ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001523 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: -------------- ¶1. Mideast ¶2. Iran -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Major media reported on the "handshake that wasn't" between PM Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Assad at the Bastille Day ceremony in Paris. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Likud MK Yuval Steinitz, former chair of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as saying hat Olmert and FM Tzipi Livni humiliated the Jewish people by stooping before the Syrian dictator. All media reported that by rejecting the appointments of Kadima MKs Ruhama Avraham-Balila and Eli Aflalo as tourism and absorption ministers, Labor MKs and ministers supported what was declared a no-confidence vote at the insistence of the Likud faction whip, MK Gideon Sa'ar. The government, however, survived the no-confidence vote, and despite Labor's opposition, Aflalo's and Avraham-Balila's appointments were approved by a Knesset majority of 47 votes to 42. The crisis erupted when Kadima reneged on Olmert's commitment to appoint Labor MK Avishay Braverman as chairman of the Knesset's Finance Committee(Leading media reported that Olmert is likely to allow Braverman's nomination today). In response to OlmertQs reneging on his commitment, Labor decided to oppose Aflalo and Avraham-Balila's appointments in the Knesset. The media reported that Olmert will not fire Labor ministers and that Labor said that its ministers would not quit the coalition. Dismissing the Labor ministers would leave Olmert without a legislative majority and open the door to early elections. All media reported that the cabinet will discuss Hizbullah's report on efforts to determine the fate of missing Israeli airman Ron Arad Tuesday and will be briefed on assessments by the heads of the country's intelligence organizations (who are opposed to a prisoner swap). Ha'aretz quoted a source in PM Ehud Olmert's entourage to Paris as saying that the result of the cabinet's final vote on the prisoner exchange will be based on what it hears in this briefing. Media reported that Olmert told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Paris that Hizbullah's report on Arad was "absolutely unsatisfactory." The Jerusalem Post quoted foreign news reports as saying yesterday that the Iranian and Syrian militaries have assisted Hizbullah in setting up advanced radar installations atop Mt. Sannine in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley which can be used to track Israeli planes from the Mediterranean Sea in the West to Damascus in the East. The newspaper quoted Israeli defense analysts that while Syria does not need radar installations inside Lebanon to track IAF fighter jets, the systems could be used by Hizbullah in the event that Damascus supplied them with advanced radar-based air defense systems. The Jerusalem Post reported on growing concern in Israel following Lebanese President Michel Suleiman's statement on Sunday at the Paris meeting of the Mediterranean Union that should diplomacy fail to return "Israeli-occupied land" to Lebanon, the Lebanese Armed Forces will take it by force. Yediot bannered a picture of Palestinian terrorists training in the synagogue of the abandoned Gaza settlement of Atzmona. Leading media reported that Barack Obama is expected to visit the region next week. Media reported that he will visit Sderot and fly over the country in a helicopter. Israel Hayom reported that right-wing MKs and a settler leader denounced Obama's retraction of his AIPAC Conference comments on Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Post and HaQaretz reported that yesterday PA officials welcomed Obama's plans to visit Ramallah. Major media reported that Quartet Mideast envoy Tony Blair will visit Gaza next week. This will be his first trip to the area since Hamas seized control a year ago. At noon Israel Radio reported that the visit was canceled due to security reasons. Leading media reported that Assad warned yesterday that any attack on Iran's nuclear program would have grave consequences for the U.S., Israel and the entire world. The Jerusalem Post quoted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as saying on Sunday at the opening of the 94th national conference of the Hadassah Zionist Women's Organization in Los Angeles: "Israel bears the brunt of [the Iranian] threat ... and the safety not only of Israel but of the entire world depends on forcing Iran to give up its nuclear capability." The Jerusalem Post quoted Ron Nachman, Mayor of the West Bank settler city of Ariel, as saying yesterday that the city has received final approval to construct 27 new factories, thus tripling the size of its industrial park. The daily quoted Peace Now Executive Director Yariv Oppenheimer as saying: "This is surrender to the demands of the settlement leadership." Nachman defended his move by saying that this park employs both Jews and Palestinians. Ha'aretz quoted Israel's Civil Aviation Authority as saying that the U.S. could curtail the activities of Israeli airlines in the U.S. after the Federal Aviation Administration inspects the aviation sector here next week. Concerns have also been raised over a possible blow to Israel's standing in the international aviation sector. The FAA inspection will last four days and examine the flight-safety performance of the Civil Aviation Authority, one Israeli airline, and Ben-Gurion International Airport. The Civil Aviation Authority will be the main focus. Yediot quoted Israeli diplomats in the U.S. as saying that they cannot make ends meet. The newspaper reported that Israel's Consul-General in Miami Ofer Bavli wrote the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem that the weakening of the dollar and rising prices in the U.S. are causing family budget problems, forcing him to dip into his savings to make ends meet. Ha'aretz quoted Microsoft as saying yesterday that it has agreed to buy Zoomix, an Israeli start-up specializing in data quality software. The deal is estimated at between $25 million and $35 million. This is Microsoft's eighth such acquisition in Israel. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: ". An improvement in relations with any of the Arab countries contributes to Israel's security more than any reservoir of weapons that Israel has at its disposal." Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "The talks between the sides need to be, from Syria's perspective, endless, perpetual, ostensibly serious, long and enervating, but with no final result. Syria will make the most out of those kinds of talks." Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker opined in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "I am puzzled over where [the admirers of the Prime Minister] were when Olmert made the following mistakes.... 1) The strategic failure to deal with Hamas's rise to power.... [and] 2) Giving Assad a fantastic consolation prize." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "[The Lebanese and Arab publics] might want to ask themselves whether this monster [terrorist Samir Kuntar] is worthy of such glorification. Is he the kind of man they want as their idol? And if so, what does that say about them?" Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "With Whom Will Syria Make Peace?" The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (7/15): "The peace between Israel and Syria has in the past few days seemed closer and farther away than at any other time.... Ehud Olmert was striving for personal contact with Bashar Assad [in Paris this week], but to no avail -- because the Syrian President considers Olmert a weak prime minister, and he does not sell his gestures on the cheap.... The isolated Assad arrived in Paris like a hero, even though he had not changed anything substantive in his diplomatic conduct. The disdainful attitude shown by Israel with regard to Assad's leadership ability, at the inspiration of the Americans, apparently came to an end, along with the conclusion of George W. Bush's term.... Syria's serious attitude toward peace talks with Israel found expression in Paris this week in Assad's public declarations of peace, in the indirect talks that are continuing through Turkey, and in the fact that the Israeli attack on nuclear facilities in Syria and the assassination of Imad Mughniyah did not make Assad change direction. Syria has apparently decided that it is in its interest to join the West, and peace talks with Israel are one of many means of doing so. More than at any other time in the past, it seems the ball is in Israel's court -- but this court is covered in thick political mud. In actual fact, there is no government right now in Israel.... All one can demand now is that all those who aspire to be elected prime minister of Israel -- whether in Kadima, the Labor Party, or Likud -- should reveal publicly what their current position is on the continuation of talks with Syria. It is worthwhile reminding them that it is forbidden to miss chances for peace, and that the price for peace with Syria is clear. The price for not having peace with Syria became clear in the Second Lebanon War, and it is likely to become clear in the third and fourth war in the region. An improvement in relations with any of the Arab countries contributes to Israel's security more than any reservoir of weapons that Israel has at its disposal." II. "The Semblance of Diplomacy" Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (7/15): "Once again, Bashar Assad deceived everyone -- mainly Prime Minister Olmert. He attended the conference of Mediterranean countries thanks to Israel and turned into the undeniable star of the event. He returned to the limelight in Europe but made sure to turn his back on Olmert when the latter ran up to him and asked for a handshake, which might have saved him his career or given him some breathing room. And so, when Olmert spoke, Assad left the auditorium for his grand finale. In interviews he said that, like his father, he would not concede a single centimeter of the Golan Heights. Did anyone say anything about an historic breakthrough?..... Even if [Olmert were a strong prime minister], there isn't going to be peace with Assad's Syria. Bashar Assad is a member of the most hated Alawite minority in Syria. The members of this sect retain their hold on power with the use of force; they maintain it and justify it by means of uncompromising belligerence towards Israel. The Zionist enemy is something that unites the Syrians around one of the most benighted regimes in the area. Peace with Israel would shake the foundations of the presidential palace in Damascus.... Syria, in short, does not want peace. It wants peace negotiations. The talks between the sides need to be, from Syria's perspective, endless, perpetual, ostensibly serious, long and enervating, but with no final result. Syria will make the most out of those kinds of talks, remove itself from its isolation, and receive legitimacy from the West and mainly aid from the United States. That is what we saw in Paris. The semblance of diplomacy and another promise by Assad that 'peace between Syria and Israel is possible within half a year to two years.' Peace, meanwhile, is going to have to wait a lot longer. So will war. Olmert will go and the settlements on the Golan Heights will flourish." III. "A Slew of Mistakes" Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker opined in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/15): "Ehud Olmert, say many people, was an excellent prime minister as far as we were concerned until the scandals with the envelopes and the double bills were exposed. They were like a bolt of lighting out of a clear blue sky for us and radically changed our apprehension and judgment of him. I am puzzled over where these people were when Olmert made the following mistakes.... [Such as these pertaining to regional affairs:] 1) The strategic failure to deal with Hamas's rise to power. When they look back in retrospect, the HAMAS leaders will be able to sum up the period between February 2006 and July 2008 as a positive period. HAMAS secured its hold on power, became stronger, won the hearts and imagination of the Muslim world, kidnapped and is still holding Gilad Shalit in captivity, and is gradually gaining legitimacy. All this was achieved with the tacit consent of the Olmert government. Under the stuffed nose of this very same government, Hizbullah also grew stronger both militarily and politically. While it is true that Nasrallah was defeated in the Second Lebanon War, the Olmert government managed to sweeten that defeat for him and now no one is more popular that he is in Lebanon. 2) Giving Assad a fantastic consolation prize. Up until six months ago, Syrian President Bashar Assad was considered to be a diplomatic and military corpse, a ludicrous and washed out leader until Prime Minister Olmert extended a hand to him, invited him to false peace talks and, by so doing, rehabilitated, and even ameliorated Assad's international and inter-Arab status. Syria threw Olmert a fetid bone and received in exchange half the kingdom. Assad was received at the Mediterranean countries conference in Paris as a victorious hero, while Olmert was received as a loser and a guest who forced his presence on everyone." IV. "A Celebration of Evil" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (7/15): "Preparations are in full swing in Lebanon to celebrate the return of Samir Kuntar. Kuntar, who is serving multiple life sentences for one of the most brutal terrorist attacks in Israel's history, is due to be released tomorrow as part of a prisoner exchange with Hizbullah for Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two soldiers abducted in a July 2006 cross-border raid that triggered the Second Lebanon War. According to the Lebanese media, Kuntar will be given a festive reception by Hizbullah at its headquarters in southern Beirut, and welcomed personally by its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.... Lebanon's Prime Minister, Fuad Siniora, has indicated that his government supports the festivities planned for Kuntar.... However, the Lebanese people and government -- and those others in the Arab world, including among the Palestinians, so delighted by Kuntar's release -- might want to ask themselves whether this monster is worthy of such glorification. Is he the kind of man they want as their idol? And if so, what does that say about them?.... He has never expressed remorse, and, according to the Palestinian Authority newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, wrote a letter recently to Nasrallah promising not to abandon the jihad against Israel. 'I give you my promise and oath that my only place will be in the fighting front soaked with the sweat of your giving and with the blood of the shahids, the dearest people, and that I will continue your way until we reach a full victory,' the paper quoted him as writing. The newspaper, incidentally, carried an article calling Kuntar a 'beacon of light' and an 'authentic role model.'' -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- Dan Diker, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs in Jerusalem, a part of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Israelis must also integrate the kinds of sharp intellectual, political and strategic differences in worldviews as noted above among U.S. officials and former U.S. officials, even when they share political affiliations." Block Quotes: -------------- "On Green and Yellow Lights from Washington" Dan Diker, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs in Jerusalem, a part of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (7/15): "What is going on [regarding current and former U.S. officials' statements that the U.S. has not given Israel a 'green light' to do anything about Iran]? Disinformation, or perhaps a heated debate in Washington into which Israel has been thrust in the middle? [Prof. Anthony] Cordesman's widely reported remarks at Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, and at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs may provide insight into the contradictory signaling from Washington.... Cordesman suggested that Ahmadinejad is no less rational an actor than Bush or other Western leaders. Cordesman's dismissal of the religious and ideological underpinning of the regime stands in sharp opposition to Bush's views, as well as those of Islamic affairs experts in Pentagon, vice president's office, and the preeminent scholar of Islam, Prof. Bernard Lewis.... Israeli officials and shapers of public opinion in Israel should listen attentively to outside assessments from Washington. However, Israelis must also integrate the kinds of sharp intellectual, political and strategic differences in worldviews as noted above among U.S. officials and former U.S. officials, even when they share political affiliations." MORENO