ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002422 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: -------------- PM Olmert said during a security cabinet meeting on Wednesday, "I believe that we can look forward to a calm summer, a calm fall and a calm winter. Israel does not intend to attack Syria, and Syria does not intend to attack Israel either." The cabinet was convened to discuss the situation in the north. [source: all media] Israel has forwarded conciliatory messages to Damascus over the last few weeks saying that Israel has no intention of starting a war [source: Ha'aretz]. The PA has paid salaries to Hamas militiamen from tax revenue that was released by Israel. P.A. PM Fayad's aides said that the transfer of salaries was a computer error, while Hamas officials saw this as a good will gesture. Representatives from Hamas in the Palestinian Legislative Council also received their salaries on Tuesday. [source: The Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz] Rafael, announced that Israel's short-range rocket based missile interception system will become operational in eighteen months. [source: Ha'aretz] State Attorney Eran Shendar has given the police official approval to investigate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert connection to the Bank Leumi affair. Allegations have been raised that the PM had a conflict of interest when he assisted two of his associates during the bank's privatization. PM Olmert is expected to be summoned for questioning in the coming days. [source: all media] (Is this in Syria, Lebanon or Israel? That needs to be highlighted) Israel has noticed over the past few months a massive increase in construction in Lebanon near the northern border fence. The IDF says that they do not know the purpose of these buildings but suspect they are outposts in disguise. The location of some of the buildings is close to water sources, which worries Israeli authorities. [source: Maariv] Employees in defense related industries are finding it difficult to obtain US visas. They say that they need to fill out extremely long application forms which are then thoroughly reviewed in Washington and only after a long wait, sometimes months, are they are given visas which are valid for only one year. They say that this is also true for Israeli workers that have direct and regular working relations with US companies. [source: Maariv] Three hundred US university heads have signed a petition to denounce the British University and College Union's call to boycott Israeli educational institutions. [source: Ha'aretz] IDF soldiers killed three Palestinians in two separate shooting incidents on Wednesday. According to IDF sources all of the men were armed [source: Ha'aretz]. Hamas has established a new naval defense force that will guard the Gaza coast. A Hamas official said that the force's members have already deployed several heavy machine guns and mortars along the beaches to be used against IDF vessels if they approach the Strip. [source: YNET] US House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer warned PA Chairman Abbas not to reconcile with Hamas and form a new unity government since such a government would be a cause for concern. [source: The Jerusalem Post] -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Peres' plan will not be implemented because the territorial concessions will not satisfy the Palestinians, and because most Israelis, after the bitter experiences of recent years, have lost faith in the Palestinians; in Peres, the father of Oslo; and in Olmert, the deputy architect of the disengagement." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The road map's sequencing is more justified and important than ever. Olmert, who spent much effort attempting to shore up this sequencing, should not abandon it at this critical moment." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Peres' last sabotage" Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (08/09): "A president is obliged to refrain from helping form diplomatic plans, such as those that would split the country.... Not when the president is Peres, and the plan is to establish a Palestinian state on 100 percent of the territories. In other words, the plan reflects the opinion of many decision makers regarding what is and is not legitimate conduct for a president.... The plan is based on the assumption that the root of the conflict is territorial.... Peres' plan will not be implemented because the territorial concessions will not satisfy the Palestinians, and because most Israelis, after the bitter experiences of recent years, have lost faith in the Palestinians; in Peres, the father of Oslo; and in Olmert, the deputy architect of the disengagement." II. "Don't junk the road map" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (08/09): "Olmert seems to be caving in to pressure from the US to fudge the sequencing of the road map, which clearly requires that terrorism be fought first and a Palestinian state negotiated later. The timing of this is strange. If it is true that for the first time ever there is a leadership in part of the PA that is serious about ending terrorism, dismantling militias and starting to build a peaceful Palestinian state, why would this be the time to lift the demand?.... The counterargument is that the PA is in fact incapable of meeting the road map conditions, and therefore those conditions should be removed or the present opportunity will be missed and Hamas will take over the entire PA.... In essence, the US is taking the State Department's approach, whereby the sequencing of the road map should not only be relaxed, but flipped.... Under such circumstances, it is not the Palestinians' trust that must be earned, but Israel's. The road map's sequencing is more justified and important than ever. Olmert, who spent much effort attempting to shore up this sequencing, should not abandon it at this critical moment." JONES