ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 000997

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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1. Mideast


2. Iran: Nuclear Program

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Key stories in the media:
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On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that Acting PM Ehud Olmert
briefed the US administration last week on the main
thrust of his political plan before he delivered it to
the local media in interviews this past weekend. The
newspaper quoted GOI sources as saying that Olmert
wanted to avoid surprising the Americans with his
statements on the future of the political process.
Ha'aretz wrote that the Americans understood the
message and refrained from public comment. Internal
Security Minister Gideon Ezra was quoted as saying on
Sunday in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that in
the absence of an agreement with the Palestinians,
Olmert intends to keep the West Bank under IDF control
even after all the settlements beyond the security
fence are evacuated.

Major media (banner in Yediot) reported that Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice announced on Sunday on her
way to Indonesia that the US is considering increasing
humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. She also urged
Hamas to choose a peaceful path to government. On
Sunday, Hatzofe cited the British daily The Financial
Times as saying that the US is pressuring moderate
elements in the PA not to join the Ismail Haniyeh
government. On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post quoted
sources close to Hamas as saying that PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas has warned Hamas that he will
not approve its new cabinet unless it recognizes all
agreements signed with Israel.

Israel Radio and other media reported that two
Palestinian youths were caught with 15 to 20 kg of
explosives at the Beit Iba checkpoint west of Nablus.
The radio cited the defense establishment as saying
that the explosives were probably meant to be used in a
bombing in central Israel during the Purim holiday.

Major media reported that the IDF went on high alert on
Sunday along the northern border with Lebanon due to
warnings of a possible Hizbullah attack. Ha'aretz
reported that Usbat-al-Ansar, the Lebanon-based
Palestinian organization that maintains close ties with
some of the al-Qaida networks, has a front line
relatively close to the border with Israel, in the Ain
el Helweh refugee camp. Over the weekend, all media
cited the Lebanese daily As-Safir as saying that
Lebanese authorities have arrested an al-Qaida-
affiliated terror cell.

Ha'aretz quoted Israeli intelligence sources as saying
that Iran continues to urge Islamic Jihad to carry out
terror attacks against Israel ahead of the Knesset
elections, and that the Iranian pressure on Islamic
Jihad comes despite Tehran's declared support for Hamas
and the fact that senior Hamas officials were invited
to Tehran to celebrate the organization's victory in
the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council.
During the weekend, all media reported an announcement
made by Hamas on Sunday that armed resistance is a
legal right and method of achieving Palestinian rights.
Hatzofe cited Hamas as saying that Saudi Arabia has
decided to increase its financial aid to the
Palestinians.

Ha'aretz reported that a senior US official told the
newspaper last week that "if the Syrians think they've
managed to get off the hook because there are other
things on the agenda, they are mistaken. The Syrians
have not been punished yet for their actions and we are
continuing to study their conduct. Their luck will run
out eventually." Ha'aretz quoted another senior US
official as saying that Syria will "soon" receive extra
attention when new measures against it are unveiled.
Ha'aretz wrote that several senior US administration
officials have stressed to Ha'aretz in recent days that
"we have not forgotten about Syria" and that "several
hinted in recent weeks in conversations with colleagues
that further plans might soon be implemented with the
aim of increasing pressure on Syria." Ha'aretz quoted
sources at the US Department of Defense and at
intelligence agencies as saying that Syria is
continuing to allow terrorists to use it as a conduit
to Iraq and to support terrorist organizations that
undermine American policy in the Middle East. Ha'aretz
quoted a diplomatic official as saying this weekend
that the Syrian issue is bound up with the Iranian
situation, as Tehran's apparent objective is to
destabilize the entire region. The fact that Syria has
"a weak leadership," the source was quoted as saying,
gives the Iranians an advantage they never had before.
"[Former president] Hafez Assad always held the
Iranians as a card in his pocket, but in the case of
[current President] Bashar Assad, the Iranians are the
ones holding him as a card in their pocket." Ha'aretz
reported that last Thursday, the US Treasury Department
instructed American financial institutions to sever all
links with the Commercial Bank of Syria and its
subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, which
the administration says have been used to launder
terror funds. The treasury announcement also stated
that the Syrian government itself made use of the bank
to facilitate "international terrorist activity."

On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that James Wolfensohn, the
Quartet's special envoy on the disengagement, has
announced that he will be stepping down in April and
closing his office unless his mandate is revised.
Today, The Jerusalem Post wrote that Wolfensohn's
"threat" came against a background of uncertainty
inside the Quartet over how to deal with a Hamas-led PA
government once it is formed.

The Jerusalem Post quoted a GOI official as saying that
Israel will not make an issue over British Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw's statement last week that after

SIPDIS
the world deals with Iran's nuclear "threat," it will
deal with Israel's. On Sunday, Ha'aretz quoted Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying that former IDF Chief of
Staff Moshe Ya'alon's comments on the Israeli
capability of striking Iran's nuclear installations
were uncalled for. On Sunday, Yediot reported that a
delegation from the anti-Zionist Ultra-Orthodox Jewish
group Neturei Karta visited Iran to express their
identification with Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's call for the elimination of Israel. .

The Jerusalem Post quoted PA officials as saying on
Sunday that a number of Arab countries have agreed to
hand over to the PA top Palestinian officials suspected
of involvement in financial corruption, and that some
of the suspects have already arrived in the Gaza Strip
from Egypt.
Major media reported that the state prosecutor's office
has instructed the police to open an investigation
against former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg over
alleged wrongdoing in the sale of a factory to a
consortium of which Burg is a member.

During the weekend, the media extensively reported on
the death of former Yugoslav and Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic in his prison cell in The Hague.

On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that in a speech
Friday to the National Newspaper Association
conference, President Bush tied the Dubai ports deal to
the war on terror and warned that the collapse of the
deal might hurt the United States' effort to recruit
Middle Eastern countries to support the campaign
against terrorism.

On Sunday, Ha'aretz cited AP that two militants were
executed by hanging Saturday for the killing of US
diplomat Lawrence Foley in Amman.

Ha'aretz reported that the Labor Party aims to be a
major force in Olmert's post-election government. On
Sunday, Yediot reported that the Likud's platform has
no "political horizon," but three tough principles: no
to a Palestinian state, to transfer of money to a Hamas
government, and no employment of Palestinian workers in
Israel. Leading media quoted Likud Chairman Binyamin
Netanyahu as saying that his party will not join a
Kadima-led government.

Yediot reported that The New York Times has lodged a
complaint with the Israel Police, saying that an
unknown body is conducting a public opinion poll about
the elections without its knowledge. Yediot quoted
Steven Erlanger, The New York Times' correspondent in
Israel, as saying that his newspaper is not holding any
elections-related poll in Israel.

All media reported that on Sunday, the government
announced a plan to promote affirmative action for
Arabs, Ethiopian immigrants, and the disabled. The
media cited opposition arguments that the plan smacks
of election propaganda.

Yediot and Maariv reported that parts of cars stolen in
Israel are popular in Iraq.
Maariv reported that "like in the White House," Olmert
will name a chief of staff in the Prime Minister's
Office. Maariv wrote that former Restraint of Trade
Commissioner Dr. Yoram Turbovitz is the leading
candidate for the post.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized:
"[Ehud Olmert's] generates hope that Israel's
initiation of a unilateral process will cause the
Palestinians to recognize the major change that is
under way here: instead of the trend of expansion that
has characterized Israel until recently, it is moving
toward convergence."

Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot: "Those who draw maps are like those who trade
in dreams: they are trying to sell us hopes that have
already expired."

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "Olmert is
acting in accordance with Hamas's interests."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Convergence With Hope"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (March
13): "It is clear that a withdrawal that takes place
with the agreement of the opposite side is preferable
to a unilateral pullout, which will not lead to the end
of the conflict. However, from the perspective of
nearly 40 years of occupation, it is appropriate to
look at the overall picture created by Olmert's plan --
and it generates hope that Israel's initiation of a
unilateral process will cause the Palestinians to
recognize the major change that is under way here:
instead of the trend of expansion that has
characterized Israel until recently, it is moving
toward convergence. Instead of adding settlements and
enlarging them, it is limiting the number of
settlements as well as the area they cover. When this
happens, the Palestinians will understand that Israel's
line of thought has indeed changed. The line that
began in the Gaza evacuation, continued in Amona and
will keep going during evacuation of West Bank
settlements will then be clear to them as well. When
this happens, the Palestinians will conclude that it is
not worth it to let the Israelis set the border
unilaterally, because then they will not be able to
influence their own border. Thus, there is hope that
beginning the process of unilateral convergence will
serve as a catalyst that will lead both sides to
negotiate a final-status agreement that is of benefit
to them both."

II. "Those Who Draw the Borders"

Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot (March 13): "A groundless and ridiculous idea
has been making the rounds in the Israeli political
establishment, and has even made its way into the
American political establishment: the idea that the
Israeli government will be able to unilaterally
determine our border with the Palestinian Authority.
This idea has recently been adopted by Kadima, and
acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has expressed it
eloquently in his many media interviews.... [Israeli
history shows that] there is no final border without a
final status arrangement, and therefore Israel has no
chance of unilaterally establishing its border with the
Palestinian Authority. For such a border to receive
minimal international recognition, its route will have
to take into account the needs and national aspirations
of the Palestinians, and to be acceptable to them as
well -- no matter who their elected leaders are at the
time. It is also ridiculous to assume that the talk of
'determining a final border' is in any way threatening
to the Palestinian administration. Especially not now:
any Israeli plan for an unilateral evacuation of
territories, even a partial evacuation, serves and
strengthens the rule of Hamas and its hold on the
Palestinian public. As for President Bush, his
popularity is so low and his Middle East policy so
deeply mired in the mud, that there is no positive
diplomatic value to coordinating ideas and interviews
with him.... No, we are not a victorious empire that
will be able to draw its borders at will on the sand of
the Middle Eastern desert. We have not received
permission for this in the past, and will not be given
such permission in the future. Those who draw maps are
like those who trade in dreams: they are trying to sell
us hopes that have already expired."

III. "Olmert is Hamas's Darling"

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (March 12):
"Information that has reached Jerusalem showed that the
Hamas leaders fear that they will be required to
recognize Israel in exchange for withdrawals that would
bring about a Palestinian state. Olmert's policy
spares them that dilemma. Unlike Fatah, which signed
diplomatic agreements with Israel, Hamas ... is not
obligated to recognize Israel. A unilateral Israeli
withdrawal would allow Hamas to proclaim a Palestinian
state without recognition from Israel. Hamas couldn't
expect a better gift from Israel.... Thus, Olmert is
acting in accordance with Hamas's interests. One day,
he will receive the 'Hamas's Darling' prize. He
deserves it."


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2. Iran: Nuclear Program:
--------------

Summary:
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The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized: "If America or NATO were to
automatically exclude Israel from participation in a
military operation against Iran's nuclear program, they
would be subtly separating out a close Western ally and
thereby subtly playing into Islamist demonization of
Israel that is essentially no different from the
demonization of the West itself."

Block Quotes:
--------------
"Ya'alon's Sensible 'Gaffe'"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post
editorialized (March 13): "Last week, former IDF chief
of General Staff Moshe Ya'alon caused a ruckus here
with a speech he gave in Washington, where he said
Israel was militarily capable of dealing a devastating
blow to Iran's nuclear program. This week, Acting
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert joined Ya'alon's critics,
calling his remarks 'irresponsible'.... In the eyes of
militant Islamists, certainly the regime in Tehran,
there is no difference between the 'Crusaders' and the
Jews -- or as that regime puts it, the 'Great Satan'
(America) and the 'Little Satan' (Israel). If America
or NATO were to automatically exclude Israel from
participation in a military operation against Iran's
nuclear program, they would be subtly separating out a
close Western ally and thereby subtly playing into
Islamist demonization of Israel that is essentially no
different from the demonization of the West itself.
Rather than criticizing Ya'alon for essentially saying
as much, Olmert should, albeit delicately and in the
appropriate context, be saying it himself."

JONES