ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001560 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: -------------- Ha'aretz reported that Israel and Hamas have not yet agreed to renew negotiations over Gilad Shalit's release, despite the completion of the Hizbullah prisoner swap and the relative quiet on the southern front that were supposed to advance talks on a swap with Hamas. Hamas seems now to be refusing to back down from the list of hundreds of prisoners whose release it demands. However, Israel has only approved 71 names on the list. Ha'aretz quoted a senior official saying on Thursday that Israel believes that Hamas wants to continue to hold Shalit as an asset securing their rule in Gaza. Israel Radio quoted senior sources in Jerusalem as saying that the squabble between Israel and Hizbullah is not about the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released, but about their identity. The Jerusalem Post reported that in the aftermath of the Israel-Hizbullah swap, there are increasing calls in Hamas to replace the Egyptian mediators with German intermediaries in the talks on Shalit. Yediot reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conveyed a reassuring message to Israel regarding the shift in the United States' Iran policy, saying that the U.S. will not abandon its allies. Ha'aretz reported that this week John Rood, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, met senior security and Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem. Ha'aretz quoted Rood as saying during talks in Israel that the U.S. will not give up on the demand that Iran cease the uranium enrichment process, and that the U.S. will not negotiate directly with Iran. Rood was quoted as saying that what is perceived in Israel as a U.S. policy change is a one-off move that can be useful when the U.S. wants to enlist the international community for sanctions against Iran. Ha'aretz also reported that this week the Chinese government dispatched its Deputy FM to Israel to hold talks about the Iranian nuclear project. The newspaper quoted a senior diplomatic source in Jerusalem as saying yesterday that the move resulted from Beijing's concern that Israel is about to move militarily against Iran. In an interview he granted to The Jerusalem Post this week, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz defended his hawkish statements about a prospective attack on Iran. He was quoted as saying: "We cannot let a dangerous regime threaten the entire world." Israel Radio reported that over the past few weeks the Shin Bet and police have arrested in the Jerusalem area six Israeli Arabs -- two of them students at the Hebrew University -- suspected of belonging to Al-Qaida. The radio reported that they intended to attack President Bush during his visit to Israel. All major media extensively reported and commented on the funerals of IDF soldiers Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. The Jerusalem Post reported that Hizbullah is bolstering its presence in south Lebanon villages with non-Shi'ite majorities by buying land and using it to build military positions and store missiles and launchers. The Jerusalem Post reported that media in Lebanon and the Arab world cast doubt on Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah's victory claims. The media reported that yesterday PM Ehud Olmert's lawyer, Eli Zohar, accused the state of cutting a deal with Morris Talansky by making it clear to the U.S. businessman that he would not be considered a corruption suspect in return for his giving the state the answers it wanted. Talansky denied the allegation and said he had told the truth without any strings attached. The media reported that Olmert's lawyers did not succeed in "crushing" Talansky. Channel 2-TV reported last night that opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has been accumulating El Al frequent flyer miles and using them for his wife's benefit. If true, this would stand in flagrant violation of the Knesset Ethics Committee guidelines. Ha'aretz reported that during an interfaith conference in Spain, in an apparent easing of traditional Saudi hostility toward Israel, King Abdullah has urged followers of all the world's leading religions to embrace reconciliation. Ha'aretz quoted Jerusalem sources as saying that Israel and Saudi Arabia have been holding meetings to discuss regional issues. Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday ambassadors from Arab countries and the Persian Gulf attended the farewell reception for outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman in his Manhattan apartment. Ha'aretz quoted a senior UN affairs reporter for a U.S. television network as saying he does not remember such an impressive Arab presence at a diplomatic event in New York for a senior Israeli. The newspaper reported that among the guests were the ambassadors of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Oman. Gillerman gave a particular mention to the Palestinian observer at the UN, Riyad Mansour, who attended the event. Yediot filed a similar story. The Jerusalem Post reported that PA-Hamas reconciliation efforts suffered a setback yesterday as PA President Mahmoud Abbas called Hamas leader Khaled Mashal a liar. The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Meretz Knesset Member Yossi Beilin called on European countries to declare how many Palestinian refugees and their descendants they would be willing to absorb as part of any future peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The Jerusalem Post reported that British PM Gordon Brown will address the Knesset plenum on Monday. Ha'aretz reported that the investigation into the police use of wiretapping during the criminal probe of Vice PM Haim Ramon will enter the evidentiary phase next week. The Jerusalem Post quoted Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler as saying Thursday after talks with Israeli National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer that Turkey and Israel will begin building a five-billion Euro pipeline next year to transport Caspian natural gas and oil to the east Mediterranean. The project will also transport water, electricity, and fiber-optic cables under the sea. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel's Bank Hapoalim has signed an agreement to purchase approximately 78% of Moscow-based SDM Bank, becoming the first Israeli bank to acquire a Russian bank. Bank Hapoalim announced yesterday that the deal is based on a company evaluation of $142.5 million. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Former Editor-in-Chief David Landau wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The moment he agreed to negotiate for the return of Regev and Goldwasser without demanding proof that they were alive, Olmert turned himself and the state into a doormat for terrorists." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Now that Lebanon and Hizbullah have apparently melded, the self-defeating legacy of IDF inhibition must end." Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: "What price has Syria paid recently in return for the entry ticket to the West?.... Now is not the time for Olmert to do business with the Syrians." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "False Pretenses" Former Editor-in-Chief David Landau wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (7/18): "Israel's conduct in the Regev and Goldwasser case is not just a continuation of its weakening stance or a sharp turn for the worse. It is a total break. Walking straight into the trap that Nasrallah set for him, with his eyes wide open, Olmert has scrambled together, and thereby trampled underfoot, the most basic tenets of human ethics and Jewish tradition -- the sanctity of human life, which comes before all, and the principles of 'respect for the dead' and 'Jewish burial,' which are certainly important, but on a totally different level of importance. The moment he agreed to negotiate for the return of Regev and Goldwasser without demanding proof that they were alive, Olmert turned himself and the state into a doormat for terrorists. He has turned the sacrifice of those who died in the Second Lebanon War into a sacrifice in vain." II. "The New Lebanon" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (7/18): "Now that Lebanon and Hizbullah have apparently melded, the self-defeating legacy of IDF inhibition must end. At the start of the Second Lebanon War, former IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz warned bombastically that Israel would '[turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years' if Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were not returned. No one took him seriously -- Israel would never punish 'good Lebanon' for the crimes of 'bad Hizbullah.' The IAF limited itself to mostly targeting Islamic strongholds. But if Lebanon and Hizbullah are now one, Israel needs a radically revised strategy for winning a war on Lebanese soil. Artificial distinctions between 'Lebanese' and Hizbullah' targets were swept away by Wednesday's display of barbaric unity. Lebanon was revealed in its hostile unanimity. If new conflict comes, Israel must internalize that unanimity of hate-filled purpose, and defeat it decisively." III. "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee" Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz (7/18): "Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who vowed to exact justice from Assad over the murder of his Lebanese friend, Rafiq Hariri, must have turned over in his armchair [during the Bastille Day celebrations]. And why does the Syrian President deserve all this beneficence? What price has Syria paid recently in return for the entry ticket to the West? Nuclear cooperation with North Korea? Supplying missiles to Hizbullah? The media are reporting on the 'smuggling' of arms from Syria to Hizbullah. Even the United Nations, which is not considered a fan of Israel in these parts, determined that there is a regular supply of weapons with the blessing of the Damascus government.... Would Olmert ask for the hand of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if IDF Intelligence were to place photographs of Russian-made missiles that the PA supplied to Hamas on the Prime Minister's desk? Israel is showing restraint and even being good to Syria -- why shouldn't Syria continue to make the most of all worlds? Now is not the time for Olmert to do business with the Syrians." -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The Bush administration now intends to do exactly what Obama has proposed -- talk with the enemy.... It is hard to assume that [Bush] will be able to do in six months what he has not done in eight years." Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "President George W. Bush's decision to leave the door wide open for an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran is a positive development. But an open door is only significant if someone is willing to walk through it." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Last Zigzag for a Farewell" Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/18): "As Bush is slated to go home as [a president] who has brought an economic catastrophe to his country, he is trying toward the end of his term to score at least one achievement. And what does a desperate president do? He gives a green light to a group of State Department officials who proposed to open an interests section in Iran. This won't happen fast, but such a bureau is now Bush's distinct interest.... The Bush administration now intends to do exactly what Obama has proposed -- talk with the enemy. The only problem in Bush's revolutionary makeover is that he doesn't exactly believe in it but that he is being dragged into it. Even this dragging is too late. It is hard to assume that he will be able to do in six months what he has not done in eight years." II. "Israel's Unwanted Open Door" Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (7/18): "Mindful of the [1991 Gulf War] precedent set by his father, President George W. Bush's decision to leave the door wide open for an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran is a positive development. But an open door is only significant if someone is willing to walk through it. And it is far from clear that the Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government has any intention of doing so. For an Israeli government to walk through that door, its leaders would have to be vested with a sense of national destiny and a modicum of responsibility and competence. But as Wednesday's bodies-for-murderers deal with Hizbullah demonstrated, the Olmert-Livni-Barak-Yishai government has no sense of national destiny and no competence to lead the country." MORENO