ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003281 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 -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post led with Israeli demands to the Palestinian Authority that Israel be recognized as a Jewish state. The Jerusalem Post reported that opposition from Palestinian leaders is intensifying and could threaten the post-Annapolis negotiations. Ha'aretz and other media reported that the cabinet is considering making this recognition a precondition for any future negotiations. Reportedly, Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman is behind the initiative. Ha'aretz adds speculation from political analysts that Olmert will work to oppose a government resolution. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted a source in Kadima as saying that tensions within the party have grown following Olmert's decision to freeze settlement construction. On Wednesday Kadima MKs took part in a Likud-led gathering to protest the possible division of Jerusalem. Israel Radio reported that Israel is preparing a list of Palestinian prisoners to be released ahead of Annapolis. Maariv reported that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has approved an alternative plan to reduce power supply to Gaza that would leave the responsibility of distributing electricity to Hamas. Ha'aretz quoted the Israeli group Machsom Watch as saying on Tuesday that only two of the 24 roadblocks that Israel allegedly removed recently were in fact removed. The organization said following its investigation and site visits that most of the roadblocks in fact never existed. They also claimed that several of the roadblocks were still in place. Maariv reported that the IDF is preparing anti-tank defenses in the western Golan along protective trenches that were previously used during the Yom Kippur War. The newspaper quoted an Israeli military source as saying that the move is part of the preparations to counter possible aggression by Syria. Yediot quoted British commentator Patrick Seale, a confidant of Syrian President Bashar Assad, as saying that Olmert's reported rapprochement efforts with Syria are just Israeli spin, and that Syria does not believe that Israel has received a green light from President Bush to hold talks with Damascus. Maariv reported that 20,000 Palestinian security staff are now active in West Bank cities (Area B). The Jerusalem Post quoted US Consul-General in Jerusalem Jacob Walles as saying after a tour of Nablus on Wednesday that Palestinian forces in the city have made "some progress" in restoring order. The Jerusalem Post quoted officials in Jerusalem as saying that the report on the Iranian nuclear program that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due to present in two weeks to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany will be much closer to the Israeli position than the separate report being drawn up by International Atomic Energy head Mohamed ElBaradei. Solana met with FM Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Major media reported that on Wednesday a French appeals court screened footage of the September 2000 TV report on the death of 12-year-old Palestinian Muhammad al-Dura, in a case of defamation brought against France 2-TV and its correspondent in the Middle East, Charles Enderlin. Leading media reported that Deputy FM Majalli Whbee told the Knesset on Wednesday that the Walt Disney Company intends to start legal proceeding against Hamas, whose TV station portrayed a Mickey Mouse-like character to incite hatred towards the Jews. Various media reported that on Wednesday the Winograd Commission told the High Court of Justice that its final report would not single out individuals. Speaking on Israel Radio, Meretz Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On said that Olmert had "made the best deal of his life" when he appointed the commission. The media also cited criticism of the commission's statement by right-wing politicians and human rights groups. Yediot cited the frustration of Israel's National Security Council for not being consulted on the Annapolis meeting. The Winograd Commission had criticized PM Olmert for not seeking advice from the council during the Second Lebanon War. Ha'aretz reported that the planned freeze in settlement construction "raises more questions than answers," particularly on the future of settlements and the implementation of the freeze. Yediot reported that the US space program Falcon will be able to protect Israel from an Iranian attack. Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday Likud Knesset Member Gideon Sa'ar and 25 other MKs introduced a bill that would require a majority of 80 MKs to amend the Basic Law on Jerusalem. Leading media reported that on Wednesday an IDF officer was slightly wounded from Palestinian gunfire south of the Erez crossing. Six mortar shells were fired against Israel from the northern Gaza Strip, causing no injuries or damage. Maariv, Yediot, and Israel Radio reported that police are checking whether Likud activist Shlomi Oz gave money to Olmert when he ran in the 1999 Likud primaries. Maariv cited denial by the Prime Minister's Office. The media noted that Oz has been suspected in various criminal affairs over the past few years. Ha'aretz reported that while Hebrew-language studies in Egypt are thriving, Israelis are not welcome there. The newspaper has been running a series on Israeli-Egyptian ties 30 years after the late President Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem. Ha'aretz reported that right-wing Jewish groups have begun to purchase property in the Druze town of Peki'in in the Galilee leading to increased ethnic tensions. Peki'in was site of riots earlier this month between police and Druze villagers. In the aftermath of the riots, village elders learned that several right-wing Jewish groups have been purchasing homes in the city center, mainly from Christian residents, for two to five times the fair market value. Leading media reported that on Wednesday the German government announced that it is willing to begin negotiations with the GOI on changes to the reparations agreement for victims of the Holocaust. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Avoiding a debate on the core issues in Annapolis is not an Israeli achievement. It is an escape from the main issues, stemming from political cowardice." Meretz Party founder Shulamit Aloni wrote in Ha'aretz: "The government of Israel, with all due respect, does not represent the Jewish people but rather the citizens of the State of Israel who elected it.... In other words, it is a state for all of its citizens." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "There is no way for Israelis to understand the refusal to accept Israel as a Jewish state other than as a rejection of the two-state solution and the embrace of the 'strategy of stages,' Veteran journalist Evelyn Gordon wrote in The Jerusalem Post: "If there is one thing Rice has proved definitively over the past two years, it is that she has no interest whatsoever in Israel's security concerns." Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "The real threat posed by the Right does not arise from declarations by [settler leaders] or Olmert's pilgrimage to the rabbis. It lies in the hills of Samaria [i.e. the northern West Bank]." The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: "The Secretary of State had better invest some fresh thought in less SIPDIS comprehensive and pretentious solutions.... The 'two-state solution' that President Bush presented in 2002 belongs to another world and to other times." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Who Wants a Jewish State?" The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (11/15): "On the eve of the Annapolis conference, Israel has suddenly come up with the absurd demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state -- after Israel's own leaders have done everything in their power to sabotage it. It is easy to speak about a Jewish state, but difficult to find the political courage required to do what it takes: Settlements scattered in the heart of the Palestinian population make it impossible to separate between Israel and Palestine along a plausible and viable border. With each passing day and each passing year, every settlement expansion, every outpost and every road built to reach it disrupt the chance to separate the two nations. Therefore suspending construction in the settlements is not a prize for the Palestinians ahead of one agreement or another, but a life-saving medicine for Israel.... Avoiding a debate on the core issues in Annapolis is not an Israeli achievement. It is an escape from the main issues, stemming from political cowardice. Every additional round of futile talks is pushing Israel farther away from determining its borders and fate." II. "Still a Democracy?" Meretz Party founder Shulamit Aloni wrote in Ha'aretz (11/15): "The government of Israel, with all due respect, does not represent the Jewish people but rather the citizens of the State of Israel who elected it. Israel is a sovereign state, which is still considered to be a democracy. In other words, it is a state for all of its citizens. Therefore it must not demand of the Palestinians to recognize it as a Jewish state, because in that way it would be declaring that any citizen whose mother is not Jewish or who did not convert with our strict Orthodox rabbis is a second-rate citizen, and his rights as a human being and a citizen are not ensured.... Therefore it would be better to demand of the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a sovereign state, and not to coerce them with what the citizens coerce us -- religion and its rabbis.... If it is more important to be a Jew than it is to be an Israeli, why do we demand of the Jews of the world to come here at a time when they are having it good in the democratic countries in which they live as Jews?" III. "The Recognition Sham" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/15): "To Jews and Israelis, it is obvious that if Israel is not a Jewish state, meaning (at least) a state with an overwhelming Jewish majority, than it would simply become the 22nd Arab state. Israel would cease to exist. The Palestinian refusal to accept Israel as a Jewish state suggests that all their solemn and myriad expressions of Israel's right to exist did not mean anything.... There is no way for Israelis to understand the refusal to accept Israel as a Jewish state other than as a rejection of the two-state solution and the embrace of the 'strategy of stages,' whereby a Palestinian state is not an end of claims against Israel, but a down-payment toward Israel's destruction.... Without mutual recognition, there is no basis for negotiation. The Palestinians expect Israel to accept their existence and rights as a people. The Jewish people expects no less." IV. "Ehud Olmert's Misplaced Trust" Veteran journalist Evelyn Gordon wrote in The Jerusalem Post (11/15): "A premature determination that the PA is in fact willing and able to take over is a recipe for renewed suicide bombings in Israel's heartland. The crucial question, therefore, is whether the U.S. can be trusted to make this determination in Israel's stead.... Since [Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] will be responsible for making Israel obey [U.S. security coordinator Lt. Gen. Keith] Dayton's decisions, Israel could theoretically appeal to her should it consider these decisions flawed. In practice, however, there is no chance of her accepting such an appeal -- because if there is one thing Rice has proved definitively over the past two years, it is that she has no interest whatsoever in Israel's security concerns. If that assessment seems harsh, consider her behavior over the Agreement on Movement and Access, which she brokered following the August 2005 disengagement.... To his credit, Olmert resisted her on this issue. But now, in his desperation to demonstrate 'progress' at Annapolis, he has pledged to dismantle Israel's entire security network in the West Bank merely on Dayton's and Rice's say-so. He has thereby created an impossible trap: Either Israel will indeed have to dismantle its security measures prematurely, leaving the country vulnerable to a new wave of suicide bombings, or it will have to mortally insult its closest ally by refusing to accept its decisions even after having promised to do so. If that is the measure of Olmert's judgment in the pre-Annapolis talks, none of us should be sleeping well at night." ¶V. "The Campaign against Nothing" Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular, pluralist Maariv (11/15): "The Annapolis conference died before it was even born. But Binyamin Netanyahu won't let the facts confuse him.... [Netanyahu told Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef:] 'The Olmert government is repeating the mistake of Camp David, where Israel gave up everything and got suicide bombers in exchange?.' Israel conceded? When and what?.... More than it was meant to thwart Annapolis, which others have already torpedoed, the opposition leader's visit to the Rabbi was intended to check the possibility of toppling the Olmert government... The real threat posed by the Right does not arise from declarations by [settler leaders] or Olmert's pilgrimage to the rabbis. It lies in the hills of Samaria [i.e. the northern West Bank]." VI. "The Palestinians Need Israeli Patronage" The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (11/15): "The virtual president of a virtual state is posturing as a virtual partner in a peace conference. What is surprising is that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is continuing -- even on SIPDIS Wednesday -- to voice her support for painful concessions and the establishment of a Palestinian state..... Doesn't she know that in light of the Gaza experience, it is because of 'extremists in the region' that an Israeli withdrawal and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank constitute a recipe for strategic disaster -- not just to Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank, but also to the United States' interests? The Secretary of State had better invest some fresh thought in less comprehensive and pretentious solutions.... The 'two-state solution' that President Bush presented in 2002 belongs to another world and to other times." -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Americans say to the Israelis something like this: 'It is best for you to get used to living with a nuclear Iran, which will look less menacing if there is an American embassy there.'" Block Quotes: -------------- "Get Used to the Iranian Bomb" Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/15): "Israel and the United States are generally considered Siamese twins, with a common mouth and heart.... [However], the major differences of opinion can be summarized as follows: The Americans desire a 'dialogue' with Iran and the isolation of Syria, and the Israelis want talks with the Syrians and moves against Iran.... The message of the American participants in [last week's bilateral strategic] meeting was clear: Neither the U.S. nor Israel has a military option against Iran..... Whoever comes after Bush, certainly if he is a Democrat, will throw these conditions into the trash and will strive for a quick dialogue with Iran. In less diplomatic language, the Americans say to the Israelis something like this: 'It is best for you to get used to living with a nuclear Iran, which will look less menacing if there is an American embassy there.'" JONES