ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002402 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 quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying that he would remain caretaker until the formation of a new government early next year. HaQaretz quoted police sources as saying on Monday that enough evidence has been amassed against PM Olmert for an indictment to be filed against him within days, In theory, that could lead to his ouster from office even before new elections are held in early February. Leading media reported that DM and Labor Party leader Ehud Barak has challenged Kadima Chairperson Tzipi Livni and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to an American-style debate. Leading media quoted Netanyahu as sayng that he will not give up Jerusalem or the Golan. Media reported that chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei praised Livni for not removing Jerusalem from the negotiations. Media reported that Shas Chairman Eli Yishai has accused Kadima of arrogance and racism. He was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel Radio this morning that he would tone down his remarks. Maariv reported that Netanyahu met with Pensioners Party Chairman and cabinet minister Rafi Eitam, who has since broken his contacts with Kadima. The newspaper reported that the sides deny having concluded an agreement between them. HaQaretz cited reports that have reached the GOI that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on Iran. Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France, but according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as "utterly immature" and comprised of "formulations empty of all content." According to those reports, Sarkozy told Obama at their July meeting that that for the new American president to change his country's policy toward Iran would be "very problematic." An Israeli source was quoted as saying that following their July meeting, Sarkozy repeatedly expressed disappointment with Obama's positions on Iran, concluding that they were "not crystallized, and therefore many issues remain open.Q According to the Israeli source, Sarkozy plans to begin intensive negotiations with the new U.S. administration, regardless of whether it is headed by Obama or Sen. John McCain, even before the new president takes office in January, with the goal of persuading him to continue the current policy on Iran. However, HaQaretz reported that Sarkozy's pessimism does not stem only from Obama's stance; it also stems from the overall behavior of the international community toward Iran's nuclear program, and particularly its inability to agree on a fourth round of Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic. HaQaretz cited SarkozyQs belief that this foot-dragging will make it impossible to effect a change in Iran's nuclear policy. Yediot quoted two American sources conversant with the American commando operation in Syria as saying that it was actually carried out in prior coordination with Syrian military intelligence. The Jerusalem Post reported that representatives of 14 Arab states held a three-day conference in Damascus last week aimed at reinvigorating the decades-old economic and trade boycott of Israel. Maariv reported that Israel protested to Egypt about military maneuvers that Israel says are directed against it. HaQaretz reported that DM Barak favors barring right-wing extremists who attack soldiers or policemen from entering the West Bank and, in extreme cases, even putting them in administrative detention. The newspaper quoted Attorney General Menachem Mazuz as saying that Barak plans to discuss the issue with senior army, police, and legal officials. HaQaretz, The Jerusalem Post, and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that at a meeting with IsraelQs Ambassador to the U.S. Sallai Meridor, Republican vice-presidential hopeful Gov. Sarah Palin told him they would be working together. HaQaretz and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Meridor is also scheduled to meet with Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the McCain campaign allegedly warned U.S. Jews that an Obama victory might produce a new Holocaust. HaQaretz reported that about two weeks ago, 250 Russian speakers from around the country attended a symposium sponsored by backers of the Geneva Initiative. The Jerusalem Post quoted visiting legendary boxing promoter Don King as saying yesterday that the African American community should learn from how the Jews appreciate their historical struggles. Maariv featured the case of Pvt. Michael Handman, an American-Jewish soldier who was beaten unconscious after he complained about religious discrimination at Ft. Benning in Savannah, GA. Maariv said that the phenomenon is widespread on U.S. Army bases. Leading media reported on, and Yediot bannered, the thwarting of an assassination attempt on Sen. Barack Obama. Major media reported that yesterday Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer cut the bankQs discount rate by 0.25 percent. Leading media reported that telecommunications software company Amdocs is laying 500 staff members worldwide, including 200 in Israel. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QWhat remains to be seen is whether in the coming election, voters will grant [Livni] the victory she expects -- and which she certainly deserves. Former Labor Party Knesset member Uzi Baram wrote on page one of the independent Israel Hayom: QIt appears that the struggle will focus on Livni and Netanyahu. Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: QDue to the centrality of Jerusalem in Livni's failed negotiations with Shas, it is apparent that maintaining or ending sovereignty over united Jerusalem will be the central issue of the coming elections. Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "She Deserves to Win" Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/28): QNow, in hindsight, it is clear that the matter was not in Livni's hands at all: Shas never intended to join her government.... Livni tried to forge a new kind of politics. Was she too rigid? Yes. Her decision to go to the President before she had to, for instance, was hasty. But in any case, there is no doubt that she is at peace with herself. She proved that she acts according to her own conscience, and that she speaks from her heart -- something that can definitely be termed a different kind of politics. What remains to be seen is whether in the coming election, voters will grant her the victory she expects -- and which she certainly deserves. II. QLivni or Netanyahu Former Labor Party Knesset member Uzi Baram wrote on page one of the independent Israel Hayom (10/28): QEhud Barak was led to the elections despite himself.... Benjamin Netanyahu is going to the elections as a possible winner.... Netanyahu will try to be moderate and fuzzy on diplomatic issues because he will want to retain the support of parts of the political center and conciliate new members who do not partake of the right-wingQs experience. It appears that the struggle will focus on Livni and Netanyahu. BarakQs situation looks difficult, but his chances of winning a larger slate of Knesset seats than currently predicted cannot be dismissed. He has the ability to fight and convince and the defense issue has not been entirely lifted from the agenda as a key one. III. "All Roads Lead to Jerusalem" Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (10/28): QDue to the centrality of Jerusalem in Livni's failed negotiations with Shas, it is apparent that maintaining or ending sovereignty over united Jerusalem will be the central issue of the coming elections. If the Left can convince a sufficient number of voters that a united Jerusalem is a drain on the country's resources or that it is impossible to enforce Israeli law among an increasingly lawless and irredentist Arab population, then it will have a fighting chance of winning the elections. If the Right is able to demonstrate that the problems that afflict Jerusalem are little different from those suffered by mixed Jewish-Arab cities throughout the country and are a consequence of government and municipal mismanagement, and are therefore manageable, then it will win the elections. Today the problems that Jerusalem faces stem from its unique demographic character, municipal mismanagement and the clear if previously unstated intention of successive leftist governments to eventually withdraw from the Temple Mount and from the city's Arab neighborhoods. -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- Amnon Rubinstein, Law Professor at the Interdisciplinary Center and a former education minister from Meretz, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: QA rejuvenated, cocky Russia does not pose an existential threat to the West.... [But] Iran, unlike Russia, poses a real threat to the peace, stability, and welfare of many countries and to the very existence of the State of Israel. Block Quotes: -------------- "Choose Your Enemy: Moscow or Tehran" Amnon Rubinstein, Law Professor at the Interdisciplinary Center and a former education minister from Meretz, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (10/28): QWhoever is elected U.S. president next month will have to take a vital decision on how to deal with two clear and present crises: an imminent-nuclear Iran and an ebullient, post-Georgia Russia. The two issues are clearly interconnected: Russia under Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev will not allow -- and will even thwart -- effective UN sanctions against Iran until differences with a U.S.-led alliance are remedied and the past East-West understanding is restored. That this interdependence affects the future of Israel and the entire Middle-East is also manifestly clear. Simply put, the next president of the United States will have to decide whether to jeopardize the isolation of the Iranian regime or somehow placate the Russians by, among other things, mothballing the idea of expanding NATO to include Ukraine and Georgia.... A rejuvenated, cocky Russia does not pose an existential threat to the West.... Iran, unlike Russia, poses a real threat to the peace, stability, and welfare of many countries and to the very existence of the State of Israel. CUNNINGHAM