ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003367 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: -------------- Annapolis Conference -------------- Key Stories in the Media: -------------- Ha'aretz banners: "Bush is Pressing to Immediately Open Negotiations on a Permanent Agreement" and Yediot Aharonot reported in its headline that US President George Bush will say in his speech on Tuesday that an agreement on a Palestinian state will be achieved by the end of his term. Ha'aretz reported that President Bush wants to officially open the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for a permanent agreement at the Annapolis conference. The newspaper notes that despite Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's statement that "negotiations will be held in Jerusalem", it is highly probable that Israel will grant President Bush's wish. All media reported that President Bush and PM Olmert met on Monday in what was described by PM Olmert in a briefing to his diplomatic correspondents as an "excellent meeting." PM Olmert also said that he has expectations that "normalization with the Arab world would begin soon." Yediot reported that President Bush will not present new ideas in his opening speech on Tuesday. The newspaper quotes Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal as saying that the US has promised that it will do what ever it can in order to achieve peace. All media reported that President Bush also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday. The Jerusalem Post quoted White House spokeswoman Dana Perino as saying that "there will be only one Palestinian state," meaning that the Palestinians need to deal with the situation in Gaza. According to Maariv, late Monday night President Bush intervened and started to pressure PA President Abbas to sign the joint declaration. Ha'aretz cited estimates by Israeli sources that the sides would eventually reach an agreement. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe headlined the Syrian angle of the Annapolis conference. On its front page it reported that the Syrians believe that razing the Golan issue at the conference is would be a diplomatic achievement. The newspaper also emphasized PM Olmert's statement in a briefing to correspondents that if conditions are ripe Israel will hold negotiations with Syria. Maariv reported that a continuous conference to Annapolis is expected to take place in three months, maybe in Moscow. All media reported that all of the resistance parties in Gaza gathered on Monday and sent a message to PA Chairman Abbas that he has no mandate to make concessions on behalf of the Palestinian people. All media reported that 10,000 right-wing activists demonstrated Monday night in Jerusalem against PM Olmert, settlement evacuations, and dividing Jerusalem. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe published a poll that was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion. It questioned 1,200 Palestinians from Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. According to the poll, 72.5% of Palestinian are opposed to Israeli sovereignty over the Western Wall in any peace agreement. Only 18.7% would support such an arrangement. All media reported that four Palestinian gunmen were killed on Monday by the IDF while attempting to initiate terrorist activities against Israel. Yediot published a letter written by Israeli reservists calling on PM Olmert not to give weapons to the Palestinians. Maariv reported that after seven years the US Six Fleet is returning to Israeli sea ports. The newspaper noted that since October 2000 security concerns had kept the fleet's vessels from anchoring in Israeli ports. -------------- Annapolis Conference: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior columnist Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "All credit for this remarkable gathering goes to Bush. It's his baby. But the opportunity is all ours -- an opportunity that we dare not pass up." Senior columnists Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Under the cloak of cynicism, there is a desire for stability and people who are tired of paying the price of the non-solution. The three people in Annapolis symbolize something that is greater than each of them and of the three of them together. Even if Annapolis does not lead to an agreement, it constitutes an important milestone on the thorny Middle East road." Senior economic editor Sever Plocker wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "People say that the Annapolis conference is only going to be a 'momentum conference,' that will jump start the peace process as the Madrid conference did. The thing is that the Madrid conference didn't jump start anything; it was a waste of time.... Still, we ought not to be pessimistic.... It could very well be that what common sense failed to do in the past will now be done by their [Arab states] worries about their money, and that these countries will now help to establish peace." Former Prime Minister and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "Signing a permanent status agreement today with the weak Abu Mazen is like building a multi-story building without foundations. Sooner or later this building will collapse on us." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "President Bush should, as the centerpiece of his speech, call on the Arab governments gathered today in Annapolis to lead by example if they truly believe in peace. Conferences do not change history, but clarity from the leader of the free world can." Senior diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "In summary: don't hold your breath. Peace isn't going to be the result of this story. Not with these leaders." The Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized: "Annapolis, like other conferences, is intended to pressure Israel to give to the Palestinians without getting anything in return." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Bush's baby - and ours" Senior columnist Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/27): "We have never had a president like George W. Bush, and chances are we will never have another. If we reach an agreement, we are not only clinching a deal with Mahmoud Abbas, but with the whole of the moderate Arab world.... It is doubtful that America's next president will be as friendly and supportive as Bush, who can be trusted not to pressure us on issues that compromise Israel's security and survival. So whatever can be achieved we must try to achieve now, while Bush is still at the helm. We are not going to be able to fool all of the people all of the time.... At the moment, the fact that part of the Arab world has cut itself off from Hamas in Gaza is an impressive preliminary achievement. Olmert's administration is facing its most important challenge yet. Now that Syria has joined, the Annapolis summit is forging a new regional map, with the sons of light pitted against the sons of darkness. All credit for this remarkable gathering goes to Bush. It's his baby. But the opportunity is all ours -- an opportunity that we dare not pass up." II. "All Beginnings are Hard" Senior columnists Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/27): "Three people will walk today under the cloudy skies of Annapolis: an American president who lost his world in Iraq, a Palestinian statesman who lost half his country to Hamas and holds onto the other half mainly thanks to the IDF, and an Israeli leader facing skeptical public opinion, weary of ceremonies. Nonetheless, Annapolis is important. Under the cloak of cynicism, there is a desire for stability and people who are tired of paying the price of the non-solution. The three people in Annapolis symbolize something that is greater than each of them and of the three of them together. Even if Annapolis does not lead to an agreement, it constitutes an important milestone on the thorny Middle East road." III. "Conferences Without Results" Senior economic editor Sever Plocker wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/27): "Israel secured agreements with Arab states only when it negotiated with each one separately.... Peace conferences that are attended by numerous representatives have never promoted anything.... People say that the Annapolis conference is only going to be a 'momentum conference,' that will jump start the peace process as the Madrid conference did. The thing is that the Madrid conference didn't jump start anything; it was a waste of time.... Still, we ought not to be pessimistic. In the past 60 years the Arab oil states have never had so strong, so immediate, so existential an interest in preventing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from flaring up as they do now. They need quiet in order to protect their astronomical wealth and to enjoy it and its fruits. It could very well be that what common sense failed to do in the past will now be done by their worries about their money, and that these countries will now help to establish peace." IV. "True Peace or Imaginary Peace" Former Prime Minister and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/27): "The yearning for peace must not cause us not to distinguish between true peace and imaginary peace. The first fundamental condition for a true peace is the existence of a true partner that is able and willing to lead its people to peace.... Signing a permanent status agreement today with the weak Abu Mazen is like building a multi-story building without foundations. Sooner or later this building will collapse on us. It can be otherwise. A responsible government must conduct negotiations assertively, with determination and with pride. It must promote, in a practical manner, economic development for the Palestinians who want peace, and at the same time, encourage them to build stable governmental and legal institutions. A responsible government would maintain security, would insist on reciprocity and distinguish properly between true peace and an imaginary peace." ¶V. "Bush's Clarity" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/27): "The question now is how Bush can, in the current context, carry his original vision [the Road Map] forward. His speech today, before Israeli and Palestinian leaders and about 20 Arab foreign ministers at Annapolis, is a major opportunity to carry on where his June 2002 speech left off.... Even in 2002, it was clear based on the spectacular collapse and aftermath of the 2000 Camp David summit that the Palestinians could not lead toward peace while the Arab states lagged behind. Now the Palestinian leadership is considerably weaker and more divided then it was then, and is even greater need of real leadership from the Arab states.... President Bush should, as the centerpiece of his speech, call on the Arab governments gathered today in Annapolis to lead by example if they truly believe in peace. Conferences do not change history, but clarity from the leader of the free world can." VI. "The Moment of Truth has Arrived" Senior diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (11/27): "Ehud Olmert's speech at Annapolis is supposed to be in his mother tongue, which is our mother tongue. Hebrew.... Olmert's real audience is a Hebrew-speaking audience. It isn't peace that he's gone to make in Annapolis but a peace spin. He is going to address the Israeli electorate, he is going to deliver a good and convincing speech, he is going to create the semblance of an historic moment that is rife with optimism, and will aim for Jerusalem. That is where his audience is seated, mainly one of them whose name is Eliyahu Winograd. It is to that audience that Olmert will be speaking today, much more than to Bush, Abu Mazen or the Arab League.... Right wing activists demonstrated in Jerusalem on Monday and said that Olmert had no mandate to concede parts of the Land of Israel; in Gaza Hamas activists gathered and declared that Abu Mazen had no mandate to concede parts of Palestine. George Bush's mandate is due to expire at the end of next year. In summary: don't hold your breath. Peace isn't going to be the result of this story. Not with these leaders." VII. "Conference of Peace or Conference of War" The Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized (11/27): "The atmosphere before Annapolis is not optimistic. The commentators are united in their belief that the chances for success are slim.... Annapolis, like other conferences, is intended to pressure Israel to give to the Palestinians without getting anything in return. And Olmert, as Ehud Barak was with Clinton, is going there to serve as a rubber stamp to concessions that would only increase [Israel's] security risk." MORENO