ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001051 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: -------------- Mideast -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- The Jerusalem Post reported that even as Defense Ministry officials said Sunday that Israel was likely to accept the Gaza cease-fire deal brokered by Egypt, Defense Minister Barak in a meeting with a high-level US congressional delegation talked only about a large-scale military incursion. Ha'aretz added that Barak is skeptical about the chances of achieving long-term quiet with Hamas, and that his feelings are shared by PM Olmert and FM Livni. The Jerusalem Post quoted defense officials as saying that Barak, who will hold talks in Sharm el-Sheikh today, is expected to push Egypt for a two-stage deal that would begin with a cessation of terrorist activity and IDF military operations and then be followed by the opening of the border crossings in exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit. Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior Hamas official in Gaza as saying that Hamas has not ruled out including Shalit's release as part of the cease-fire. The Jerusalem Post quoted GOI sources in Jerusalem as saying that such a change would make it difficult for Israel to turn down the truce. The officials were also quoted as saying that Israel was likely to accept the cease-fire deal even if it does not include Shalit's immediate release. Ha'aretz reported that Israel will not publicly endorse the cease fire but rather treat it as a series of steps beginning with a lull in hostilities, followed by gradual relaxation of the financial blockade of Gaza. Ha'aretz added that if the deal includes Shalit, possibly in exchange for Israel's release of 450 prisoners, Israel would also agree to reopen the Rafah crossing. Ha'aretz quoted security sources as saying that the gap on the prisoner swap is slightly smaller than it was a few months ago. Ha'aretz reported that GOI officials are slowly coming to realize that a large-scale military operation in Gaza does not serve Israeli interests right now. In addition to meeting Mubarak and Suleiman, Barak will meet with Turkish FM Ali Babacan and then have dinner with Egyptian Defense Minister Muhammad Hussein Tantawi. Ha'aretz quoted a senior Israeli official familiar with the talks with Hizbullah as saying that Israel has recently informed the Lebanese organization that it will not release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for its two kidnapped soldiers. The official also told Ha'aretz that if Hizbullah continues to insist that Palestinians be included in the deal, Israel may break off the negotiations. In that case, the official was quoted as saying, Israel would have to evaluate whatever intelligence it has about the two soldiers and decide whether it justifies declaring them dead. Visiting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was quoted as saying yesterday in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that Washington must make clear to the world that if they want America's friendship then they need to do more to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Pelosi was quoted as saying that the U.S. needed to be more "proactive" in saying to the countries of the world -- including Russia, China, and the Muslim countries in Asia -- that "one of the pillars of U.S. foreign policy is to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to anyone." Pelosi added that the U.S. cannot stop nuclear proliferation alone, and that "if these weapons proliferate, they are a threat to everyone, not just to the U.S., and not just to Israel." Israel Radio quoted Pelosi as saying that no option can be rued out in stopping Iran's nuclear program except -- at this time -- a military attack against Iran. Yesterday Yediot reported that Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Dan Harel met over the weekend with the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen to discuss Iran. The meeting took place at the NATO Chiefs of Staff Conference in Brussels. All media reported that the High Court of Justice is scheduled to hold a hearing this afternoon to decide whether the police should take preliminary testimony from American financier Morris Talansky next week in the bribery case against PM Olmert. Leading media reported that Olmert is wavering on this issue, if not obstructing the investigation. Ha'aretz reported that law enforcement officials told the newspaper yesterday that new evidence obtained in the latest probe of Olmert has uncovered several new offenses with which the premier could be charged. All media reported that the Knesset House Committee is due today to discuss the application of two MKs who quit the Pensioners Party and signed an agreement with Arkady Gaidamak's Social Justice Party to set up a new Knesset faction. Leading media quoted the Knesset's legal adviser, Nurit Elstein, as saying that in the agreement between the MKs and Arkady Gaidamak, there are grounds to suspect that the Election Law and the Party Funding Law were violated. This morning Israel Radio reported that the police are investigating Gaidamak about the long-standing Bank Hapoalim fraud probe. Maariv quoted Labor Party chairman Ehud Barak as saying at a meeting of the Labor Party faction yesterday that he believes that general elections will take place by December. Yesterday Maariv reported that the "rebellion" within Kadima has fizzled. Major media cited President Bush's call for democracy in the Arab countries at the World Economic Forum in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday. Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted the President as saying at a roundtable discussion with young Israelis on Friday at Jerusalem's Bible Lands Museum that young people can bring peace. Major media reported that Likud Knesset Member and former education minister Limor Livnat has embarked on a campaign to knock down the status of the Arabic language in Israel. Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that Palestinians have recently and repeatedly destroyed a vineyard and fields cultivated by settlers in the West Bank. Maariv reported that Iraqi members of parliament are demanding an investigation into why dozens of Iraqi children have been sent to Israel for operations to cure heart defects. These operations save the lives of the children and are carried out at Wolfson Hospital in Holon, but the opponents argue that Israel is an enemy country. The protesters are headed by Ahmed Saadawi, one of the representatives of the young Shi'ite leader Sheikh Muktada Sadr, a supporter of Iran and an enemy of the United States. The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF is about to build a "Jewish heritage" campus in Jerusalem. Over the weekend Maariv and other media reported that next month Emuni University will be inaugurated in Slovenia. It is described as the first European-Mediterranean university. Students from Israel, the PA, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, Libya, and other countries will be studying together in the new institution. Yesterday Ha'aretz reported that Google co-founder Sergey Brin told the newspaper over the weekend that the Israeli firm Ormat is one of the companies that Google is talking to about alternative energy. Channel 10-TV and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe published the results of a Maagar Mohot poll (responses by residents of southern Israel, from Ashkelon and southwards, including Sderot, Netivot, Ofakim and the Gaza periphery communities, in parentheses): Q: What would you prefer for the Israeli government to do today: Reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas or continue the war against it? Israel should reach an arrangement: 33% (39%). Israel should continue the war: 56% (51%). 11% (10%) were undecided. Q: Do you think the Israeli government should sign a cease-fire agreement with Hamas today, even without Gilad Shalit's release? The government shouldnQt sign such an agreement: 57% (52%). It should sign the agreement: 24% (31%). 19% (17%) were undecided. Q: Should the IDF launch a large-scale ground operation in Gaza, despite the possibility of casualties among IDF soldiers? It shouldnQt launch an operation: 38% (36%). It should launch an operation: 51% (58%). 11% (5%) were undecided. -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The diplomatic payback [Ariel] Sharon demanded ... will vanish once John McCain or Barack Obama take office." Liberal columnist and anchor Ofer Shelach wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "Removing the Hamas government by force will accomplish nothing and ... we must talk with it not only with force but also by all possible means, since force will not bring quiet." Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "According to [Bush's Masada] statement, the guarantee of Israel's security is not only of the administration, but also of the entire nation: a personal obligation of every single American citizen." Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It would be more correct to treat the United States as an ally, a partner in peace, a helper in war, rather than an apron to hide behind at the critical moment." Columnist Amos Gilboa wrote in Maariv: "Who will help [the Lebanese communities arm and set up militias]? The West? The Sunni Arab states that are for some reason called 'moderate'? Nobody has lifted a finger for Siniora's government." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The Saudis still need to overhaul their own fundamentally flawed 2002 peace plan to make it a genuine starting point for improving Arab-Israel relations." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "The No-Return Point of a Return to Gaza" Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/19): "One thousand days after the disengagement, the 'point of no-return' that the instigators of the withdrawal wished to establish has disappeared. Instead, a new 'point of no-return' has emerged, pointing in the other direction: a 'return' to Gaza. The diplomatic payback [Ariel] Sharon demanded -- Bush's consent to leave the settlement clusters in the West Bank, along with the dubious interpretation of an American blessing for their further expansion -- all these will vanish once John McCain or Barack Obama take office. Hamas's conditions for a cease-fire are nowhere near those set by Israel. So far, Israel's military entry into Gaza has been delayed because of IDF demands that the political echelon first formulate an 'exit strategy.' Now the General Staff has stopped waiting for a reply. If the disengagement was the strategy for exiting Gaza, the only plan now really being put together is the strategy for exiting the exit strategy." II. "To Talk, Not Just Use Force" Liberal columnist and anchor Ofer Shelach wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (5/18): "What remains? It remains to wait -- until Hamas, which is under heavy pressure of its own, blinks first. Or, Heaven forbid, perhaps we cannot say that for fear of being accused of cynicism but what can we do -- something will happen after which we will have to act in the name of our boiling blood. That is what happened in Operation Defensive Shield (which did not stop the terrorism either, and it was necessary to repeat it over and over), and was interpreted afterwards as Ariel Sharon waiting wisely for the right time for legitimization. It remains to wait until the last traces of reasonable doubt disappear, as happened to us so many times in the past, and ended badly. And only the alternative insight -- that removing the Hamas government by force will accomplish nothing, and that we must talk with it not only with force but also by all possible means, since force will not bring quiet -- only that insight has no takers. When, among us, did it ever?" III. "When the (American) President Makes a Promise" Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/18): "[In his address to the Knesset], in order to magnify the weight of American commitment to Israel's security, Bush mentioned Masada -- the prominent symbol of the heroic struggle of the few against the many -- and said, 'Masada shall not fall again,' since when the day comes that Israel must defend itself, 'IsraelQs population may be just over seven million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you.' According to this statement, the guarantee of Israel's security is not only of the administration, but also of the entire nation: a personal obligation of every single American citizen. This is not only official policy, but also -- and perhaps primarily -- an expression of the Americans desire for Israel's secure existence as a consequence of profound ethical-moral recognition. I would not be exaggerating if I were to say that no American president has ever made such statements before. Although Bush is still in office, we should not make light of the significance of his statements. In American political culture, an important presidential speech is not thrown into the wastebasket, but rather 'filed away' as part of the entire political-diplomatic legacy, and preserved for generations." IV. "Words, Words, Words" Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/19): "In other days, the Americans would have sent the Sixth Fleet to anchor at Beirut harbor or bombed Hizbullah strongholds from the sea. Not now. America is tired, emasculated, torn from within. All it can give its proteges in the Middle East at the moment are words.... If the IAF strike -- according to foreign sources -- on the Syrian reactor on September 6, 2007 was intended to convey a message to Iran that it is not immune to a military blow, the paralysis that has taken hold of the U.S. and its allies in light of the Hizbullazation of Lebanon has conveyed the opposite message. The deterrence was ruined. From the standpoint of countries such as Egypt and Jordan, the outcome is harsh. For Israel, it is destructive. The lesson is simple, and it is as old as is the state: We have no one to rely on but ourselves. Three hundred million Americans will only stand behind us if we do the job before them. If we shun responsibility, we will find that the Americans, not to mention the Europeans, are fleeing much quicker than we are. Therefore, it would be more correct to treat the United States as an ally, a partner in peace, a helper in war, rather than an apron to hide behind at the critical moment." ¶V. "If I Don't Take Care of Myself, Who Will?" Columnist Amos Gilboa wrote in Maariv (5/19): "[Hizbullah's show of force] was meant to tell all of us that it is the only force in Lebanon.... It must be remembered that since 1990 the communities in Lebanon do not have armed militias, except Hizbullah. The lesson imparted on the other communities is the need to arm and set up militias.... Who will help them do so? The West? The Sunni Arab states that are for some reason called 'moderate'? Nobody has lifted a finger for Siniora's government. That was a reminder, and not only for the government and the communities of Lebanon: If I don't take care of myself, who will?" VI. "Oil and the Saudis" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (5/19): "The Saudis have come a long way from the days, after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when they orchestrated the 1973 Arab oil embargo; and 1979, when they opposed Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.... Gone are the days when the Saudis could single-handedly bring down oil prices and solve [energy-cost] problems. Nor can we expect them to contain Iran by themselves. Still, they could be far more helpful on Lebanon, Hamas and Arab-Israel relations. This newspaper has applauded the King for launching an interfaith dialogue among monotheistic religions and urged him not to boycott the Jewish state in this endeavor. We have also applauded Saudi efforts to tear down the edifice of religious justification for Muslim terrorism. With Lebanon's rivals meeting in Qatar, we'd like to see the Saudis leveraging their clout within the Arab League, against Hizbullah. And with Hamas again seeking a rapprochement with Fatah, the Saudis should insist the League embrace the Quartet's conditions for including Hamas in the Palestinian Authority. Of course, the Saudis still need to overhaul their own fundamentally flawed 2002 peace plan to make it a genuine starting point for improving Arab-Israel relations. Given the regime's origins, it is ironic that the inheritors of Wahhabism are today uniquely positioned to help bridge the civilizational gap between Islam and the West. Failing to do so will ultimately cost them, and us all, dear." JONES