Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07TELAVIV860
2007-03-20 11:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tel Aviv
Cable title:  

ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

Tags:  OPRC KMDR IS 
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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
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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


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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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Mideast

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Key stories in the media:
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Israel Radio reported that on Monday, in a telephone consultation,
the members of the Quartet decided to maintain their embargo on
direct aid to the PA government. Leading media reported that
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern over

SIPDIS
Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh's insistence on the "right to
resistance" in his initial policy speech. The radio and other media
quoted Secretary Rice as saying on Monday: "I am not going to try
to interpret what the right of resistance means, but I'll tell you
it doesn't sound very good to me when one talks about all forms of
resistance. So I would put the question to the Palestinian
government and to its Prime Minister: Do you mean the right of
resistance by violence? And let's get an answer." The Secretary
was speaking with reporters. Israel Radio quoted a senior GOI
source as saying that Rice does not even attempt to deal with
interpretation.

All media reported that on Monday Hamas took responsibility for
shooting and moderately wounding an Israeli civilian at the Karni
Crossing along the Gaza Strip border, while in Sinai Egyptian troops
caught a Hamas activist from Gaza, who reportedly planned a suicide
attack in Israel. Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted senior GOI
sources as saying on Monday that Hamas's attack proves that the
organization has not changed or modified its ways but is persisting
in terror acts. Ha'aretz reported that a senior Israeli defense
source told the daily on Monday following the attack: "The time for
talk is over. If the cease-fire disruptions persist, the IDF will
react harshly against the Palestinian terror organizations."
Ha'aretz said that the attack could be related to the formation of
the Palestinian national unity government on Saturday. Senior Hamas
officials have said in the past that they would not give up the

organization's right to "resist occupation" -- that is, to engage in
violence. A limited terror attack like the one carried out on the
Gaza Strip border demonstrates Hamas's ability to act, while not
being serious enough to evoke a sharp Israeli protest. However,
Ha'aretz reported that on Monday Palestinian defense sources
suggested another explanation for the attack. They were quoted as
saying that two commanders of Hamas's military wing, Jamal al-Jarah
and Yusuf al-Zahar, brother of former FM Mahmoud Zahar, were
responsible for the attacks. Ha'aretz quoted MK Tzachi Hanegbi
(Kadima),the chair of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee, as saying on Monday that a military confrontation between
Israel and the Palestinians in the near future was inevitable,
adding that "only a miracle could prevent it."

The Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday, in an interview with
VOA-TV, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment
with the new PA unity government.

Leading media reported that on Monday dozens of settlers moved into
an unoccupied Palestinian building in Hebron, saying it was legally
purchased from its Palestinian owner for USD 700,000. The building
is located near the "worshiper's way," close to the Tomb of the
Patriarchs in the Israeli-controlled part of the city. Israel Radio
reported that a Palestinian lodged a complaint with the police,
bringing documents proving his ownership of the building.

The Jerusalem Post reported that, fearing for their lives, EU
monitors stationed at the Rafah Crossing that connects the Gaza
Strip and Egypt have asked the Israeli defense establishment for
help in drawing up escape routes from Gaza in the event of an attack
on the border terminal.

Maariv's Washington correspondent reported that Jewish US
Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) is likely to introduce a law that
would include Israel and other countries in the Visa-Waiver Program.
Wexler reportedly cited the support that many countries, including
Israel, have given the US after the 9/11 disaster.

All media reported that on Monday the Ministerial Committee for
Symbols and Ceremonies decided that last summer's conflict in
Lebanon should officially be called a war.

Ha'aretz reported that, an interview published on Monday in the
Saudi newspaper Al-Jazeera, Syrian President Bashar Assad confirmed
that Syria has been conducting secret negotiations with Israel in
recent years, as reported by Ha'aretz in January. Assad was quoted
as saying that international envoys had shuttled between Syria and
Israel, carrying each country's point of view regarding peace to the
other. Assad added that nothing concrete had come out of the talks,
especially as "the current Israeli government is the weakest in
Israel's history." Major media cited that particular remark.
"There's an American administration without a vision, and the US
administration, unfortunately, is central to all peace processes in
the region," he added. He also called the US the main obstacle to a
Middle East peace. Maariv highlighted the part of the interview in
which Assad said that war is always an option in the region.

Leading media reported that the US granted an entry visa to Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who plans to address the UN Security
Council regarding the issues of stiffer sanctions that may be
imposed on his country. Leading electronic media quoted The New
York Times as saying on Monday that Russia has told Iran that it
will withhold fuel for Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant unless
Tehran suspends its uranium enrichment program as the UN Security
Council demands. The Jerusalem Post quoted opposition leader MK
Binyamin Netanyahu as saying on Monday that the window of
opportunity to measure the effect of severe economic sanctions
against Iran in an effort to stop its nuclear program is not much
more than one year. Maariv reported that on Monday the World
Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency began an English-language
Internet campaign meant to arouse international consciousness to the
anti-Semitic character of the Iranian regime and to enlist hundreds
of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish Net surfers in their
struggle.

Ha'aretz, Maariv, and The Jerusalem Post cited a claim presented in
a report drafted by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW),an organization
that monitors Palestinian Arabic-language media and schoolbooks,
that new textbooks for 12th-grade Palestinian students reject the
existence of Israel and make no attempt to educate students about
peace or coexistence. Maariv underscored Holocaust denial in the
schoolbooks. According to the group, the textbooks were written by
the Center for Developing the Palestinian Curricula and introduced
by the PA at the end of 2006. The primary findings of PMW's report
will be presented to the Knesset's Education and Culture Committee
today.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the US-backed Iraqi government is
enforcing the Arab boycott of Israel with increasing frequency. The
Jerusalem Post reported that an official at the US Embassy in Tel
Aviv told the newspaper: "The US government is continuing to review
this matter." The newspaper said that Iraq officials were
unavailable for comment. However, The Jerusalem Post reported that
a State Department spokesman told the newspaper that Washington was
"disappointed" over Iraq's decision to participate in the boycott of
Israel, and quoted him as saying that American officials had "raised
this issue with Iraqi officials in the past and expect to raise it
with them again."

The Jerusalem Post reported that a seven-person Turkish technical
team is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday to look at the excavations at
the Mugrabi Gate outside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, more than a
month after Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested the idea to PM
Ehud Olmert during the latter's visit to Ankara. The team is slated
to meet with representatives of the Israeli Antiquities Authority on
Wednesday and the Muslim Waqf on Thursday. The Jerusalem Post
quoted Turkish officials as saying that the tem will then return to
Turkey and write a report to be presented to Erdogan.

Ha'aretz reported that on Monday Egyptian FM Ahmed Ali Abu al-Gheit
called claims in Israel that Egyptian soldiers killed Israeli
prisoners during the Yom Kippur War "absurd."

Yediot reported that, following Monday's attack at the Karni
Crossing, employees of the Israel Electric Corporation independently
decided to temporarily interrupt the power supply to the Gaza Strip
in protest against the wounding of one of their comrades.

Yediot reported that on Monday the World Union for Progressive
Judaism ("Reform Judaism"),which held a convention in Jerusalem,
contributed 100 million to Israel.

Yediot reported on the first member of the Black Hebrew Israelite
community who became an IDF officer.

Maariv reported that a group of French Jews is urging the US
Congress to legislate a law that would grant French Jews political
asylum in the US, following what the group says are rising
anti-Semitism and ethnic prosecution in France.

Maariv and Israel Radio reported that Israeli and Jewish immigrant
organizations are hosting a convention on immigration and immigrant
absorption, in which representatives of more than 20 countries,
including Ethiopia, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Georgia,
Vietnam, Thailand, and Nigeria

Ha'aretz printed an AP wire report citing the Israeli defense
company Elbit Systems as saying on Monday that small Israeli
pilotless planes are gathering intelligence for US-led forces in
Iraq and Afgnanistan. AP wrote that a CENTCOM official would not
confirm the use of the drone.

All media reported that security forces will carry out an extensive
drill across the country Israel today to test the defense
capabilities of the army, police, rescue forces, and local
authorities. As part of the drill, which will continue into
Wednesday, an air raid siren will sound in all parts of the country
at 2 P.M.

Ha'aretz cited a recent survey by the World Union for Progressive
Judaism showing that more than half of Israeli Jews support the
right of Diaspora Jews to criticize Israel on particular issues.

Ha'aretz cited the results of a University of Haifa poll according
to which only 5 percent of Israelis are unhappy with the country's
political system.

--------------
Mideast:
--------------

Summary:
--------------

Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv: "[The Palestinians] are trying to fool Israel and the world
into believing that it is possible to do business with Abu Mazen
while ignoring Ismail Haniyeh, who holds the real power in
Palestinian politics."

Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Those who
support recognizing all or part of the Hamas-Fatah terror government
are in breach of international law and of UN Security Council
Resolution 1373, which bars member states from financing terrorists
and those giving them safe harbor. There is no peace process, only
a war process."

Yehuda Lancry, former Likud Knesset member and former ambassador to
France, wrote in Maariv: "Mutual recognition, the very basis of the
Oslo Accords, cannot put up with ambiguity."

Gershon Baskin, the Co-Director of the Israel-Palestine Center for
Information and Research (IPCRI),wrote in The Jerusalem Post:
"Arguing about the virtues of recognizing the new Palestinian
government is a waste of time. Wasting time now is criminal. Now
is the time for an Israeli peace initiative."

Block Quotes:
--------------


I. "Self-Delusion"

Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv
(3/20): "The artificial distinction between Abu Mazen and the Hamas
government headed by Ismail Haniyeh, but in reality by Khaled
Mashal, ignores reality. If the Chairman is capable of inducing
Hamas to accept the principles of the Roadmap and the Oslo
agreement, so much the better, then it would be worth while for
Israel to talk to it. But when Haniyeh declares, on the
establishment of the government, that terrorism will continue and
the 'right of return' remains in force, what does Abu Mazen have in
his empty hands? It's the same lady in a different guise, hiding
behind a diplomatic facade, aimed at opening the pockets of the
Europeans. The Palestinians are now taking their first sovereign
steps. They are trying to fool Israel and the world into believing
that it is possible to do business with Abu Mazen while ignoring
Ismail Haniyeh, who holds the real power in Palestinian politics.
Israel has to cry out to the entire world that Abu Mazen and Ismail
Haniyeh are one and the same. Together they have to choose what
course they are going to take. It would be inadmissible for each to
go in a different direction and for Israel to be fooled into
following one of them. The test lies in the release of Gilad
Shalit.... Is this the Abu Mazen who prepared the joint statement by
himself and Dr. Yossi Beilin? Or is it the Abu Mazen who at Camp
David incited Yasser Arafat to reject the generous peace offered by
Barak?.... In order to reach the distant goal [of peace], Israel has
to stand firm in the opening stage. It is almost essential to wipe
out the basic Arab premise that pressure and patience will always
wear down Israel's position. This erosion is necessary precisely for
promotion of peace, and not the madness in which the Defense
Minister votes in favor of the boycott of the Hamas government,
while giving up the essential stage of abrogation of terrorism,
almost in the same breath."

II. "'Your Money and Your Life'"

Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (3/20): "Faced
with complete rejection of their minimal conditions, the Israeli
Left, the Europeans and the State Department took the only step they
could possibly take: They ignored everything the Palestinians said
and did. Confronted by the Palestinians' absolute commitment to
terror and extortion, they have closed their eyes and moved to
embrace the fantasy that there is a deal to be made with the
Palestinians.... For its part, the State Department, while
stipulating that it won't speak to Hamas, is more than happy to
speak with Fatah ministers who flack for Hamas. The Americans'
favorite terror financier and recycled PA Finance Minister Salam
Fayyad will be visiting Washington later in the week. In one of his
most recent exploits, Fayyad oversaw the disappearance of USD 100
million in tax revenue that Israel transferred to Abbas's office.
The Palestinians could not be clearer about their demands....
Indeed, a reading of 60-year-old documents shows that little of
substance has changed since Palestinian Arabs first resorted to
terror to foil the emergence of a Jewish state.... The only thing
that can be done in the face of this historically consistent
depravity is to finally declare that the jig is up. Those who
support recognizing all or part of the Hamas-Fatah terror government
are in breach of international law and of UN Security Council
Resolution 1373, which bars member states from financing terrorists
and those giving them safe harbor. There is no peace process, only
a war process. And if we do not recognize this fact and fight, we
shall soon begin to bury more innocents whose lives will be
sacrificed because we were too stubborn to acknowledge reality."

III. "The Test of Recognition"

Yehuda Lancry, former Likud Knesset member and former ambassador to
France, wrote in Maariv (3/20): "Mutual recognition, the very basis
of the Oslo Accords, cannot put up with ambiguity.... Mutual
recognition made many Israelis change their views.... It is a
process that the Palestinians, too, must share, because there is no
basis for making peace without it.... As one of the Palestinian
architects of the Oslo Accords, Abu Mazen understands perfectly the
importance of mutual recognition. It is obvious to him that without
it Yitzhak Rabin would not have signed agreements. It is also clear
to him that an Israel headed by Olmert will not cooperate with a
government that refuses to recognize it. It would have been better
if some European Union countries, which hasten to support Ismail
Haniyeh's government, helped Abu Mazen bring Hamas into the alliance
of mutual recognition with Israel. France, an EU member, which is
interested in having the Palestinian unity government recognized,
should more vigorously work in favor of mutual recognition as the
unshakeable basis of Israeli-Palestinian relations."

IV. "An Imaginary Announcement"

Gershon Baskin, the Co-Director of the Israel-Palestine Center for
Information and Research (IPCRI),wrote in The Jerusalem Post
(3/20): "Israeli cabinet statement, March 25, 2007, regarding the
Arab summit in Riyadh:.... ''While recognizing the need for
mutually-agreed adjustment to the boundaries between Israel and the
future State of Palestine, Israel recognizes that the basis for
negotiations over boundaries is the Green Line armistice agreement
of 1949'.... The above does not have to be an imaginary report.
Everything written above is acceptable to almost all of the
ministers of the Israeli government.... Should the Palestinian
masses reject the solution of two states in favor of one democratic
state from the river to the sea, it is only a matter of time before
the entire international community comes to their support, and then
the end of the Zionist dream is in sight. If the Palestinian masses
adopt the one-state democratic solution, Israel cannot win that
battle. And although an unimaginable amount of blood would be
spilled, in the end Israel would no longer be the state of the
Jewish people. Those Israeli nationalists and their supporters
abroad -- Jews and non-Jews alike, who reject peace with our
neighbors -- are nothing less that suicide bombers aiming to destroy
Israel. This may seem to some to be a gross exaggeration, but it is
not. Those who reject the risks of making peace are guaranteeing
the demise of Israel by their blindness and failure to understand
that time is not in our favor. Arguing about the virtues of
recognizing the new Palestinian government is a waste of time.
Wasting time now is criminal. Now is the time for an Israeli peace
initiative. Olmert, kadima! -- forward. Your time is running
out."

JONES