ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000461 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: -------------- Last night Israel TV confirmed that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hold a three-way meeting with Olmert and PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas on February 19 as planned. Over the weekend the media quoted senior GOI officials in Jerusalem as saying that the Mecca agreement could jeopardize the trilateral meeting. On Sunday Yediot reported that the US was angry with Abbas because it had asked him before the visit that he oppose a government that would not recognize Israel. However, Yediot reported that the US would not go overboard over the matter. Israel TV also reported that Abbas promised an Israeli source that Gilad's release will be a precondition for the establishment of a Palestinian unity government. Leading media reported that on Sunday PM Ehud Olmert softened Israel's stance on the "Mecca agreement" for a Palestinian unity government. Last week, the government had said the agreement was unacceptable. On Sunday, however, Olmert told the cabinet that "at this stage, Israel neither rejects nor accepts the agreement. Like the international community, we are studying what was achieved in the agreement, what it says and the basis of the consensus." Ha'aretz reported that Olmert's decision to stop criticizing the accord stemmed from the Quartet's announcement that it continues to demand that any Palestinian government abide by the conditions it laid down last year: recognizing Israel, renouncing terror and accepting previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements, as well as the Roadmap. Ha'aretz said that Olmert opted to lower the profile of his response, so as not to appear rejectionist. Yediot reported that Olmert wants to put the Palestinian unity government to the test, should it come into being, and present it with a demand that it release the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit immediately. The newspaper reported that on Sunday Olmert had a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ahead of the meeting of the EU's foreign ministers in Brussels over the significance of the Mecca accord. Yediot quoted close Olmert associates as saying that Olmert told Merkel that the international community should stand by the Quartet's three principles. The Jerusalem Post quoted senior diplomatic sources in Jerusalem as saying that today the 27 EU foreign ministers will likely take a "wait-and-see attitude." Yediot reported that the heads of IDF Intelligence and the Shin Bet told the cabinet on Sunday that Hamas is the big winner in the Mecca accord. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Sunday PA representatives appealed to Hamas to stop issuing "provocative" statements about the agreement that was reached in Mecca last week. The call followed statements by a number of Hamas spokesmen who wished to make it clear that the agreement did not require Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist. Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski announced late Sunday night that he has decided to postpone construction of the walkway at the Mugrabi Ascent until zoning authorities complete plans for the area. The radio reported that Lupoliansky decided that archaeological rescue excavations at the site would continue. The media reported that on Sunday the cabinet had decided to continue the works. The media reported that the rift between Olmert and Defense Minister Amir over the matter was expanding. The Jerusalem Post reported that, in an attempt to calm Muslim tension over building near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Chief Rabbinate has requested to meet with leading Islamic spiritual leaders. All media reported that on Sunday Israel successfully tested the Arrow anti-missile system, in its first nighttime trial, intercepting a test target that simulated the warhead of a long range Iranian surface-to-surface Shihab-3 missile. The Jerusalem Post quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying on Wednesday, in a hearing before the US House Committee Foreign Committee, that the US is not planning an attack on Iran. The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio quoted chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani as saying on Sunday that his country's nuclear program is not a threat to Israel. Israel Radio reported that this morning four Qassam rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip into Israel, causing no victims. Hatzofe quoted Islamic Jihad's "Al-Quds Company" as saying that the group has recently succeeded in manufacturing a "Quds-4" rocket with a 220-mm-diameter and a maximum range of 22 kilometers. The Jerusalem Post reported that an IDF officer told the newspaper that it is only a matter of time before Palestinians in the West Bank begin using tunnels in attacks against Israel. Yediot reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting Saudi Arabia, the first such trip by a Russian president. Yediot reported that commentators in the Arab world emphasize Russia's striving to assume the role of broker in the Middle East. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The agreement signed in Mecca between Hamas and Fatah, will not realize Israel's dream..... [However], it is ... best to look squarely at the reality that created the Mecca agreement." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Talking to Abbas -- Hamas's new fig leaf -- will not increase the pressure on Hamas to end terrorism and recognize Israel." Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The United States will not be able to afford to reject an internal Palestinian reconciliation agreement that was sponsored by the King of Saudi Arabia." Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "[Mahmoud Abbas] preferred a temporary conciliation with Hamas over his long-term alliance with the Americans." Palestinian affairs correspondent Danny Rubinstein wrote in Ha'aretz: "The Israeli government can and should recognize the Palestinian unity government." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "A Potential Turning Point" The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/11): "The agreement signed in Mecca between Hamas and Fatah, will not realize Israel's dream..... [However], it is ... best to look squarely at the reality that created the Mecca agreement and to hope that it will be translated into a practical and moderate platform for the Palestinian unity government. Meanwhile, it is appropriate to move to a practical step: to ease the sanctions, to permit the inflow of money to rehabilitate the economy and services in the territories, and to hold direct talks with the Palestinian government over the prisoner exchange and begin building a relationship of trust with it. This is not an untenable demand. It is inscribed on the same Roadmap that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attempt to further this week." II. "Sanitizing Hamas" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (2/11): "Hamas went into the Mecca talks on a Palestinian unity government seeking what it has wanted since it gained power: the fig leaf of Fatah's participation, without having to give into any of the three demands of the international Quartet: accepting previous agreements, renouncing terrorism and accepting Israel's right to exist. Hamas got what it wanted -- 'unity' without concessions. Now the ball is in the Quartet's -- and Israel's -- court.... Talking to Abbas -- Hamas's new fig leaf -- will not increase the pressure on Hamas to end terrorism and recognize Israel. The way to do that is for the Quartet to press the Arab states to lead by example and publicly thaw relations with Israel and reject positions -- such as the demand of a 'right of return"' to Israel -- that are inconsistent with Israel's right to exist. By sanitizing an unchastened Hamas, the Mecca agreement did the opposite, and was therefore a step away from peace." III. "The Saudi Patronage Government" Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/11): "Hamas has achieved its goals without having had to concede even one of its principles or tenets. That achievement was delivered to Hamas by the Saudi leadership, since the 'Mecca agreement' is the product of a Saudi dictate that is 85 percent biased in Hamas's favor. It was not a national unity government that was established in Mecca but a Saudi patronage government.... The 'Mecca agreement' is a troubling development from Israel's point of view. The battle to prevent world resignation to Hamas is liable to end in defeat. For let us not delude ourselves: The United States will not be able to afford to reject an internal Palestinian reconciliation agreement that was sponsored by the King of Saudi Arabia. The American interests [in that country] are too strong:... No administration in Washington is going to dare dismiss the 'Mecca agreement' that the Saudi King is so proud of. No matter what the opinion harbored by the administration leaders is about the agreement. The Olmert government erred when it based its approach towards Hamas on its blind faith in the economic and political boycott. A siege is a passive act that only serves to elicit a defiant position.... The result is that the 'Mecca agreement' will establish a strengthened Hamas government that will dance to the tunes played by Khaled Mashal, which were composed in Riyadh." IV. "Die Hard" Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in Yediot Aharonot (2/12): "Abu Mazen and his people did not go to Mecca willingly: they were led there by fear. The violent clashes between the Fatah and Hamas forces threatened to deteriorate to a full-scale civil war. Abu Mazen is not cut out for this kind of confrontation. He feared a state of anarchy that would turn the PA territories into a Middle Eastern version of Somalia. And perhaps, as Israeli officials contend, he feared for his own life. In any case, he preferred a temporary conciliation with Hamas over his long-term alliance with the Americans. The Saudis and the Egyptians did the same.... [Secretary of Rice Condoleezza] Rice's embarrassment does not alleviate Olmert's difficulties in the least. Abu Mazen was his last foreign policy hope. This hope has now become distant, if not completely disappeared. It remains for him only to try to persuade the world to continue to boycott the Palestinian government. A vision of this type was good for Yitzhak Shamir, not for Ehud Olmert." ¶V. "A Chance to Change Direction" Palestinian affairs correspondent Danny Rubinstein wrote in Ha'aretz (2/12): "The Israeli government can and should recognize the Palestinian unity government. Can recognize -- because in his letter of appointment, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas calls on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh 'to honor the legitimate Arab and international resolutions and to honor the agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization.' This could be seen as a call to abide by the Oslo Accords, including the three demands leveled by the Quartet (recognizing Israel, honoring prior agreements and denouncing violence). Should recognize -- because recognition of the new government is the only way now to renew negotiations with PA head Abbas, who has received the backing of all the Palestinian factions to conduct the talks." -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- Former cabinet minister Natan Sharansky wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The Jewish world now must mobilize [against Iran's plans] at a level no less than during the struggles to establish the State of Israel and to free Soviet Jewry." Block Quotes: -------------- "Mobilize Now, Save the World" Former cabinet minister Natan Sharansky wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (2/12): "We must recognize the fact that though sympathy for Iran's expressed goal of Israel's destruction is hardly mainstream, the idea of a world without Israel is more acceptable in polite company, the media and academia today than Hitler's expressed goal of a Europe without Jews was in 1939. Given this situation, it should be clear that we are beyond the stage of definitions. The Jewish world now must mobilize at a level no less than during the struggles to establish the State of Israel and to free Soviet Jewry. It is this latter struggle that presents the most potent model for action today. Though both sides of the genocidal pincer are in quite advanced stages of development, the Jewish world remains mired in pre-mobilization debates reminiscent of the early stages of the Soviet Jewry struggle in the 1960s. This may be hard to recall in light of the subsequent success, but back then a debate raged among Jews over whether a campaign to free Soviet Jewry was 'too parochial,' and whether being out front risked making it too much of a 'Jewish issue.'" JONES