ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000157 SIPDIS 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 continued to highlight the situation in Gaza and the western Negev. On Thursday Palestinians around 40 Qassam rockets and two mortar shells at Israel and the IDF killed at least five Palestinians. This morning Israel Radio reported that IDF troops killed Ahmed Sanakra, a senior Fatah (Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades) militant in Nablus. Yediot and Israel Radio reported that last night PM Ehud Olmert toured Sderot. Israel Radio quoted him as saying that, should rocket attacks against Israel go on, Israel will want to hit back, but that it will have to exercise caution to avoid harming innocents. Leading media reported that Olmert has instructed the army to intensify targeted killings and the stranglehold of the Strip. Israel Radio reported that on Thursday Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave instructions to close the crossings into the Gaza Strip. He earlier ordered to continue the policy of restricting fuel supply to the Gaza Strip. He also asked for 260,000 shekels (around $69,500) for protecting Sderot and other communities in the region. Ha'aretz cited the belief of Palestinian sources that Hamas would continue the rocket barrages, in an attempt to force Israel into a cease-fire. Hamas, they were quoted as saying, believes that its previous, lower level of rocket and mortar fire allowed the IDF to operate freely in Gaza without Israel paying a serious price. Moreover, the sources cited Hamas's calculation that Israel wants to avoid a major ground operation in Gaza, and that therefore, it will have no choice but to call a truce if heavy rocket fire. Hamas is currently refraining from firing rockets on Ashkelon lest that reverse Israel's opposition to a major incursion, the sources added. However, Ha'aretz reported that Hamas officials declined to confirm that the recent escalation represents a new policy. Ha'aretz (Hebrew Ed.),Maariv, and The Jerusalem Post led with Second Lebanon War-related developments. Leading media wrote that the Winograd Commission has reportedly decided not to take an overly harsh tone with PM Olmert in its final report following a heated internal debate. Channel 2-TV reported last night that commission member Yehezkel Dror demanded a tough stance, which would "place a loaded gun on Olmert's table" and force him to resign. On Thursday the Ynet Internet site quoted a commission member (perhaps Dror) as saying that the report would have a "dramatic, decisive" impact, "up to and including a replacement of the government." The Jerusalem Post and Maariv focused on parents of soldiers who fell during the war. The Jerusalem Post quoted members of the Bereaved Parents Forum as saying on Thursday that such parents are planning to block roads and stage mass protests and hunger strikes from January 31, the day after the Winograd Commission publishes its final report on the war, until PM Olmert "goes home." Leading media reported that following Israel's test-firing of a dual-stage missile on Thursday -- which some media said was of the long-range Jericho-4 type -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Al Jazeera-TV: "The Zionist regime ... would not dare attack Iran. The Iranian response would make them regret it, and they know this." Major media cited Radio Sawa or a PA official as saying that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas threatened to resign and put an end to the negotiations with Israel if it continues the escalation in the Gaza Strip. Israel Radio quoted a source in Abbas's bureau as saying that Abbas told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that there is no use in negotiations if the Israeli offensive goes on. The radio quoted the source as saying that Secretary Rice asked Abbas to continue and that she promised to pressure the GOI to stop its raids and construction in the settlements. Media reported that the PA has addressed the international community through Jordan and Egypt to try to stop the Israeli raids. Nabil Amro, media advisor to Abbas, was quoted as saying in an interview with the Arabic-language Kull Al Arab that Fatah wishes to open a new page with Hamas, as the Israeli aggression against Gaza will make the negotiations worthless, with no results. Palestinian Resistance Committees (PRC) spokesman Abu Mujahed was quoted as saying in an interview with the Arabic-language Assennara that the PRC will deal a painful blow to Israel and that it now shares aims with Hamas and Fatah. Israel Radio reported that FM Tzipi Livni, who is currently visiting Moscow, warned that nuclear fuel that Russia is delivering the Bushehr nuclear reactor might be used for military applications. She added that she expects countries around the world to transform their words into actions and not to let Tehran acquire nuclear weapons. The Jerusalem Post reported that Livni denounced the combination of Iran's "destructive ideology" -- which she said "is not connected to Israel, but to deep extremist foundations" -- with attempts to obtain nuclear weapons. Ha'aretz reported that several drafters of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) will attend next week Herzliya Conference to discuss the scenario of a multi-nuclear region. Israel Radio reported that a solution to the strike of Israeli universities' senior lecturers is apparently close, thanks to an outline devised by Histadrut Labor Federation Secretary-General Ofer Eini. Ha'aretz reported that FM Livni has demanded that her ministry redo its public relations plan for 2008 -- which puts "branding Israel" as its top priority -- because the original ignores Israel's negotiations with the PA. However, these talks are the focus of a separate diplomatic plan the ministry is currently preparing. Ha'aretz reported that Ron Prosor, Israel's new Ambassador to the UK, is applying a proactive PR policy, seeking out the "lion's den to get Israel's message across." Ha'aretz (English Ed.) quoted Peter Joseph, chairman of the New-York based organization Israel Policy Forum, as saying that the "silent majority" of American Jews are eager to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and bring about a two-state solution, despite voices within the community that suggest otherwise. Maariv quoted Abu Obeideh, the commander of the military branch of Hamas, as saying on Thursday in an interview with the Arabic-language Israeli radio Al-Shams that Hamas does not intend to harm Gilad Shalit. Leading media reported that around a month ago Israeli security forces arrested five Islamic Jihad militants who planned to place a bomb on railroad tracks between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Maariv reported that the Judean Desert portion of the West Bank security fence will not be erected, following concerns over its environmental impact. The media reported that on Thursday the Tel Aviv District Court sentenced an Israeli army psychiatrist convicted of endangering national security to five years in prison and two years suspended sentence. David Shamir, a major in the IDF reserves, accepted a plea bargain last week in which he admitted to contact with a foreign agent and of possessing information with the intent of harming national security. Shamir tried to pass to Iran, Hamas, and the Russians classified information which he acquired during his reserve duty. The judges termed Shamir's conduct in the matter "bizarre, enigmatic, and wholly disconnected from reality." The media reported that a District Court judge ordered the release of seven 13- to 14-year-old girls who had refused to identify themselves. The state prosecution had said it would not advocate their release. The girls were arrested 23 days ago at the settler outpost of Givat Ha'Or near the settlement of Beit El and charged with illegal gathering in a closed military zone. Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that Grammy Award-winning musician Miri Ben-Ari, an Israeli "hip hop violinist" best known for her collaborations with artists Kanye West and Jay Z, was awarded the first annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Israel Award for her work in bringing together African-American and Jewish communities closer together through music. Tuesday's event at the Prime Minister's residence was sponsored by the Fellowship of Israel and Black America (FIBA),an initiative aiming to nurture and develop ties between the two communities. President Shimon Peres and the Rev. Kenneth Flowers, an African-American pastor from the Detroit area, also received the award. -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Given the speed at which the situation is deteriorating, [the] day [set by President Bush for a peace agreement] may be much too late." Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular, pluralist Maariv: " Barak's intentions are definitely good, but even he, the experienced and sophisticated man, has forgotten that the settlers eat him for breakfast." Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Fear of Netanyahu has struck the political establishment.... [It] is justified." Very liberal columnist Meron Benvenisti, deputy mayor of Jerusalem from 1971 to 1978, wrote in Ha'aretz: "Olmert is wringing every last drop out of people's desire for peace and will unashamedly exploit the weakness of the Palestinians." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Dimming of the 'Vision Track'" Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (1/18): "When Bush expressed confidence that a final-status agreement could be reached in just a year's time, the immediate reactions among analysts was that the deadline was unrealistic because it was set too soon. Now given the speed at which the situation is deteriorating, that day may be much too late.... The Americans may well have to start considering some of the more out-of-the-box proposals that have been suggested -- such as the introduction of the international force into Gaza -- rather than wait for an eventual 'vision of democracy' that may never materialize.... [President Bush's] next trip here ... is not scheduled until May, just in time to join in Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. But if there are many more weeks [such as the past one] before then, it is hard to say who in the government here Bush will have to officially mark that event with -- and just what exactly there will be to celebrate in terms of a post-Annapolis peace process off to a shaky start." II. "Barak at the Settlers' Service" Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular, pluralist Maariv (1/18): "Barak's intentions are definitely good, but even he, the experienced and sophisticated man, has forgotten that the settlers eat him for breakfast. Based on a Shin Bet report according to which settlement removal will this time be more violent than Amona's [in 2006], the Defense Minister decided for the umpteenth time to improve the law breakers' condition and to sign an agreement with them.... During the past seven years countless agreements have been reached with the settlers to voluntarily remove unauthorized outposts. But now the party seems over. Olmert has decided that he is going to give a real chance to a peace agreement with the Palestinians. For this he needs his defense minister.... But his defense minister is very angry. His talks and agreements [with the settlers] have been torpedoed. He is mad at Olmert rather than at the settlers.... But the situation is quite the opposite! Barak was elected to represent his voters' worldview. Free gifts at the expense of the state to those who trespassed into and stole Palestinian land in the territories, are not included in this worldview." III. "Fear of Netanyahu" Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (1/18): "It is not his acrobatic abilities that are saving Olmert from falling -- the rescuer is opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu. Fear of Netanyahu has struck the political establishment, and the weekly surveys only reinforce it: Anyone who doesn't want Olmert will get Netanyahu, and there is great panic.... The fear of Netanyahu is justified. The very thought that he will soon return makes one shudder. They are afraid, the politicians, as are many ordinary citizens. But fear itself is not recommended over the long term, because fear is a disease and not a cure. Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are the ones responsible for this situation, because they were unable to convince people that they are not Netanyahu: The three are too similar in the eyes of the general public, so why not prefer the original to his clones? To embark on a war unknowingly and flee responsibility, to expand settlements rather than evacuate them, to conduct useless negotiations, to harm the poor and help the rich, to reopen the Ministry for Religious Affairs, to humiliate teachers and professors, to increase the burden on students, and harass the judges in Jerusalem -- to do all this Netanyahu is sufficient and his successors are superfluous. For the purposes of an inferior personal example as well, Netanyahu will do." IV. "The March of Cynics" Very liberal columnist Meron Benvenisti, deputy mayor of Jerusalem from 1971 to 1978, wrote in Ha'aretz (1/18): "Olmert's cynicism is astonishing. He says bombastic things about how he was 'elected with a broad diplomatic agenda, wants to bring about an agreement and intends to realize his vision'.... He is intentionally blurring the difference between a theoretical 'shelf agreement' and an agreement for which there is a commitment to implement it. Since he will never arrive at the first, there is no need to worry about the implementation of the second. Olmert is wringing every last drop out of people's desire for peace and will unashamedly exploit the weakness of the Palestinians, who have to conduct peace negotiations, ostensibly, when scores of them are being killed by the Israeli army. All means are justified to survive politically -- all three cynics [Bush, Olmert, and Abbas] need each other in order to survive." JONES