....
Placing the burden of blame on Israel's policies is an
act of arrogance."

Ha'aretz editorialized: "It would be best if Israel
ultimately decided to give the Palestinian Authority
the [tax monies] that it collects on behalf of the
PA.... But ... Hamas leaders must not be allowed to
evade responsibility."

Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv: "There was no [Israeli]
policy and no concept, and if there were they were
confused and contradictory. In the meantime Hamas is
in power and Israel continues with its simulations."

Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in Ha'aretz:
"Putting an end to the occupation is still the order of
the day, even after the Palestinian Authority
elections."

Hebrew University Communications and Political Science
Professor Eytan Gilboa, currently on sabbatical at the
University of Southern California, wrote in Yediot
Aharonot: "Elections should be the last -- and not the
first -- step in the establishment of a democracy."

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist
Barry Rubin, wrote in the conservative, independent
Jerusalem Post: "If the relatively secular Fatah
generally followed this pattern and rejected
moderation, why should Hamas be any different?"

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


I. "U.S. Taken By Surprise -- Israel Less So"

Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote on page one of independent, left-leaning
Ha'aretz (January 29): "Before the Palestinian
parliamentary elections the United States and Israel
had an argument about their outcome. While American
intelligence predicted Fatah would win and the new
Palestinian government would be able to disarm Hamas,
Israeli intelligence argued that there was no chance of
a significant Fatah triumph, that Hamas would increase
its strength considerably and that Hamas would win up
to 50 percent of the votes.... In any case, it figured,
Fatah would not be able to disarm Hamas.... The
Americans, certain of Fatah's victory, said it was
better to hold elections on schedule. In retrospect it
is clear that the Americans put more emphasis on the
democratic process itself, rather than its outcome.
The results will force the American leaders to shift
their emphasis and take more interest in the possible
results of democratic elections in Arab states that
lack a real democratic heritage, and where radical
religious circles wield crucial influence."

II. "It Is Not Our Fault"

Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 29):
"One explanation posits that Hamas gained in strength
because our disengagement from the Gaza Strip taught
the Palestinians that Israel can be defeated by the
power of the sword and, therefore, the sword-bearers
are worthy of leading them. Another explanation posits
that Hamas won because we weakened the Palestinian
Authority until it lacked sufficient strength to meet
the Palestinian population's needs and to enforce its
authority over the armed organizations. Both those
arguments place full blame on us and contradict one
another: the former pins Hamas's success on our
concessions while the latter on our intractability.
Both are shaky.... The truth was otherwise: the spirit
of Hamas is the inner truth of the Palestinian people.
It has been exposed now not because it did not exist in
the past but because the free elections allowed it to
come out into the light of day.... Placing the burden
of blame on Israel's policies is an act of arrogance.
We tend to think that our actions and failings are the
principal agent that shapes the spirit of Palestinian
society, but that is not the case. What has a greater
impact are trends that are pervasive throughout the
Arab world, where Islam has been winning out over
nationalism, a product that the Arabs imported from the
West and only served to disappoint them.... In the
years ahead we have a single task: to hunker down and
to fortify ourselves behind borders that we will
determine in keeping with the criteria that a majority
of Israelis have already made peace with."

III. "Full Government Responsibility"

Ha'aretz editorialized (January 30): "It would be best
if Israel ultimately decided to give the Palestinian
Authority the value-added taxes and customs duties that
it collects on behalf of the PA. This money belongs to
the Palestinians, not to Israel, and it will help the
PA only slightly, as its financial situation is
disastrous.... But ... Hamas leaders must not be
allowed to evade responsibility. Whatever government
is formed in the PA today, it will be under Hamas's
direct and absolute control. In any case, cabinet
members will need the approval of the parliament, where
Hamas has an absolute majority, for any decision they
make. Therefore, there is complete justification for
demanding that Hamas's leadership state its positions
publicly and clearly: does it intend to continue terror
attacks under the guise of resistance to the
occupation? Will it negotiate with Israel based on the
formula of mutual recognition and the principle of two
states for two peoples, which was laid down in the Oslo
Accord?"

IV. "We Knew, But We Did Nothing"

Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv (January 30): "Anyone who
claims that Israel did not know that Hamas was about to
win the Palestinian Authority elections, does not know
what he is talking about. In mid-November I talked to
a very senior security official who already believed
Hamas would receive at least 45 percent of the vote and
the chances that it would win the election were high.
Palestinian journalists who are close to the grass
roots dismissed this prediction, which means that
Israel knew better than many Palestinians what was
going to happen.... The government was totally
negligent in the face of an event that it perceived as
dangerous, and did nothing about the new neighbors who
were moving in on the other side of the door... The
Israeli policy towards the elections was ambivalent and
triple-intentioned, which means in effect that there
was no policy.... Should Israel have intervened in the
elections, to deflect the expected result and thwart
the Hamas threat? The answer of the top security brass
was, predictably, yes and no. Our main interest, they
said, was to grant the Palestinians the responsibility
for their fate and for determining their future, even
if they should elect Hamas.... In short, there was no
policy and no concept, and if there were they were
confused and contradictory. In the meantime Hamas is
in power and Israel continues with its simulations."



V. "Guide For the Dumbstruck Dove"

Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in Ha'aretz
(January 29): "At first glance, the results of the
elections in the Palestinian Authority were the death
knell for the left's way of looking at the world: when
the majority of the Palestinian people votes for a
party that, for religious reasons, rejects the right of
the Jewish people to have a state on part of the Land
of Israel, it affirms the Israeli right's understanding
of the essence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict....
[But] putting an end to the occupation is still the
order of the day, even after the Palestinian Authority
elections. It is difficult to calculate the
contribution of the occupation to the success of Hamas,
to determine the extent to which its victory reflects
the heartfelt desire of the Palestinian people (and the
Arabs in general, in light of the nature of the Arab
regimes and the status of Islam within them) versus the
extent it is a product of their suffering under Israeli
rule."

VI. "Good News"

Hebrew University Communications and Political Science
Professor Eytan Gilboa, currently on sabbatical at the
University of Southern California, wrote in Yediot
Aharonot (January 30): "The West relates to free
elections as a first and key test of the existence of
democracy. The Bush administration in particular is
seized with an obsession to hold as many quick
elections in the Middle East and use them in order to
present supposed progress in the war on terror.
However, free elections are an important yet
insufficient component in a democracy.... Elections
should be the last -- and not the first -- step in the
establishment of a democracy."

VII. "Hamas: What the Nationalist Sowed, the Islamist
Reaped"

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist
Barry Rubin, wrote in the conservative, independent
Jerusalem Post (January 30): "The landslide victory of
the Islamist Hamas in the January 25 Palestinian
elections marks the collapse of the Palestinian
national movement.... Fatah, and the PLO of which it
was a part, never made gaining a Palestinian state its
priority. On the contrary, the goal was one of total
victory in which Israel would be wiped off the map.
Anything short of that outcome, including achieving a
smaller Palestinian state, was not only a distraction
from that goal, it was outright treason.... If Fatah is
incapable of achieving anything material, why should
Palestinians support it?.... Whenever Fatah had to
decide between sacrificing its ideology or its people's
well-being, the nationalists always chose to sacrifice
the latter. If the relatively secular Fatah generally
followed this pattern and rejected moderation, why
should Hamas be any different?"

JONES