ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 004354

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 ICD
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL
PARIS ALSO FOR POL
ROME FOR MFO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IS KMDR

SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION


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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Mideast


2. Iran

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Key stories in the media:
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Yediot reported that that US Director of National Intelligence John
Negroponte is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday after
visiting Egypt. According to the paper Negroponte's visit has
nothing to do with the Hamas delegation that came to Cairo to
negotiate the release of Israeli abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.
According to the paper, Negroponte will meet with top security
figures and the prime minister. Yediot also cites estimations among
Israelis that the US will soon try to restart a diplomatic process.

Israel Radio reported that US top envoys Elliot Abrams and David
Welsh are scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday in order to
prepare Prime Minister Olmert's visit to Washington later this
month. According to the Jerusalem Post Iran will be the top agenda
in the meeting between PM Olmert and US President George Bush.

Israel Radio reported on an IDF operation in Beit Hanun in the
Northern Gaza Strip. The radio reported that according to
Palestinian sources six Palestinians were killed and forty were
wounded. But according to IDF sources 9 Palestinians were killed and
over 50 were wounded; the sources were quoted as saying that the
operation is expected to last several days. The radio also reported
that the IDF massed dozens of armored vehicles close to southern
Gaza late Tuesday, and the army called on residents of a part of the
southern Gaza town of Rafah to evacuate their homes.

Kol Israel radio reported that the security cabinet met on Wednesday
in order to discuss possible actions in Gaza. The IDF's expected
suggestion was to expand the operation in Gaza including to take
over the Philadelphi Route. According to radio reports after
speaking to several participants in the meeting, it was decided to
continue pinpoint operations in Gaza (similar to what is done today
in Beit Hanun) against Hamas and other terrorist groups. According
to one account from the meeting, new security cabinet participant
Avigdor Lieberman offered to adopt the Russian model in Chechnya in
the Gaza Strip.

Leading media quoted Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah as saying that
negotiations on a prisoner exchange deal involving captured Israel
Defense Forces soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser have begun.
According to Nasrallah the talks are conducted through a UN
mediator.

The Jerusalem Post reported on a UN report indicating that Syria was
smuggling arms to Hizbullah in Lebanon. The paper quoted Foreign
Ministry spokesman Marc Regev as saying that if Lebanon cannot
implement its side of UNSC resolution 1701, then Israel will rethink
its side of the bargain.

All media reported on IAF flights aver Lebanon yesterday. The media
noted that according to Lebanese sources the Lebanese army fired
back towards the planes. Sources from the IAF were quoted as saying
that the planes were on an intelligence-gathering mission. Israel
has said that it will continue to fly over Lebanon until the
abducted soldiers are returned home and UNSC resolution 1701 is
implanted fully. The media reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
visited the headquarters of the Galilee Division in Biranit in
northern Israel. In his visit, he said that Hizbullah is no longer
a threat to Israel.

Hatzofe reported that the UN Special Envoy to the Middle East Terje
Larsen, in charge of matters concerning Lebanon, is working to
prepare a plan for an Israeli withdrawal from the area known by
Hizbullah as the "Shaba Farms." According to the paper Larsen's
activity is in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701,
which Israel has adopted.

All media reported that in his meeting with members of the Knesset
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, GOC Southern Command Yoav
Gallant told them that in a short while, Hamas will have a force of
several thousand gunmen in the Gaza Strip.
Gallant also warned that Hamas gunmen are equipped with modern
weaponry and are capable of fighting as anti-tank missile or
commando units.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Defense Minister Peretz as saying that if
Gilad Shalit is released it could jump start the peace process with
the Palestinians. The media also cited Peretz's statement that the
Saudi initiative could serve as a basis for negotiations. Yediot
noted that there is a difference of opinion between Peretz and
Olmert o the issue and that the Prime Minister's Bureau rejected
Peretz's statements, saying, "The Saudi initiative has to be read
carefully in order to realize that it is not a basis for renewing
negotiations. The initiative speaks of a return to the 1967 borders
and the return of refugees to Israel, and this is not something that
Israel can accept."
Yediot reported that Hamas is demanding that the Red Cross will be a
part of the deal to release Shalit in fear that Israel backs off its
obligations after the soldier is released.

Yediot reported that the settlers have decided to evacuate some of
the illegal houses supposed to be destroyed in order to show good
will to Defense Minister Peretz when negotiating the destiny of the
inhabitant outposts.

Maariv reported that after the publication in the media regarding
the decision that none of the four commanders of the divisions who
fought in the war in Lebanon will lose their jobs and the ensuing
anger in the public, especially among bereaved family's who lost
their sons during the war, Defense Minister Peretz is considering to
freeze some of the appointments.

All media reported that President Moshe Katzav was hospitalized for
medical tests after feeling chest pains. He was released home after
no illness was found.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "As Israel
grapples with the challenges on its northern and southern borders,
its conceptual overhaul can no longer credibly accommodate the
notion of overwhelming reliance on outside forces to provide
protection."

Block Quotes:
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"The Problem with Foreign Forces"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/01):
"There is no mistaking the worrying similarity between the
challenges that beset Israel on its borders with Lebanon and Gaza.
Both were sites of unilateral Israeli withdrawals, followed almost
instantaneously by reinforcement of the most fanatical terrorist
organizations Israel faces.... In both cases, Israel, pulling back
to international border lines, hoped it could rely on neighboring
forces and the international community to ensure those borders were
respected: UN forces and the Lebanese army in Lebanon, Egyptian
forces along the Philadelphi Corridor that separates Egypt from the
Gaza Strip, and various other international players. In both cases,
such hopes have been dashed, and any expectation of a change for the
better is being dashed too.... As Israel grapples with the
challenges on its northern and southern borders, its conceptual
overhaul can no longer credibly accommodate the notion of
overwhelming reliance on outside forces to provide protection."

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2. Iran:
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Summary:
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Columnist Michael Freund wrote a letter to President George Bush in
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Hence, I am writing to
you because I am convinced that you alone understand and appreciate
the gravity of the current situation, and I pray in my heart that
you will not let it stand. I appeal to you now ... Please strike
Iran hard with military force, and dismantle its nuclear weapons
program, before it is too late."

Foreign news editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv:
"Less then a billion dollars dazzle the Russian eyes, enough in
order to sell a mass-destruction ability to a country that threatens
to demolish the Jews. Damn it! even the Nazis paid more."

Block Quotes:
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I. "An Appeal of Faith to President Bush"

Columnist Michael Freund wrote a letter to President George Bush in
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (11/01): "Dear Mr.
President, I am writing to you because I am afraid. I have been
closely following the rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad over the past few months, and I want you to know that I
am gripped with a sense of fear. I fear for the future of Israel
and for that of the entire Jewish people.... I fear for the future
of the West, because outside of Washington, few and far between are
the leaders with the common sense and courage to stand up to the
Tyrant of Teheran. And I fear for the future of the world, because
if Iran's fundamentalists get their hands on a nuclear weapon, it
will only be a matter of time before their extremist allies abroad
become similarly armed. Hence, I am writing to you because I am
convinced that you alone understand and appreciate the gravity of
the current situation, and I pray in my heart that you will not let
it stand. I appeal to you now ... Please strike Iran hard with
military force, and dismantle its nuclear weapons program, before it
is too late. I know you believe, as I do, that God guides the
destiny of men and of nations. And I know you believe, just as I
do, that He raised you up to the helm of power precisely at this
critical period, to serve as His agent and His instrument in this
world.... The United Nations is a lost cause, and we have no faith
in Russia, China or international institutions. The sad fact is
that most of the world will not shed a tear if Mr. Ahmadinejad
succeeds in achieving his dreadful aims. Here in Israel, our own
leadership is tired and weak.... There is only one person now, Mr.
President, who can stop this terrifying scenario from coming to
pass, and I believe that person is you.... I will be praying for
you, as will many others, and I hope that you take this message to
heart. Be strong, be strong, Mr. President, and through you, may we
all be strengthened."

II. "For a Handful of Rubles"

Foreign news editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv
(11/01): "The time has come that we stop being surprised by our
friends sitting in the Kremlin. The Russian leaders do not love us
more then they love the Rubles that flow into their treasury. They
sold weapons that killed our soldiers in Lebanon and now, according
to reports, they have managed to arrange themselves a USD 800
million deal -- completing the first nuclear reactor on Iranian land
-- in return for consent of soft sanctions on Iran's atomic
military plan. Less then a billion dollars dazzles Russian eyes,
enough in order to sell a mass-destruction ability to a country that
threatens to demolish the Jews. Damn it! even the Nazis paid
more.... The Russians are simply not our friends and it is not only
because we are good friends with America. Russia misses its Empire
reputation that it lost and one of the ways to get it back is to
gain a fortune, even in sleazy deals with Israel's enemies that
threaten to destroy it."
JONES