ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 004508 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 -------------- SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: -------------- ¶1. Mideast ¶2. Global War on Terror -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Major media (lead story in Ha'aretz) reported that President Bush, speaking after a meeting at that White House with PM Ehud Olmert, called Monday for the world to unite in isolating Iran until it "gives up its nuclear ambitions." In addition, Olmert publicly praised the American operation in Iraq, which he said brought stability to the Middle East. Ha'aretz quoted politicians from the Democratic Party as saying they wanted to speak to Olmert about his comments on the Iraq war before responding publicly, but that they were uncomfortable with the comments. If Olmert planned his remarks and intended them to come out as they did, a Democratic official said, then they are not acceptable and can be seen as an attempt to influence the American political arena. Maariv and Israel Radio reported that the two leaders agreed that Syria could become a partner in the peace process if it renounced sponsorship of terrorism. Leading media noted that both leaders' countries enjoyed economic prosperity but that the men's domestic public image was negative. While, akin to other leading media, The Jerusalem Post cited President Bush's call on Monday for worldwide isolation of Iran until it "gives up its nuclear ambitions," the newspaper, as well as other media, said he gave no hint of a willingness to stop the Iranian nuclear march. Yediot reported that Olmert told the influential Baker/Hamilton committee in Washington on Monday that the US should talk with Iran and Syria. Leading media reported that, in an interview with NBC-TV, which was recorded in Israel on Friday and broadcast Monday, when asked if he would accept direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran, Olmert said any compromise preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons would be acceptable to Israel. Israel Radio quoted US Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador John Bolton as saying Monday that Russian changes to a draft U.N. resolution on Iran's nuclear program would "cut back substantially" on restrictions the US and its allies are seeking. Israel Radio quoted State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack as saying Monday: "We would call upon the Arab states as well as other states to continue with their adherence to the principles and the spirit that were outlined in the Quartet statement [on conditioning aid to the PA upon recognition of Israel and the end of violence]." The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior PA official in Ramallah as saying that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived in Amman Monday, is scheduled to hold secret talks with Israeli, Egyptian, and Jordanian security officials on ways to resolve the case of resolving the case of kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Maariv quoted Olmert as telling Al-Quds that he will keep his promise to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit's release. Israel Radio quoted the London-based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat as saying that the composition of the new Palestinian government will be made public only after a breakthrough in negotiations over Shalit's release. Yediot reported that the Israeli defense establishment and the Justice Ministry are considering withholding information from families of Palestinian prisoners to put pressure on Hamas to accelerate the deal for Shalit's release. Ha'aretz quoted Olmert as saying Monday in an interview with the East Jerusalem daily Al-Quds that he would be willing to meet with Hamas cabinet ministers. This would become possible if the new Palestinian government adopted the Quartet's principles. Ha'aretz, The Jerusalem Post, and other media reported that a Hamas official told AP Monday that Dr. Mohammed Shabir, the US-educated university professor favored to be the next Palestinian PM, has accepted the offer. Shabir was quoted as saying in remarks to Ha'aretz that he has no problem with any party, including the US, and that that he maintains "sound relations with all." However, he was quoted as saying he would only be willing to address his views on Israel after he was officially named to the post. Shabir told Ha'aretz that he was not affiliated with any organization and is an independent. However, Ha'aretz quoted an Israeli source who claims to know Shabir that he is identified with Hamas. Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that an armed PFLP militant was killed by IDF fire in Nablus. Ha'aretz and Yediot reported that the IDF denied claims by the human rights organization B'Tselem that last week's shooting deaths of two Palestinian militants in the West Bank village of Kafr al-Yamin was an "execution." Jerusalem Post correspondent Jacey Herman, who recently visited Beirut, said that support for Hizbullah in Lebanon is stronger than ever. The Jerusalem Post quoted Haifa University communications expert Prof. Gabriel Weimann as saying that Wednesday's launch of Qatar-based Al Jazeera International, a 24/7 English-language satellite network, will make the "information war" harder for Israel. The Jerusalem Post quoted Foreign Ministry Director of Public Affairs Amir Gissin as saying that Israel lost the media war this summer because it sent spokesmen with sound bites to combat photographs of destruction and despair that dominated TV and newspapers. Yediot reported that, because of Robert Gates' alleged unfriendly attitude toward Israel, American Jewish leaders are concerned about his appointment as defense secretary. The Jerusalem Post reported that FM Tzipi Livni told the United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Los Angeles on Sunday that Israel thanks US Jews for their support during the war in Lebanon. The Jerusalem Post cited criticism by several leading Jewish American leaders that Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski's comments that US Jews have no future. Ha'aretz reported that Israeli President Moshe Katsav will not be charged with rape but that he will face charges for other sexual offenses. Charges against Katsav will be brought to court no later than March 2007. Yediot reported that on Monday, Olmert introduced President Bush to Sallai Meridor, Israeli nominee as ambassador to the US. Leading media reported that settler leader Bentzi Lieberman announced on Monday that he plans to resign from his post as the head of the Council of Jewish Settlements in the Territories as of January. Ha'aretz wrote that it is likely that Lieberman will try to finalize the question of illegal settler outposts with the government before leaving his post, and that he will agree to the evacuation of outposts set up on private lands in return for having others recognized. The Jerusalem Post quoted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as saying in Istanbul on Monday that any effort to stop growing violence between Islamic and Western societies must include an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Ha'aretz cited the "vicious legacy" in Lebanon of the IDF's "budget-saving, American-made cluster bombs." Both Yediot and Maariv bannered the debate on the continuation of Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz's service as IDF Chief of Staff. Yediot reported that Olmert has declined to back Halutz. Maariv reported that Halutz has conveyed a message to the IDF's top brass that he is not resigning. The Jerusalem Post cited AP as saying that former New York Times reporter Judith Miller told a federal court jury on Monday that she secretly witnessed the 1993 interrogation by Israeli agents of a SIPDIS Palestinian-American grocer charged with providing money and recruits to a terrorist group. Ha'aretz reported that on Monday the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by convicted spy Jonathan Pollard and his wife Esther which asked the court to force Pensioner Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan to resign. The couple had argued that the appointment of Eitan, who was Pollard's control officer in the 1980s, eliminated any chance Pollard will be released from prison in the US. Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday El Al canceled options to buy eight to 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in a deal that was worth as much as USD 1.5 billion. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Now Olmert heads the list of the opponents of an American withdrawal from Iraq." Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "[One-on-one meetings} oblige the listener far more than they do the speaker." Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv: "If Olmert should want to say in the future that the President promised him something, what is he going to use to prove that?" Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: "Like [former Secretary of State James] Baker, [Robert Gates] believes that ending SIPDIS the Israeli occupation and the Arab-Israeli conflict are vital to the United States' Middle East agenda." Journalist and far-Left peace activist Uri Avnery wrote in NRG, Maariv's Internet site: "More important than Bush was the fact that the exciting news out of the United States pushed to the sidelines the awful reports about the incident in Beit Hanun." Palestinian columnist Daoud Kuttab wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Historically, progress on the Arab-Israeli conflict has often been made during the last years of a two-term president." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "45 Minutes of Smile" Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/14): "The only headline [regarding the Bush-Olmert meeting] was Olmert's declaration the war in Iraq had brought stability to the region and made a 'dramatic positive contribution' to the strategic position of Israel and moderate Arab states. His public thanks to Bush for invading Iraq joins Olmert's public call of a few days ago for the Americans not to withdraw from there in haste. Thus Olmert broke the taboo imposed by his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, on Israeli statements about Iraq.... Now Olmert heads the list of the opponents of an American withdrawal from Iraq. His position is not without reason. From the point of view of Israel and the 'axis of the moderate' Arab states -- Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- it is better to have an American army in Iraq, albeit beaten and wounded, than an extremist Shi'ite state operating under the influence of Iran and exporting experienced terrorists to the entire region. But by coming out publicly on the matter, Olmert has taken Bush's side in the internal American debate, and has placed himself in opposition to the new Democratic leaders in Congress, who last week won the midterm elections because of their opposition to the war in Iraq. How to block the Iranian threat was at the top of the agenda in the Bush-Olmert meeting, and the Prime Minister said, as he is wont, he was very satisfied with this part of their discussion. It is not clear from what exactly.... Olmert can be satisfied with the public promises he heard from Bush, which strengthen the Israeli stand on the road map and the demands on the Palestinian government; reject the Syrian overtures for peace talks before Damascus changes its ways; and make a dialogue with Iran conditional on its stopping uranium enrichment." II. "The Blind and the Lame" Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/14): "At the end of their orchestrated performance before the journalists, the two men rose from their seats. Olmert embraced Bush at the shoulder. Bush returned the embrace.... I do not know exactly what Olmert and Bush decided on with respect to the Iranian issue. The two held a one-on-one discussion, which, on the one hand, lends a certain dramatic effect to the conversation between them but, on the other, leaves the task of interpretation to each party on its own. Experience with those kinds of conversations has not been good. They oblige the listener far more than they do the speaker.... Everything else is on hold: The Palestinian issue is on hold, pending the replacement of the Palestinian government. The Iraqi issue is on hold, pending the crystallization of a new, bipartisan policy in the United States. The Syrian issue is on hold, pending good will gestures that Assad is to make. Currently none of the above is visible on the horizon." III. "One-on-One With President Bush" Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv (11/14): "Olmert's visit to Washington can be recorded as a strange event. The meeting with the President was held almost entirely one-on-one. That is an irregular, unconventional way of handling meetings of this type that are held about subjects of this type. If Olmert should want to say in the future that the President promised him something, what is he going to use to prove that?.... In summary? On the one hand, a meeting that was hardly crucial. On the other, it could be that it will prove to have been fruitful. The first buds of a new initiative on the Palestinian front, the agreements about Syria, the coordination with regard to Iran. The Prime Minister was received warmly, enjoyed every minute and can commend himself for not having wasted his time on his way to Los Angeles." IV. "An Iraq Withdrawal, Via Palestine" Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz (11/14): "Robert Gates, the CIA chief in the early 1990s, is now a candidate to replace Rumsfeld. He belongs to the school that believes that if something cannot be obtained by force, more force will not help. Gates is willing to offer carrots to even the Iranian monster. Like [former Secretary of State James] Baker, he believes that ending the Israeli occupation and the Arab-Israeli conflict are vital to the United States' Middle East agenda. This is not just mere speculation regarding Gates. All this appears in a report by an independent task force on Iran, sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Gates and Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Carter administration's national security adviser, chaired the task force, which also included the Jewish-American activist and media baron Mort Zuckerman. One of the first recommendations of the report, which was published in June 2004 under the title 'Iran: Time for a New Approach,' was that the US resume active involvement in the Middle East peace process and press Arab countries to support it." ¶V. "It's Called a Massacre" Journalist and far-Left peace activist Uri Avnery wrote in NRG, Maariv's Internet site (11/14): "'Thank God for the elections in America,' said [Israel's] ministers and generals last week with a sigh of relief. It wasn't the kick the American people gave George Bush's behind that they were so pleased with because, after all, they like Bush. More important than Bush was the fact that the exciting news out of the United States pushed to the sidelines the awful reports about the incident in Beit Hanun. Those reports, instead of receiving the top headlines, made their way to the bottom of the page.... Olmert can continue to do that, he said, because the governments of the world are silent. The US imposed a veto on a gentle condemnation resolution by the UN Security Council against Israel in the wake of the artillery fire. Does that mean that the governments of the world -- America, Europe and the Arab world, are party to the crime of Beit Hanun? That is a question that the citizens of those countries are going to have to answer." VI. "Lame-Duck Potential" Palestinian columnist Daoud Kuttab wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (11/14): "With US mid-term elections behind us and President George W. Bush not able to run for another term, American foreign policy (which is the responsibility of the White House) in the region may become more invigorated. The fact that Bush boasts that he publicly supports the idea of a Palestinian state may incline him to pay closer attention to how history will record his government. In his last two years in government, and with so many failures in the region (read Iraq),the Bush administration will likely try to make a last-ditch effort to solve the Palestinian problem. Historically, progress on the Arab-Israeli conflict has often been made during the last years of a two-term president.... Palestinian suffering continues to poison the air in the entire region. It is high time that the Palestinians and other Arabs were given a reason for optimism and hope." -------------- ¶2. Global War on Terror: -------------- Summary: -------------- Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Reasonably, the world is now assessing the US through the prism of its non-action against Iran and North Korea rather than through the prism of Iraq." Block Quotes: -------------- "The Second-Worst Option" Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (11/14): "Iran, North Korea and al-Qaida have all been quick to interpret the Democratic victory in last Tuesday's Congressional elections as a sign that the US has chosen to turn its back on the threat they pose to America. By firing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and replacing him with Robert Gates, who supports appeasing the mullahs in Teheran and finding a fig-leaf excuse to vacate Iraq, Bush has done everything to prove America's enemies right. Moreover, Bush administration officials' statements ahead of the president's trip to Asia this week indicate that Bush will seek to contend with North Korea by ratcheting up US engagement with Pyongyang in the six-party talks.... Reasonably, the world is now assessing the US through the prism of its non-action against Iran and North Korea rather than through the prism of Iraq. And the consequence of the view that Iraq was a deviation from a norm of US passivity is nothing less than the complete breakdown of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty." CRETZ