ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002948 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: -------------- ¶1. Mideast ¶2. Turkey -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Leading media reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will come to the region early next week. Israel Radio reported that a three-way meeting will be held between her, PM Ehud Olmert, and PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas. Leading media quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying in an interview with two Tunisian newspapers: "Syria has not received an invitation to the [fall] conference, and even if it did, it will not take part in a conference that lacks any chance of success." The Jerusalem Post reported that Assad's comments did not surprise Jerusalem, where one diplomatic official said that the meeting was aimed at solving the conflict through peace and dialogue, a position Damascus -- through its support of Hams and Hizbullah -- does not champion. Yediot cited the Mossad's assessment that Syria would agree to peace Israel in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan. However, the Mossad reportedly believes that if there is no progress in negotiations by 2009, Syria will resort to military provocations. Ha'aretz's Web site and other media reported that on Thursday Secretary Rice told reporters on the way to Moscow that she asked SIPDIS the Israeli Ambassador to the US, Sallai Meridor, for clarifications about an Israeli plan to build a road between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim, partly on confiscated Palestinian land. Rice told the reporters that she has not received a reply. In an interview broadcast last night on Channel 10-TV, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that President Bush should not convene the Mideast peace meeting next month if Israel and the Palestinians are unable to reach an agreement in advance. "Do you think President Bush will do what President Clinton did?" Erekat wondered aloud. "I really doubt the Americans will issue the invitation if decisions are not made by Abbas and Olmert." Erekat said an Israeli-Palestinian agreement could be two-three pages and that Olmert and Abbas have agreed on some points, however he would not elaborate. He also said that "negotiations are over. It's time for decisions. We have never been closer to achieving the end game than we are nowI don't want my son to be a suicide bomber." Erekat dismissed the notion that neither Olmert nor Abbas is strong enough politically to make the concessions necessary or get the backing of their people. "If Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas reach the agreement on the end game, they'll be the most important persons in this holy land since Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem," he said. Erekat repeated previous statements from the PA that any peace accord would be put before the Palestinian people in a referendum. While admitting that Abbas's Fatah is not strong enough to retake Gaza by force, Erekat added that an endgame agreement would shut down Hamas without a shot being fired. Leading media quoted a senior source in the IDF's General Staff as saying that the chance of Fatah returning to power in Gaza this decade is close to nonexistent and compared it to the likelihood that "Gorbachev will return to rule Russia." Maariv and Israel Radio quoted a senior Palestinian official on the negotiating team as saying that Israel has agreed to the terms of the 2001 Taba negotiations. The radio quoted Abbas as saying that Israel should release all Palestinian prisoners by the conclusion of the negotiations. On Thursday Israel Radio quoted senior Fatah official and former Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) as saying that if the fall meeting does not yield results, Palestinians are likely to respond with a third, more intensified Intifada. Qurei was also quoted as saying that despite Abbas's statements on Wednesday demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, Palestinians were prepared to negotiate borders. Ha'aretz reported that IDF Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet during a meeting this week that in the eyes of the PA leadership, the summit in the US must succeed. Yadlin contended that if it does not, Israel will be blamed. Hamas, Yadlin added, considers the summit a negative development and will attempt major terrorist attacks to undermine it. The IDF is concerned that suicide bombers will be dispatched from the West Bank or an attack will be launched against one of the crossing points to Gaza. Israel Radio reported that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has warned the PA not to make "further concessions" to Israel. The Jerusalem Post quoted Christina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, as saying on Thursday that the EU would support President Abbas if he reconciled with Hamas. However, she was quoted as saying that the EU still held firm to its policy of not recognizing Hamas until it recognizes Israel. Ha'aretz reported that in a strongly worded message to the US, Israel said that the smuggling of weapons and militants from Egypt into the Gaza Strip is directly threatening the Annapolis conference. Ha'aretz quoted senior Israeli political figures as saying on Thursday that in talks with their American counterparts, they stressed that the porous border in Sinai "is becoming a strategic problem" and asked them to raise the issue with the Egyptians. The Israelis also expressed their frustration over Egyptian behavior towards Hamas, both in terms of the ease of smuggling and Cairo's calls for Fatah and Hamas to renew negotiations for a unity government. Ha'aretz reported that senior Israeli officials told the Americans: "Egypt is working against everything we are all trying to achieve. We are organizing a summit to further the diplomatic process under the banner 'strengthening Abu Mazen,' and they are strengthening Hamas." Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited the assessment of right-wing Knesset members and jurists that the Jerusalem Arabs will demand enormous sums if the city is divided. All media reported that Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) told Mideast envoy Tony Blair on Thursday that any attempt to address the core issues surrounding the establishment of a Palestinian state at the upcoming US-hosted peace meeting would "bring about the collapse of the coalition and the government in Israel." Lieberman met with Blair in Jerusalem Thursday, and told him that any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "must include Israel's Arab citizens as well, when the basis for an agreement should be a land swap and a population transfer." Lieberman also said that "the international community has to make a concerted effort to resolve the issues of Israel's security and the Palestinian economy." In an interview with Yediot's Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer, Blair ("The Man Who Came to Help") was optimistic on the peace process. Ha'aretz quoted Israeli defense sources as saying on Thursday that during his official visit to Jerusalem next week, Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit will focus on his country's strategic and defense relationship with Israel and not on the air strike the IDF carried out in Syria last month. Major media voiced concerns that the House Foreign Relations Committee's decision to declare the World War I massacre of Armenians "genocide" might be detrimental to Israel. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer was quoted in an interview with Yediot that the continued tenure of Accountant General Yaron Zelekha might harm the Israeli economy. The media reported that on Thursday, in an unprecedented move, the entire elite of the Finance Ministry gathered to call for Zelekha's dismissal, charging that his conduct was harming the Israeli economy. Major media reported that Daniel Sharon, the dual Israeli-German citizen arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of involvement in murder and spying, was released on Tuesday and returned to Germany. Ha'aretz reported that Ynet, the news Web site of the Yediot publishing group, is closing its English version [www.ynetnews.com], apparently within days, because it wasn't generating satisfactory revenues. Yediot quoted the Dutch Defense Ministry as saying that turning off the radar of a Dutch ship operating off the shores of Lebanon might prevent the detection of weapons being smuggled to Hizbullah. The radar is suspected of being the source of interference to the broadcasts of the Israeli satellite TV company Yes. On Thursday IDF Radio reported that a right-wing group plans to launch a campaign next week calling for the release of PM Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, Yigal Amir. The Jerusalem Post lengthily exposed the attitudes of Democratic US Jews vis-a-vis presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Maariv reported that the renowned American surfer Kelly Slater, who is of Syrian origin, will arrive in Israel to attend an event promoted by the peace oriented OneVoice movement. Israel Radio cited the results of a poll it sponsored: 61.4% of Israelis believe that the fall meeting will not yield diplomatic progress, while 22.8% think it will. The remaining 15.8% are undecided. Maariv cited the resultsQ a poll gauging the general confidence of Israelis, and members of the armed forces in the IDF: Only 25% of reservists express high confidence in the IDF's top brass. Only 40% of the public express high confidence in the IDF's top brass. Over 50% of young professional soldiers express interest in civilian jobs. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Olmert believes he will go to Annapolis from a position of strength.... George W. Bush, the friendly president, now in his final year of office, will not get into a confrontation with Israel." Columnist Caleb Ben-David wrote on page one of the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (10/12): "[Secretary Rice's] one advantage over [James] Baker ... is that this time the two sides are already talking substance with each other." Conservative journalist Haggai Segal, a member of the Jewish Underground that was active in 1980, wrote on page one of the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe: "It is really funny to concede the Temple Mount while suddenly insisting on some side wall [the Western Wall]." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "A Welcome Right-Wing Leverage" Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/12): "Internal opponents are important -- they strengthen you outwardly. That historic role is now being played by the Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu parties.... Faced with ... Palestinian demands and the pressures exerted by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is to arrive in the region on Sunday for talks, Olmert has two cards he can play: Eli Yishai and Avigdor Lieberman, the leaders of Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu, respectively.... The view in the Prime Minister's Bureau is that the existing coalition will survive the Annapolis meeting and the declaration it will produce. Shas has no ideological problem when it comes to negotiations with the Palestinians.... Lieberman's agenda is different.... A more forceful policy in southern Israel, which will reduce the extent of the rocket fire, will make it easier for him to stay in a government pursuing a political process with the Palestinians. The implication is that Olmert should take a harder hand against Hamas, which will make public opinion more receptive to the anticipated concessions to Abbas.... Olmert believes he will go to Annapolis from a position of strength.... George W. Bush, the friendly president, now in his final year of office, will not get into a confrontation with Israel. Unlike Rice, Bush is not eager to liberate the Palestinians from the yoke of the Israeli occupation." II. "Can Condi 2007 Trump Baker 1991?" Columnist Caleb Ben-David wrote on page one of the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (10/12): "[Secretary Rice's] one advantage over [James] Baker ... is that this time the two sides are already talking substance with each other. But Rice's predicament is clearly evident in her lack of leverage with the rest of the guest list.... Assad's presence in Annapolis would anyway have likely been more of a hindrance than help in the main business of moving the Israeli-Palestinian tack along. Not so the Saudis; indeed, the presence of Saudi Arabia at the meeting next month would be a genuine step forward, even if not much else is accomplished there." III. "The Arab Wall" Conservative journalist Haggai Segal, a member of the Jewish Underground that was active in 1980, wrote on page one of the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe (10/12): "The old-new Palestinian demand of sovereignty over the Western Wall is coming back. However unpleasant it is to say this, [the Palestinians] are right.... [As every place is considered a Muslim holy site] our wall is their wall -- not the Western Wall, but the Arab Wall. After all, this is just a supporting wall. All right, we might have some feelings for it.... At the beginning we might say 'absolutely not' ... but in a matter of days we'll also get used to this idea.... It is really funny to concede the Temple Mount while suddenly insisting on some side wall." -------------- ¶2. Turkey: -------------- Summary: -------------- Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "There is no need to compare between holocausts to recognize other nations' suffering." Block Quotes: -------------- "Today's Denial Is Tomorrow's Holocaust" Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/12): "Denying another nation's Holocaust is no less ugly than denying ours. It is also dangerous. Today's denial is tomorrow's Holocaust.... A week before invading Poland, Hitler addressed his officers.... 'Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?' Such was Hitler's calming message to his troops. The next time some Israel hater -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for example -- denies the Jewish Holocaust, and we raise a hue and cry about it, there will be some self-righteous Gentiles ready to say, 'You're right, but we have our own Turkeys'... As natural and historic victims, we should be the ones to spread the message from one end of the world to another: what happened to us can happen again, to us and to the people of Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, Sudan, and Burma. There is no need to compare between holocausts to recognize other nations' suffering." JONES