ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 000937 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 -------------- SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: -------------- ¶1. Mideast ¶2. US/India Civilian Nuclear Accord -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- All media (banners in Ha'aretz and Maariv) quoted Acting PM Ehud Olmert as saying Tuesday that Israel will invest no money in construction in the territories in the coming years if Kadima wins the upcoming elections. Ha'aretz quoted Olmert associates as saying that his spending ban would not include the settlement blocs that Kadima wants Israel to retain under any future agreement. The media quoted Olmert as saying that more resources would be allocated to the Negev, the Galilee, and Jerusalem. Ha'aretz reported that on Tuesday, Vice President Richard Cheney made two statements at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Conference that "left little room for speculation, and earned him a long round of stormy applause": "The US is keeping all options on the table" and "We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon." Yediot and The Jerusalem Post also cited Cheney's remarks on the Iranian issue. Ha'aretz quoted Vice President Cheney as saying at the AIPAC Conference: "There is no doubt that America's commitment to Israel's security is solid, enduring and unshakeable." Ha'aretz quoted diplomatic sources surrounding the International Atomic Energy Agency as saying that over the past day, the US administration pressured the European countries not to agree to any compromise with Iran regarding the issue of uranium enrichment. Yediot quoted State Department Spokesman Tom Casey as saying that the US would not allow the Iranian regime to enrich uranium. Yediot reported on a controversy in the US around remarks made by former senior Pentagon official Richard Perle in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera that the US is capable of wiping out all of Iran's nuclear �0A;installations in one night. Ha'aretz reported that the significant development of the past two days took place on Capitol Hill when a number of Republican congressmen, headed by Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, along with Democratic Senator Joseph Biden, proposed the Senate's version of a bill against the PA. Ha'aretz quoted the Vice President as saying Tuesday: "If the leaders of Hamas desire the help of America and the international community to build an independent, prosperous Palestinian state, then the way forward is very clear. The Palestinian government must recognize Israel's right to exist." Maariv reported that Israel is involved in confidential talks with the US so that funds can continue to be channeled to the Palestinians, by-passing the PA. The newspaper wrote that for this purpose, Israel wants to make use of humanitarian organizations, "some of which are considered anti-Israeli" -- Maariv cited the UN Relief and Works Agency. Maariv reported that Israel and the US are drawing up a list of international organizations through which the money would be transferred to the Palestinians. Ha'aretz reported that an official report by USAID and the Palestinian agricultural development corporation warns of "financial catastrophe" regarding the Gush Katif hothouses purchased by the Palestinian Economic Development (PED) Company. According to Ha'aretz, the report states that as a result of the closing of the Karni crossing since February 12, the company has incurred USD 450,000 in damages a day and the cumulative damage has reached USD 4.4 million. Ha'aretz wrote that PED's DG Bassam Jaber told the newspaper that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and the Quartet's Mideast envoy, James Wolfensohn, promised at the formation of the company and the acquisition of the Gush Katif hothouses that the Karni crossing would be open regularly for the passage of goods, but this promise was not kept. The Jerusalem Post reported that senior IDF officers, who acknowledge the IDF's failure to eradicate Qassam rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, told the newspaper on Tuesday that Israel would have no choice but to launch a massive ground operation into the Gaza Strip in the near future. Leading media reported that two Qassam rocket landed in the western Negev on Tuesday and this morning, causing no casualties. Maariv reported that Hizbullah experts have arrived in the Gaza Strip to advise Palestinian terrorist organizations on how to improve the efficiency of Qassam rockets and how to build more lethal explosive charges. An IDF soldier and a Defense Ministry guard were lightly wounded during a Palestinian protest against the separation fence going up west of Ramallah. The IDF arrested at least eleven Palestinians in the West Bank. Leading media reported that two Qassam rocket landed in the western Negev on Tuesday and this morning, causing no casualties. The Jerusalem Post cited diplomatic assessments in Jerusalem that Hamas is feeling increasingly confident since PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas reconciled himself to a Hamas government and because of cracks appearing in the international front that Israel is attempting to cobble together. The newspaper says that according to those assessments, Abbas has made it clear in recent days that he had no intention of standing in Hamas's way, and that he was even defending Hamas in the international arena. The Jerusalem Post quoted Abbas as saying Tuesday that he would be prepared to free from prison the mastermind of the assassination of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi, but that he would not be responsible for any Israeli actions against him. Yediot reported that a Hamas web site encourages the phenomenon of suicide bombing among children. Major media (lead story in Yediot) reported that a State Comptroller report to be released today sharply criticizes the government's treatment of settlers evacuated under the disengagement plan. In particular, the report finds special fault with the Disengagement Administration. Speaking on Israel Radio this morning, Disengagement Administration Director Yonatan Bassi said that the facts presented in the report are totally disconnected from their context. Bassi also questioned why the report was made public three weeks before the elections. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, divestment activists in the UK were handed a defeat after the Church of England's financial advisors -- the Ethical Investment Advisory Group -- voted unanimously to reject the Church's call to divest from the American company Caterpillar Inc. Yediot quoted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as saying recently during a closed discussion that Israelis should not be afraid of visiting Egypt, and the Sinai in particular. Ha'aretz wrote that highly confidential documents from the Ministry of Justice dating from the early 1990s, copies of which were sent to the Ministers of Defense, Justice and Housing as well as the Attorney General, confirm the existence of a vast network of ties between Likud and Labor governments, and land dealers and settlers' associations, for the purpose of acquiring land in the West Bank. All media reported that Israeli underworld kingpin Zeev Rosenstein, who was extradited to the US from Israel, made his first court appearance in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday. The media reported that upon landing in Florida, Rosenstein made contact with Attorney Roy Black, one of Miami's top lawyers, who represented William Kennedy Smith during his trial for rape. Yediot reported that the US Embassy's web site that allows Israelis to apply for visas to the US has been repeatedly crashing. Maariv cited Israel's concern that the embassies of Costa Rica and El Salvador, which are the only ones located in Jerusalem, might move to Tel Aviv, following Oscar Arias's victory in the Costa Rican presidential elections. Yediot reported on an uproar at Columbia University around an invitation made to Norman Finkelstein, a Jewish American academic who holds anti-Israeli views, to speak tonight before student unions, including the Muslim Students Association. The newspaper wrote that Finkelstein will present his stance that Jewish organizations exploit the Holocaust to deflect criticism of Israel and to extort European banks and governments for compensation. Yediot reported that Rania Jubran, an Israeli-Arab woman who is the daughter of a High Court judge, will enroll in a prestigious cadet course in the Foreign Ministry. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Michael Freund, who was an assistant to former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "It is not too late to stop a Middle Eastern 9/11 from taking place, but if Israel doesn't act soon, and decisively, that is where we may all end up." Yossi Alpher, coeditor of the Israeli-Palestinian web site bitterlemons.org, a former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, who was an advisor to former prime minister Ehud Barak, wrote in left- leaning, independent Ha'aretz: "[Mahmoud] Abbas is not relevant to the current situation, and for now a peace process is not possible. Hamas is our 'partner,' for better or for worse." Ha'aretz editorialized: "[Israeli] human rights organizations are the state's pride, not a threat that must be liquidated or minimized." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "A Bitter Plan" Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (March 8): "[Former Shin Bet Director and prominent Kadima party member] Avi Dichter sowed embarrassment this week in Kadima when he declared a plan for an additional unilateral withdrawal.... It appears that the confusion created by that declaration contradicts Sharon's pronouncements following the disengagement from Gush Katif and the northern West Bank. Sharon then declared that the disengagement was a one-time affair and that any additional pullout would take place in the framework of final-status negotiations with the Palestinians -- in keeping with the Roadmap.... A new withdrawal without an agreement would necessarily be damaging to Israel. It might make extremist organizations -- including Hamas -- intensify their war in order to force Israel to satisfy their demands." II. "Beware: Al Qaida Is Targeting Israel" Michael Freund, who was an assistant to former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (March 8): "The writing is on the wall: Al Qaida is gearing up to attack the Jewish state. Yet no one seems to be paying very much attention. Like a shark honing in on its prey, Osama bin Laden's henchmen are progressively encircling the Jewish state, creating bases of operation in areas bordering Israel.... This fits in precisely with what we know to be the group's ultimate objective: to wage war against the Jewish state.... We need to start making it abundantly clear to friends and allies in the West that they cannot expect Israel to carry out further retreats when the threat posed by Islamist fundamentalism is already within striking distance of our major towns and cities. Most importantly, though, Israel must start taking the danger of a possible Al- Qaida attack much more seriously and adopt an aggressive, preemptive posture to eliminate the organization's infrastructure in places such as Gaza. It is not too late to stop a Middle Eastern 9/11 from taking place, but if Israel doesn't act soon, and decisively, that is where we may all end up." III. "Yes, He's Not Relevant" Yossi Alpher, coeditor of the Israeli-Palestinian web site bitterlemons.org, a former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, who was an advisor to former prime minister Ehud Barak, wrote in left- leaning, independent Ha'aretz (March 8): "[Mahmoud] Abbas is not relevant to the current situation, and for now a peace process is not possible. Hamas is our 'partner,' for better or for worse. Abbas is a good person with noble sentiments. He opposes violence and appears genuinely to want a two-state solution. He remains chairman of the PA and head of the PLO. So far, so good. But he is incapable of acting decisively, and unable to deliver on his commitments. He promised to disarm the militias -- those of Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad -- and could not. He wanted to clean out the ranks of Fatah and the PLO from the old guard of corrupt politicos, and failed. Nor are his own ideological commitments necessarily congenial to a successful peace process with Israel. He agreed with Hamas in March 2005 in Cairo that the right of return would be exercised for all refugees to their former lands -- a sure formula for the elimination of Israel.... Even if he had a mandate to negotiate and the capacity to do so, peace talks with him would likely fail. In the unlikely event that they succeeded, Abbas would not be able to deliver, because he does not have a mandate. Hamas does.... Palestinian moderates like [Saeb] Erekat are either in denial or genuinely don't understand that they have been replaced by the Muslim Brotherhood, with all that entails for the future of Palestinian society and Israeli- Palestinian relations. Israel undoubtedly shares the blame for Abbas' failure and Hamas' election triumph.... But to blame mainly us for Hamas's victory, as many Palestinians do, is simply another form of Palestinian denial. Nor does it alter the outcome we must now deal with." IV. "Who Is For the State, and Who Is Against?" Ha'aretz editorialized (March 8): "Israeli human rights organizations that try to help Palestinians have never enjoyed widespread public support.... [Even so], Machsom Watch is a unique women's human rights organization comprised of hundreds of women.... The assumption is that the presence of these mature women, some of whom are the mothers or grandmothers of soldiers, [at IDF checkpoints] prevents excessive abuse and slightly eases the suffering and humiliation that is the lot of thousands. This organization -- like other human rights organizations, each of which focuses on a different consequence of the occupation -- is the least that Israeli citizens can do to try to prevent injustices stemming from the occupation. Life under the anomaly of an occupation regime produces strange solutions, such as the presence of women alongside soldiers in an effort to ensure a more humane routine. The human rights organizations are the state's pride, not a threat that must be liquidated or minimized." -------------- ¶2. US/India Civilian Nuclear Accord: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior military affairs analyst Reuven Pedatzur wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Whatever Bush's motivations for signing the nuclear agreement with India, the President of the US has in any case set back the nuclear non-proliferation efforts by 30 years." Block Quotes: -------------- "A New Nuclear Age" Senior military affairs analyst Reuven Pedatzur wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 8): "There could not have been a worse timing for the signing of the nuclear pact between the US and India last week. While President Bush is leading the international campaign against the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran, it legitimized India's nuclear program, and thus granted India the status of a legitimate nuclear power in every respect. This happened two years after he announced with great resolve that new nuclear powers should not be added to the list of the five nuclear powers, and eight years after the US administration imposed sanctions on India after it conducted a series of nuclear tests.... Whatever Bush's motivations for signing the nuclear agreement with India, the President of the US has in any case set back the nuclear non- proliferation efforts by 30 years. He blatantly violated the rule that was set more than 30 years ago according to which nuclear technology is not provided to countries that have not signed the NPT. Thus, the American president has greatly harmed the chances of denying nuclear weapons to Iran." JONES