ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001755 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. Fighting in Georgia ¶2. Mideast -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Over the weekend almost all media led with the fighting in Georgia. Today Yediot bannered: "Russia's Iron Fist." Ha'aretz quoted Foreign Ministry officials as saying that Israel is hoping to maintain a low profile with regard to the war in Georgia. One source noted that currently, neither side of the conflict is pleased with Israel's position, since Russia has been irked by Israeli-Georgian weapons deals for some time, and Tbilisi is now frustrated by Israel's decision to halt arms exports. Ha'aretz reported that in a move which drew heavy criticism from defense officials, Israel's Foreign Ministry over the weekend recommended complete cessation of the sale of weapons and security-related equipment to Georgia in light of the fighting between its troops and the Russian Army. Several media quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying yesterday that it "recognizes the territorial integrity of Georgia," "The Foreign Ministry's approach demonstrates a naively simplistic view and a lack of understanding of the complex world of the security deals which Israel is conducting with foreign partners," a defense official told Ha'aretz on condition of anonymity. The Jerusalem Post reported that Tbilisi wants Israel to place diplomatic pressure on Russia, whereas Israel is consulting Russia to fend off bilateral tension. Speaking on Israel Radio yesterday Georgian Minister Temur Yakobshvili praised Israel for its role in training Georgian troops and was quoted as saying that Israel should be proud of its military might. Speaking about the situation in the Gaza Strip, Barak admitted in an interview with Channel 10-TV yesterday that even a large-scale IDF invasion would not stop militant attacks on Israel, adding that he would prefer to see the current cease fire between Israel and Hamas remain in place. He was quoted as saying that a seven-week-old Egyptian-mediated truce is effectively halting the Qassam rocket barrages. Referring to FM Tzipi Livni's bid to gain the premiership, Barak was also quoted as saying: "It is possible to have a prime minister without a security background. The question is what would be wise to do," adding that the country had "seen this deficiency at work two years ago" referring to PM Ehud Olmert's lack of military experience, and how that disadvantage manifested itself in what is widely held as Olmert's faulty handling of the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Barak was also quoted as saying that in his mind the right thing to do now, in the face of security threats and the impending economic recession, would be to form a national unity government. Barring this, Barak was quoted as saying that general elections should be held. Ha'aretz quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying yesterday that the Egyptian mediators brokering a deal for the release of Gilad Shalit have made no progress in their talks with Hamas. Israel Radio and other media quoted a senior Hamas source who told the London-based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat that Egypt was not interested in expediting the deal for Shalit's release because it did not want Hamas to receive credit for it. The source was quoted as saying that Egypt was not eager to invest efforts and persuade Israel to agree to the terms for concluding the deal. Ha'aretz also reported that Egypt has recently sealed dozens of tunnels that were used to smuggle goods and weapons from the Sinai to Gaza. Yesterday Israel Radio cited London's Sunday Times as saying that the Syrian general who was assassinated last week, Mohammed Suleiman, supplied Hizbullah with advanced anti-aircraft missiles. The British newspaper quoted Israeli sources as saying that last month PM Olmert asked French President Nicolas Sarkozy to give Syrian President Assad a message that as far as Israel is concerned, he has crossed a red line by supplying Hizbullah with arms. Yesterday Maariv reported that last Wednesday the High Court of Justice ruled that the PA does not enjoy full sovereign status and that lawsuits may be brought against it in Israeli courts, which could lead to dozens of damage suits against the PA. Leading media reported that veteran journalist Shalom Kital, who enjoyed a special affinity with the late PM Menachem Begin, will soon sign on as a special adviser to Defense Minister Barak. Leading media reported on the death on Saturday in Austin, Texas, of the Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish. He will be buried in Ramallah tomorrow, despite calls by Arab intellectuals to inter him in the Galilee, where he was born. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that last week left-wing Ha'aretz columnist Gideon Levy granted an interview to the German newspaper National-Zeitung, which is considered a mouthpiece for neo-Nazi groups. Levy said in the interview that conditions in Israel are worse that those that prevailed during South Africa's apartheid period. Maariv reported that the Finance Ministry has banned the import of books printed in Syria and Lebanon -- mostly translations of popular children's books. -------------- ¶1. FiQting in Georgia: -------------- Summary: -------------- Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote on page one of the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Israel wants to help Georgia -- up to a point. And that point is where that help begins to hurt Israel's own strategic interests with the Russians." Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of Haifa Avraham (Avi) Ben-Zvi wrote in the independent Israel Hayom: "A call for a Russian withdrawal from Georgian territory is still missing from official U.S. rhetoric, to say nothing about sanctions ahead of a possible war." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Israel Tiptoes around the Georgian Conflict" Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote on page one of the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (8/11): "Israel wants to help Georgia -- up to a point. And that point is where that help begins to hurt Israel's own strategic interests with the Russians. Israel wants to keep the Russians from Tehran, and to try to somehow get them on board as far as sanctions are concerned. Israel needs Russia on the Iranian issue, and is not going to get that help by selling too much to Georgia. At the same time, the Russian-Georgian conflict does give Israel some newfound leverage with the Russians. Because if the Russians do show signs of selling offensive arms to our neighbors, Israel could respond in kind by selling offensive arms to Russia's neighbors, such as Georgia." II. "Groveling Stuttering" Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of Haifa Avraham (Avi) Ben-Zvi wrote in the independent Israel Hayom (8/11): "Even if his diplomatic options are limited, there is no justification for the fact that Bush is entrusting the negotiating to other mediators, including France and even Finland. Even if the U.S. administration's warnings against disproportional actions against Georgia can be viewed as a toughening of positions, a call for a Russian withdrawal from Georgian territory is still missing from official U.S. rhetoric, to say nothing about sanctions ahead of a possible war." -------------- ¶2. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "While Lebanon has no centrifuges or enriched uranium, it has turned into a genuine threat, having dragged Israel into a number of wars and perpetually high levels of tension." Prominent liberal author A. B. Yehoshua wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "I had always hoped for another meeting in the future, but here he has died -- [Mahmoud Darwish], the poet who was both our adversary and our friend." Veteran journalist and anchor Dan Margalit wrote on page one of the independent Israel Hayom: "[The just deceased Palestinian national poet Mahmoud] Darwish advocated the expulsion of a people, and if he were Jewish and had written in Hebrew, he would have been declared a war criminal, a racist and a fascist." Very liberal columnist Gideon Levy wrote in Ha'aretz: "[Shaul Mofaz's] hands have a great deal more blood on them than this scary Netanyahu has." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "A Single Precondition" Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (8/10): "Israel is justly demanding that Syria stops the arms exports to Lebanon, just as it has asked Egypt to stop the arms smuggling from its territory to the Gaza Strip. The U.S. also maintains that Syria can prevent the transfer of terrorists and arms from its territory into Iraq. However, there is a difference between Egypt, which is trying to block the transfer of arms and is even combating the terrorist groups in Sinai, and Syria. Because Syria ... views Hizbullah as a strategic asset and not a threatening rival, like Egypt views Hamas..... While Lebanon has no centrifuges or enriched uranium, it has turned into a genuine threat, having dragged Israel into a number of wars and perpetually high levels of tension. Israel, which is threatening to forcefully put an end to the flow of arms to Hizbullah, cannot simultaneously toy with polite negotiations with Syria. It is difficult to expect Syria to continue negotiating with Israel if it attacks Hizbullah's arms depots, or if it targets the Syrian arms storage facilities that ship to Lebanon. But this is the same Syria that, following American threats and sanctions, knew how to put an end to terrorists and arms entering Iraq and recognized that it must take a step back when Turkey threatened war after accusing Damascus of supporting Kurdish separatist organizations. Syria can and should block the border with Lebanon. This is not a gesture of goodwill toward Israel, but a precondition for continuing negotiations." II. "A Poet, a Friend, and an Adversary" Prominent liberal author A. B. Yehoshua wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (8/10): "First of all, Mahmoud Darwish was a great poet who possessed true poetic power.... Mahmoud voluntarily exiled himself from Israel, and I always regretted that..... He seemed to me to be a worthy partner -- difficult and critical, but worthy. Very quickly he became the Palestinians' national poet, the poet of exile, and the poet of the refugee condition.... DarwishQs figure was so enticing to me that I created a shadow of it in [my novel] The Liberated Bride.... He came a year and a half ago to visit Haifa, and Jews and Arabs here prepared a wonderful welcome for him..... I had always hoped for another meeting in the future, but here he has died -- the poet who was both our adversary and our friend." III. "Adulation of a Racist" Veteran journalist and anchor Dan Margalit wrote on page one of the independent Israel Hayom (8/11): "More than bemoaning the destruction of its national sovereignty on Tisha B'Av [the day of mourning for the Jews' First and Second Temple], the people residing in Zion pranced yesterday before the coffin of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish in a kind of adulation of someone who called in his works to expel the Jews from the Land of Israel, and to give them the bones of their forefathers to carry as they go into exile. A kind of judenrein that includes the cemeteries as well. A kind of Ahmadinejad in poetry. A kind of Nakba intended for Jews.... Darwish advocated the expulsion of a people, and if he were Jewish and had written in Hebrew, he would have been declared a war criminal, a racist and a fascist." IV. "Netanyahu the Devil" Very liberal columnist Gideon Levy wrote in Ha'aretz (8/10): "They're playing that old tune again: Anybody but Benjamin ('they're-afffraid') Netanyahu. Shaul Mofaz loves peace; Tzipi Livni will end the occupation; and Ehud Barak will treat the Palestinians like human beings. Only Netanyahu will bring disaster. Once again, the political fashion is to discuss how to stop the king of the opinion polls and the prince of disaster.... Mofaz, for example, should frighten us much more: His hands have a great deal more blood on them than this scary Netanyahu has. While Netanyahu dispatched a representative to the Syrian president and sent out feelers about an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan, Mofaz pledges 'peace for peace,' insults our intelligence, and actually promises another war in the north. The father of assassinations, he turned the Israel Defense Forces into a vengeful gang in the occupied territories.... Barak's current term as defense minister does not give us reason to fear him any less than Netanyahu: This was a period of disproportionate and unbridled killing in Gaza. This is the man who invented the false no-partner theory and smashed the remnants of the Israeli peace camp.... And what about Livni? She is certainly not as fearsome as Netanyahu. But she, too, thinks that talks with Syria and the Palestinians are moving too fast. After 40 years of occupation and bloodshed, Olmert's turtle-like pace is too fast for his 'moderate' foreign minister. That is the choice.... The media embraces Livni, accepts Mofaz as legitimate, sometimes supports Barak, but is terrified only by Netanyahu. Why?" MORENO