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. Upcoming Baghdad Conference

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Key stories in the media:
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Israel Radio reported that PM Ehud Olmert and FM Tzipi Livni agreed
before Livni's departure for Canada and the US on Saturday that
Israel will not renounce the principles set by the Quartet that
Israel's position is valid regarding any Palestinian government.
Neither will Israel sit with Hamas representatives, even if they are
part of a Palestinian national unity government. Israel Radio
reported that Olmert and Livni agreed that, following the discovery
that money released by Israel did not reach its intended
destinations, the Palestinians will not at this time receive tax
monies owed by Israel. The radio reported that, during her trip,
Livni will meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and address AIPAC.

SIPDIS

Defense Minister Amir Peretz was quoted as saying in an interview
with Ha'aretz, ahead of his first trip to the US, that this is the
critical year to stop Iran with diplomacy, and that the US can play
a key role in escalating financial pressure. Peretz will leave for
New York on Saturday night and meet with UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon. He will than head to Washington for a function with
Congress and a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Peretz
will also address the AIPAC Policy Conference.

Ha'aretz reported that Hamas and Fatah both support PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas's bid to extend the cease-fire with Israel
from Gaza to the West Bank, but that Islamic Jihad does not.
Ha'aretz said that Abbas nevertheless plans to propose an expanded
cease-fire to Olmert at their meeting on Sunday, in exchange for
Israeli noninterference with the Palestinian unity government that
is due to be formed next week -- including not urging Western
countries to boycott it. Ha'aretz reported that Abbas and
Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh met on Tuesday with representatives of
various Palestinian factions and presented the idea to them, and on
Wednesday, Abbas's chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, met with
representatives of the five largest factions in Gaza. But while
Hamas and Fatah both accepted the idea, Islamic Jihad rejected it.
Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian sources as saying that Islamic Jihad did
not completely rule out the idea, but a Jihad representative told
Reuters that the organization cannot consider it while "Zionist
aggression" against the Palestinians, and particularly Jihad
operatives, continues in the West Bank. Yediot quoted Abbas's
bureau as saying that the Palestinians will meet with Olmert only to
satisfy the Americans.

Last night Channel 2-TV said that the Winograd Committee's interim
report on last summer's war in Lebanon will be published on March
27, but will not be accompanied by any warning letters and will not
include any findings related to specific individuals. Leading media
reported that the committee has decided not to send letters warning
specific individuals that they might be harmed by its findings.
However, Channel 2-TV said that the final report, slated for release
in late July, will include harsh findings against Olmert, Defense
Minister Amir Peretz, former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and
former OC Northern Command Udi Adam. Ha'aretz led with criticism
voiced on Thursday by senior officers in the IDF's General Staff
about Olmert's claims before the Winograd Committee regarding his
plans for last year's war in Lebanon. The daily quoted the officers
as asking: "If war was planned, why was the IDF left unprepared?"
Ha'aretz also reported that Labor Party ministers lashed out at
Olmert's testimony before the committee, as reported in Ha'aretz on
Thursday. Labor's criticism reportedly revolves around the
appointment process of Peretz and other ministers. Deputy IDF Chief
of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky admitted in an interview with Maariv: "We
made mistakes."

Hatzofe quoted IDF OC Southern Command Yoav Gallant as saying during
a meeting with foreign correspondents that the IDF is bracing for a
military operation in the Gaza Strip.

The Jerusalem Post reported that UNIFIL would like a more aggressive
mandate for its forces to engage Hizbullah on their own.

Yediot bannered a remark allegedly made by a senior US
administration official that the Mossad had arranged the defection
of Iranian general Ali Reza Askari (phon.). Yediot said that the
operation was an intelligence coup for Israel and the US.

Ha'aretz, Yediot, and The Jerusalem Post reported that Dr. Ibrahim
Suleiman, the man who represented Syria during the secret,
unofficial discussions held under the auspices of the Swiss
government, has agreed to appear before the Knesset's Foreign

Affairs and Defense Committee. Suleiman, an American of Syrian
descent, informed his Israeli counterpart in the talks in
Switzerland, Dr. Alon Liel, of his decision to appear before to the
Knesset committee. Liel, in turn, informed the Meretz faction
chairperson, MK Zahava Gal-On, who had initiated the invitation.
Both the committee's Chairman, MK Tzachi Hanegbi, and Knesset
Speaker Dalia Itzik agreed to the unusual decision of officially
inviting a foreign national who has represented the positions of an
Arab country that is still in a state of war with Israel. In a
telephone conversation with Ha'aretz from his home near Washington
DC, Suleiman said he will use his visit to Israel to hold a dialogue
with the public to clarify that Syria is committed to peace, which
it considers to be the key to regional stability, security, and
prosperity. He added that he is "completely convinced that
President Bashar Assad means every word when he calls on Olmert to
begin peace talks without preconditions." Suleiman was quoted as
saying that it is possible that before his arrival in Israel he will
carry out a short visit to Damascus to meet with the leadership
there.

The Jerusalem Post reported that a UNESCO team will present its
report on the Old City dig in the next few days. Arabic-language
Kull Al-Arab reported that during a recent visit of Raed Salah, the
leader of the northern branch of Israel's Islamic Movement, to
Cairo, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa promised Salah to
bring up the issue of stopping the (Israeli) "attacks" against the
Al-Aqsa Mosque at the upcoming meeting of Arab FMs in Saudi Arabia.

Opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu was quoted as saying in an
interview with Ha'aretz: "I see a unique opportunity to advance the
peace process with moderate Arab partners, for a simple reason:
There is an identification of a common threat." Yediot reported
that Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani told Netanyahu
during a meeting in the US that the US must determine for a fact
that in no way will Iran acquire nuclear weapons.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Ran Edelist, the director of the
documentary film about the Shaked Reconnaissance Unit that has
provoked a diplomatic uproar between Israel and Egypt, admitted to
the newspaper on Thursday that he had erroneously described 250
Palestinian fedayeen killed by the unit at the end of the Six-Day
War as Egyptians. That error, it appears, is at the root of a wave
of Egyptian allegations that Israelis killed Egyptian POWs in this
and other wars.

Yediot and The Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday the IAEA
decided to cut in half its technological assistance to Iran, after
the latter refused to cease uranium enrichment.

Yediot wrote that on Saturday Iranian, Syrian, and US
representatives will meet at the opening of the Baghdad Conference.

Yediot reported that IAF commander Eliezer Shkedy, who investigated
an Apache helicopter accident during the second Lebanon War, found
that the Boeing Co. was at fault.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "After the Winograd report is
released, it is doubtful Olmert will be able to continue being Prime
Minister."

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "It is
very disturbing that our government is reportedly poised to
capitulate to blackmail from the terrorist regime that is most
directly attacking us, that led by Hamas."

Former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel C. Kurtzer wrote in The
Jerusalem Post: "There is a choice for the US administration, even
in the final two years of George W. Bush's presidency."

Block Quotes:
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I. "Cry, the Beleaguered Country"

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/9): "Emotionally, [Prime
Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Amir] Peretz are both
strained to their limits. Their political future hangs by a thread.
Even worse, they are sitting on the razor's edge, to use the title
of a novel by Somerset Maugham.... In practice, they are both
waiting, not very happily, for the Winograd report [probing the
latest Lebanon war]. The fact that Peretz was only defense minister
for nine months before the war broke out will not necessarily save
him from ministerial responsibility. As Prime Minister, Olmert is
in a worse position. First, because he made Peretz defense minister
instead of finance minister; and second, because he approved a war
that violated the two ironclad principles championed by David
Ben-Gurion that have been the guiding light for the Israel Defense
Forces all these years: 1) Wars should be fought on enemy territory;
and 2) Wars should be ended as quickly as possible. What happened,
with regard to both these rules, was just the opposite: Hizbullah
moved the war to our territory by firing hundreds of rockets at
civilian centers in Israel for 33 straight days. And instead of
limiting itself to a forceful but compact reprisal operation, the
IDF prolonged the fighting. Not to mention the embarrassing fact
that our kidnapped soldiers have yet to be returned home. After the
Winograd report is released, it is doubtful Olmert will be able to
continue being Prime Minister; especially if the State Comptroller
adds to the picture all the assorted suspicions against the Prime
Minister in a variety of scandals. Both Olmert and Peretz are
sweeping the floor with their poll rankings; and that's before the
investigating committee and comptroller have finished their work.
The Winograd Committee could trigger the sort of upheaval in which
anything is possible. Kadima could fizzle out, sending Labor Party
members back to Labor and Likudniks back to Likud, and that could
end up bringing Benjamin Netanyahu back to power."



II. "A Bad Bargain"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/9):
"The job of the West, more than five years after 9/11, is to work
steadily toward a world in which there are no regimes that openly or
covertly support terrorism. In this context, it is very disturbing
that our government is reportedly poised to capitulate to blackmail
from the terrorist regime that is most directly attacking us, that
led by Hamas.... In the coming days, Israel ... will ... release
hundreds of prisoners to both Abbas and Hamas, who presumably are to
be joined in a unity government -- in exchange for our soldier, whom
we and the international community had demanded should be
unconditionally released.... It seems that every time our government
releases hundreds of prisoners for one or two of our own, the
decision enjoys immediate sympathy. But in retrospect the same
decision is regarded with deep regret and a consensus that it should
never be repeated. This would seem to be even more the case when
the prisoner release will be entirely credited to Hamas, whose
leader, Mashal, just said in Teheran that Palestinians should start
preparing for Israel to 'disappear' from the world, and which our
security establishment says is busy preparing to fight the next
war."

III. "Roll Up Your Sleeves, Mr. President"

Former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel C. Kurtzer wrote in The
Jerusalem Post (3/9): "I fear the United States has lost its will
and determination to engage in the nitty-gritty work of brokering
Middle East peace..... There is a choice for the US administration,
even in the final two years of George W. Bush's presidency. Bush
can continue his hands-off approach to Arab-Israeli issues and
confine himself to lofty policy statements about the desirability of
a two-state solution. Or, he can invest presidential determination
and time to jump-start negotiations; lay out US thinking on final
status issues in a manner designed to provide the parties with an
agenda for negotiations; keep the parties focused on negotiating in
good faith and implementing what they have agreed."








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2. Upcoming Baghdad Conference:
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Summary:
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Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Baghdad conference is
liable to offer the real prize to Iran: legitimate admission into
the political space of Iraq."

Block Quotes:
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"Will They Shake Hands?"

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/9): "James Baker and Lee
Hamilton can finally permit themselves to enjoy a small smile of
satisfaction. Three months after President George W. Bush sourly
praised the report they wrote, but rejected their recommendation to
have Iran and Syria participate in the diplomatic process in Iraq,
he has been forced to swallow some of this bitter medicine. This is
also a big day for Colin Powell, Bush's former Secretary of State,
who pushed for a direct dialogue with Iran, but was rejected by the
White House conservatives. Today, when all the rivals meet in
Baghdad, the cameras will probably not focus on Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri al-Maliki, but on US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and
Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian Foreign Minister. Although the
purpose of this conference is to deal with Iraq, the interesting and
perhaps more important part will concern the relations between Iran
and the United States.... Even when it comes to Iranian involvement
in Iraq, the US is dancing a cautious minuet. On the one hand it is
accusing Iran of involvement in terror in Iraq; on the other hand
American spokespersons, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates,
are defining as 'vague' or 'doubtful' the information regarding
sophisticated Iranian weapons that are serving the terrorists in
Iraq. Under ordinary circumstances, these American nuances would be
insufficient, particularly when at the same time the administration
continues, meanwhile without success, to push for a second
resolution regarding sanctions against Iran. But the Baghdad
conference is liable to offer the real prize to Iran: legitimate
admission into the political space of Iraq."

JONES