ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001688 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: -------------- The Jerusalem Post reported that senior American military officers -- who predicted that Iran will develop a nuclear weapon within three years and who claim to have a strike plan in place -- have told the newspaper they support President Bush's policy to do everything necessary to stop Tehran's race for nuclear power. The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut as saying on Sunday that the US should consider a military strike against Iran because of its support of Iraqi insurgents. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that an unnamed American source told the newspaper that the US will attack Iran in 2008. On Sunday Ha'aretz reported that Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah of Iran, told the newspaper at a gathering of dissidents in Prague that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threat to annihilate Israel should be taken very seriously. However, he suggested refraining from military action. Pahlavi allegedly said that the Iranian regime fears opponents from within more than external threats. On Sunday Yediot reported that the US administration has been pressuring Israel to relax its use of military measures and to take diplomatic steps to promote reconciliation. Washington, according to the report, has refused to accept the Israeli premise that it has no partner for negotiations on the Palestinian side. Rather, the US reportedly wants to hear from PM Ehud Olmert in his upcoming visit to Washington new and far-reaching ideas to "advance a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." According to Yediot, the US, moreover, has reportedly resolved to urge Olmert to stop eschewing the core issues of refugees, Jerusalem, and final borders in his talks with PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas and his subordinates. The Jerusalem Post wrote that Israel has yet to respond officially to the United States' 'benchmark' document on movement and access presented in April, even though the plan is likely to be on the table at the White House when PM Olmert visits there on June 17. The newspaper reported that sources in the Prime Minister's Office could not say on Sunday night when a response would be forthcoming, although it is widely expected that Israel would respond before Olmert's visit. On Sunday Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Mahmoud Abbas has called on the UN to consider means to force Israel to implement UN resolutions and end the occupation, among others by imposing sanctions. On Sunday Ha'aretz quoted Deputy State Department Spokesman Tom Casey as saying on Friday that the US administration opposes a renewal of Israeli-Syrian negotiations and that it believes that efforts should be focused on the Palestinian track. Ha'aretz quoted a source in PM Olmert's bureau as saying that the Israeli-Syrian track was not expected to come up at next week's meeting between Olmert and President Bush. Ha'aretz reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad had rejected Israel's feelers and quoted an Israeli "source" as saying that Assad's lack of response showed that Syria was not serious. On Sunday, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Israel Radio that the GOI sent messages to Syria over the possibility of renewing peace talks. However, he did not reveal any details of the communications. Yediot quoted a senior Syrian spokesman as saying that the Golan Heights will not be returned to Syria through secret contacts. Farid Ghadry, the exiled head of Syria's tiny opposition Reform Party, was quoted as saying on Sunday, in an interview with Ha'aretz, that Israel should return the Golan Heights to Syria -- but not while Bashar Assad, who Ghadry said would continue to harm Israel, is president. Ghadry, an American citizen, is scheduled to address the Knesset today. The Jerusalem Post quoted Ghadry as saying on Sunday, during a conference at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, that entering into peace negotiations with Assad would mean condoning dictatorships across the Middle East. Leading electronic media reported this morning that Israel has launched a new spy satellite -- Ofek 7 -- from its Mediterranean coast. Israel Radio cited the satisfaction of Israel's defense establishment over the successful lift-off. In an unrelated interview with Israel Radio's Washington correpondent, Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering III, the Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Office of the US Defense Secretary, was quoted as saying that Israel's anti-missile defenses are satisfactory, but not sufficient. Maariv reported that Defense Ministry Diplomatic-Military Bureau head Amos Gilad and IDF Planning Directorate head Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan have left for the US to explain to senior Pentagon officials that a planned "smart bomb" sale to Saudi Arabia would do damage to Israel's qualitative military edge in the Middle East. Last week The Jerusalem Post reported on the same issue. On Sunday Yediot reported that the US has proposed to Egypt that it deploy an electronic system for detecting tunnels in order to combat the problem of the huge quantities of arms being smuggled into the Gaza Strip through tunnels under the "Philadelphi Road." The Jerusalem Post reported that on Sunday the High Court of Justice gave Defense Minister Amir Peretz until July 8 to present a plan to evacuate illegal outposts in the West Bank. Israel Radio reported that this morning four rockets were launched at the western Negev after a three-day interruption. Over the weekend all media reported that along the Gaza Strip border on Saturday the IDF thwarted a kidnapping attempt by Islamic Jihad. The terrorists allegedly taped the letters "TV" on the jeep they used. On Sunday Ha'aretz reported that IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi recently recommended that the army broaden the scope of its offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Jerusalem Post cited the British weekly The Sunday Times as saying that Hizbullah has amassed an undisclosed number of Fatah-110 rockets, which could theoretically be fired at Tel Aviv. Ha'aretz quoted sources close to PM Ehud Olmert as saying that if Knesset Member Ami Ayalon is elected head of the Labor Party on Tuesday, Olmert will offer him the Finance Ministry instead of the Defense Ministry, assuming that Ayalon will want the treasury for his ally Avishay Braverman. According to the sources, if Ayalon accepts his proposal, Olmert is planning to give the defense portfolio back to Shaul Mofaz. Ha'aretz quoted Olmert's people as saying that if former PM Ehud Barak becomes Labor chairman, the treasury will not be offered to Labor at all. On Sunday Maariv reported that Olmert will be questioned under caution for the first time over his role in the affair of the privatization of Bank Leumi, Israel's second-largest bank. The Jerusalem Post reported that Muhammad Sawirki, a 24-year-old officer in the PA's Force 17 "Presidential Guard," died on Sunday when he was thrown from the 18th floor of a Gaza City building. The newspaper quoted PA security officials as saying that Sawirki and another officer were kidnapped earlier in the day by members of Hamas's paramilitary Executive Force. On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that the PA's mufti, alarmed by the growing number of Palestinians who are emigrating from the Palestinian territories, has issued a fatwa (religious decree) forbidding Muslims to leave. The Jerusalem Post reported that Foreign Ministry sources told the newspaper that there are at least 45,000 immigration applications under review by different countries. Today Yediot reported that 14,000 Palestinians have left the Gaza Strip for Egypt since the implementation of former PM Ariel Sharon's disengagement. The newspaper cited the assessment of Palestinian sources that most migrs belong to the middle class and are concerned about the Strip's future under HAMAS rule. On Sunday major media reported that on Friday Defense Minister Peretz approved the appointment of Maj. Gen. Dan Harel as the next IDF deputy chief of staff. Harel will replace Moshe Kaplinsky in the coming months, most likely around September. In addition, IDF Radio commander Avi Benayahu will replace Brig. Gen. Miri Regev as IDF spokesman. Ha'aretz reported that on Tuesday Dutch FM Maxime Verhagen will visit Israel, bringing the message to PM Ehud Olmert that his country wishes to play a more central role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The newspaper also quoted visiting Greek FM Theodora Bakoyianni as saying on Sunday that Greece hopes to deepen its relations with Israel. Ha'aretz quoted British Minister of Higher Education Bill Rammell, who is visiting Israel in the wake of a decision by Britain's lecturers union to recommend a boycott of Israeli universities, as saying on Sunday that a boycott was "fundamentally wrong." The Jerusalem Post filed a similar report. Yediot quoted Rammell as saying that he UK will increase its academic cooperation with Israel. Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post cited AP quoting MENA, Egypt's state news agency, as saying that Ali Islam, the head of Egypt's atomic agency, testified on Sunday in the trial of the Egyptian nuclear engineer Mohammed Sayed Saber, charged with spying for Israel, that the accused obtained sensitive documents illegally and passed them on to Israeli intelligence. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli defense industry exporters hope to sign USD 800 million in new contracts at next week's Paris Air Show. Major media reported that on Sunday Ronald Lauder was elected interim president of the World Jewish Congress. All media reported on the expansion of oligarch Arkady Gaidamak's business interests. He bought a 51 percent share of the supermarket chain Tiv Ta'am and proclaimed his intention to turn it into a kosher company. A Smith Research poll first published on Yediot's Web site (Ynet) on Sunday found that nearly three of four Israelis believe that Ehud Barak is not fit to reassume the premiership. Forty-three percent believe that Ami Ayalon is unfit to become PM. By contrast, Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu received a positive ratio, with 54 percent saying he is fit to be prime minister and only 44 percent deeming him unfit. The poll also found that Ayalon would bring Labor seven more Knesset seats than Barak -- 23 to 16. -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the lead article of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Administration leaders told Minister Mofaz and others that they expect to hear from the Prime Minister about new and far-reaching ideas that would advance a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The US is reportedly pressing Olmert to bring some kind of diplomatic initiative with him, but no 'diplomatic horizon' that Israel might conceivably offer can substitute for ... pressure [on Egypt]." Deputy Managing Editor Anshel Pfeffer wrote on page one of The Jerusalem Post: "Bush's 'green light' [to Israeli-Syrian contacts] should not be interpreted as US approval of Israeli-Syrian talks." Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "If the Lebanese Army is capable of fighting an enemy from the inside, then ... it will also be able to protect the state from Israel -- rendering Hizbullah superfluous." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "US to Israel: Start Moving" Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the lead article of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (6/10): "The US is not prepared to adopt the Prime Minister's position that there is no partner on the Palestinian side: The Bush administration has been pressuring Israel to bring up new and significant proposals to promote a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Minister Shaul Mofaz returned over the weekend from talks with administration leaders in Washington. Political sources who are informed about these discussions and other talks that have been held between Israeli and American officials said that the two countries disagree: While the Israeli government describes Chairman Abu Mazen as a 'dead partner' and says that there is no partner for peace in the PA, which is in the midst of civil war, the US administration has still not given up. Senior Bush administration officials said that it was Israel's responsibility to pull the parties out of their current impasse since it was the stronger side. Political figures who spoke recently with senior Bush administration officials said that the Americans were noticeably frustrated with Israeli conduct in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, no less than they were frustrated with Abu Mazen's helplessness. Administration leaders told Minister Mofaz and others that they expect to hear from the Prime Minister about new and far-reaching ideas that would advance a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Americans will ask Olmert to begin discussing with the Palestinians the core issue of the conflict: the borders between Israel and the PA, the future of Jerusalem, the solution to the problem of the refugees, and the fate of the settlements." II. "Diversify Pressure on Hamas" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (6/11): "Ultimately, a defensive posture that leaves the initiative in the enemy's hands will always be flawed; what is necessary is to ensure that the enemy decides not to attack in the first place.... Military pressure, however, is not the only sort that must be brought to bear. When Prime Minister Ehud Olmert travels to Washington next week for his White House meeting, he should stress that the best way to help Mahmoud Abbas is to stop the weapons flow to HAMAS and reduce the flood of foreign assistance going into the Palestinian areas. Giving Abbas more weapons as is apparently being mooted, without doing anything to staunch the flow of weapons across the Egyptian border to HAMAS and other terror groups, will not fundamentally change the situation for the better. If, by contrast, that flow were staunched, along with increased financial and military pressure, it is possible that HAMAS would find a reason to pursue a different course. For this to happen, both Washington and Jerusalem must decide that more intense pressure on Egypt is necessary, rather than treating Cairo as a fragile, helpless and constructive partner. The US is reportedly pressing Olmert to bring some kind of diplomatic initiative with him, but no 'diplomatic horizon' that Israel might conceivably offer can substitute for such pressure. The diplomatic stalemate is not a consequence of a lack of formulae or ideas, but of the lack of fundamental goodwill and desire for reconciliation on the part of the Hamas-dominated PA leadership. If anything, new initiatives, if not accompanied by a palpable change on the Egyptian-Gaza border and other moves that constrain and deter Hamas, would only increase the incentive for Palestinian attacks." III. "Feelers to Assad For Show Only" Deputy Managing Editor Anshel Pfeffer wrote on page one of The Jerusalem Post (6/10): "A report in Friday's Yediot Aharonot that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert obtained President George W. Bush's agreement nearly two months ago to quietly engage with the Assad regime and has been trying, through German and Turkish channels, to elicit a response to this offer to give Syria the Golan in return for full peace arrangements and for Syria cutting itself off from Iran and Hamas, does not say much for Israel's bargaining powers. Bush's 'green light' should not be interpreted as US approval of Israeli-Syrian talks. Both the official and unofficial positions of the US administration are that such negotiations have very little chance of reaching any results, and that their breakdown will only make matters worse.... The return of most of the Golan to Damascus is the only realistic outcome of an Israeli-Syrian deal, and Bush has no interest in rewarding Assad for his help to the United States' enemies. So the administration is perfectly happy for now to see the Heights remain in Israeli hands." IV. "Hizbullah's Palestinian Predicament" Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (6/11): "The Lebanese Army's demonstration of its ability and determination is now liable to shatter another one of Hizbullah's arguments in favor of holding onto its weapons. After all, if the Lebanese Army is capable of fighting an enemy from the inside, then with good equipment and suitable training, either American or European, it will also be able to protect the state from Israel -- rendering Hizbullah superfluous." JONES