ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003507 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: -------------- Mideast -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Yediot reported that preparations have begun for President Bush's visit in January. Israel Radio and The Jerusalem Post's web site quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying in an interview with USA Today: "The reason why [President Bush] is going [to the Middle East] is that he very much wants to signal support for the bilateral process between the parties and to continue in a hands on way to encourage [Israelis and Palestinians] to move forwards.... The President has an extraordinary way of sitting with people and eliciting from them where the enablement might be to get something done. Where are the sticking points? And not in a way that says all right I'm going to go ahead and fix this for you, but just talking to the parties. And I think actually talking to them individually by that time will be helpful because he'll be able to get a strong sense of where the points of convergence are that maybe they won't see, and where the points are divergent are well." Israel Radio quoted a senior Israeli defense source as saying that the only solution to the standoff in Gaza is a large-scale military operation, but that it should be carefully weighed. The radio quoted IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi as saying that such an offensive is getting more likely. Leading media quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying that a proper response to Qassam rocket attacks will be found. Leading media reported that Har Homa construction and the violence in the territories marred Wednesday's Israeli-Palestinian talks. Maariv reported that Israel is continuing the expansion of Har Homa despite Palestinian and world criticism. The Jerusalem Post quoted Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman as saying on Wednesday: I have to correct the State Department. They spoke about 300 housing units in Har Homa, but there are 3,000 on the way." Leading media quoted a senior Israeli diplomatic source as saying in an unprecedented criticism of U.S. policy that President Bush has failed in his handling of the Iranian nuclear issue. The source was quoted as saying that the U.S. is being distracted from the main concerns of the West: fighting extremist Islamic terror; rogue states; and the proliferation of nuclear technology. The Jerusalem Post reported that Quartet envoy Tony Blair told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday that he understands Israel's hesitancy to cede more land. The Jerusalem Post reported that the incoming UN envoy, Robert Serry of the Netherlands, called on Israelis and Palestinians to honor the Roadmap, and criticized the Har Homa construction project. Yediot quoted oligarch Arkady Gaidamak as saying that in the absence of government action, he will provide protection to the houses of Sderot. Ha'aretz reported that Jerusalem Municipality legal counsel Atty. Yossi Havilio wrote the mayor and other city officials that the municipality is discriminating against East Jerusalem students by not providing places of study. Major media quoted U.S. intelligence sources as saying that Iran test-fired a ground-to-ground, 2,000-km range Ashura missile during the Annapolis conference. Leading media quoted French President Nicolas Sarkozy as saying in an interview with the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur that Israel might attack Iran if it continues its nuclear program. Yediot reported on a thaw in Egypt-Iran relations. The Jerusalem Post quoted AP as saying that Egypt refuses to sign stricter IAEA protocols, citing Israel's refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted an Israeli defense source as saying that Hizbullah was behind Wednesday's assassination in Beirut of Brig. Gen. Francois El-Hajj, who was slated to become Lebanese chief of staff. The source was quoted as saying that Syria did not order the murder. The Jerusalem Post reported that visiting Lt. Gen. (ret.) David Barno, the former commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, told the newspaper that the U.S. will not relent in its pursuit of Usama bin Ladin until he is captured. Ha'aretz revealed that in December 2000 Israel told then U.S. President Bill Clinton that it saw particular importance in establishing a special authority in Jerusalem's sacred basin to ensure freedom of worship for Jews and Muslims. This statement came in response to ideas Clinton proposed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ha'aretz also divulged that Israel told the Americans that it saw an ambiguity in Clinton's stance on refugees that should be avoided. Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that a report released today by the World Bank warns that even if the donor countries meet all of the PA's demands for aid, the Palestinian economy will continue to deteriorate if Israel continues to enforce mobility and trade restrictions in the West Bank. The teachers will receive an 8.5% pay raise, paid over two terms the first in January 2008 and the second one year later; both pending an increase in teaching hours. The pay raise -- given in addition to the 5% guaranteed pay raise to all workers of the public sector -- is meant to enable the Education Ministry's school-system reform to take place. Should the school-system reform prove successful, the teachers will ultimately be granted a 26% pay raise. Should the move fail, their 8.5% raise will be rescinded. Maariv reported that refugees from two tribes in Darfur are continuing to fight each other in Eilat. -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Annapolis apparently will not lead to conflict resolution. [But] the conference will ... contribute toward making the conflict more moderated." Conservative contributor Menachem Ben wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "[I propose the] option of a large Hebrew state, in which the Palestinians will live in two separate autonomies (Gaza and the West Bank),to which it is possible to add a third autonomy for Israeli Arabs who will opt for such a solution." Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The 'release' ideal that HAMAS and the other organizations nurture is unrealistic.... Will the Israeli government, the great IDF and the security establishment finally discover [Gilad Shalit's] location in Gaza and disengage Shalit and ourselves from the 'prisoner problem'?" Arab affairs correspondent Jacky Hoogie wrote in Maariv: "Lebanon bleeds alone in this tragedy." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Our own diplomats giving credence to claims that the UN is in any way treating Israel as 'normal and acceptable' is like thanking a bully for slapping a 'kick me' sign on our backs." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "On America's Strength and Weakness" Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (12/13): "At present it is clear that both sides (if we ignore the serious problem of HAMAS control in Gaza) have the political desire to conduct real negotiations and to lower the flames. What is less clear is whether they have the political capability to reach agreements with regard to core issues. It appears they do not. It is clear that Bush can clear the way for a dramatic event of the kind seen at Annapolis, but he does not have the ability to keep up a daily check of dozens of discussions and issues raised during negotiations in various work groups..... As in other similar cases -- Cyprus, Kosovo, Bosnia -- America's strength is limited when the local political desire and the political capability are missing. This means that, despite all the media brouhaha, Annapolis apparently will not lead to conflict resolution. The conference will serve as a tool to solving some of the many problems between us and the Palestinians, and in this way, to contribute toward making the conflict more moderated." II. "What If the Arabs Don't Agree?" Conservative contributor Menachem Ben wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/13): "The question is what will happen if the Arabs, as can be expected, do not agree to anything. Then Israel will reserve itself another option, based on the existing situation, but one that opens new vistas. This is the option of a large Hebrew state, in which the Palestinians will live in two separate autonomies (Gaza and the West Bank),to which it is possible to add a third autonomy for Israeli Arabs who will opt for such a solution (with all security branches remaining in Israeli hands, of course). Thus, it will at least be obvious that all residents of the autonomies are Palestinians, while all the rest are Israelis who choose their Israeliness.... The alternative (surrendering to the Palestinian demand now -- so that [Israel] is later absorbed into greater Palestine -- is much worse." III. "The Holy Palestinian Ghost" Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (12/13): "The number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails stands at 10,000 -- how can it be, with such a quantity of prisoners and the internal Palestinian pressure because of it, that the problem of Gilad Shalit has not yet been solved? Precisely because of the enormous number of prisoners. This enormous number creates the distinction between the matter of the prisoners and the 'prisoner problem,' which for the Palestinians has become something holy, mythological, and bigger than life. Here is a paradox for us: It is precisely the Palestinian rhetoric that locked up the prisoners. It made the subject so large that it was impossible to deal with it, and therefore the only option is not to deal with it at all. In our region, one doesnQt mess with a holy ghost.... The 'release' ideal that HAMAS and the other organizations nurture is unrealistic. They have built an almost metaphysical, utopian reality whereby all the prisoners are released and return to their homes, at the absolute maximum level -- a magical happy ending. But that is a dream of the kind that never comes true. And thus, rhetoric has imprisoned the Palestinian leadership, and as a result, that same Palestinian leadership continues to jail its prisoners. If so, then on the shoulders of the captive Gilad Shalit rests the entire Palestinian fate with its conflicts, hatreds, the illusions in which it has thrown itself and the terrible split that it is undergoing. No one will dare to touch that horrible political abscess, and one Israeli soldier is paying the price. Will the Israeli government, the great IDF and the security establishment finally discover his location in Gaza and disengage Shalit and ourselves from the 'prisoner problem'?" IV. "On the Cusp of a Civil War" Arab affairs correspondent Jacky Hoogie wrote in Maariv (12/13): "The assassination of Francois El-Hajj, the Lebanese Army's No. 2, was entirely a Syrian initiative that was conceived and carried out by its allies in Lebanon.... Lebanon bleeds alone in this tragedy. There is nobody in the world that is able or wants to save it from ... Syrian meddling or unlock it from Iran's much more dangerous embrace. George Bush, the man who set off to fix the world, has already stopped lecturing Assad on Lebanon. Even the President of the United States knows that after getting entangled in Iraq and standing helpless in front of Iran, it would be preposterous to waste energy on Lebanon just because a few politicians have been blown up." ¶V. "UNreformed" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (12/13): "On Tuesday, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman lauded the passage of an Israeli-drafted resolution in a UN committee for the first time ever.... We hate to rain on this parade, but our own diplomats giving credence to claims that the UN is in any way treating Israel as 'normal and acceptable' is like thanking a bully for slapping a 'kick me' sign on our backs.... While this 'breakthrough' resolution could be cited to exemplify the isolation of the Arab bloc, it also demonstrates the refusal of this same bloc and the countries that blindly vote with it to remotely treat Israel as a nation like any other -- namely a nation with the right to exist -- let alone a peace-seeking democracy under terrorist attack. That would be of limited concern if the anti-Israel bloc was consistently and overwhelmingly out-voted on substantive resolutions as well. But this, of course, is not the case. Worse, the Arab bloc is still able to use the UN system as its own cudgel to delegitimize Israel." JONES