ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 004521 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. Iran ¶2. Lebanon -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Israel Radio quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying last night in Los Angeles that the moment of truth has arrived regarding Iran's nuclear program. Olmert was quoted as saying that "no longer can the international community afford to hesitate, contemplate, or waver in its dealings with this defiant state." Appearing before the largest annual gathering of Jewish community leaders in North America -- the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly -- he called on moderate Arab states to "unite their common interest in preventing Iran from undermining stability in the Middle East." Likud Chairman MK Binyamin Netanyahu, who also addressed the Assembly on Monday, was quoted as hinting on IDF Radio on Tuesday that ISRAEL possesses the capabilities necessary for curbing the Iranian nuclear threat, declining to specify what these entail. Maariv bannered an interview with Israeli Ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon in which he said that President Bush, who cannot accept a nuclear Iran, will not hesitate to attack that country. Major media quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying on Tuesday that Tehran would talk to the US if it behaves correctly, provoking the White House to respond that it is Iran that needs to change. Leading media quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that Iran will soon celebrate its becoming a nuclear power. Maariv (Ben Caspit) quoted Israeli and American diplomatic sources as saying that Olmert presented Bush with a "bold and original" "consensual realignment" plan, involving negotiations with PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, withdrawal from West Bank land, and retention of settlement blocs. The newspaper quoted several sources as saying that the plan may be based on a new political outline devised by FM Tzipi Livni. Maariv cited the Prime Minister's Office's denial. The electronic media reported that this morning an Israeli woman was killed and an Israeli man seriously wounded in a direct Qassam rocket hit in Sderot. The Jerusalem Post reported that, exactly three months after a UN-brokered cease-fire ended Israel's war in Lebanon, IDF officers told the newspaper on Tuesday that Hizbullah gunmen disguised as civilians were back on the border and collecting intelligence on IDF positions. ISRAEL Radio cited a UN report as saying that more than 700 Islamic militants from Somalia traveled to Lebanon during the summer to fight alongside Hizbullah in its war against Israel. The report, which will be discussed at the UN Security Council, also says that Iran sought to trade arms for uranium from Somalia to further its nuclear ambitions. The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior Western diplomatic official as saying on Tuesday that high-level Israeli, Palestinian, US, and Egyptian officials met in Jerusalem on Tuesday for the first time in a year to discuss opening the Rafah Crossing on a full-time basis. Among those who attended the MEETING were Amos Gilad, head of the Political-Security Bureau at Israel's Defense Ministry, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat, US Security Coordinator Lt. Gen. Keith W. Dayton, Egyptian diplomatic officials, and the head of the EU mission at Rafah, Lt. Gen. Pietro Pistolese. The Jerusalem Post reported that Dayton is working on a plan to expand the opening of the crossing, and that work began some two weeks ago on building a series of walls near the crossing to protect it. The Jerusalem Post also reported that Dayton's tenure has recently been extended by a year. Major media reported that Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that enormous amounts of munitions and armaments are being brought into the Gaza Strip via the Sinai, thereby creating a very troubling situation. Diskin was quoted as saying: "The situation in the Gaza Strip is akin to a series of red lights" and that the IDF may need to launch another operation in the Strip. Hamas's spokesman in Gaza, Ismail Radwan, was quoted as saying Tuesday in an interview with Ha'aretz that Abbas has given Hamas guarantees that Arab countries and other members of the international community will end the economic boycott of the PA once a new government of technocrats is formed, even if the new government still refuses to recognize Israel. The guarantees, Radwan added, were conditioned on the new ministers not being affiliated with any political movement. "The new government has not been asked to recognize the Zionist enemy," Radwan was quoted as saying. Ha'aretz also quoted Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chair of Hamas's political bureau, as saying that the new government "has not been asked to recognize Israel, and therefore will not recognize it." Other media mentioned similar statements by Hamas leaders. Ha'aretz wrote that, in response to these statements, senior officials of Abbas's Fatah movement said they fear that Hamas's leadership, which resides in Damascus, is once again trying to torpedo the emerging agreement on a unity government. Ha'aretz and ISRAEL Radio quoted Egyptian border officials as saying that Palestinian legislator Mushir Al-Masri, trying to bypass a financial boycott on the Palestinians, attempted to cross into the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Tuesday carrying 2 million euros. The media reported that the sum was collected on a trip to SAUDI Arabia. The Jerusalem Post reported that in an attempt to prevent criminal and terrorist infiltrations into southern Israel, the IDF opened two new bases along the border with Egypt this week. Both Ha'aretz and Yediot led with, and other leading media reported on, the likelihood of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Dan Halutz's resignation if either of the two in-house committees investigating the second Lebanon War concludes that he is responsible for failures surrounding the conflict. The newspapers were echoing a revelation on Channel 2-TV last night. Leading media reported that Olmert called Halutz from the US on Tuesday to tell him that, contrary to reports in the Israeli media, he enjoys his support. Yediot and other newspapers quoted doubts by Halutz associates about Olmert's sincerity. Media also reported that Defense Minister Amir Peretz expressed his backing for Halutz. Israel Radio quoted West Bank police commander Yisrael Yitzhak as confirming that there is a plan to evacuate illegal settler outposts. The radio said that the police and army are awaiting orders from the government. The Jerusalem Post reported that the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) has charged in a letter to senior IDF officers that the army has been using the roof of a Palestinian home in Hebron and that it has commandeered the top floor of the building without authorization from the military commander for the past five years. The Jerusalem Post reported that the cabinet will meet on Sunday to approve the creation of a new Department of Strategic Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office, to be headed by Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman. The newspaper reported that outgoing Ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon and former Consul General in New York Alon Pinkas are being considered for positions in the new department. The Jerusalem Post reported that New Generations, an offshoot of the progressive New ISRAEL Fund, a Washington-based organization focused on human rights in Israel, is trying to interest young Jewish American activists to become involved in Israel. The daily quoted New Generations Director Ariella Sidelsky as saying that efforts by the organized Jewish community to "re-package" ISRAEL -- presenting the country's "other side" by highlighting its accomplishments in science or its leisure opportunities -- as a way of attracting American youth are misguided. Maariv reported that in Los Angeles on Tuesday, FM Tzipi Livni and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to cooperate on homeland security issues and on ways to increase Evangelical Christian tourism from California to Israel. The Jerusalem Post cited figures released on Tuesday by the GOI's Central Bureau of Statistics, according to which Israel's economy contracted for the first time in more than three years in the first quarter, as the Lebanon War brought much of ISRAEL to a standstill in July and part of August. GDP shrank an annualized 1.4 percent, following growth of 5.8 percent in the first part of the year. The Jerusalem Post cited the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce as saying Tuesday that Israeli companies lost approximately half-a-billion US dollars as a result of IPR violations in 2005. The Jerusalem Post reported that Nice Systems, an Israel-based provider of digital recording and archiving systems, has received a contract to provide a solution to capture, reconstruct, and analyze voice communications for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority -- New York City Transit's new rail control center. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli food producers will be looking to take a bite out of the growing US kosher foods market at the largest international kosher food exhibition, "KosherFest," that kicked off in New York on Tuesday. The Jerusalem Post reported that Illinois-based venture capitalists are seeking attractive investment options in Israel, as too much capital in the US limits the opportunities of the VCs to prosper at home. Maariv reported that Kibbutz Afikim is increasingly exporting light personal vehicles meant for overweight people to the American market. Yediot reported that the Israeli defense administration has used USD 30,000 in American aid to place "mezuzot" [doorpost parchments with traditional Hebrew inscriptions] in GOI buildings. Ha'aretz reported that Google has bought its first Israeli startup, iRows, which has developed a browser-based spreadsheet service. Yediot presented the results of a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll: "Should IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz put an end to his term?" Yes: 71 percent; no: 25 percent: 4 percent were undecided. "Should Peretz leave his position?" Yes: 72 percent; no: 28 percent. "Do you rely on the IDF to protect Israel?" Yes: 78 percent; no: 22 percent. "Do you rely on the IDF today as you did before the [Lebanon] War?" Rely less: 50 percent; equally: 39 percent; more: 11 percent. -------------- ¶1. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner opined in the left-leaning, independent Ha'aretz: "Without prior warning, the Israeli barometer has soared to 10 on the panic scale.... Netanyahu is looking at an American administration that now seems confused and to have lost its way." Block Quotes: -------------- "They Sow Fear" Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner opined in the left-leaning, independent Ha'aretz (11/15): "Netanyahu's show [at the gathering of Jewish American leaders in Los Angeles on Monday] was indeed fascinating. And frightening. 'Now is 1938, Iran is Germany, and it is about to arm itself with nuclear weapons.' Thus, without prior warning, the Israeli barometer has soared to 10 on the panic scale. Ten out of 10.... Such anxiety is a double-edged sword. Perhaps it will spur action, perhaps it will spur flight. Anyone who reinforces it should consider carefully the benefits versus the damage: Perhaps it will cause American statesmen to realize that if they do not make more of an effort, they will force ISRAEL to act, but perhaps they will also convince the Iranian president that he is getting close to achieving his aims without having to fire even one deadly barrage.... In Netanyahu's case, it appears that the timing is connected to his familiarity with the ins and outs of the American arena.... Netanyahu is looking at an American administration that now seems confused and to have lost its way. He is seeing how the lines are being filled by new, calculating, cautious people like the new defense secretary, Robert Gates. And it is uncertain that it is possible to rely on them." -------------- ¶2. Lebanon: -------------- Summary: -------------- The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "[The Lebanese Shi'ites'] aim is to replace the government most independent of Syria in decades with a pawn that will confer strategic control to the Iranian-Syrian-Hizbullah axis.... Pretending that all is well on the northern border and that Hizbullah is being kept at bay is patently not the answer. " Professor Eyal Zisser, the Chairman of the Department of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University and a senior expert on Syrian and Lebanese affairs, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Someone who threatens civil war inside Lebanon will not be reluctant to renew his activity against ISRAEL along the border." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Don't Forget Lebanon" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/15): "All Israeli intelligence agencies ... agree that four months after the recent war, Hizbullah is back at the border, albeit in civilian garb and not quite with an in-your-face deployment. Not only did Hizbullah recoup its losses but, according to some reports, it's now extensively reinforced in comparison to its war-eve status.... Israel might find itself in a weaker position than last July.... Five Shi'ite ministers have already resigned from Siniora's coalition, as has a pro-Syrian Christian. President Emile Lahoud, solidly pro-Syrian, has branded the Siniora government 'illegitimate,' signaling the imminent unleashing of an offensive by Hizbullah and other pro-Syrian and Iranian puppets in Lebanon. Their aim is to replace the government most independent of Syria in decades with a pawn that will confer strategic control to the Iranian-Syrian-Hizbullah axis. This is not speculation. Hizbullah spokesmen make no pretense to the contrary.... The question is what to do about it. Pretending that all is well on the northern border and that Hizbullah is being kept at bay is patently not the answer. " II. "Lebanese Poker" Professor Eyal Zisser, the Chairman of the Department of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University and a senior expert on Syrian and Lebanese affairs, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/15): "Now [Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah] is gambling again, gambling that his rivals will ultimately give in to him. The problem is that none of the Lebanese poker players have anything to lose any more. After all, any capitulation to his demands means handing the power over the country into his hands, and it is not for this that Siniora and his colleagues have come this far. It is possible that at the last moment a compromise will be found, and all will continue on their way until the next crisis, but this could also lead to a severe crisis in Lebanon and even a new civil war. For Israel, the conclusions from this crisis are clear. First of all, the latest war and UN Security Council Resolution 1701 have created a fragile and tenuous reality. And those who took comfort in the deployment of the Lebanese army and an international force may find that after the first exchanges of fire in Beirut, these forces will be the first to abandon the area. Secondly, Nasrallah's willingness to challenge the stability of the Lebanese system shows that he feels self-confident, and he may believe that he has restored the strength and standing that he lost in the war. This leads to the fear that sooner or later he will seek to restore the situation along the Israeli border to its previous state, to the reality on the eve of July 12, 2006. After all, someone who threatens civil war inside Lebanon will not be reluctant to renew his activity against ISRAEL along the border." CRETZ