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. US-Israel Relations

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Key stories in the media:
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Among the main stories over the weekend were the formation by PA
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas of an emergency cabinet headed by
Salam Fayyad, in defiance of Hamas; the flight of Palestinians from
the Gaza Strip; and the expeditious nomination by PM Ehud Olmert of
newly elected Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak to the post of defense
minister.

The media quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying on Sunday that Israel
would work with the international community to meet the humanitarian
needs of Gaza residents and would not intervene militarily, but at
the same time, "we will not stand idly by and watch the execution of
innocent people." He did not explain what form Israel's refusal to
"stand idly by" might take. Olmert, who was meeting in New York
with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was responding to the UN
official's fears of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel Radio
reported that the London-based daily Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat published an
article by FM Tzipi Livni, in which she explains that Israel has no
intention of ruling the Palestinians. The Jerusalem Post quoted
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter as saying on Sunday that he
told Olmert that if Egypt cannot assert its authority over the
"Philadelphi Corridor" between the Gaza Strip and Sinai, Israel will
have to take charge.

Ha'aretz reported that Abbas intends to demand that Israel
immediately implement the American "benchmark" proposal for
increasing Palestinian freedom of movement in the territories.
Ha'aretz also quoted advisors to Abbas as saying on Sunday that he
will ask Israel to release a massive number of Palestinian
prisoners, first and foremost Marwan Barghouti. The advisors
contended that a significant prisoner release would vastly increase
Abbas's popularity, while Barghouti in particular, as the most
popular Fatah politician could do much to bolster the Chairman's
standing in the West Bank and Gaza. Barghouti is currently serving
five life terms in prison for the murder of five Israeli civilians.
In addition, the advisors were quoted as saying that Israel must not
interfere with efforts to recruit, train, and arm Fatah's security
forces: "Israel's operations completely destroyed these forces in
the West Bank." "[Israel] must allow freedom of movement to
members of the Palestinian security services and not impede their
training." (The Jerusalem Post filed a similar report.) Finally,
the sources were quoted as saying that Israel must resume diplomatic
negotiations with Abbas, in order to give the Palestinians a
diplomatic horizon, and must hand over all the tax revenues it has
collected on the PA's behalf, so that Abbas can pay the authority's
employees. Ha'aretz wrote that the Foreign Ministry is recommending
against any violation of the Oslo Accords in response to Hamas's
takeover of the Gaza Strip. The ministry believes that any
violation of an agreement by Israel would make it legitimate for
Hamas not to recognize such deals, and would harm Israel's standing
in the international community. On Sunday Maariv (Ben Caspit)
reported that on Saturday Olmert was in contact with Abbas. The
Palestinians told Olmert that for now he has to calm down the
situation, not to descend upon them with gestures.

Israel Radio quoted Jacob Walles, the US Consul-General in
Jerusalem, as saying on Sunday in an interview with AP that the US
will fully support Abbas's new government and at the same time work
to avoid a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip following Hamas's
violent takeover there. Over the weekend the media reported that
the US and the Quartet stressed their support for Abbas. On Sunday
The Jerusalem Post reported that an Egyptian diplomatic official
told the newspaper that a separation of the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip under the rule of the two separate Palestinian factions would
be a recipe for disaster.

Ha'aretz quoted a source in Olmert's entourage as saying earlier
that Israel would continue to supply water, electricity and medical
supplies to Gaza, and would also allow food and other essential
supplies to enter the strip through Israel. Media also reported
that Olmert promised that Israel would cooperate with the new
government that Abbas appointed in the West Bank on Sunday.
However, the PM added that Abbas must in turn take vigorous action
against Hamas forces in the West Bank to ensure that the Islamic
organization does not take over there as well. In addition, he was
quoted as saying that Israel will consider releasing the frozen tax
revenues, amounting to some USD 562 million, to Abbas. Ha'aretz
also reported that Olmert told Ban that the Hamas takeover of Gaza
proved that Israel's skepticism of the PA unity government had been
justified. Ha'aretz reported that on the plane en route to New York
a source in Olmert's entourage told journalists that the idea of
stationing an international force along the Gaza-Egypt border to
prevent arms smuggling into Gaza is no longer on the agenda.
According to the source, Egypt as well as Hamas oppose the idea
making deployment of a force with a robust mandate (the only kind
Israel would accept) highly unlikely. The media reported that
Olmert will fly to Washington today and meet with President Bush on
Tuesday. Maariv reported that Gaza residents in need of urgent
medical treatment are not allowed to cross into Israel.

Ha'aretz reported that the Israeli economy is losing about 8 million
shekels (around USD 1.9 million) a day in direct damages from the
closure of the Gaza Strip as a result of the Hamas takeover. The
Jerusalem Post quoted John Ging, the head of the UN Relief and Works
Agency, as saying that his organization returned to full operation
on Sunday, but quoted him as saying that it had food stocks for only
10 days to feed the 1.11 million people who are dependent upon it
for survival. Ha'aretz quoted people involved in trade with the
Palestinians in Gaza as saying that supplies should last only two
weeks at most. Ha'aretz also said that Gaza Strip residents are
completely dependent on Israel for electricity, fuel, and water.
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on Sunday the private
energy company Dor Alon cut off supplies of fuel to Gaza.

All media reported that on Sunday afternoon three Katyusha rockets
fired from Lebanon landed in the Kiryat Shmona area in northern
Israel. No injuries were reported and the IDF believes that that
further rocket attacks are unlikely. Hizbullah published a
statement denying responsibility, and quoting Lebanese and Israeli
sources attributing it to a Palestinian organization. Israel did
not react. Israel Radio quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying in New York
that Israel would have responded differently had there been
casualties.

Maariv reported that the UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle
East Peace Process, Michael Williams, recently informed PM Olmert
that Syrian President Bashar Assad is willing to start negotiations
with Israel without preconditions.

Major media reported that on Sunday three High Court Justices ruled
that the state must inform the Court within 45 days if it is willing
to establish an independent committee to investigate the
assassination of leading Hamas militant Salah Shehadeh in July 2002,
including the question of whether a criminal probe is justified.

On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that Bank of Israel Governor
Stanley Fischer has turned down an offer from PM Olmert to become

finance minister.

Ha'aretz reported that that UN has almost completed mapping of the
Sheba Farms region, from which it expects Israel to withdraw.

Ha'aretz published the results of a survey commissioned in April by
The Israel Project (TIP),an organization that strives to improve
Israel's image in America and the rest of the world. TIP polled 500
representatives of the "opinion elite": college graduates with
annual incomes above USD 75,000, who vote in elections, and read
newspapers and magazines. They were asked, among other things, to
rank their attitude toward Israel and Hamas, Syria, Iran and
Hizbullah, on a scale of 1 to 100, with below 50 indicating a "cold"
attitude and above it a "warm" attitude. Israel received a 66, while
the others scored between 19 (Hizbullah) and 30 (Syria). "Who is to
blame for the instability in the Middle East?" the poll asked.
Seventy-three percent blamed "Islamic extremism" and only 12 percent
named "Israel and its policies." According to Ha'aretz, the poll
contains "some rather sad working assumptions": 57 percent "strongly
agree" that "the Arab countries around Israel are hostile to its
existence," and 85 percent overall said they "agree" with that
statement. Some 75 percent said they agreed that "the Arabs do not
really accept Israel's right to exist." But there are also findings
that suggest a possible course of action. For example, 70 percent
cited the need to be "a leader in working for peace" as heading the
list of 13 qualities required of an American "ally." But only 16
percent saw this among Israel's traits. Sixty percent did not agree
that "Israel is an obstacle for peace" -- but 38 percent did, and 29
percent of them were Republican voters, while 42 percent said they
were Democrats. Ha'aretz noted that the findings among the general
public constitute an "improvement" over a poll from October 2005, in
which 50 percent said Israel is not an obstacle for peace, compared
with 43 percent who believed that it was.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote on page one of
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The link between Gaza and
the West Bank is a link of cooperation in the vision of Palestinian
nationhood."
Ha'aretz editorialized: "The line that must guide Israel's policy is
that central Palestinian rule -- as weak and problematic as it may
be -- is better for us than the transformation of the territories
into a miniature Iraq."

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "If the
West continues to offer Palestinians nothing more than a choice
between Hamas and a corrupt Hamas-lite, they are likely to continue
to choose Hamas."

Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the editorial of the
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It is not very
pleasant to admit it, but in the battle for control of the Gaza
Strip, Hamas was in the right."

Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the editorial of
Yediot Aharonot: "The Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, will undoubtedly
carry out all the necessary inquiries [regarding the posting of
international forces in the Gaza Strip] and decide on a policy that
takes into account all the angles and aspects of the situation that
Israel has entered over the course of the past year of agony."





Block Quotes:
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I. "One State For One People"

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote on page one of
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (6/18): "The victory shouts
of Hamas in Gaza and the hastily established emergency government in
the West Bank ostensibly strengthen the impression that the
Palestinians' land will really be divided: the West Bank to Fatah
and Gaza to Hamas. This is also the reason for the haste with which
Washington and Israel are willing to grant the emergency government
favors it was not wise enough to give before the 2006 elections, not
to mention afterward. It is as if they too were hurrying to
celebrate the division between 'heaven' and 'hell' and to show the
citizens of Palestine how much they had lost by voting for Hamas.
But it seems that the celebrations are premature because Gaza cannot
disconnect from the West Bank. Anyone who still sees Oslo as a
basis for continued formal cooperation with the PA -- and such
cooperation cannot exist without it -- must see Gaza and the West
Bank as one unit. The link between Gaza and the West Bank is a link
of cooperation in the vision of Palestinian nationhood. That is the
basis on which Hamas built its struggle against Israel and its later
partnership with Fatah."

II. "Who Will Give Us a Partner?"

Ha'aretz editorialized (6/18): "The line that must guide Israel's
policy is that central Palestinian rule -- as weak and problematic
as it may be -- is better for us than the transformation of the
territories into a miniature Iraq.... The Israeli government and the
Quartet must resurrect the road map and present the Palestinians
with a new and credible diplomatic agenda that will lead to the end
of the occupation and a permanent status arrangement.... Together
with the easing of restrictions on the civilian population in the
West Bank and the bolstering of Fatah under the leadership of Abbas
and Fayyad, the decline into humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip
must be prevented. As long as the Hamas leadership reins in Qassam
rocket fire and prevents terror attacks, there is no reason not to
coordinate with them the opening of the border crossings to allow
supplies and merchandise in and agricultural produce out. Starving
children and distressing the elderly are neither just nor wise."


III. "Learn From Mistakes"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (6/18):
"Fatah now claims it collapsed before the Hamas forces because it
had been busy fighting Israel. Before pouring in assistance, the US
and Israel must demand that Fatah end its absurd competition with
Hamas over which faction is more anti-Israel and instead provide a
real alternative to the Islamist movement. This means giving
Palestinians a true choice between building Palestine -- including
settling refugees, ending incitement and instituting the rule of law
-- and a fruitless war with Israel. Perhaps Palestinians, given a
choice between Hamas's perpetual war and leaders who demonstrate
they are serious about ending the war with Israel in order to create
a Palestinian state, will still choose the former. Yet there is a
chance that, given the opportunity, they are ready for peace.
However slim that chance may be, we do know this: If the West
continues to offer Palestinians nothing more than a choice between
Hamas and a corrupt Hamas-lite, they are likely to continue to
choose Hamas."

IV. "Burying One's Head in the Snow"
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the editorial of the
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (6/17): "Fatah, a
corrupt and futureless organization, is one of a long list of
'national liberation' movements which sprang up like mushrooms after
the rain in the 1960s and 1970s.... With the disintegration of the
Soviet Union, these national liberation movements also
disintegrated, with the exception of that of the Palestinians, even
though one could have anticipated its disintegration after the Oslo
Accords were signed. Indeed that is what happened, but it took 14
years.... It is not very pleasant to admit it, but in the battle for
control of the Gaza Strip, Hamas was in the right. Hamas is cruel,
disgusting and filled with hatred for Israel, but it was victorious
in democratic elections, and all it wanted was to reap the fruits of
its victory. Hamas did not 'seize control' of Gaza. It took the
action needed to enforce its authority, disarming and destroying a
militia that refused to bow to its authority. Hamas aspires to
realize the dream of 'one authority and one rifle' -- first in Gaza
and later in the West Bank, all in it own good time. Reality, when
it is ignored, returns with greater force and punishes he who has
suppressed it."




V. "Internationalization of the Conflict"

Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the editorial of
Yediot Aharonot (6/18): "Following the collapse of the joint policy
of the US, Israel, and Fatah in Gaza, and the fall of the Gaza Strip
into the hands of Hamas, one proposal that has arisen is to station
an international force there. What would the task of the force be?
To 'protect' Israel against Hamas? To prevent the firing of Qassam
rockets and more accurate and lethal rockets at Israel? To fight
against Hamas alongside the IDF or instead of the IDF, and to cause
its collapse? And if such a force is stationed [in Gaza], when
would a similar force be stationed in Judea and Samaria [i.e. the
Wet Bank]? The situation is much more complex than in the past, and
it requires in-depth analysis and a long-term perspective. The
Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, will undoubtedly carry out all the
necessary inquiries and decide on a policy that takes into account
all the angles and aspects of the situation that Israel has entered
over the course of the past year of agony."

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2. US-Israel Relations:
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Summary:
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Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "To a large extent, the Americans have
regained confidence that [Ehud Olmert] is a leader who will be
around for a while."

Roni Bart of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies wrote
in The Jerusalem Post: "Instead of asking [the US] for a 25 percent
increase [in aid] over 10 years, Israel should suggest a weaning
process: a 100 percent decrease over 25 years."

Block Quotes:
--------------


I. "Olmert's Transformation in America's Eyes -- From Lame Duck to
Winner"

Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (6/18): "[Condoleezza] Rice wanted to
wait until the dust from the [Winograd Commission's] report settled,
and see what type of Israeli government would emerge, and who would
be its head. Well, the dust has settled, and -- according to US
assessments -- Olmert is firmly in place.... [Ehud] Barak's
appointment as defense minister will, diplomatic officials say,
restore a degree of confidence in Israel's military, because he is
seen as 'supremely competent.' And, like [Shimon] Peres, Barak is
viewed as someone 'serious about wanting peace,' someone who in 2000
both at Camp David and through his decision to with draw from
Lebanon showed willingness to 'take chances for peace.' From a
political point of view, Olmert timed his visit to the US perfectly.
To a large extent, the Americans have regained confidence that he
is a leader who will be around for a while. What Olmert will now
try to do is use the US trip, and President George W. Bush's
support, to convince a skeptical Israeli public of the same."

II. "Should Israel Really Be Asking For an Increase in US Aid?"

Roni Bart of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies wrote
in The Jerusalem Post (6/18): "Israel's military needs are many and
expensive, and the United States is generous. However, American aid
amounts to only 4 percent of Israel's annual budget. Israel can and
should change its budgetary priorities to gradually decrease
American aid. Instead of asking for a 25 percent increase over 10
years, Israel should suggest a weaning process: a 100 percent
decrease over 25 years."

CRETZ