ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION


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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Mideast


2. Syria


3. US and Iran

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Key stories in the media:
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All media reported that former prime minister Ehud Barak won
Monday's first round of the Labor Party primaries. Barak finished
with 35.6 percent of the votes to Ayalon's 30.6 percent. Current
Labor Party leader Amir Peretz trailed with 22.4 percent, while
Knesset Member Ophir Pines-Paz received 8 percent. A second round
of voting will take place in two weeks. Media analysts estimated
that Peretz would join Ami Ayalon in the second round and help him
to victory.


The media summed up two weeks of Qassam rocket firing. Maariv
reported that 256 (according to Yediot 280) rockets were fired at
Israel, with two people were killed and 164 injured. Yediot reported
that 40 percent of Sderot residents had left the city.

Yediot reported that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah has
taken Prime Minster Ehud Olmert's threats seriously and gone
underground. According to the paper he is running his activities
from a hiding place.

Ha'aretz reported that PM Ehud Olmert's senior aide Yoram Turbowicz
will leave for Washington in a few days for talks with senior
officials in the US administration. The paper also noted that
Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni will meet Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice on Thursday at a convention in Vienna.

Leading media reported that Israel Defense Forces troops shot and
killed two Hamas militants on Tuesday in a gun battle that broke out
during a cross-border raid into Gaza. The IDF also arrested 12
wanted Palestinian militants in the Balata refugee camp in the West
Bank town of Nablus early Tuesday, including Palestinian parliament
member Jamal Tirawi, a member of Palestinian Authority Chairman

Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction.

Ha'aretz reported that the police have prevented Muslim burial at
the foot of the Temple Mount for several months, as Public Security
Minister Avi Dichter responded to pleas to reserve the area as a
significant archeological site.

Leading media reported on an historic meeting between US and Iranian
ambassadors in Iraq. The media noted that the two ambassadors
issued a press release after the meeting stating that the meeting
focused on Iraq only.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "If Olmert manages to keep Labor in the
coalition, with a new defense minister, he will have a few quiet
months, as the final Winograd report does not endanger him at the
moment."

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "What we need are leaders
endowed with both brains and brawn -- courageous leaders prepared to
talk to Syria, SAUDI ARABIA and all the Sunni Islamic countries in
order to reach a comprehensive agreement. Only that will put an end
to Hamas."

Block Quotes:
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1. "Olmert's Survival"

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (05/29): "The primaries in Labor are the start
of a new season of 'Survivor,' starring Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The working assumption in the Prime Minister's Bureau is that Labor
will stay in the coalition, regardless of who is elected to lead the
party. In such a scenario, the coming weeks will be dedicated to
political maneuvering, at the end of which a new minister will take
over at the Defense Ministry, and the government will continue to
function as usual.... The national agenda also demands unity, and

not new elections: the Gaza Strip is boiling over, and there are
threats of war in the North, accompanied by hints of peace. Sources
close to Olmert say the 'evaluation' of the Syrian channel is 'very
serious and very secret.'.... If Olmert manages to keep Labor in the
coalition, with a new defense minister, he will have a few quiet
months, as the final Winograd report does not endanger him at the
moment."


2. "Brains and Brawn"

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (05/29): "No country in the world
would sit around and watch one of its cities being bombarded for six
years, powerless to bring the violence to an end.... Ariel Sharon's
unilateral disengagement turned out to be a serious mistake. It
gave terror a boost, allowed the Iranians to call the shots in Gaza
instead of the Egyptians, fueled anarchy in the Palestinian street
and pushed the chances for an agreement even further away.... Every
time we evacuate Sderot rather than Beit Hanun, we have lost the
battle.... So what are we going to do with Gaza? Occupy it? We have
already done that. What have we achieved by that, apart from
occupation? Haven't we learned that occupation is like riding on a
tiger's back? All the fleas go along for the ride. There are no
overnight solutions. What we need are leaders endowed with both
brains and brawn -- courageous leaders prepared to talk to Syria,
Saudi ARABIA and all the Sunni Islamic countries in order to reach a
comprehensive agreement. Only that will put an end to Hamas."

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2. Syria:
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Summary:
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The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "It is
not clear why Assad's supposed peace overtures are taken seriously
when he continues to be a main sponsor of terrorism against Israel,
and the idea of him making a Sadat-like trip to Jerusalem is
risible. It also makes little sense, however, for Israel to be seen
as the party that is refusing to negotiate with a belligerent Arab
state. Assad is bluffing, and bluffs should be called."

Block Quotes:
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"Call Assad's bluff"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (05/29):
"It is striking that even the most oppressive dictatorships feel a
need to pretend to reflect the popular will. Such single candidate
elections show that even dictators feel the need to genuflect toward
the fundamental premise of democracy: that the people hold the right
to choose their leader.... Syria's Assad is no exception.... The
idea that this regime is interested in making peace with Israel
strains credulity. It is not clear why Assad's supposed peace
overtures are taken seriously when he continues to be a main sponsor
of terrorism against Israel, and the idea of him making a Sadat-like
trip to Jerusalem is risible. It also makes little sense, however,
for Israel to be seen as the party that is refusing to negotiate
with a belligerent Arab state. Assad is bluffing, and bluffs should
be called. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should say that he is willing
to meet with Assad anywhere, including Jerusalem or Damascus. At
the same time, Olmert should say that he does not believe that Syria
is serious about peace, and therefore it is important for
international sanctions to be tightened against the regime to force
it to end its rampant support for aggression and terrorism. Our bet
is that Assad will not meet with Olmert, though he may try to launch
lower level talks.... If Assad does surprise, and does meet Olmert,
this would be a victory for Israel. This is not because Israel
needs to be legitimized by such a regime, but because it would be a
significant 'concession' by the most stalwart member of the
rejectionist Arab camp. But Assad won't surprise. The irony is
Olmert, even with an approval rating of 3 percent, is more
legitimate than '99 percent' Assad. This dictator, as strong as he
may wish to seem, is too weak to make peace."

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3. US and Iran:
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Summary:
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Middle East affairs correspondent Zvi Barel wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "If the U.S. is willing to
negotiate with Iran on a cardinal issue like Iraq, there is no
reason why the nuclear question will not move from the corridors of
the United Nations to a track of direct negotiations between the two
countries, which is what Tehran wants."

Block Quotes:
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"Axis of Evil meets the Great Satan"

Middle East affairs correspondent Zvi Barel wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (05/29): "The meeting of the
Iranian and the American ambassadors in Baghdad merits the adjective
'historic' after 27 years during which there were no open
negotiations between the two countries -- neither direct nor mission
specific.... On a practical level, the two sides presented their
overall interests in Iraq and only in that country, and according to
reports from Baghdad, the two sides are in agreement on some
issues.... The talks yesterday have identified Iran as a strategic
partner for the U.S. and Iraq, and therefore, as a country that can
also pose demands on other matters, with the expectation that they
be met. After all, if the U.S. is willing to negotiate with Iran on
a cardinal issue like Iraq, there is no reason why the nuclear
question will not move from the corridors of the United Nations to a
track of direct negotiations between the two countries, which is
what Tehran wants. Washington will find it difficult to explain the
difference between its willingness to hold open and direct
negotiations over Iraq and continue to press for sanctions on Iran
on the nuclear issue. Clearly, if the two sides agree to continue
their public meetings, and upgrade the level of their officials in
the talks, not only will the nuclear question be on the agenda for
discussion, but also civilian cooperation between the Great Satan
and the Axis of Evil -- a vision that has been promoted for years by
the American petroleum giants and other private investors.... There
is also a hard lesson for Israel in this meeting: The country that
supports Hezbollah and Hamas, rejects the Arab peace initiatives and
whose president threatens to wipe Israel off the map is benefiting
from a strategic standing with Israel's strategic partner -
America."
JONES