ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001359 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: -------------- Ha'aretz and leading electronic media reported that last night Kadima and Labor reached an agreement: Kadima will pledge to hold primaries by September 25, while there will be no vote for the dissolution of the Knesset today. Israel Radio reported that Kadima's institutions will make their final decision on the date of the primaries by July 10 -- i.e. before Morris Talansky's cross-examination. All media reported that the sixth day of the Gaza truce saw the first violations when three Qassam rockets slammed into Israel, slightly injuring three Israelis. The launches are believed to be in response to the IDF killing of a top Islamic Jihad operative in Nablus yesterday. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, but there was no immediate military response from the IDF. Yediot reported that Hamas was upset at Jihad's actions and announced that it will do everything it can to prevent rocket fire. The Jerusalem Post reported that government sources expressed astonishment at the army's raid, saying that it was a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing. Media reported that it appeared that the target of the IDF raid, Tarek Abu Ghally, was poised to carry out a terrorist attack when he was killed. Media reported that yesterday Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Gaza crossing closed in response to the cease fire violation. All media quoted Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of abducted IDF reservist Ehud Goldwasser, as saying yesterday that PM Olmert has promised that the deal with Hizbullah for the release of Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, will be brought to the cabinet on Sunday. The media spoke of Olmert's wavering after the decision was made to investigate whether the two reservists should be declared dead. Maariv quoted Ofer Dekel, the GOI's chief coordinator for prisoner deals, as saying that such a declaration would be mistaken. Yediot reported that a majority of cabinet members are in favor of releasing Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar and four other Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the two Israeli soldiers, even if they are dead. Maariv filed a similar story. Ha'aretz and other media reported that Ofer Dekel will depart for Cairo tomorrow to renew indirect talks with Hamas over a swap for Gilad Shalit. Israel believes Egyptian pressure may cause Hamas to drop its demands that Israel release terrorists convicted of carrying out major attacks against Israelis. Egypt had pledged to step up its efforts with Hamas, if Israel agreed to a truce that did not include a prisoner swap for Shalit. Leading media cited Olmert's bureau as saying Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has pledged to not to open the Rafah crossing until Shalit is released. Maariv quoted a senior Egyptian official involved in the talks as saying that the fact that Israel is not releasing 36 terrorists is putting off Shalit's release. The Jerusalem Post quoted former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy as saying yesterday that Israel should hold talks with Hamas since no peace agreement with the Palestinians is viable without the inclusion of the violent Islamic group. All media reported that PM Olmert and FM Tzipi Livni announced yesterday that they have nominated Professor Gabriela Shalev, 67, as Israel's first woman ambassador to the United Nations. Shalev is a jurist who has never been involved in diplomacy or foreign affairs. All media reported that the suicide of a border policeman during the departure ceremony for French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday at Ben-Gurion Airport created panic, forcing Sarkozy, his wife, Olmert, and President Shimon Peres to take shelter. Yediot reported that for the first time in IAF history, there was no kibbutz member among the Air Force cadets who successfully completed their course yesterday. Ha'aretz reported that Hamas's military wing, Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, has split into two groups after an attempt to depose its military commander, Ahmed Al-Jabari. Palestinian sources were quoted as saying that the attempt to replace Al-Jabari with Imad Akal failed, but that it has split the organization into two camps: one led by Al-Jabari and the other by Akal. Mohammed Deif, the former head of Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam, was behind the attempt, according to the sources. The Jerusalem Post reported that development of the Iron Dome anti-missile system has encountered an unexpected delay after a test launch originally scheduled to take place two weeks ago was postponed until next month. Leading media quoted German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier as saying at the PA security conference in Berlin yesterday that $242 million had been promised for an "operational justice system" in the West Bank. The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the Knesset's State Control Committee instructed State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss to investigate how Palestinians were able to build 88 illegal houses in the Garden of the King in Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood. Ha'aretz reported that in three weeks the new National Immigration Authority will start operating under the auspices of the Interior Ministry, bringing together under its umbrella all the bodies that deal with foreigners living in Israel, as well as those interested in coming to Israel. It will also handle registering Israelis in the Population Registry, as well as issuing identity cards and passports. The paper reported that the head of the new Authority, Yaakov Ganot, told the Knesset's State Control Committee yesterday that the authority will take responsibility for border control in the first stage, a role now filled by the police. The Jerusalem Post quoted Ganot as saying yesterday, during a special session of the Knesset's Interior Committee and the State Control Committee to mark International Refugee Day, that infiltrations across the Egyptian border have declined dramatically since the beginning of the year. Knesset members called on the GOI to show "special sensitivity" toward the refugees. The Jerusalem Post reported that around a dozen U.S. law enforcement officials from large U.S. cities are n Israel for a weeklong visit sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League. Yediot reported that Dr. Eldad Davidov, an Israeli lecturer at the German University of Mannheim was attacked in the street and severely injured by unknown young people. Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that the number of millionaires in Israel (in U.S. dollars) grew at twice the average world rate in 2007, according to the World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini. The number of millionaires in Israel jumped 13.6% -- by 1,000 persons -- to a total of 8,200 by the end of last year. The number of multi-millionaires grew by 12%, to 97. Green investment instruments fed growth in sectors like clean tech, which has enjoyed an increase of 41% over the past two years, particularly in the fields of wind and solar energy, a trend that Ha'aretz does not view as entirely positive. -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Olmert knows that his term is finished. His enemies have beaten him. Even if he succeeds in surviving until next March, he has lost the ability to lead and the public confidence he needs to implement tough decisions." Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "Yesterday is (yet another) sign that the chances that the cease-fire will last for long are slim." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "In any journey toward genuine acceptance and reconciliation that the quest for peace demands, the ... narratives [of Jewish and Palestinian relocation] will need to be mutually validated in some fashion." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Ego. That's the Story" Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (6/25): "[Yesterday, as southern Israel was under a rocket offensive and the ceasefire at risk] -- fateful matters -- the Defense Minister thought that his prime minister was a crook, and the Prime Minister thought that his defense minister was a scoundrel. And both of them deluded themselves into believing that they were capable of conducting a real and sincere discussion about an operation that has life and death ramifications, while one is convinced that the other is a scoundrel, and the other convinced that the former is a crook. This is an unacceptable situation. Irresponsible. Unforgivable.... Ego. That is most of the story. Olmert knows that his term is finished. His enemies have beaten him. Even if he succeeds in surviving until next March, he has lost the ability to lead and the public confidence he needs to implement tough decisions. He clings to his hope for a miracle.... As long as he sits on the seat of the prime minister, he must create the impression that he will sit there forever. Otherwise he will be eaten alive. Ego is most of the story on Barak's side as well. He finds it strange that when he commands Olmert to resign, Olmert does not hurry to do his bidding.... I am not judging between them: Olmert was investigated and badly besmirched in court; Barak is presently free of investigations. But it is pretty clear that both of them are coming out of this chimney black as coal." II. "Missed Opportunity" Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (6/25): "How predictable -- the suspension of fire from the Gaza Strip at the western Negev didn't last even a week. How predictable -- after the first incident of fire yesterday, Israel did not respond with fire from its side. Last night, the Defense Minister decided to close the crossings for transferring foods to Gaza, but the closure will only be in effect for one day. This is a signal, not a step that will shock anyone in the Gaza Strip. Ostensibly, it was an excellent opportunity to establish new rules of the game, according to which after the cease-fire has gone into effect, Israel will no longer accept any kind of fire into its territory. According to a possible new formula, Israel will respond firmly and disproportionately to any fire, as any other country would probably do. However, this formula -- which many security officials believe the time has come to adopt -- once again remained an empty threat.... Hamas hurried to disassociate itself from the fire, and as far as we know even conveyed a message to Islamic Jihad stating that it was unacceptable to it. Chances are, however, that Islamic Jihad will also fire at Israel at the next opportunity it sees fit.... Yesterday is (yet another) sign that the chances that the cease-fire will last for long are slim." III. "The Other Mideast Refugees" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (6/25): "The world knows of the pain and dislocation experience experienced by roughly 700,000 Palestinian Arabs when Israel was established; it knows little about the trauma borne by some 850,000 Jews from the Arab world who were uprooted from their homes.... In any journey toward genuine acceptance and reconciliation that the quest for peace demands, the two narratives will need to be mutually validated in some fashion.... As the Zionists moved ahead in creating a Jewish state in Mandatory Palestine, and as the Palestinian Arab leadership adamantly rejected a two-state solution, Arabs elsewhere began to turn against the Jews in their midst.... Roughly 580,000 Jews from across the world ultimately found refuge in Israel. Another 260,000 Jews were absorbed elsewhere. For the Palestinian Arabs, by contrast, the disaster of dislocation was compounded by the decision of the 21 Arab states never to absorb them, and to force the UN to create UNRWA [the UN Relief and Works Agency], whose surreal mission -- with the acquiescence of the international community -- is to perpetuate their homelessness in perpetuity." JONES