ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 000678

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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Israel Radio and other electronic media quoted Acting
PM Ehud Olmert as saying last night before the
Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations:
"The day [PA Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas will appoint a
Hamas representative to head a government, we will
review all contacts" with the authority. Olmert was
also quoted as saying: "We will not negotiate and we
will not deal with a PA that will be dominated wholly
or partly by a terrorist organization." Media also
reported that Olmert praised the international
community, and specifically U.S. President George W.
Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for
leading an uncompromising stance on Hamas and insisting
the group must honor past agreements with Israel.
Olmert also lauded Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and
Jordan's King Abdullah for insisting Hamas must
renounce terrorism and recognize Israel. Olmert also
denounced what he called Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's obsessive expressions of anti-Semitism.
Leading media reported that during his visit to Egypt,
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that if a Hamas
member were elected chairman of the Palestinian
parliament on Saturday, Israel would cut contacts with
the PA within days. The Jerusalem Post wrote that
Olmert's setting Saturday as the critical date means
that Israel would most likely not transfer next month's
customs and tax revenue -- expected to be some USD 60
million -- to the PA. The Jerusalem Post reported that
the Quartet will continue raising money for the PA as
long as Abbas remains the head of an interim
government. The Jerusalem Post quoted one Western
diplomatic official as saying that it was likely that
Olmert moved up the date because of electoral
considerations and the sharp criticism he came under
last week after deciding to transfer the tax and
customs revenues to the PA.

Major media quoted Mofaz as saying in Cairo: "Through
Hamas, the axis of evil will continue to other
countries where there are radical organizations. If the
terms set by Israel are not realized, we may find
ourselves facing a Hamas authority, and we shall not
agree to such a situation." In an interview with
Israel TV's Oded Granot, Mubarak attempted to reassure
Israel over Hamas's victory in the Palestinian
elections, saying that the movement should be given a
chance and might contribute to peace. Mubarak told
Granot: "Many years ago, in 1950, didn't we say that we
would throw Israel into the sea? Did Israel end up in
the sea? There were wars, but Israeli-Egyptian
relations are good today."

Ha'aretz and Yediot reported that on Tuesday, the U.S.
administration denied a New York Times report about an
alleged American-Israeli plan to destabilize the new
Hamas-led government. Ha'aretz quoted U.S. officials
as saying off-the-record that they suspect that The New
York Times' information came from Europeans who want to
make it harder for the U.S. and Israel to isolate Hamas
until it meets the conditions imposed by the Quartet.

Israel Radio quoted Khaled Mashal, the head of Hamas's
political bureau, as saying in Sudan on Tuesday that
peace in the Middle East can be achieved only when
Israel puts an end to the occupation. Mashal
reportedly called on the U.S. and the international
community to pressure Israel to end the occupation, and
that otherwise, Hamas would continue its struggle.
The radio cited Hamas as denying that it is collecting
weapons in the Gaza Strip. Yediot reported that senior
Hamas elements in Gaza recently tried to open a secret
"back channel" with Israel and the U.S., but that
Israel refused to engage in talks with Hamas. Yediot
said that the background of those efforts is an attempt
by Hamas in the territories to start a dialogue -- even
a tactical one -- with Israel, as it confronts the more
radical branch of Hamas abroad.

The Jerusalem Post reported that four days after
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would
invite Hamas to Turkey for talks, Turkish FM Abdullah
Gul told FM Tzipi Livni on Monday that Turkey supported
the international community's three preconditions for
accepting Hamas. The newspaper wrote that the
conversation was kept under wraps both in Israel and
Turkey.

Israel Radio and leading web sites reported that this
morning IDF soldiers shot dead a young Palestinian man
while they were carrying out an arrest raid in
Qabatiyah, near the West Bank city of Jenin. The media
quoted Palestinian security officials as saying that
the victim was mentally handicapped and was carrying a
toy rifle. The media quoted the IDF as saying that the
Palestinian was armed.

Ha'aretz cited Palestinian Media Watch, an organization
that monitors Palestinian media and textbooks, as
saying that a Hamas web site recently published the
videotape wills of two suicide bombers, with two main
messages: one is directed to the Jews whose blood Hamas
pledges to drink until they flee from the land of the
Muslims, and the other is devoted to a mother who helps
her son plan a suicide attack.

All media reported that on Tuesday, Justice Mishael
Cheshin called the PA an "enemy government" during a
High Court of Justice hearing on family reunification.
Cheshin said family unification endangers Israel
unnecessarily in what he described as wartime, and said
the Palestinians' interest in unification takes a back
seat to Israel's self-defense. The media reported that
a report compiled by a governmental committee
recommends stricter rules for granting Israeli
citizenship to Palestinians.

All media reported on the maiden appearance of Maj.
Gen. Amos Yadlin, the head of IDF Intelligence, before
the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on
Tuesday. Yediot quoted Yadlin as saying that Iran is
forming an alliance with Syria.

All media (banners in most newspapers) reported that on
Tuesday, the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court sentenced
former MK Omri Sharon to nine months in prison plus a
300,000-shekel (around USD 63,000) fine for raising
illegal campaign contributions for his father, PM
Sharon. Judge Edna Bekenstein, who presided over the
court session, was quoted as saying: "[Omri] viewed all
means as justified, whether legal or criminal ... as
long as his father was elected to the desired
position." Bekenstein also said: "Recently, we have
heard over and over about the 'political swamp.' This
swamp must be dried out. The courts' role in drying it
up is through suitable sentences." Leading media cited
similar statements by A-G Menachem Mazuz and State
Attorney Eran Shendar. The media said that the
severity of the sentence was surprising. The media
reported that Kadima could be harmed by the sentence.
In particular, The Jerusalem Post reported that the
Likud hopes to gain from Omri's fall.

Israel Radio reported that last night, the car of a
senior police officer who was in charge of the
evacuation of the Amona setter outpost was torched near
his home in central Israel. The radio cited threats on
members of the security forces who carried out the
evacuation.

Israel Radio reported that China is furious over the
Dalai Lama's visit to Israel, which starts today. The
radio quoted China's Consul in Tel Aviv Lu Ching as
saying that the fact that a promise made to China that
the Dalai Lama would not meet with Israeli officials
during his visit is not enough, and that Israel should
have prevented him from visiting the country. Lu Ching
compared the Dalai Lama with Hamas.

In a report from Baku, Ha'aretz wrote that Azerbaijani
Jews are worried over the strengthening of radical
Islamists in their country, and that they said they
feel the anti-Jewish hostility there is growing.

Maariv reported that the Foreign Ministry, in
cooperation with Jewish communities in the U.S., has
announced it would contribute USD 120,000 to needy
African countries.

Maariv reported that on Monday, two officials from the
Israeli Consulate-General in Los Angeles briefed the
American actress Sharon Stone in her home ahead of her
upcoming visit to Israel.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Liberal columnist Dr. Gadi Taub wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "If we manage to push Hamas back into
the opposition, we will save the Palestine branch of
Islamic fundamentalism from crashing into the ground of
reality."

Veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin Eytan Haber opined in an
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot: "Please note the name of the latest
Palestinian idiot.... This is Mahmoud Zahar, the Hamas
leader who announced festively that his organization
would never recognize the State of Israel and would
strike to wipe it out."

Zalman Shoval, President of the Israel-America Chamber
of Commerce, senior Likud member, and former ambassador
to the U.S., wrote in the conservative, independent
Jerusalem Post: "A Palestinian state ... was claimed to
be in Israel's supreme interest. It isn't, and never
was!"

Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "All the talk about 'we will
never speak,' in Bush's fundamentalist language, is a
return to the old logorrhea of Israeli policy."

The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who begins a five-
day visit to Israel today, wrote in Yediot Aharonot:
"Residents of Israel and the Palestinian Authority....
There is no other alternative than to start a dialogue
based on mutual trust and friendship."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Let Hamas Fail"

Liberal columnist Dr. Gadi Taub wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (February 15): "So far, Israel's
response to Hamas's rise has been more from the gut and
less from the head.... In a gut reaction, we are trying
to snatch away the spoiled soup [the Palestinians]
cooked, instead of letting them eat it for a while. If
instead of shouting that we will not talk by any means,
that there is no way, that until this and until that,
we will not permit and not rest -- if instead of all
this, we were to be quiet for a bit, we would be in a
much better position. We would let them go out on a
limb, and not rashly go out on our own limb.... What is
Israel doing in the meantime? It is trying to push
Hamas back into the opposition, where it enjoys a great
relative advantage, and where its terror attacks have
no real cost. There, in the opposition, it can
continue to portray itself as a kind of Robin Hood,
which hits and runs, in the service of its people. If
the shortsighted Israeli policy succeeds, if we manage
to push Hamas back into the opposition, we will save
the Palestine branch of Islamic fundamentalism from
crashing into the ground of reality.... [As the
government,] it will be forced to negotiate -- openly
or covertly -- with U.S. administration officials,
instead of making war cries from the gallery. And it
will find that the moderate Arab countries, which fear
the danger of fundamentalism even more than we do, will
not welcome its extremist positions.... So why not let
Hamas discover this, instead of pushing it into a
position where it does not need our oxygen? Why should
we cram them into a corner and let them wriggle free?
Why should the elephant be afraid of the mouse, instead
of the mouse being afraid of the elephant?"

II. "War Monger"

Veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin Eytan Haber opined in an
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot (February 15): "Please note the name of the
latest Palestinian idiot. We will yet hear and read a
lot about him, before he too passes on, accompanied by
the roar of a helicopter's engine. This is Mahmoud
Zahar, the Hamas leader who announced festively that
his organization would never recognize the State of
Israel and would strike to wipe it out. How
unfortunate is the Palestinian people: First it had
the Mufti [of Jerusalem Haj Amin el-Husseini], who led
it to the edge of the precipice, then Ahmed Shukeiri,
who led it to the peaks of ridicule, and afterwards
Yasser Arafat, who led it through the paths of blood,
and now Mahmoud Zahar, the man who was given a finger
and wants the whole hand -- and for what? Perhaps to
help in identifying [him] by means of the remaining
fingerprints?"

III. "Put Palestinian Statehood on Hold"
Zalman Shoval, President of the Israel-America Chamber
of Commerce, senior Likud member, and former ambassador
to the U.S., wrote in the conservative, independent
Jerusalem Post (February 15): "Ever since President
George Bush's unveiling of his vision for Arab-Israeli
peace we have been told that Palestinian statehood
would bring the separation desired by most Israelis,
peaceful coexistence with our Palestinian neighbors,
and the conclusive elimination of the demographic
threat. A Palestinian state, in short, was claimed to
be in Israel's supreme interest. It isn't, and never
was!.... The question now is how seriously the Quartet,
and even the U.S., will take their own conditions for
Palestinian statehood.... It is clear that Hamas's
continuing refusal to take upon itself the most
fundamental obligations under the road map, let alone
previous agreements such as Oslo, Paris, Wye and Sharm
e-Sheikh, and do away with the 'right of return'
dictates a reevaluation of Palestinian statehood as an
American and Israeli goal. Not even the continuing
role of the Quartet, in light of Russian President
Vladimir Putin's decision to break ranks and invite
Hamas to Moscow, should be taken for granted.... All
this will require a major diplomatic effort on Israel's
behalf, including making it clear that we hold the keys
to the very idea of Palestinian statehood."




IV. "The Orphan of the Campaign"

Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (February 15): "The heads of all
[Israeli] parties, to one extent or another, are
surrendering to what still, mistakenly, looks like the
public's desire: eternal enmity toward the Palestinian
administration, whatever it might be. Hamas has
replaced the ghouls whom we had always seen swarming on
the other side. Even Meretz-Yahad is blurring its old
argument that it is necessary to talk with any
Palestinian leadership.... All the talk about 'we will
never speak,' in Bush's fundamentalist language, is a
return to the old logorrhea of Israeli policy. The
idea of continuing to strangle those unpleasant
Palestinians and send them to new elections is an
upgrading of Golda Meir to a 2006 model. An open-eyed
position on this anachronism must be one of the main
criteria for sensible voters a month and a half from
now."


V. "Fighting Isn't a Natural Phenomenon"

The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who begins a five-
day visit to Israel today, wrote in Yediot Aharonot
(February 15): "The holy region in which you --
residents of Israel and the Palestinian Authority --
live has suffered from a long-drawn-out struggle for
decades.... Until recently, a very solid view pervaded
the world -- 'we' against 'they,' 'ours' against
'theirs.' Naturally such a position made it hard to
reach durable solutions. Recent years have proved to
the entire world that this isn't the way to solve
disputes. Disagreements and fighting aren't inevitable
-- they are man-made.... The only realistic way to
reduce suffering and the dispute is by focusing on
common ground in problems and needs, and then to try to
reach a mutual resolution that will fulfill common
interests and bring joint benefits to both sides.
There is no other alternative than to start a dialogue
based on mutual trust and friendship. Only thus is
there an opportunity to resolve problems. I'll be
happy to present my view to you. I hope to visit with
you again."

JONES