ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001094 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 CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD COMSIXTHFLT FOR 019 JERUSALEM ALSO ICD LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL PARIS ALSO FOR POL ROME FOR MFO SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION -------------- SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: -------------- Mideast -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- All media highlighted Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day. All media reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meet with P.A. President Mahmud Abbas in Jerusalem on Sunday. The first part of the meeting was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni and Minister of Defense Amir Peretz. According to Ha'aretz, which quotes diplomatic sources, PM Olmert supports General Dayton's plan for the training and arming of the Palestinian Presidential Guard. The paper cited Palestinian sources as saying that the meeting was unproductive. According to the media PM Olmert promised Abbas that Israel will accelerate the efforts to remove roadblocks in the West Bank. The media highlighted that PM Olmert told PA Chairman Abbas that he was willing to hold their next meeting in Jericho. All media reported on Sunday that Israel is willing to meet with the Arab League's committee for furthering the Saudi peace initiative after the official appointment of the committee next week. Ha'aretz quotes U.S. officials as saying that the expected dialogue between Israel and the Arab League would be a move of historic significance. The media reported that the Supreme Court is expected to rule on Monday when the transcripts of the testimonies of the PM, Defense Minister and Chief of Staff will be released to the public. The media noted that the members of the Winograd Committee announced on Sunday that the committee will release the testimonies two weeks after the interim report is submitted to the government. Ha'aretz reported that Syria announced on Sunday that the views of Syrian-American businessman Ibrahim Suleiman, who appeared last week in the Israeli Knesset do not represent those of Damascus. All media reported that an unknown group of Palestinian militants claimed that they have executed the kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston. These reports have been discredited by the Palestinian Authority forces. All media reported that the Magistrate Court refused on Monday to shed light on the allegation against Balad MK Azmi Bishara. The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli Navy and NATO are conducting a week long naval exercise in Eilat. The Jerusalem Post reported on the March 2007 Tel Aviv University Peace Index that found that half of Israeli Jews think the Arab League peace proposal could serve as a basis for negotiations on a regional peace agreement and that half think it should be rejected. The Jerusalem Post reports that despite a promise made to the US nearly 18 months ago to drop its trade boycott against Israel, the Saudis continue to enforce the Arab League boycott. -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "It's impossible to exaggerate the importance of the Arab initiative and the direct Arab appeal to Israel.... The current process is one of implementation, one that at least makes an active attempt to persuade, rather than just to declare intentions. For the first time, Arab states are offering their services as mediators." Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "At the end of the day, the Arab states have to decide how important it is to them to create a real peace process. The Palestinians cannot pull themselves out of their spiral of radicalism and anarchy alone. The Arab states, by taking meaningful steps toward opening contacts with Israel, can do much more to point the Palestinians away from war and terrorism than anything the international community or Israel can do." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "A Nod to the Arab Plan" Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (4/16): "Relations between Israel and the Arab states are liable to undergo a historic turning point when the delegation from the Arab League follow-up committee requests a meeting with the Israeli government to discuss the Arab initiative in the coming days.... It's impossible to exaggerate the importance of the Arab initiative and the direct Arab appeal to Israel.... The current process is one of implementation, one that at least makes an active attempt to persuade, rather than just to declare intentions. For the first time, Arab states are offering their services as mediators, not just with respect to local issues that stem from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, they have adopted a comprehensive approach that confronts regional interests and is prepared to adopt Israel as part of the solution, not just as part of the problem. This is the same approach that Israel has hoped for since its establishment - and perhaps the time has now come to realize it.... As such, the Israeli government must not only be welcoming and make appropriate statements. It must also provide a practical response, describing how it plans to implement the political negotiations.... Israeli and Arab readiness to turn a new diplomatic leaf must be accompanied by an immediate and tangible change in the reality of the occupation. At the same time, Israel also has the right to ask the Arab states that are promoting the initiative to clarify what their practical contribution will be to the negotiations." II. "The Arab's Choice" Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (4/16): "Yesterday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met for the first of an indefinite series of biweekly meetings announced during Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's last visit. Before the meeting, Olmert reacted positively to reports that the Arab League might set up a working group of its more moderate states to flesh out the recently revived Arab peace initiative. The question is, does all this diplomatic movement amount to anything?.... Though some Palestinians claim that nothing will happen because Israel's government is weak, this is the pot calling the kettle black. Olmert is far from popular, but he is indisputably the prime minister and the government he leads is, at least on paper, stable. Abbas, by contrast, proved unable to rein in Hamas even when he was in charge, before the elections that handed Hamas the government.... Under such circumstances, Olmert-Abbas meetings must be considered a curiosity that is, through a momentary alignment of the diplomatic firmament, ostensibly in the marginal interest of all parties. It is not a venue that, in and of itself, will produce anything of significance. It would be understandable to dismiss potential meetings under Arab League auspices with Israel as similarly insubstantial. Yet this would be a mistake, and it is good that Olmert has already expressed Israel's willingness to participate without conditions.... At the end of the day, the Arab states have to decide how important it is to them to create a real peace process. The Palestinians cannot pull themselves out of their spiral of radicalism and anarchy alone. The Arab states, by taking meaningful steps toward opening contacts with Israel, can do much more to point the Palestinians away from war and terrorism than anything the international community or Israel can do." JONES