ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 000662

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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Mideast

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Key stories in the media:
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Major media (lead story in Ha'aretz) reported that on
Monday, the outgoing Palestinian parliament passed a
law at its final session substantially expanding the
powers of PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas in what
Hamas said was a last-minute bid to rein it in before
it takes over parliament and forms the new government.
The Jerusalem Post reported that PA officials in
Ramallah told the newspaper that in an attempt to
prevent Hamas from taking control over the media, Abbas
decided to place the PA's radio and television stations
under his jurisdiction. Israel Radio quoted Mahmoud
Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, as saying that his
organization does not intend to recognize Israel, that
it will continued its armed struggle against Israel,
and that he expects the new PA parliament to repeal all
agreements signed with Israel. Leading media quoted
Khaled Mashal, the head of Hamas's political bureau, as
saying in an interview with the Russian newspaper
Nezavisimaya Gazeta that Hamas might disarm. Mashal
also recognized the 1967 borders, despite Hamas's
position that Palestine's borders are the Jordan River
and the Mediterranean Sea. Speaking on Israel Radio,
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that Israel would
have preferred Hamas to rescind its charter, disarm,
and recognize Israel, but that the GOI has the means to
cope with a Hamas-led PA. This morning, the radio
cited The New York Times as saying that Israel and the
U.S. are coordinating moves to destabilize the PA.
Israel Radio quoted senior Israeli diplomatic sources
as denying the report.

Israel Radio reported that Mofaz is visiting Cairo this
morning to discuss the rise of Hamas with Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak.

The Jerusalem Post quoted a GOI official as saying on
Monday that Israel is unconcerned that the current
cloud hovering over its relationship with Russia --
because of Russian President Vladimir Putin's
invitation to Hamas -- will impact on Moscow's vote in
the UN over the Iranian issue.

The Jerusalem Post quoted experts as saying that Hamas
is unlikely to drum up enough money to keep the PA
afloat very long without help from the West. The
newspaper reported that Mashal and his delegation left
the Qatari capital, Doha, for Khartoum Sunday, with
trips also scheduled to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran.

Ha'aretz quoted PLO representative in Washington Afif
Safieh as saying on Sunday on CNN's Late Edition with
Wolf Blitzer that the "pro-Israeli Likud wing around
the world" is working to inflame relations between
Western and Arab-Muslim societies. Ha'aretz
interviewed Ahmed Akari, the young Muslim Dane who
presented the controversial Muhammad cartoons to the
Muslim Conference in Cairo in December. Akari
reportedly told the newspaper: "I see no connection
between our activity [that of Akari's delegation] and
the riots. We only tried to demonstrate that a Danish
newspaper offended Muslims by deciding to publish
caricatures of Muhammad."

On Monday, Ha'aretz reported that Israel completed
cutting off the eastern sector of the West Bank from
the remainder of the West Bank in 2005. Some 200,000
Palestinians are reported to be prohibited from
entering the area, which constitutes around one-third
of the West Bank, and includes the Jordan Valley, the
area of the Dead Sea shoreline, and the eastern slopes
of the West Bank hills. Ha'aretz reported that Israeli
military sources told the newspaper that the moves have
been "security measures" adopted by the IDF, and that
they have no connection to any political intentions
whatsoever.

Ha'aretz reported that Hamas's military wing, Izz al-
Din al-Qassam, has recently finished registering and
collecting weapons used by its activists in the
northern Gaza Strip, a process sources said began at
the order of Hamas's political bureau, after the Hamas
victory at the polls.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF has launched
an investigation to determine whether a Palestinian
shepherdess was killed on Monday afternoon near the old
Kissufim crossing in central Gaza. Israel Radio
reported that three Qassam rockets landed in southern
Israel this morning, causing no injuries.
All media reported that on Monday, Iran resumed its
uranium-enrichment program. Maariv and Israel Radio
cited research published on Monday by the Oxford
Research Group that a surprise American or Israeli air
strike on Iranian nuclear sites would involve 100
fighter planes and could cause approximately 10,000
civilian as well as military casualties.

The media reported that the Knesset's House Committee
has approved the make-up and powers of the
parliamentary commission inquiry into the violent
events that took place during the evacuation of the
West Bank settler outpost on February 1. The Knesset's
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will serve as the
commission inquiry. Ratification of the move by the
Knesset plenum is still pending.

Leading media reported that the Yesha Council of Jewish
Settlements in the Territories is falling apart, as two
of its leaders -- Shaul Goldstein and Eliezer Hisdai --
are leaving the council.

All media reported that on Monday, the Tel Aviv
Magistrate's Court convicted Likud MK Naomi Blumenthal
on charges of election bribery and other counts. The
media also reported that the same court will today
impose a sentence on PM Sharon's son, former MK Omri
Sharon, who was convicted of falsifying corporate
documents and lying under oath during his father's 1999
primaries campaign.

The major media, except Ha'aretz, led with Mofaz's
approval of a reform that would cut compulsory army
service for males from 36 months to 24 months.
Soldiers serving in combat, combat support units, and
other areas deemed vital, would serve 28 months and
would receive a significant increase in monthly
salaries as well as additional monetary benefits.
Mofaz stressed that the implementation of the plan
would be carried out gradually, in two stages, to be
completed by 2010.

Leading media reported that on Monday, police
questioned MKs Azmi Bishara and Talab al-Sana about
recent trips to Arab countries that are considered
enemy states.
The electronic media reported that the Yemen-born
iconic singer Shoshana Damari passed away in Tel Aviv
this morning at the age of 83.

An investigate report shown on Channel 10-TV last night
cast doubts on the reliability of the polling methods
in various institutes in Israel. Ha'aretz commented
that the findings of the report are inconclusive.

Israel Radio, Ha'aretz's web site, and the leading
Internet news web site Ynet cited a Gallup poll about
U.S. opinion towards Israel and the Palestinians. The
media quoted Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Danny
Ayalon as saying that the results of the poll showed
that "the U.S. is a true friend" of Israel:
-68 percent of Americans are favorable to Israel -- 21
percent "very favorable". Only 23 percent view Israel
unfavorably, the lowest figure since the first Gulf
War. In contrast, the favorable percentage was topped
out at 79 percent.
-A solid majority of Americans believe the U.S should
not give any financial assistance to the Palestinian
Authority: 57 percent of Americans oppose financial aid
to the Palestinians while Hamas is in power, and 30
percent would give it only under the condition that the
PA government would recognize Israel. In addition, 22
percent of Americans say the U.S. should deal with the
Palestinians unconditionally. On the other hand, 44
percent say the U.S. should engage the Palestinians
only in the event the new Hamas-led government
recognizes Israel. One in four Americans say the
United States should sever relations with the
Palestinians irrespective of their official policy
toward Israel. Only 11 percent of all Americans have a
favorable view of the PA compared to 78 percent
unfavorable, 29 percent of which hold a "very
unfavorable" view. This is the most negative answer
Gallup got on the PA since 2000, when it started
tracking responses to this issue.

A Geocartographia poll conducted on behalf of IDF Radio
found that some 70 percent of Israeli respondents
believe that the implementation of the disengagement
plan did not contribute anything towards peace, while
only 20 percent thought the plan was a stimulus for
improved relations with the Arab world. However, a
significant majority believes that the withdrawal from
Gaza aided relations with Europe.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Op-ed Section Editor Amos Carmel wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "A normal,
mature, and sane country does not need any recognition
of its existence and legitimacy."

Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Putin's offer
to talk to Hamas is ... like a key to a lock for the
Americans, a blessing and not a curse. The initiative,
therefore, is in the hands of Hamas."

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist
Barry Rubin, wrote in the conservative, independent
Jerusalem Post: "John Negroponte, director of U.S.
intelligence, [told] the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence ... that the Hamas victory did not
necessarily mean an end to hopes of a negotiated peace
agreement.... Unfortunately, Hamas does not share this
viewpoint."

Ha'aretz editorialized: "The Jordan Valley settlers are
part of an obsolete political worldview."

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in
Ha'aretz: "Sharon, in a correct strategy with the
correct timing, conquered the heart of the majority of
the people. Kadima will gallop ahead even without its
founder."

Menachem Fruman, the Rabbi of the settlement of Tekoa,
who has held meetings with Hamas leaders, wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv: "The camp of Greater Israel
and the camp that wants a normal life in this country
are facing off against each other.... It looks as if
this country, on which so many hopes have been pinned
and for whose sake we have made so very many
sacrifices, will collapse."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Don't Recognize Us"

Op-ed Section Editor Amos Carmel wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (February 14):
"As experience accumulated from Israel's relations with
the PLO has taught us, there is no difficulty in
stretching negotiations in order to obtain a scanty
[recognition], thus laying aside the need to translate
it into binding steps.... Beyond the practical side,
there is the simple matter of national self-pride,
which too many Israelis tend to despise. A normal,
mature, and sane country does not need any recognition
of its existence and legitimacy.... A [modern] country
can't afford any consideration of recognition or lack
thereof by a religious-fanatic organization."

II. "It's Up to Hamas"

Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (February 14):
"In the context of Bush's war on terror and the trial
of Hamas supporters in Florida, direct American contact
with Hamas is still possible, but it is more sensitive
and will be used against the administration when it is
exposed in Congress and in the press. Russian President
Vladimir Putin's offer to talk to Hamas is therefore
like a key to a lock for the Americans, a blessing and
not a curse. The initiative, therefore, is in the
hands of Hamas. It is within its power to harass the
miserable government of Acting Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz and cause it a series of defeats,
if only Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal, instead of
rejecting entirely the Israeli-American-Quartet
conditions, chose to ask for time to consider, demand
clarifications and offer counter-conditions. Putin and
Rice will be able to call this 'transmission of
messages' but it will in effect be negotiations, with
agents' fees to the Russians, a result of the American-
Israeli decision to allow Hamas to participate in the
elections and win them."

III. "Appeasement Redux"

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist
Barry Rubin, wrote in the conservative, independent
Jerusalem Post (February 14): "[In the 1930s,] the
Germans weren't against 'us' [the democratic countries]
but merely against the Jews, who were thus the ones
pushing conflict with Germany for their own interests.
Sound familiar? Just substitute Iran, Hizbullah,
Hamas, radical Islamists, Iraqi insurgents or Syria.
All of these groups are aligned, while the West
displays its divisions and doubts.... John Negroponte,
director of U.S. intelligence, [told] the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence [on February 2] that the
Hamas victory did not necessarily mean an end to hopes
of a negotiated peace agreement.... Unfortunately,
Hamas does not share this viewpoint. It can burn all
the bridges it wants and suffer little or no
consequences; at least, not from the appeasers. Much
of the same pattern applied to the PLO, Osama bin
Laden, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and Islamist Iran
in the recent past.... After the September 11, 2001,
terror attacks on America many called them a Pearl
Harbor-like wake-up call to Western unity and the
democratic struggle against totalitarian, anti-freedom
forces. Yet there are probably more people, at least
among respected Western elites, who think the problem
is Islamophobia, America and Israel rather than radical
Islamism, terrorism and corrupt dictatorships blaming
their bad systems on others. What year is it anyway?"

IV. "Obsolete Security Asset"

Ha'aretz editorialized (February 14): "In a graduated
process determined primarily by security
considerations, the Israeli government has, over the
last few years, almost totally severed the West Bank
from the Jordan Valley, and transformed the Jordan
Valley area into a Jewish region.... The Jordan Valley
settlers are part of an obsolete political worldview
that saw obstruction of passage from the east into
Israel as an existential security need, and the
settlers as those who would defend the border. This is
a similar approach to the one that led to the
establishment of the Gush Katif communities. Between
the eastward expansion of Ma'aleh Adumim, the westward
expansion of the Jordan Valley communities, and the
expansion of the settlement blocs toward the Green
Line, the Palestinians are left with no territory on
which to establish a state. The imprisonment of the
Palestinians in a small area and the increasing
depletion of their sources of employment do not serve
Israel's security needs, even if for a moment someone
thought he succeeded in capturing another dunam [parcel
of land] and more might."


V. "A Farewell to Sharon"

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in
Ha'aretz (February 14): "Sharon's greatness was that at
every stage he recognized the turning point.... As he
lies on his deathbed, cut off from what is happening,
between critical condition and danger to his life, it
is infuriating to see the Schadenfreude [taking joy in
the suffering of others] of the extremist rabbis and
the Greater Land of Israel crazies who view his
condition as punishment from heaven, and who are liable
to draw encouragement from this personal tragedy which
will lead to violent resistance and a civil war against
those who continue his way. But their battle is lost
in advance. Sharon, in a correct strategy with the
correct timing, conquered the heart of the majority of
the people. Kadima will gallop ahead even without its
founder."

VI. "Dialogue Is Better than a Commission of Inquiry"

Menachem Fruman, the Rabbi of the settlement of Tekoa,
who has held meetings with Hamas leaders, wrote in
popular, pluralist Maariv (February 14): "The camp of
Greater Israel and the camp that wants a normal life in
this country are facing off against each other.... In
order to prevent [clashes between them], which are, in
my opinion, a far greater existential danger to our
lives than the ascent of Hamas -- perhaps we would do
well to try much harder to talk to each other, to
respect each other, to hear each other.... And if no
agreement emerges from this? I would like to respond
to that with very sharp words: in that case, it seems
that there will be utter destruction. It looks as if
this country, on which so many hopes have been pinned
and for whose sake we have made so very many
sacrifices, will collapse. Such things have already
happened in our nation's history. The legal
institutions will not help here. A profound
ideological controversy cannot be resolved by force of
law. The law can and must subdue criminals, but not
the world of the settlers and their supporters. Even
if the media calls them 'lawbreakers' or even merely
'rioters,' they are not members of the underworld. If
the feeling I have is so very harsh, one can imagine
how strong the Torah's call (Deuteronomy 30:19) 'Choose
life!' sounds to me. Before it is too late, let's
talk."

JONES