ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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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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1. Mideast


2. Muhammad Cartoon Controversy

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Key stories in the media:
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Major media reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
is expected to present to Acting PM Ehud Olmert today
recommendations formulated by the defense establishment
to reduce Israel's ties with the PA as of Sunday, the
day after the Hamas-led Palestinian Legislative Council
(PLC) takes office. According to the proposal, Israel
would announce a freeze on further transfers of the tax
revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the PA; a
ban on the entry of workers from the Gaza Strip into
Israel; a ban on the movement of Palestinians between
Gaza and the West Bank; the freezing of a plan to
upgrade the crossing points between the territories and
Israel; freezing plans to build a port and airport in
Gaza; and the prevention of transfers of military
equipment to the PA from foreign countries, such as
donations of armored personnel carriers and
communications gear. In contrast, Palestinian
merchants would continue to be allowed into Israel, and
the Erez and Karni crossings between Israel and Gaza
would remain open. However, the defense establishment
would begin preparations for turning these crossings
into full-fledged borders, and removing Gaza from its
joint customs envelope with Israel. The Jerusalem Post
quoted Foreign Ministry sources as saying that Israel
is considering labeling the PA an enemy of the state on
the level of Syria, Lebanon, and Libya. Yediot
bannered: "Hamas Era Begins." The Jerusalem Post
reported that Israel's decision to halt funding to a
Hamas-led PA has put NGOs under a harsh GOI spotlight.

Maariv reported that Israel intends to present a
"tangible" ultimatum to PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud
Abbas: if he does not prevent Hamas from forming a
government, Israel would detach Gaza from the West
Bank, thus causing tremendous harm to the Palestinian
economy. Maariv reported that some Arab governments
intend to stop economic aid to the PA.

Yediot reported that Israel is concerned about possible
erosion in international opposition to Hamas. The
media reported that a Hamas delegation led by Khaled
Mashal, the head of the movement's political bureau,
met with Turkish government officials in Ankara on
Thursday. Yediot reported that Israeli diplomatic
sources likened Turkey's move to a stab in Israel's
back, and quoted them as saying that this is a crisis
in confidence with Washington and Europe and not only
with Israel. Israel Radio reported that following U.S.
and Israeli pressure, the members of the delegation did
not meet with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ha'aretz quoted Turkish FM Abdullah Gul as saying
Thursday that he had clarified to Hamas that Turkey
stood firmly behind the Quartet's condition to withhold
aid from a Hamas-led Palestinian government unless the
Islamist group renounces violence and abandons its
commitment to Israel's destruction. Major media
reported that Jordan has invited Hamas representatives
to visit. Maariv reported that Jordanian FM Maruf al-
Bakhit has decided to refrain from receiving the Hamas
delegation.

Citing the Russian news agency Interfax, Ha'aretz and
Israel Radio quoted the chief of the Russian army's
chief of general staff Yuri Baluyevsky as saying that
Russia may supply 50 armored personnel carriers and two
helicopters to the Hamas-led PA. Israel Radio later
quoted Russian FM Sergey Lavrov as saying that any such
deals with the PA would be coordinated with Israel.
The radio reported that Hamas has asked Russia to
pressure Israel to put an end to targeted killings.
Israel Radio reported that on Thursday, FM Tzipi Livni
told visiting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana
that visits of Hamas officials abroad are harmful.

Maariv (Ben Caspit) reported that over the past two
weeks, Hamas has been devising a plan that would allow
it to rule in the PA and to break the wall of
international isolation that has been created around
the movement. The plan reportedly includes a formal
continuation of the truce, indirect recognition of
Israel, and the inclusion of Hamas's military branch in
the Palestinian police. Yediot (Alex Fishman) reported
that Hamas will more or less exercise self-restraint in
response to any Israeli provocation plans and then
establish its power during a year. The Jerusalem Post
reported that at closed meetings in Beirut and
Damascus, Hamas has been developing a new charter that
is designed to showcase a more moderate face. The
newspaper wrote that its source is one of those
advising on its content -- Dr. Azzam Tamimi, the Hebron-
born director of the Institute of Political Thought in
London, who acknowledged that this new document would
still call for an end to the Jewish state and the
creation of a Palestinian state on all on British-
Mandate Palestine.

Leading media reported that Hamas on Thursday nominated
Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader widely viewed by
Palestinians as a pragmatist, as the next PA prime
minister. The Jerusalem Post reported that a power
struggle between Fatah and Hamas is looming on the eve
of the PLC's inauguration.

Ha'aretz reported that a military order that took
effect last week bars Palestinians with permits from
entering Israel via the roads that Israelis use to
enter the country from the West Bank. The order also
forbids Israelis to transport Palestinians with valid
entry permits via these roads. Instead, Palestinians
must enter via one of the 11 crossing points earmarked
for them. Until now, Israelis could ferry Palestinians
with valid permits into Israel without going through
one of these special crossings.

Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice told Jewish leaders in Washington that
the U.S. does not have a credibility problem regarding
the use of force against Iran. Last night, Channel 2-
TV reported that three weeks ago, Iran secretly tested
a solid-fuel ballistic missile with a 2,000-km range.

Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post cited the defense
establishment as saying Thursday that construction of
the separation fence in the Judean Desert will start in
the coming weeks. The southern section of the fence
between Israel and the West Bank will begin east of the
Hebron Hills, where the barrier currently ends.

The Jerusalem Post reported that senior Israeli
security and government officials warned on Thursday
that Israel needs to prepare for a large-scale disaster
caused by Qassam rockets that could strike the Ashkelon
power plant or chemical storage tanks in the nearby
industrial zone.
Leading media reported that Israel Aircraft Industries
and Boeing are jointly developing an interception
system against Qassam rockets.

Maariv featured Mufid Abdul Kader (phon.),Khaled
Mashal's half-brother, who was an engineer for the City
of Dallas and is currently being tried for making death
threats against Mark Briskman, director of the Anti-
Defamation League in Dallas.

Ha'aretz reported that three peace activists, members
of the organization European Jews For Just Peace, were
prevented from entering Israel on Thursday.

Ha'aretz (English Ed.) cited research by Prof. Chaim
Waxman, an American Jewish sociologist, that between 10
to 30 percent of Americans who immigrated to Israel in
the past decade continue to commute to the U.S. for
work.

Commenting on criticism voiced in Israel about his
movie "Munich", American filmmaker Steven Spielberg was
quoted as saying in an interview with Yediot that
Israelis are entitled to be afraid of terror but that
he is entitled to ask tough questions.

Major media reported that on Thursday, Justice Minister
Tzipi Livni signed an extradition order for underworld
kingpin Zeev Rosenstein. He will be flown to the U.S.
in about two weeks, escorted by U.S. marshals.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "It
already is clear that under the current situation,
there will be no talk about operating the passage
between Gaza and the West Bank as had been promised to
Condoleezza Rice."
Intelligence affairs correspondent Yossi Melman wrote
in Ha'aretz: "[Putin's Russia] primary reason ... is
its desire to return the world to the bipolar era and
minimize the American hegemony that evolved after the
collapse of the Soviet Union."

Editorial Page Editor Saul Singer wrote in the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post:
"Unfortunately, as we have seen, pretend recognition
can only produce pretend peace."

Block Quotes:
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I. "What the Palestinians Have to Lose"

Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz
(February 17): "It already is clear that under the
current situation, there will be no talk about
operating the passage between Gaza and the West Bank as
had been promised to Condoleezza Rice. The
Palestinians are not ready to invest anything to ease
the passage of workers and merchandise. Their excuses
are varied and strange. They expect that Israel, the
Americans and the international community will make
things easier for their people and goods. That did not
prevent them from shooting at the vehicle passage at
the Erez crossing. And the launch of Qassam rockets
from nearby areas continues as usual. In addition,
they are boycotting the new passage that Israel opened
at Kerem Shalom.... The Quartet's representative,
James Wolfensohn, is behaving as if nothing happened.
After the rise of Hamas, he pushed for an operation to
collect funds for the Palestinian Authority. He
presents Israel with ridiculous proposals for removing
most of the security measures at the passages as if
they were between Canada and the U.S., demanding the
transfer of goods with nearly no security check."

II. "Putin's Real Target? The U.S."

Intelligence affairs correspondent Yossi Melman wrote
in Ha'aretz (February 17): "There should be no mistake
here: Putin's invitation last week to Hamas
representatives to visit Moscow this month, was not
capricious. Russian policy does not rely on gut
feelings.... It is part of the comprehensive policy
that has characterized [Russian President Vladimir
Putin] since he was elected in 2000. Its objective: to
return to Russia the international standing the Soviet
Union once had. From the days of Peter the Great and
through the Soviet period, Russia has seen the Middle
East as a region of influence, a type of backyard in
which to advance its crucial interests.... Putin's
Russia is also trying to build special ties with China
so as to create new rules in the international system.
Its primary reason for doing so is its desire to return
the world to the bipolar era and minimize the American
hegemony that evolved after the collapse of the Soviet
Union.... American foreign policy is aimed at
accomplishing results.... The Russians, on the other
hand, are still too weak to conduct a similar foreign
policy. The policy led by Putin therefore suffices
with activity, with defiance, and with sending a
message: we're here, we're an important factor, we're
liable to disrupt things, and therefore it's necessary
and worthwhile to take us into account.... It seems
that in the final analysis, even the West will hitch a
ride on the Russian approach to Hamas and will fall
into line with Putin."






III. "Playing Pretend"

Editorial Page Editor Saul Singer wrote in the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (February 17):
"The whole world -- even Russia and Egypt -- is
ostensibly demanding that Hamas recognize Israel's
right to exist. Yet what is really being demanded is
that Hamas pretend to accept Israel, like the PLO in

1988. Unfortunately, as we have seen, pretend
recognition can only produce pretend peace.... IN
practice, no one ever asked the Palestinians to
transform themselves, as Israelis have. The idea that
Palestinians would accept that the Jews have created a
state here by right, and are not just thieves sitting
on 'stolen Palestinian land,' is never really
contemplated, let alone considered realistic.... The
real objection to Israel is Islamic, not
nationalist.... Western leaders should say that the
root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict, like the root
cause of the Islamist war against the West, is the
rejection of any right of non-Muslims to hold power....
Compelling Hamas to pretend that it accepts Israel may
be a necessary first step. More necessary is to
realize that while those who reject 'Christian'
sovereignty over America and Europe are considered wild-
eyed extremists, the analogous view of Israel remains
mainstream throughout the Arab world among
'nationalists' and Islamists alike."

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2. Muhammad Cartoon Controversy:
--------------

Summary:
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Columnist Prof. Amnon Rubinstein, who served as
(Meretz) education minister, wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "The writer of these lines will ...
no longer listen to European moral preaching against
Israel."






Block Quotes:
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"Stop the Moral Preaching"

Columnist Prof. Amnon Rubinstein, who served as
(Meretz) education minister, wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (February 17): "This is an amazing
story: an atmosphere of open hatred to Islam is
prevailing in Europe's democratic and liberal
states.... [However, as opposed to anti-Semitism]
Islamophobia is mainly directed at Islam's religion and
culture and not at Muslims.... The interesting point is
that this atmosphere was created in absence of the
harsh conditions Israel is going through.... How can
one explain the difference between the harsh European
response and Israeli moderation?.... I believe there
are two explanations for that difference: the first one
resides in the fact that Israel's political, social,
and legal leadership learned to live with a continued
emergency situation and adopted more tolerant positions
than those of European states that have been astonished
to suddenly discover Islamic extremism in their
midst.... The second explanation is that Israeli
society is more pluralistic and multi-cultural than
European societies.... This is why the writer of these
lines will ... no longer listen to European moral
preaching against Israel."

JONES