ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000678 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. Iraq ¶2. Syria ¶2. Iran -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Israel Radio quoted a State Department official in Washington as saying that no one in the US administration, including President Bush, can point out a date for the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Jerusalem Post's web site reported that a senior State Department official told the newspaper that the first meeting between the US and Israel to work out a new aid package for the latter was "extremely useful." Israel Radio and The Jerusalem Post said that Israel is arguing that expanded strategic threats, such as a nuclear Iran, Hizbullah's capabilities and Hamas's influence, necessitate additional military assistance. The current 10-year aid program expires this year and Israeli officials are looking to replace it with a new decade-long plan. The official told the Post that the US agrees with Israeli security assessments. "There's a general consensus about the problems we face, the threats that exist," he was quoted as saying, adding that Thursday's discussions were particularly helpful in terms of getting more perspective from the Israelis on how they've been affected by security issues such as the war on the northern front and the second Intifada. "We're strategic partners, and in that sense it was extremely useful," he was quoted as saying. "We got a greater level of granularity about the specifics." He added, however, that the amount of aid to be given was not discussed. "We did not talk about dollar figures. It's way too premature," he was quoted as saying. Ha'aretz reported that senior GOI sources told the newspaper on Thursday that Israel is expecting the Arab League to adopt an improved version of the Saudi peace plan at a summit meeting called for the end of this month in Riyadh. "We understand that the intention is to improve the initiative and come up with a better offer," one was quoted as saying. FM Tzipi Livni presented Israel's demands in an interview with Channel 10-TV on Thursday. First and foremost, she said, Israel objects to the document's section on the Palestinian refugees, which was not part of the initial Saudi draft, but was added at the 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut. "A new summit is in the offing, and they ought to know which parts [of the plan] are acceptable to Israel and what seems to us like an absolute red line," she explained in the interview. Livni was quoted as saying that the original draft presented by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia "was, in my view, positive." That draft called for a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders in exchange for peace and normalization with the entire Arab world. "Admittedly, the initiative spoke of the 1967 lines, but I only wish we were in a situation in which the conflict was just a border dispute," she added. The new article inserted at the 2002 Beirut summit, however, demanded a "just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, to be agreed upon in accordance with UNGA Resolution 194," and that resolution calls for allowing the refugees to return to Israel. It therefore contradicts Israel's vision of a two-state solution, which, explained Livni, calls for a Jewish national homeland alongside a Palestinian national homeland, with the latter serving as the solution for the Palestinian refugees. Livni was quoted as saying that she has presented this stance in conversations with Palestinian representatives with whom she met over the last month. Ha'aretz dubbed Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia's National Security Adviser, "Israel's liaison to its neighbors." Yediot and The Jerusalem Post led with reports that Syria has been rearming. The Jerusalem Post reported that senior Israeli defense officials have told the newspaper that Syria has spent the past few months constructing and moving infrastructure to its southern border that could be used to launch a war against Israel. Yediot cited the concern of the Israeli defense establishment about the possible sale to Syria by Russia of advanced anti-tank weapons. Israel Radio reported that GOI sources responded harshly to the planned sale, saying that such rockets have reached Hizbullah. Yediot said that Russia has a "revolutionary" rocket based on radar technology that can penetrate any Western tank. Israel Radio quoted Vice PM Shimon Peres as saying that the transfer constitutes an encouragement to Syria, which might turn to the path of war. Maj. Gen. Wolfgang Jilke, the commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force),deployed in Israel and Syria and responsible for maintaining the cease-fire between the two countries, was quoted as saying in a phone interview with The Jerusalem Post that he had not noticed any military changes on the ground. Ha'aretz cited the concern of Western intelligence agencies about a growing concentration of terror operatives associated with the global jihad movement in Lebanon. The daily reported that recent intelligence indicates that hundreds of Sunni Muslim terrorists from various Arab countries are currently residing around Tyre, mainly in a Palestinian refugee camp near the city. Some of the terrorists are apparently from Sudan and Yemen. Ha'aretz said that both Western and Israeli intelligence agencies fear that the jihadists' growing presence in southern Lebanon will lead to more attacks against Israel and a renewed escalation along Israel's northern border. The UN forces deployed along the border following last summer's war with Hizbullah are also considered potential targets. Israel Radio cited the London-based Al-Hayat as saying that Israel has announced to the UN that it will increase the number of its flights over Lebanon, because Hizbullah continues to boost its arsenal. Hatzofe reported that Lebanese security forces are investigating a spying network that allegedly acted in Lebanon against Hizbullah at the service of a European country. Hatzofe cited the belief of Lebanese sources that the Mossad recruited those men. Israel Radio quoted diplomats at the UN as saying that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany have achieved considerable progress regarding imposing stiffer sanctions on Iran, but that some issues are still in contention ahead of a possible Security Council vote. Visiting British opposition leader David Cameron was quoted as saying on Thursday in an interview with Ha'aretz that the time has come for the international community to start exerting massive pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. Cameron was also quoted as saying in the interview that the British-American relationship should be "solid but not slavish." Hatzofe reported that on Thursday US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised Knesset Speaker and Acting President of Israel that she will use her influence to obtain information about the abducted IDF soldiers. Ron Dermer, the outgoing Israeli Economic Attache in Washington, was quoted as saying in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that he is using the last stretch of his unexpectedly shortened tenure to receive what he hopes will be Israel's last "welfare check" and to promote divestment from Iran. Media reported that on Thursday an Israeli civilian was lightly wounded in a shooting attack in the West Bank and that the IDF halted its large-scale operation in Nablus despite failing to capture senior militants. Israel imposed complete closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip at midnight last night after Defense Minister Amir Peretz consulted with defense chiefs. The closure, imposed due to terror alerts, is to last until midnight on Monday, at the conclusion of the Purim holiday. Yediot quoted Olmert as saying on Thursday that Israel will boycott all Palestinian cabinet ministers -- even those from Fatah -- as long as the Palestinian government does not recognize Israel. All media reported that an Israeli Jew who transported a terrorist is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in jail. Ha'aretz reported that on Thursday about 1,000 people attended a demonstration in Hebron to demand that stolen Jewish property be returned. The property was stolen by Arabs in 1929, following an Arab pogrom that killed 67 Jews and drove the rest of the Jewish community out of the city. Citing AP, The Jerusalem Post reported that Iran's level of participation in the announced regional conference in Baghdad remained uncertain on Thursday. The Jerusalem Post reported that a team of Israeli aid workers has been in Kenya this week to distribute humanitarian aid supplies and determine the needs on the ground ahead of future missions. The newspaper said that the team helps Somali refugees. The media quoted Attorney General Menachem Mazuz as saying on Thursday that he will examine the allegations reported by Channel 10-TV on Wednesday that PM Ehud Olmert provided political favors to 115 members of the Likud's Central Committee when he headed the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor. The Jerusalem Post and Hatzofe reported that a delegation of high-tech trade executives from the State of Ohio will arrive in Israel in the coming days to conduct a conference in Tel Aviv in order to acquaint leading Israeli companies with the benefits of establishing their main US offices in cities such as Akron or Cleveland. Over 75 companies have expressed interest in attending at least part of the conference and any companies that are seriously relocating will be invited to the Ohio-Israel Investment Forum this summer. The Jerusalem Post reported that a coalition of 31 American Jewish organizations has launched a new three-year initiative to bring Israel studies to American college campuses. Yediot reported that, following a ruling by the High Court of Justice, an Israeli consul in Boston registered two lesbians -- an American and an Israeli -- as a married couple. -------------- ¶1. Iraq: -------------- Summary: -------------- Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner and diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Iraq is the key around which US policy will revolve, certainly in the months ahead. Every other problem will be shunted aside, as far as possible." Block Quotes: -------------- "The White House, Like the White Paper" Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner and diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/2): "Anyone looking for the reasons that prompted the [US] administration to talk to Iran and Syria will not have to work very hard. The coalition the Americans created is pressing from the outside, but in the domestic arena one can take a well-paved, very American path that suits almost every situation: Follow the money. It wasn't by chance that Rice chose the arena of the announcement: the Senate Appropriations Committee. She came there with Defense Secretary Gates to solicit for the budget that will fund the SIPDIS continuation of the war in Iraq. Iraq is the key around which US policy will revolve, certainly in the months ahead. Every other problem will be shunted aside, as far as possible. Every obstacle, real or imagined, on the road to success in Iraq, will be neutralized. This is also what happened to the administration with regard to the talks with Iran." -------------- ¶2. Syria: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev Schiff wrote on page one of the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "We need to think like the Turks: Despite everything, it is preferable to have Bashar Assad sitting in Damascus -- rather than the Muslim Brotherhood." Block Quotes: -------------- "Some Serious Thoughts on Syria" Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev Schiff wrote on page one of the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/2): "In principle, no country should declare itself unwilling to explore the possibility of peace. The question is how this exploration should be carried out. Secret contacts are of the utmost importance. Our major precondition is that Syria end its involvement in terror against Israel. At the same time, it is unreasonable to believe that Syria will sever its ties with Iran. Coordination with Washington is also an issue, and in this area, things are changing. Previous Israeli contacts with the Arabs were usually secret and were not coordinated with the Americans. This was the case with Egypt, at Oslo with the Palestinians, and with Jordan. Israel's interest lies in preventing war and reaching an agreement with another Arab state in a manner that will also impact on Lebanon. We need to think like the Turks: Despite everything, it is preferable to have Bashar Assad sitting in Damascus -- rather than the Muslim Brotherhood." -------------- ¶3. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "It seems that in spite of the praise it is reaping from the policy jet-set, the Bush administration would do well to reexamine its new policy toward Iran." Block Quotes: -------------- "If Iran Gets the Bomb" Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (3/2): "It seems that in spite of the praise it is reaping from the policy jet-set, the Bush administration would do well to reexamine its new policy toward Iran. It should accept their criticism and revert to basing its policy toward the nuclear-proliferating, terror-supporting rogue state on what is known rather than on what is unknown. Since Iran not only wants nuclear weapons, but has an active nuclear weapons program, the question that should be guiding policymakers is not whether Iran should be negotiated with, but rather, whether the US is willing to accept any of those scenarios, then it should be asking itself what must be done to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. While Europe may be willing to sit on the sidelines of the fight, just as it sat on the sidelines of the Cold War, and did little to prevent the Nazi conquest of the continent in World War II, Israel has no such luxury. In light of this, it is deeply disturbing that this week the Olmert-Livni-Peretz government reacted to the US move toward appeasement by claiming that it will have no impact on Israel. Rather that trying to gloss over the dangers, Israel should be actively engaging the many forces in Washington and elsewhere who understand the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran. Together we should be working tirelessly to ratchet up support for a policy based on the understanding that the world cannot abide a nuclear-armed Iran." CRETZ