ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003227 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. Iraq -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Major media quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying on Tuesday that the Annapolis meeting will take place during the last week of November. (Ha'aretz quoted chief PA negotiator Qurei as saying that the meeting will convene on November 26. Ha'aretz reported that US Consul-General in Jerusalem Jacob Walles told Palestinian reporters that the US would send invitations to the meetings within a week to ten days.) Ha'aretz reported that Olmert added it would be the "right thing" for Syria to take part in the meeting. "I hope that if the process with the Palestinians succeeds, it will encourage a similar process with Syria," he was quoted as saying. Leading media quoted Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying on Tuesday before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that while Israel is prepared to go "very far" at Annapolis, it expects the Palestinian leadership to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Ha'aretz quoted Barak as saying before the committee that Israel will not grant the Palestinians a direct territorial passage between the two parts of the PA. Israel Radio quoted Barak as saying on Tuesday at a meeting of veterans of the armed forces that as far as Israel is concerned, diplomatic agreements can only be reached from a position of strength, as Israel's left hand looks for peace and its right hand is massaging a gun's trigger. Ha'aretz reported that criticism is growing among senior Labor Party officials about the failure of Barak, their party chairman, to take political advantage of the upcoming summit in Annapolis. Former Labor Party leader and defense minister Amir Peretz was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel Radio that Barak has become a right-wing politician. Ha'aretz cited the belief of IDF Intelligence (MI) that if talks at Annapolis fail, PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas might step down. (Both Ha'aretz and Maariv said that MI views a failure at Annapolis as a distinct possibility.) The newspaper quoted IDF Intelligence officers as saying that the PA's main function has been reduced to paying salaries to PA workers and security forces. However, Ha'aretz said that the IDF also notes that security cooperation between the Shin Bet and the PA's preventive security forces and its general intelligence force has been renewed recently and that ties are much closer. The PA security forces have been transmitting important information to Israel and have frequently thwarted terror attacks. Ha'aretz quoted former senior IDF officers who took part in the 2000 Camp David talks as saying that they are also concerned that over the lack of experience of Israeli representatives to the Annapolis talks, especially in the face of the years of experience the PA's negotiators have had in talks with Israel. Citing the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Israel Radio reported that differences have arisen in the Palestinian team, as chief PA negotiator Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) is demonstrating rigid positions, while Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad tends to be more flexible. The Jerusalem Post quoted right-wing Knesset members as saying on Tuesday that they would be mounting a renewed public campaign against Annapolis. The Jerusalem Post reported that several congressmen recently held a closed-door meeting with a delegation of diplomatic officials from countries expected to participate in the Annapolis conference, including Jordan, Egypt, and Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that Congress has been urging greater Arab support for Palestinian engagement in the peace process in order to give the effort broader legitimacy. The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli sources as saying on Tuesday that while Palestinian prisoners might be released ahead of the upcoming Annapolis meeting, it is unlikely that illegal outposts will be removed. The Jerusalem Post quoted an Israeli official as saying that other moves, such as reducing the number of roadblocks and checkpoints, "can be done." Israel Radio quoted Peace Now as saying that "do-it-yourself" construction in 88 West Bank settlements and 34 outposts is continuing. The Jerusalem Post reported that Transportation Minister, former defense minister, and former IDF chief of staff Shaul Mofaz told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in New York on Tuesday that next year will be a critical one in efforts to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities. Leading media reported that on Tuesday IDF intelligence head Brig. Gen. Yossi Baidatz told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that if Iran's nuclear program goes unchecked Iran could have nuclear weapons by the end of 2009. Leading media quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying on Tuesday before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the resolution of the Iranian issue would be through actions and not words. Citing a warning by US sources that there could be a coup in Pakistan, Yediot reported that the West is concerned that al-Qaida will take over Pakistan's nuclear facilities. Yediot cited the belief of former senior US official Bruce Riedel, who recently attended the Saban Forum in Israel, as saying that in that case Israel would be al-Qaida first target. Maariv reported that the Shin Bet is worried about increasing threats to the life of PM Ehud Olmert. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday a visiting group of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian clerics from Israel and the Palestinian territories met with American Jewish leaders and urged them to back the Annapolis process. It was seen as the first time a prominent group of Holy Land clerics had publicly joined together to promote peace, codified by a document expected to be released today. The group, which will be meeting with high-level State Department and White House officials, comprises around 20 people and includes Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger and Sheikh Hamed Tamimi, who heads the shari'a court system in the West Bank. Hamimi described the Annapolis meeting as a "truly unique" opportunity for peace, according to audience members, and, like many of the clerics, urged the American Jewish community to support the process. The Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz, and Israel Radio reported that on Tuesday, speaking before a UNGA forum, Ambassador to the UN Danny Gillerman slammed the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) for failing to deal with human rights violations around the world, and for disproportionately singling out Israel. He dubbed the HRC a "horrendous monster." Ha'aretz reported that on Tuesday diplomatic sources in Jerusalem defined the Lisbon meeting between FM Tzipi Livni and her Egyptian counterpart, which revolved around the issue of weapons smuggling from the Sinai into Gaza, as "harsh." Israel Radio quoted Syria's Deputy PM Abdullah Dardari as saying that one of the reasons for Syria's lack of response to the Israeli incursion was his country's desire to avoid war. Ha'aretz reported that several government ministries have recently decided that Egypt and Jordan should no longer be defined as "dangerous countries" in the infiltration prevention law. Ha'aretz reported that sources in the ministries have told the newspaper that the law is due to be amended in the coming weeks. The infiltration prevention law states that people entering Israel without authorization from dangerous countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran risk a jail term of seven years instead of the five-year maximum for infiltrators from non-dangerous countries. Ha'aretz also reported that in the framework of the amendment the Justice Ministry is promoting the establishment of a special court to determine the state's responsibility toward infiltrators from Egypt, the majority of whom are refugees escaping the genocide in Darfur in western Sudan. Yediot reported that ahead of the Annapolis meeting an increasing number of Jerusalem Palestinians have been requesting Israeli citizenship to ensure the future of their social and other rights. Such a gesture was until recently considered an act of treason in the eyes of the Palestinians. Ha'aretz noted that President Shimon Peres is expected to address the Turkish Parliament next week, which would be the first speech by an Israeli president in a Muslim parliament. The Jerusalem Post reported that Mahmoud Abbas will also address the Parliament in Ankara next week. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that a new subcommittee of the Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, which will deal with internal security, will be open to Arab legislators. Conversely, The Jerusalem Post reported that there are no Arabs on the panel. Senior sources in Yisrael Beiteinu, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party, were quoted as saying to Maariv that the far Right is trying to win the votes of Russian-Israelis. Their comments came in the wake of the alleged wiretapping affair of Lieberman. Major media cited IDF statistics released on Tuesday that 28 percent of Israelis born in 1989 did not enlist in the IDF, amplifying the trend of recent years Ha'aretz presented the results of Tel Aviv University's Peace Index poll conducted among Jewish Israelis on October 29-30: -A large minority -- 40 percent -- thinks the Annapolis meeting could yield a basic clarification of the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, while a majority of 50 percent does not think so. The rest do not know. -Asked whether the meeting can significantly advance the chances of reaching a permanent peace agreement, only 40 percent said yes, while 51 percent said no. The pollsters noted that these findings are very similar to those from September, and that time has not increased expectations for Annapolis. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "There is an unsurprising similarity between statements by [outspoken Likud Knesset Member Gideon] Sa'ar and Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal. Each sees concessions to the other side as a trap. Each prefers the status quo to a historic compromise." Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv: "The tension between the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, who were by now supposed to have gone marching, hand in hand, into the sunset, is getting worse than ever, day by day." Senior columnist Moshe Ishon wrote in the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe: "[Abbas] is delivering [Hamas's] goods to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and through her to the SIPDIS government of Israel and all those involved in foreign policy." Jeff Halper, the coordinator of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "If it is true that Olmert intends that Israel permanently retain the settlement blocs, an Israeli 'greater' Jerusalem, and effective control of the entire country to the Jordan River, then we will merely be substituting a sophisticated form of apartheid for occupation." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "If Not Annapolis, Then What?" The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (11/7): "Gideon Sa'ar, Likud's most fluent spokesman, believes that after Hamas took over Gaza, Israel should have understood the trap it had fallen into and 'run for its life' instead of getting into another round of talks in Annapolis. The question is, of course, where does Likud want Israel to run to. Likud has no solution to the conflict with the Palestinians and has made do for 40 years with taking the wind out of the sails of every agreement. From this point of view there is an unsurprising similarity between statements by Sa'ar and Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal. Each sees concessions to the other side as a trap. Each prefers the status quo to a historic compromise.... At Annapolis, Israel has a partner. It may be weak, it may represent only part of the Palestinian people, but finally there is another side that sees eye to eye with most of the people in Israel, a side that opposes using terror to achieve political goals and is willing to give up some of its original aspirations to reach an agreement. The refusal to negotiate with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, is like spitting in the faces of the moderates. If there is any chance to strengthen the moderates in the Palestinian street, it is only by presenting achievements. Those who do not make do with Fatah will get more Hamas, and according to the US Secretary of State, they will in the end get Al-Qaida in the West Bank.... The Annapolis conference is an opportunity to forge an agreement with people who are willing to sign it, while hoping that the entire Palestinian people follows suit." II. "Olmert and Barak on Collision Course" Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv (11/7): "Incredible as it sounds, Ehud Olmert is beginning to miss Amir Peretz. That is how bad things have gotten. The tension between the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister, who were by now supposed to have gone marching, hand in hand, into the sunset, is getting worse than ever, day by day. Now the talk is about Barak's harsh criticism of Olmert for his remarks at a closed session of the Saban Forum. According to these accounts, Barak said that Olmert's conduct as the Annapolis conference draws near is problematic, that Haim Ramon is pulling in dangerous directions, that the proliferation of channels in the talks with the Palestinians is causing damage, that raising expectations of the Annapolis summit could cause a catastrophe, that the entire business is not sufficiently prepared, that the Palestinians are simply not prepared to recognize Israel a Jewish state, and so on and so forth. These are tough statements, when spoken by a defense minister to a prime minister who is trying to move forward towards a decisive conference.... This political romance, which was to have carried the government forward to new horizons, has turned into a fight with long knives. Sources close to Olmert express astonishment at the way things are going. They say that Barak's plan was to join the government, to become 'Mr. Defense,' to steal half of Kadima from Olmert before the elections, to launch a blitz, and to defeat Bibi [Netanyahu]. Instead of that, the exact opposite has happened. Olmert is stealing half of the Labor Party from Barak." III. "Creeping towards Annapolis" Senior columnist Moshe Ishon wrote in the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe (11/7): "It is very likely that Hamas is taking direct actions against [Mahmoud Abbas], thus causing him to conduct an extremist policy in his talks with Israel. This policy is dictated by the Hamas leaders.... [Abbas] is delivering [Hamas's] goods to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and through her to the government of Israel and all those involved in foreign policy.... It is very doubtful whether an end can be put to the debate [between Israel and the Palestinians] by the end of next year. The debate is too complex. One must admit that as of now there is nobody to talk to. Abu Mazen is not a partner for a dialogue.... Unfortunately, Israel's behavior has not been characterized by predicting the future." IV. "Whose Roadmap?" Jeff Halper, the coordinator of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (11/7): "As did his pronouncements last August in Jericho, where Prime Minister Ehud Olmert indicated a willingness to withdraw from an area equivalent to 100 percent of the occupied territories, his latest declarations to the Saban Forum, in the presence of Condoleezza Rice and Tony Blair, sounded promising, even stirring.... When ... Olmert speaks of 'conforming to the Roadmap,' he speaks of withdrawal from all the occupied territory outside those settlement blocs, since the Bush letter [to Sharon] de facto annexes them to Israel..... In the end, the Palestinians may get 80-90 percent of the West Bank, but they do not get a viable state.... The Palestine state is deprived of a viable economy. Given that 60 percent of Palestinians are under the age of 18 and that that mini-state must absorb hundreds of thousands of refugees, its prospects for being a viable, stable, and truly independent state are nil, given the unspoken parameters outlined in the Bush letter. There will be a Palestinian state. Israel has an urgent demographic need to get the almost four million Palestinians of the occupied territories off its hands.... The crucial question is: Will it be a viable state? If it is true that Olmert intends that Israel permanently retain the settlement blocs, an Israeli 'greater' Jerusalem, and effective control of the entire country to the Jordan River, then we will merely be substituting a sophisticated form of apartheid for occupation. The devil is in the details." -------------- ¶2. Iraq: -------------- Summary: -------------- Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in an editorial of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Over 3,800 US soldiers have already paid with their lives for this idiocy, which was born in the feverish mind of a dubious chemistry student who cannot make out a bacteria from a bug." Block Quotes: -------------- "The Chemistry Student" Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in an editorial of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/7): "The recently published story, according to which an Iraqi chemistry student was behind the information conveyed by the United States about Iraq's chemical and possibly nuclear capability, looks as if it was taken from the adventures of Baron Munchausen. Good Lord, how can this be?.... Is a colossal country such as the US, whose astronauts have stepped on the moon ..., the great America, being led astray by a half-eccentric young Iraqi? Over 3,800 US soldiers have already paid with their lives for this idiocy, which was born in the feverish mind of a dubious chemistry student who cannot make out a bacteria from a bug.... God save us ... and also America!" JONES