ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001383 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 media reported that two Qassam rockets hit Sderot yesterday. Fatah' Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. (Electronic media reported that two shells landed in the area this morning). Leading media reported that FM Tzipi Livni issued an uncharacteristically sharp demand for an immediate military response. Leading media reported that Vice PM Haim Ramon demanded that the cabinet reconsider the 'tahdiya.' Major media reported that in a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Maan, Hamas warned the militant factions against violating the cease-fire, saying that such actions harm the Palestinian national interest. Hamas also threatened to take measures against the violators. In its lead story, Ha'aretz reported that Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin has somewhat softened his position regarding the prisoners who could be released in return for Gilad Shalit. Diskin is now prepared to release some prisoners "who have the blood of Israelis on their hands," so long as the risk they pose is lessened. The Jerusalem Post quoted Egyptian sources as saying yesterday that it was unlikely that the latest Qassam rocket attack on Sderot, or Israel's continuing closure of the crossing into Gaza, would impinge on talks for Shalit's release. The Jerusalem Post quoted an Egyptian source as saying: "Progress on the Shalit issue is now Egypt's top foreign policy priority," indicating that Cairo would now focus on the Shalit matter in the same way it focused intensively for months on brokering the cease-fire. Yediot quoted a senior Egyptian military official as saying that if Israel does not show flexibility in the number of Palestinian prisoners it is willing to release, Shalit's fate is likely to be like that of IAF navigator Ron Arad, who has been MIA for over 20 years. Maariv quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying that he is not sure that the deal to release the two IDF soldiers abducted by Hizbullah will go through. Although a majority of cabinet ministers are expected to approve the prisoner swap on Sunday, Maariv reported that Olmert is concerned about the way defense officials who will be attending Sunday's session will present the agreement. Ha'aretz reported that Foreign Ministry Director General Aharon Abramovitch secretly visited the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Wednesday and briefed a group of ambassadors from countries involved in the agency's efforts to stop Iran's nuclear project. Abramovitch emphasized that the IAEA must act more quickly and efficiently to block Iranian nuclear ambitions. The Jerusalem Post reported that President Shimon Peres, who was addressing an IAF pilots' graduation ceremony yesterday, boasted that Israel has carried out military strikes against two nuclear sites, saying "this is the only air force in the world that has such an achievement." Peres was quoted as saying: "According to foreign reports, the air force took out two nuclear plants" -- an apparent reference to the strike against a Syrian site last September that Israel has not publicly acknowledged, and the Iraqi reactor at Osirak in 1981. Leading media reported that Wednesday an American tourist was lightly injured after stones were thrown at his car swhen he accidentally drove into the Qalandiya refugee camp, west of Ramallah. Palestinian police protected and returned him to Israel. Yediot reported that for the fist time an Ethiopian-Israeli officer was promoted to the rank of Colonel. Yediot reported that Aljazeera-TV devoted one hour of its programs to contemporary Israeli singer Idan Raichel and his songs. The Jerusalem Post reported that transsexual Israeli singer Aderet tops the Lebanese song chart. Ha'aretz reported on an Israeli-Palestinian startup, G.ho.s.t, which its developer, Israeli businessman Zvi Schreiber, claims will "tone down the conflict." -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Israel is continuing to delude itself that someone else will do the work for it in Gaza: Hamas, the Egyptians, or the devil knows who -- until the alarm sounds for a real emergency." Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Now is the time to tell the politicians: Stop being heroes at the expense of our captive soldiers and their parents. Bring them home without delay, no matter how much it costs. Yes, at any price." Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv: "[Ofer Dekel, Olmert's point man on prisoner exchanges] has no idea how it happened that after he brought a reasonable, cheap and logical deal, judging by all parameters, it got so complicated." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Illusion of Calm" Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (6/27):"The good news is that the Qassam rocket that was fired at Israel yesterday -- like those that were fired on Tuesday -- does not mean the end of the cease-fire. The bad news: there never was a cease-fire. It was and still is a fagade, a mirage, and you canQt stop something that has not yet begun.. In the meantime, the residents of Gaza are paying a very heavy price for this fire.... Since the Qassam rocket fire on Wednesday, the passage of fuel to the Gaza Strip has been stopped completely, so that a shortage of millions of liters of gasoline along with certain foodstuffs has accumulated.... But apparently, HamasQs control over the small terror organizations in the Gaza Strip is not as good as Israel believed prior to the tahdiya. This fact is definitely a surprise that bodes ill for the continuation of the tahdiya.... However, behind the scenes Hamas is greatly trying to influence Islamic Jihad and the others to observe the truce.... But just as Hamas does not have the power to prevent the continuing warnings of terror attacks against the crossings and the continued preparations by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and others to plan tangible terror attacks against Israel, the organization finds it difficult to rein in Islamic Jihad.... Israel is continuing to delude itself that someone else will do the work for it in Gaza: Hamas, the Egyptians, or the devil knows who -- until the alarm sounds for a real emergency." II. "Yes, at any Price" Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (6/27): "The way our government is handling the business of bringing home the abducted soldiers is nothing short of disgraceful.... The current deal is reasonable, and we have a supreme obligation to bring [Hizbullah abductees] Regev and Goldwasser home. When the security services oppose letting [Lebanese terrorist Samir] Kuntar go after more than 30 years in jail, the question is where they were when we freed Lebanese militant leaders Dirani and Obeid, who were considered 'bargaining chips.' Allowing the issue to become fodder for media discussions and political debates not only causes suffering to the families, but affects soldiers who may be sent tomorrow on missions in which they could be killed, taken prisoner or kidnapped.... Now is the time to tell the politicians: Stop being heroes at the expense of our captive soldiers and their parents. Bring them home without delay, no matter how much it costs. Yes, at any price." III. "The Dilemma" Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv (6/27): "'ItQs crazy to release him. It's simply insanity to release Samir Kuntar. A country that releases such a loathsome murderer, a man who smashed a little girl's skull, who killed her father right in front of her, a guy like this should be killed, or left to rot in jail his whole life. There is no country in the world that would release a man like this, and in return for dead soldiers' bodies yet. Look what the Americans are doing to Pollard, who didn't kill anyone. What message are we giving to terror? To all the young Arabs who are now thinking of joining terror organizations? What does this tell them, that the Jews are stupid? That in the end, even if you kill them and murder their babies, that theyQll be released?' The above was said by one of the Prime Minister's close associates. Someone who has no official position, but one of the people with the most influence on the Prime Minister. And there are others.... The cabinet meeting on Sunday will consist of an unbearable human drama. All the heads of the security branches will appear and give the ministers their professional opinion. They will divide as follows: the Shin Bet Director and the Mossad Director against the deal. The Chief of Staff and (apparently) the director of IDF Intelligence in favor. Ofer Dekel [the PM's point man on prisoner exchanges], of course, will be in favor. And then someone surprising will speak. Maj. Gen. (res.) Ilan Biran. He is responsible for POWs and MIAs. Biran, say informed sources, will be against.... [Dekel] has no idea how it happened that after he brought a reasonable, cheap and logical deal, judging by all parameters, it got so complicated. The story, the whole story, according to Dekel, is Samir Kuntar. That is the dilemma....[As opposed to public opinion in the Arab world], Dekel thinks that Kuntar is not a symbol of anything.... [And as regards the Palestinian track:] is [Olmert] on the way to reaching 'Olmert-Abu Mazen understandings?' An excellent question. We will have the answer in the coming days. A meeting is scheduled for them very soon, and it could be that that is where the agreement that Olmert is talking about will be reached -- the agreement that will lead to a political explosion." JONES