SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001272 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: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION -------------- SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: -------------- Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank, June 14-16, 2008 -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- The media continued to key in on Secretary RiceQs criticism of Israel going forward with housing projects in East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Post reported that her statements met with little panic and no formal response, a sign -- one GOI source was quoted as saying -- that less than five months to the U.S. elections, "it is not important what she says anymore. "Comments that in the past would have set everybody abuzz, are not making many waves today," the source was quoted as saying. He attributed this both to the waning days of President Bush's administration, and a growing realization that the chances of finalizing any "shelf agreement" with the Palestinians by the end of 2008 are slim, largely because of the political instability in Israel. The source was quoted as saying that if the government could not make a decision on the cease-fire because of political considerations, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak has charged, then even less so would it be able to make the even more complicated final-status agreement with the Palestinians. The source was quoted as saying that Rice's comments about the construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem were an indication of frustration that she was facing the prospect of leaving office in January without an agreement here. Several media quoted Rice as saying that the blocs of settlements will not be part of Israel in the final status. Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Pot reported that the proposal by Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky to construct 40,000 residential units in various Jewish neighborhoods of the capital was approved yesterday by the District Planning and Building Committee. The plan includes construction in neighborhoods over the Green Line. Lupoliansky has said in recent weeks that the plan aimed to deal with the serious shortage young couples face in finding affordable housing. For the first time this will include housing for Arabs in East Jerusalem, in the northern neighborhoods of A-Tur, Issawiyeh and Shuafat. To date, Arabs in east Jerusalem experienced serious housing problems forcing them to resort to building without permits. The new plan is meant to legalize some of that illegal construction. The Jerusalem Post and other media reported that yesterday top defense officials and IDF officers slammed a recently-launched U.S. initiative, under which Palestinian soldiers have deployed in Nablus and Jenin. According to the officials, terrorist activity has increased since some 600 Palestinian soldiers were allowed to deploy in the West Bank city last month. Yesterday morning, a 20-kilogram explosive device detonated next to an Israeli military force operating in the city without causing any casualties. Sources in the IDF Central Command were quoted as saying that the large bomb was set off by an advanced detonation system. "The PA forces in the city are not combating the terrorists," one source was quoted as saying. "They are taking action to enforce law and order but they are doing nothing about terror which has grown in the past month since they deployed in Jenin." Ha'aretz reported that Israel is awaiting Egypt's answer to the remaining questions regarding the temporary cease-fire, the tahdiya, between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza Strip. The Egyptian reply is expected later this week. Israel and Egypt have yet to finalize two issues: Defining the connection between the tahdiya and a deal for the release of Gilad Shalit, and determining the degree of Egypt's commitment to countering arms smuggling from Sinai into Gaza. Ha'aretz quoted defense sources in Israel as saying last night that "it is important to understand that the meaning of the agreement with the Egyptians is that within several days after the cease-fire goes into effect, intensive negotiations will begin over Gilad Shalit's release. This will be a tough deal to complete -- therefore the government will be called upon to make tough decisions to bring Gilad home." The sources hinted at the heavy price Hamas will demand: releasing hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, many of whom were convicted of murder for their involvement in major terror attacks. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the Palestinians have demanded the establishment of an army as part of the final-status agreement, while Israel wants the Palestinian state to be demilitarized. The media reported that the negotiations between Israel and Syria through Turkish mediation resumed yesterday in Ankara. Israel is represented in the talks by senior advisers to PM Ehud Olmert, Yoram Turbowicz and Shalom Turgeman. Ha'aretz reported that the current round of talks is expected to last until this evening. The two senior Olmert aides will deliver a message to the Syrians that Israel is interested in continuing the talks notwithstanding the complex domestic political situation at home. The media reported that the indirect talks may give way to direct ones next month. Maariv reported that a possible meeting between Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Assad would take place four days before Morris Talansky's cross-examination, in which case the Labor Party would find it hard to support the dissolution of the Knesset, and early elections might be ruled out. Ha'aretz reported that during a meeting yesterday with of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Olmert said that "furthering talks with Syria is the right thing to do, but it does not mean that Israel has relinquished anything. The way ahead is still long." Yesterday on Channel 2-TV, Vice PM Haim Ramon expressed his opposition to the way talks with Syria are being conducted, arguing "this is a strategic mistake and a prize for extremist Islam." The Jerusalem Post quoted diplomatic officials as saying yesterday that the indirect negotiations are making it harder for Israel to argue against high-level European contacts with Damascus. The Jerusalem Post reported that talks being held in Europe by Ofer Dekel, PM Olmert's point man on the prisoner issue, could mean that a prisoner swap with Hizbullah is closer. Israel Radio quoted senior Lebanese officials as saying that the U.S. has changed its mind regarding the Sheba Farms, which it now reportedly says belong to Lebanon. Maariv reported that most candidates for Kadima leadership prefer September 3 as the date for holding the party primaries, but that Olmert refuses to discuss the issue before Talansky's cross-examination. All media reported that the 12 suspects in the death of Eden Natan-Zada will be charged, but none for murder, according to a decision by the Haifa District Prosecutor's Office. Natan-Zada, 19, a Jewish extremist who was AWOL from the Israel Defense Forces, opened fire on Israeli Arabs in a bus in the Galilee town of Shfaram in August 2005, killing four. He was subsequently lynched by an Arab Israeli mob. -------------- Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank, June 14-16, 2008: -------------- Summary: -------------- Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Whatever the legacy of the policies she promoted elsewhere, it is likely too late for Rice to reserve the consequences of those policies she promoted in this corner of the world." Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The American public and its leaders are not safely nestled in Israel's pocket. As the Iranian threat becomes more concrete, Israel will need more of their understanding and support." Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote on page one of Ha'aretz: "Barring any major last-minute change, a cease-fire will go into effect in the near future, but the Shalit situation will remain unresolved." Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: " The army must continue to act against Hamas in its own way, but more forcefully" Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon wrote in the editorial of the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe: "To move the talks forward, Israel needs a government that enjoys the support of the majority of the people." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Bitter Complaints from a Virtual Dead Duck" Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (6/16): "[Condoleezza Rice] is not the first secretary of state, even one from a U.S. administration in its final year in power, that suddenly turned tough on Israel in regard to settlement plans or other matters. But Henry Kissinger and James Baker, to name two, had the advantage of neither the Israelis, nor themselves, knowing at the time that they were, in fact, lame ducks. It also helped that they had the full backing and interest of their bosses when they tried to lay down the law on Jerusalem. But George ¶W. Bush has never strongly echoed Rice's rhetoric on the settlement construction, especially as regards Jerusalem.... [But] whatever the legacy of the policies she promoted elsewhere, it is likely too late for Rice to reserve the consequences of those policies she promoted in this corner of the world. Nor, in pursuit of that aim, to prevent Israel from pursuing the same construction policy in Jerusalem that has guided all its governments, including this one, since 1967." II. "Getting Fed Up" Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (6/16): "On the day after the election, whether Obama is able to bring the Democrats back to power, or whether John McCain is successful in retaining the White House in the hands of the Republicans, the president-elect will be wearing a suit of stars and stripes. The American public and its leaders are not safely nestled in Israel's pocket. As the Iranian threat becomes more concrete, Israel will need more of their understanding and support. The Iranian nuclear program is too substantial a threat for it to serve as a tool in the hands of cynical Israeli politicians whose tongues wag too freely." III. "Hizbullah First" Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote on page one of Ha'aretz (6/16): "Compared to Goldwasser-Regev [the Hizbullah abductees], the situation with regard to a possible release of Gilad Shalit is extremely complicated. The price is known: 450 Palestinian prisoners. But Hamas insists on including in its wish list many murderers, including those who were involved in large suicide bombings beginning in the mid-1990s. Their release will stir significant public debate, political confrontations and protests that will include bereaved parents and those who were wounded in these attacks. Olmert seems to have been capable of undertaking such steps as recently as two to three months ago. Now, with the story of the cash envelopes dogging him, it will be much more difficult.... It is the same political paralysis that is to a large extent dictating Israel's slow roll toward a tahdiya, a cease-fire with Hamas. Defense Minister Ehud Barak no longer hides his opposition to a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip. There is no longer effective coordination between him and Olmert (it ended in late May, the minute Barak called on the PM to step down).... Throwing the issue of Shalit into the melee is more figurative than practical, and in any case, it's clear that the Egyptian promise to push an exchange through, as the tahdiya goes in effect, was highly conditional. Barring any major last-minute change, a cease-fire will go into effect in the near future, but the Shalit situation will remain unresolved. It may be that the tahdiya is already here: The past two days along the border with the Strip have been the calmest in a long while." IV. "A Better Alternative" Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (6/16): "The army must continue to act against Hamas in its own way, but more forcefully ... and tighten the blockade but more seriously than today.... Continuous, severe military activity, combined with a diplomatic and economic siege, will lead Gaza residents to the inevitable conclusion that they made an awful mistake when they elected a gang of terrorists as their government. Thus, the Gaza problem may be solved in a real and durable fashion." ¶V. "A Government without a Mandate" Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon wrote in the editorial of the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe (6/16): " Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has arrived in Israel, is trying to promote the talks between Israel and the Palestinians, while efforts are being made to advance Israeli-Syrian negotiations. All this is being done without taking into account the status of the Israeli government.... To move the talks forward, Israel needs a government that enjoys the support of the majority of the people. As long as the government is busy with primaries, not only does it not enjoy the support of a majority, but it is also incapable of making decisions that will express the will of the people." JONES