ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003067 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. Iran ¶3. Global War on Terror -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- All media reported on PM Ehud Olmert's meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace on Monday. The Jerusalem Post banners: "PM Feels Fresh Breeze from the Elysee." A Yediot headline reads: "Israel Has a Friend in the Elysee." Media reported that the two leaders agreed to cooperate in efforts to contain Iran's nuclear program. Ha'aretz quoted PM Olmert as telling reporters after his meeting with Sarkozy: "We need to prevent Iranian businessmen from doing business, until the class that controls the Iranian economy does something against the regime." The media reported the leaders agreed that Palestinian refugees should be resettled in a Palestinian state, not in Israel. Sarkozy expressed strong support for Israel, describing its establishment as a "miracle" and the "most significant event of the 20th century." Ha'aretz and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that PM Olmert has informed Attorney General Menachem Mazuz that he intends to present the anticipated joint statement at the Annapolis meeting to the Knesset for approval. The Jerusalem Post quoted Sallai Meridor, Israel's Ambassador to the US, as saying on Monday at an American Jewish Committee luncheon that Israel should always be prepared "to preempt , to deter, to defeat if we can" when speaking about threats facing the country. Chief among those threats was Iran, Meridor was quoted as saying. He called for a unified international as well as a domestic American front to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions. The Jerusalem Post noted that Meridor's comments appeared to put Israel at odds with America's approach to UN Security Council sanctions. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday FM Tzipi Livni told visiting Russian Deputy FM Alexander Saltanov and Moscow's envoy to the Quartet, Sergei Yakovlev, that there was a need for additional sanctions on Iran. Visiting Georgian FM Gela Bezhuashvili was quoted as saying in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that the international community must deal with Russia from a position of unity and strength, and not try to appease it. Ha'aretz reported that Bezhuashvili told the newspaper that his country is interested in a strategic partnership with Israel. Israel Radio reported that two Islamic Jihad militants were killed in a clash with IDF troops in Jenin. An IDF officer was lightly wounded during the incident. Leading media reported that a Palestinian security prisoner was killed on Monday during a riot in the Ketziot prison. Ha'aretz reported that the Israeli government and defense establishment are becoming increasingly concerned over the closer ties that Egypt and Hamas government are forging in the Gaza Strip and over Egypt's turning a blind eye to continued smuggling from Sinai to the Gaza Strip. The newspaper reported that an Israeli government and defense delegation to Cairo recently protested Egypt's allowing gunmen to enter the Strip from its territory. Ha'aretz's Web site reported that Finance Minister Roni Bar-On met Monday in Washington with World Bank President Robert Zoellick and urged him not to cooperate in any manner with Hamas and economic projects in the Gaza Strip. "We must strengthen moderates through economic cooperation, but there is no room to include Hamas in this framework," said Bar-On, who added that Israel would like to contribute to the development of job opportunities and proper living conditions in the West Bank in order to demonstrate to Palestinians that terror does not pay. The Finance Minister also urged Zoellick to strengthen Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora economically and help prevent arms shipments from Syria to Lebanese territory. Leading media reported that on Monday Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided to appoint Maj. Gen. Benny Ganz, who spearheaded Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, as military attache in Washington. The Jerusalem Post said that he could be called upon by the Americans to provide advice should the US decide to withdraw its military forces from Iraq. Major media reported that on Monday five Qassam rockets and four mortar shells were launched from Gaza into Israel. More rockets landed in Israel this morning. The Jerusalem Post quoted IDF Col. Nir Press, the head of the Gaza Coordination Liaison Administration, as saying on Monday that Hamas is unnecessarily endangering Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by generating phony humanitarian crises. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the PA has released dozens of Hamas militants from West Bank jails. The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that on Monday the Knesset's State Control Committee decided to require State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss to publish a special report regarding the Waqf's digging on the Temple Mount. Ha'aretz (Akiva Eldar) reported that the 46-sq-km demilitarized zone between Israel and Jordan could become a serious bone of contention when Israelis and Palestinians begin territorial swaps. Maariv reported that two Republican Congress members -- Pete Hoekstra (Michigan) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida) -- who know the details of Israel's raid in Syria demand that President Bush reveal them to the entire Congress. Yediot quoted senior officials at the Prime Minister's Office as saying recently that Israel is not cooperating with Kurds in northern Iraq. The newspaper noted that over the past few months senior Turkish government and intelligence officials have raised such a concern. All media highlighted the contents of a videocassette released by the police, which shows the initial interrogation of Yitzhak Rabin's assassin Yigal Amir. The media publish many commentaries on the murder and its implications for Israeli society, including the notion that public attention may be focusing more on Amir than on Rabin. The official anniversary of the assassination will be commemorated tonight and on Wednesday. The Jerusalem Post reported that Evangelical Christians in the US have brought dozens of Iranian Jews to Israel in recent months, offering cash incentives and claiming that Iran's tiny Jewish community is in grave danger. The Jerusalem Post cited AP that on Monday a Dallas judge declared a mistrial for four former leaders of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a US-based Muslim charity accused of funding terrorism. A fifth defendant, foundation chairman Muhammad El-Mezain, was acquitted of most charges. The Jerusalem Post reported that a group of Indonesian journalists just made a "ground-breaking" visit to Israel. Leading media reported on an interfaith meeting taking place this week in Naples. Pope Benedict XVI and Yona Metzger, Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, were among the participants. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Columnists Gilad Katz and Haggai Huberman wrote in the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe: "[Olmert] has no idea how he will come out of the Annapolis meeting -- diplomatically, from a security point of view, or politically." Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The growing cooperation between Hamas and Cairo reflects a worrying trend: Egypt, by commission or omission, is becoming one of the Islamic organization's strategic partners." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Preparing for the Talks, Fearing a Failure" Columnists Gilad Katz and Haggai Huberman wrote in the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe (10/23): "Olmert is trying to walk in the rain without getting wet.... He is trying to win over [coalition party leaders Eli] Yishai and [Avigdor] Lieberman.... As past experience proves and as may people fear, Olmert knows how he will enter the conference, but he has no idea how he will come out of the Annapolis meeting -- diplomatically, from a security point of view, or politically. On the other side, some people are waiting for Olmert. The more Israel is prepared for concessions, the more the Palestinians are radicalizing their positions, which they view as non-negotiable." II. "Egypt's Warming - and Enabling - Cooperation with Hamas" Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/23): "Is Egypt happy when Israel bleeds?.... The growing cooperation between Hamas and Cairo reflects a worrying trend: Egypt, by commission or omission, is becoming one of the Islamic organization's strategic partners. Hamas owes the Egyptian security services, for turning a blind eye to the arms smuggling and helping Hamas build up its forces. Until recently, Egypt has insisted that it was trying to stop the smuggling, albeit unsuccessfully. But its decision to allow 85 Hamas operatives into the strip a few weeks ago, along with talk about bringing wounded Hamas members for treatment in Egypt, cannot be similarly explained away.... Possible explanations for Cairo's behavior include its need to reduce unrest among the Bedouin population of the Sinai, and to blunt criticism of President Hosni Mubarak's 'pro-Israel' policy by the Muslim Brotherhood. But perhaps the most likely explanation is an internal Egyptian disagreement over what course to follow. Israeli sources say there is a clear dispute between Egyptian Intelligence -- headed by General Omar Suleiman -- which favors a conciliatory policy toward Hamas; and the Foreign Ministry, which wants to take a hard line against the Islamic organization. Currently, Suleiman and his people appear to be setting the tone. Israeli officials do not rule out the possibility that this reflects a struggle over who will succeed Mubarak. Washington and Ramallah are also very upset over Cairo's behavior -- the US and the PA have been shocked by the zigzags in Egypt's policy toward Hamas. Washington has been openly critical, and in closed forums, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has also lambasted Egypt's double standards." -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Resolving a crisis that threatens the world is beyond our ability. Israel would do well to leave the use of force to the big guys." Block Quotes: -------------- "Leave It to the Big Guys" Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/23): "The Israeli ethos of not relying on foreign troops to defend this country is all fine and well, but there's no need to be stupid about it. Israel should not be racing ahead of the pack with its threats on Iran. Even if Ahmadinejad is baiting Israel, Iran is the world's problem.... It's pretty funny when you think about it: Israel single-handedly stopping Iran.... A botched operation is worse than doing nothing. The 'Nasrallah model' could repeat itself, with Ahmadinejad transformed into an Islamic hero. The whole region could go up in flames as Tel Aviv is bombarded, and Hamas, aided and abetted by the Iranians, grabs the reins in the territories.... With all due respect to the ethos that the defense of Israel must not rely on outside forces, the Olmert administration does not have the leadership skills, political credibility or public backing for a military entanglement in Iran. Resolving a crisis that threatens the world is beyond our ability. Israel would do well to leave the use of force to the big guys." -------------- ¶3. Global War on Terror: -------------- Summary: -------------- Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The jihadists who seek to dominate the world in the name of Allah are not merely involved in violent activities." Block Quotes: -------------- "Shari'a-Friendly Investments" Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (10/23): "Perhaps the greatest problem with the term 'war on terror' is that it confuses the public and those charged with prosecuting the war on all levels about the nature of the enemy we face. The jihadists who seek to dominate the world in the name of Allah are not merely involved in violent activities. Organizations like Hamas, Hizbullah, and al-Qaida devote the majority of their efforts to spreading the message of jihad by proselytizing fellow Muslims through propaganda, education, and welfare activities and for their larger political goals. Essential to the aims of jihadists is the Muslim sacrament of zakat. Zakat, one of the pillars of Islam, requires Muslims to donate 2.5 percent of their incomes to charity..... [New York financial institutions] should carefully consider the likely moral and criminal implications of enabling Shari'a advisors associated with radical Islamic theologians and a foreign body on record for supporting terror, anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism to determine both the composition of their investments and the utilization of 2.5 percent of the revenues stemming from those investments." JONES