ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION


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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Mideast


2. Iran


3. Proposed Baghdad Conference

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Key stories in the media:
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The Jerusalem Post reported that an agreement has been reached with
Hamas over the number of prisoners Israel will release in return for
Cpl. Gilad Shalit and that the exchange may take place in the coming
weeks. The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli defense officials as
saying that the prisoner swap will be conducted in three stages:
Israel will first release prisoners as a gesture to PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas; Shalit will then be released into
Egyptian custody; and Israel will then release several hundred
additional prisoners, mostly affiliated with Hamas. However, the
newspaper said that officials in the Prime Minister's Office denied
that the meeting planned for next week between PM Ehud Olmert and
Abbas has anything to do with Shalit, although there has been
speculation to that effect regarding the meeting, taking place as it
is before the establishment of a PA unity government.

Maariv cited Israel's anger over the disappearance of USD 100
million that Israel had transferred a few weeks ago to Abbas. The
newspaper said that the money had been earmarked for specific
purposes. Maariv reported that senior sources in Jerusalem accuse
the Palestinians of having deceived Israel. Maariv said that Israel
will not transfer any more funds to Abbas

Ha'aretz reported that the five permanent UN Security Council (UNSC)
members and Germany are drafting a new resolution against Iran which
may for the first time include all UN members in a weapons embargo
on Tehran. Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday sources in New York
estimated that Russia -- strongly opposed to the draft initiated by
the United States -- might go along with the resolution if it is
restricted to an embargo on Iran's export of weapons. The newspaper
wrote that efforts are underway to reach an agreement regarding
Iran's import of weapons. The new resolution would request UN
members to remain alert and implement tight oversight and inspection
to foil Iranian attempts to procure weapons. Ha'aretz cited the
belief of sources in the UN that a final draft of the new resolution
will be brought up for discussion in the Security Council no sooner
than the end of March. The new resolution draft is a reaction to
Iran's refusal to abide by UNSC Resolution 1737, passed last
December, demanding that it halt its uranium enrichment program.
Ha'aretz quoted IDF OC Southern Command Yoav Gallant as saying on
Wednesday that Iran is helping Hamas upgrade its military
capabilities by providing technology, funding and direct military
training to Palestinian militants throughout the Middle East.

The Jerusalem Post's web site reported that a senior US official
told The Washington Post on Thursday that missing Iranian general
Ali Rez Asghari (phon.) was in Western hands and providing
intelligence services with information about Hizbullah, Iran and the
ties between the two. It was the first time since Asghari's
disappearance last month, during a visit to Turkey, that a western
official confirmed his fate. Another US official, who spoke to The
Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, suggested that
Asghari's disappearance was voluntary and orchestrated by Israel.
The Israeli government denied any connection to Asghari. The
Jerusalem Post quoted said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev as
saying: "To my knowledge, Israel is not involved in any way in this
disappearance."

Leading media quoted Jordan's King Abdullah II as saying in
Washington on Wednesday that Jordan's King Abdullah II said
yesterday the United States must take the lead in creating
conditions for a permanent peace between Israel and the
Palestinians. The King, who addressed a joint session of the US
Congress, cited the risks of further delay. Abdullah was quoted as
saying that history has shown no progress in Middle East peacemaking
is possible without American leadership. "We look to you to play a
historic role," he was quoted as saying, adding that results are
needed not in one year or five years, but now. "No more bloodshed,
no more lives pointlessly taken," Abdullah declared. Ha'aretz noted
that his remarks were limited almost entirely to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that they were far less critical of
Israel than comments he made before his departure for Washington.
Yediot quoted the prosecutor at Jordan's National Security Court as
saying that President Bush escaped an assassination attempt last
November, during a visit to Amman.

Leading media reported that on Wednesday Israel has warned its
citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab states
with which it has full ties, out of concern they could come under
attack. The advisory was issued on the recommendation of the
Counter-Terrorism Unit at Israel's National Security Council, which
this week placed Egypt and Jordan in its highest threat category,
but gave no further details.

Ha'aretz printed an AP wire report that on Wednesday Syria, through
its government newspaper Tishrin, voiced opposition to making any
revisions to the Arab-Israeli peace initiative endorsed by Arab
leaders five years ago and cast doubts over Israel's willingness to
make peace in region.

Leading media reported that on Wednesday opposition leader Binyamin
Netanyahu launched fresh attacks against Olmert, saying the
government had failed and calling for new elections. Netanyahu was
quoted as saying that he had been passed information that "a number
of Kadima Knesset members were interested in returning to the Likud,
which they left together with former PM Ariel Sharon. However,
Netanyahu stressed that he was not actively involved in recruiting
them. Israel Radio reported that Olmert's nephew Yair was leaving
Kadima.

Major media reported that on Wednesday the Israel AIR FORCE began
receiving a new drone into hits ranks -- the Heron. The new UAV is
capable of carrying 250 kg of ordnance and equipment. Produced by
Israel Aircraft Industries, it can fly at 30,000 feet and can stay
aloft for as long as 40 hours. It also has sophisticated
surveillance and communications equipment. Ha'aretz quoted Israeli
military sources as saying that Herons first saw extensive combat
actions during last year's Lebanon war, when they were used to relay
footage on Hizbullah guerrillas to Israeli ground forces.

The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday the High Court of
Justice ordered Shin Bet interrogators to inform a Palestinian
detainee that his wife had not been arrested and placed under
interrogation, as they had previously told him.

Ha'aretz reported that Olmert told the Winograd Commission
investigating last year's war in Lebanon that his decision to
respond to the abduction of soldiers with a broad military operation
was made as early as March 2006, four months before last summer's
Lebanon war broke out.

Yediot reported that Egypt banned 2,000 pilgrims -- Egyptian Copts
and Greek Orthodox -- from coming to Israel for Easter. Leading
media reported that on Wednesday Israel's Ambassador to Egypt Shalom
Cohen strenuously denied claims that Israel had murdered Egyptian
prisoners during the Six-Day War. Israel Radio reported that the
Foreign Ministry has sent Egypt a copy of the Israel TV documentary
reporting on the alleged episode.

The Jerusalem Post cited Israel Military Industries (IMI) as saying
that a new type of armor it produces can help the US diminish the
threat of improvised explosive devices (IED) in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The Jerusalem Post quoted IMI sources as saying that
the specially designed Steel Wall armor significantly improves a
vehicle's ability to survive an IED attack.

Maariv reported that associates of oligarch Leonid Nevzlin, a former
Russian citizen living in Israel, believe that Russian President
Vladimir Putin seeks to physically eliminate him.

The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday an Israeli Foreign
Ministry official characterized as "troubling" a BBC survey released
earlier this week that ranked Israel alongside Iran and the US as
the countries with the most negative images in the world. The
official was quoted as saying: "Both Israel and the United States
are higher than 50 percent [in negative views], so in many ways, we
are in good company. The Jerusalem Post quoted Government Press
Office Danny Seaman as saying that the survey was not "systematic"
and "in-depth."

Yediot presented the results of a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute)
poll, which asked Israelis to name their favorite politician.
Twenty-two percent chose FM Tzipi Livni; 18 percent pointed at Labor
Party MK Ami Ayalon. With 2 percent, Olmert ranked lowest in the
survey.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Syrian-American rift has been mended."

Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz: "Israel under Olmert's
leadership is struck by blindness and is stewing in its own rot."

Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in Ha'aretz: "It is difficult not
to see [the] ever-tightening circle in which most branches of the
government are participating as part of a general trend -- which
will not succeed -- to subdue the entire settlement enterprise."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Quiet, They're Talking With Syria"

Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/8): "Not long after the first Ha'aretz
report about the Swiss channel, [private Israeli negotiator Alon]
Liel was invited to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to report on his
contacts with the Syrians. The meeting was attended by the
Embassy's entire political staff, apart from the Ambassador. But
that was just the beginning. Nicholas Lang, the Swiss diplomat who
acted as the contact between the Israeli participants and the Syrian
regime, was summoned to Washington and updated senior State
Department and National Security Council officials on the details of
the talks and their results. He arrived in the US shortly after a
farewell visit to Damascus, and prior to taking up his new posting
as the Swiss ambassador to several African countries. Another sign
that the Syrian-American rift has been mended can be seen in
Damascus' receipt of an invitation to send a representative to the
conference to resolve the Iraq crisis. And finally, a further
indication is the dispatch of Assistant US Secretary of State Ellen
Sauerbrey for a working visit in the Syrian capital. The State
Department Spokesman did take the trouble to clarify that this is
not a 'bilateral visit'.... The US already surprised Israel recently
when Jerusalem received news of the conciliation between the US and
Qadhafi's Libya. An Israeli official who recently visited
Washington relates that his counterparts in the US administration
joked with him that the US is talking with Syria, but asked him 'not
to tell anyone."

II. "No Compass, No Conscience"

Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz (3/8): "Against the
increasingly growing threats, Olmert's Israel is behaving like an
ostrich: It does not see, it does not hear and it does not do. The
bug of government negligence is running amok in Jerusalem: an
absence of leadership bug, an absence of governance -- anarchy.
This anarchy is what brought us the second Lebanon war. It is what
caused the war to be managed the way it was. But much worse is the
fact that even after the war, the anarchy continues. It has grown
even while the writing is on the wall. Every day of anarchy brings
us closer to the next disaster -- a catastrophe for which every one

who remains silent now is responsible. Now that the Olmert era has
become a nightmare era, the question of whether Olmert is right or
wrong is irrelevant.... No one knows when reality will strike, but
it is clear that reality will strike. Olmert-led Israel is not
prepared for such a strike, and it is not prepared to deal with it.
Israel under Olmert's leadership is struck by blindness and is
stewing in its own rot."

III. "Subduing the Settlement Enterprise"

Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in Ha'aretz (3/8): "In the wake of
a petition filed by the Israeli Arab legal center Adalah about a
year ago, the High Court of Justice ruled that the government must
abolish the 'national preference' regions in education.... The
primary -- and apparently only -- institutions that will be
negatively affected by this will be the educational institutions in
the settlements.... Abolishing the educational benefits for settlers
comes after the traumatic events of the uprooting of 25 communities
in Gush Katif and the failure, to this day, to adequately cope with
those who were uprooted.... It is difficult not to see this
ever-tightening circle in which most branches of the government are
participating as part of a general trend -- which will not succeed
-- to subdue the entire settlement enterprise."

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2. Iran:
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Summary:
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The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"Pacifism ... is the driving FORCE behind European animus toward
both the US and Israel."

Block Quotes:
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"Europe's Israel Problem"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/8):
"Two recent polls tell us what we already knew: Israel is relatively
popular among Americans and the subject of considerable antipathy
among European democracies. The data suggest that Americans see
themselves with Israelis in the same boat, while Europeans have an
almost opposite point of view. Why is this so and what, if
anything, can be done about it?.... Perhaps the best explanation,
then, is one given by Stephan Vopel of the German Bertelsmann
Foundation for why many more Americans and Israelis favor a military
strike against Iran than Germans: 'While Israelis subscribe to the
maxim 'never again,' the German dictum is 'never again war.'
Pacifism, in other words, is the driving FORCE behind European
animus toward both the US and Israel. Europeans realize that Iran
is a threat, but they are almost as, if not more, opposed to
confronting that threat than they are fearful of the threat itself.
The US and Israel, as the nations that are perceived both as Iran's
main targets and as those most actively fighting back, are threats
to the European strategy of lying low and hoping that their
adversary will go away. Further, America and Israel are both seen
as provoking Iran and therefore making things worse.... Ultimately,
it will be difficult to convince Europeans that they need to help
defend Israel, at least morally, when they do not accept the need to
defend themselves. Such, however, is the struggle of free peoples
in our age, a struggle that must be won."





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3. Proposed Baghdad Conference:
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Summary:
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Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "What Iran and Syria expect to get in
exchange does not belong to the Iraqi domain, but to places like
Lebanon, the Persian Gulf, etc."

Block Quotes:
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"The Baghdad Conference and the Missing Seat"

Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/8): "American spokesmen are taking care
to stress that no topics except Iraq will be discussed at the
[proposed Baghdad] conference-- in particular there will be no
bilateral contacts between Iran and the US, and between Syria and
the US on other issues. Reality might be different: Iran and Syria
can significantly contribute to a reduction of violence in Iraq.
Their cooperation is likely to be an offering for which something is
expected in exchange. What Iran and Syria expect to get in exchange
does not belong to the Iraqi domain, but to places like Lebanon, the
Persian Gulf, etc. One should assume that Israel expects the US
administration not to hold talks in Baghdad on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This will not happen officially. But
is it not logical that there will be opportunities to discuss every
possible issue outside the [conference] hall?.... Against this
background, Israel's absence from Baghdad is patent. Substantially,
Israel has the right to be there -- no less and perhaps more than
some of the other invited parties. The 39 missiles fired at
Israel's territory during the first Gulf War should have granted
Israel the right to a seat at that meeting. Why have we been
still?"

CRETZ