JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (7/15): THE LINK BETWEEN NATIONAL

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001245 SIPDIS STATE PASS BBG STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM NSC FOR ABRAMS CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU PARIS ALSO FOR POL ROME FOR MFO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (7/15): THE LINK BETWEEN NATIONAL UNITY AND PEACE TALKS -------------- Main Stories: -------------- The prisoners' exchange deal between Hizbollah and Israel leads in all dailies. The papers report that the two parties are making final preparations for the July 16 exchange. Al-Ayyam reports that celebrations are planned, "along the Israeli/Lebanese borders," to mark the occasion. In related coverage, Al- Quds cites Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot in reporting on Israeli security concerns that Hizbollah will seek revenge for the February assassination of Imad Mughniyah in Damascus, once the exchange deal is complete. All dailies express outrage over the July 14 decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to evict Palestinian tenants from a home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Al-Quds reports that the house is one of 27 houses that Israeli authorities claim are, "Jewish owned, although they were built in the early 1950's." Fatah organized a demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah to protest the act, while a Palestinian Authority Presidency official called the decision evidence of a new Israeli eviction policy, the paper adds. In related coverage, Al-Quds reports that 120 Israeli settlers on July 14 took over an abandoned Israeli military site, north of Bethlehem in the West Bank. The paper notes that the settlers were protected by ten Israeli soldiers. Al-Ayyam's front page highlights news about Nablus and Gaza: In comments by Yasir 'Abd Rabbo, Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the PLO, during a July 14 visit to the West Bank city of Nablus, characterizes recent Israeli operations in the city as attempts to marginalize the Palestinian Authority. Regarding Gaza, the front page announces that Israel will allow more goods to enter the Gaza Strip, if the truce holds. -------------- BLOCK QUOTES: -------------- ¶1. Independent Al-Ayyam prints an editorial by Muhannad Abdul Hamid entitled, "All roads are closed to the [national] unity initiatives" (7/15): "...the initiative by [Palestinian Authority President] Abu Mazin [to begin a dialogue with Hamas] has gained special attention because it was presented by... the PLO's Executive Committee and the Presidency and because it could influence Palestinian, regional and international attitudes. However ...the initiative found no resonance with... Hamas [and]... failed because... nothing has been achieved in [Palestinian-Israeli] negotiations. In other words,... negotiations [have failed] as a sole means to end the occupation and reach a political solution which the majority of the Palestinian people will accept..." Lapenn