ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002623 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: -------------- Yediot reported that yesterday in Washington PM Ehud Olmert asked the U.S. administration to speed up the diplomatic process with the Palestinians. He was quoted as saying that President-elect Barack Obama will not have time for the Middle East. The Jerusalem Post reported that, at a working breakfast with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Olmert stressed the importance of shunning Hamas until it meets the QuartetQs demand of renouncing violence and recognizing Israel. HaQaretz quoted DM Ehud Barak as saying yesterday before the Knesset plenum that Hizbullah had tripled its rocket strength since the 2006 war in Lebanon and that it now possesses 42,000 rockets, some of which are capable of striking Ashkelon, Yerucham, and Dimona. Barak blasted critics who had called for a massive offensive in Gaza, saying that Israel would not become hostage to a lone Qassam rocket. He was quoted as saying: QA Gaza operation will not hasten the return of Gilad Shalit. HaQaretz reported that Israel has agreed to release 220 of the 350 prisoners convicted of serious crimes whose freedom Hamas is demanding in exchange for Shalit. This represents a significant moderation of IsraelQs position, as it had previously agreed to release only 150 of these prisoners. Nevertheless, the gap between the parties remains wide. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel will deploy close to 1,000 policemen in Bethlehem in the run-up to the Christmas season. The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the state acknowledged that residents of the illegal outpost of Migron will be able to stay there for years. All media reported that Samir Kuntar, the Lebanese terrorist released by Israel earlier this year, spoke across the Golan border �A;with Syria yesterday and promised that President Bashar Assad would Qsoon wave the Syrian flag over the Golan. Leading media reported that yesterday Tehran claimed to have uncovered an Israeli spy ring responsible for collecting information about its nuclear facilities. HaQaretz reported that Shas is launching a campaign to seek compensation for Jewish refugees who came to Israel from Arab states. The campaign, part of the ultra-Orthodox party's election platform, counters Palestinian demands for the right of return of their refugees. HaQaretz reported that Hamas correspondence intercepted by the PA and obtained by the newspaper reveals a deep divide between the organization's leadership abroad, its West Bank leadership, and the Gaza leadership. The leadership abroad says it does not want "to control Gaza completely while losing the West Bank." The Jerusalem Post reported that on Sunday the PLOQs Central Council declared PA President Mahmoud Abbas Qpresident of the State of the Palestine,Q in response to HamasQs opposition to the extension of his term in office beyond January 9. The title had been previously held by Yasser Arafat. Leading media reported that, just two weeks after the establishment of the new right wing party, Habayit Hayehudi (the QJewish Home"),a crisis is looming over the decision of its public council not to hold a primary vote to elect its list of Knesset candidates. Leading media reported that yesterday Iraqi MP Mithal Al-Alusi won a legal fight in order not to be punished for his visits to Israel. HaQaretz reported that yesterday government agencies released a series of downbeat economic statistics showing that the crisis is spreading from the financial sector to the rest of the economy. All media reported that yesterday the Bank of Israel cut its discount rate by 0.5% to 2.5%. Maariv cited the results of a poll taken among Israelis on the issue of the Golan. One third of respondents believe that IDF solders should refuse orders to evacuate the Golan and 58% are opposed to a withdrawal from the area even in exchange for full peace. Maariv and The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a poll presented at the Sderot Society Conference, which show that 72% of Israelis believe that the regime in the country is corrupt. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QIdeas [pertaining to an Arab-Israeli agreement] deserve to receive the official stamp of approval of the Obama administration and to be, in practice, submitted to the voters in both communities so that those who prefer the hard right parties here, and Hamas there, know in advance that they are choosing confrontation with Obama's America. Columnist and former IDF Intelligence chief Shlomo Gazit wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: QIn our deliberations on the way to the polling stations, the peace issue must be a decisive consideration in our choice among the candidates. A clear answer to the challenge given by the Arab peace initiative ad is immeasurably more important than the list of new stars that will adorn the list of Knesset candidates. Conservative columnist Amos Carmel wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QLarge letters at the top of the ad [placed in Israeli papers by the PLO] promise us Qdiplomatic and normal relationsQ in return for an Qend to the occupation.Q The small print shows that the price is a lot higher. Not in acceding to the fluttering of the dove's wings of peace, but in bringing in a Trojan horse. Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "ObamaQs Opportunity" The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (11/25): QImmediacy, priority and the personal involvement of the [incoming] president are no less important than the components of [his] plan [for an Arab-Israeli agreement], one version of which was made public last weekend by two old U.S. foreign affairs and security hands who are advising Obama, partly behind the scenes -- Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski. There's nothing wrong with a peace based upon ensuring Israel's security within the 1967 borders, with agreed-upon changes to the border and exchanges of territory that will leave within Israel those settlement blocs whose evacuation would be too expensive and too painful; a demilitarized Palestinian state whose capital is East Jerusalem; and the retraction of the demand for resettlement of the refugees within Israel. It is campaign season in Israel as well as in the Palestinian Authority. These ideas deserve to receive the official stamp of approval of the Obama administration and to be, in practice, submitted to the voters in both communities so that those who prefer the hard right parties here, and Hamas there, know in advance that they are choosing confrontation with Obama's America. II. So, Yes or No to Peace?" Columnist and former IDF Intelligence chief Shlomo Gazit wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (11/25): QA few days ago we could not help but see huge ads in all the major newspapers with a full Hebrew translation of the Arab peace initiative. The Arab world is also aware of the upcoming elections here, and the publication was meant to challenge the political establishment in Israel.... The Arab and Muslim world, the new administration in Washington and, above all, we, the voters in Israel, expect a clear answer from Tzipi Livni, from Benjamin Netanyahu, and from Ehud Barak. Don't evade the matter. Give us a clear answer. Is Israel genuinely striving for peace with our neighbors? And if the answer is affirmative -- what is their plan? In our deliberations on the way to the polling stations, the peace issue must be a decisive consideration in our choice among the candidates. A clear answer to the challenge given by the Arab peace initiative ad is immeasurably more important than the list of new stars that will adorn the list of Knesset candidates. III. "The Trojan Initiative" Conservative columnist Amos Carmel wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/25): QThe flag-bedecked ads that the PLO published last week in the Israeli press provide the reader with an important service.... The summarizing announcement of the Beirut summit (on March 28, 2002) in which the declaration was written that takes up the center of the ... ad, the writers were quick to assign Israel with Qfull legal responsibility for the existence of the problem of the Palestinian refugeesQ and to stress their Qabsolute opposition to all the plans and attempts to settle them outside of their homes.Q What else do we need to understand what is being said here? Large letters at the top of the ad promise us Qdiplomatic and normal relationsQ in return for an Qend to the occupation.Q The small print shows that the price is a lot higher. Not in acceding to the fluttering of the dove's wings of peace, but in bringing in a Trojan horse. Indeed, a historic turning point. -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Summary: -------------- The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QThe [British] Foreign Secretary's overly nuanced and highly conservative message could easily lead the mullahs to conclude that there is no credible downside to their building a bomb. Block Quotes: -------------- "MilibandQs QStark ChoiceQ" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/25): QBritish Foreign Secretary David Miliband told a think-tank audience in Abu Dhabi yesterday that the Qprospect of a nuclear-armed Iran poses the most immediate threat to the stabilityQ of the region.... Unfortunately, in trying to convince the Arabs to get tougher with Iran, Miliband actually gave them every reason not to: QThe pressure we are applying to Iran, the sanctions we have supported in both the EU and the UN, are not an attempt at regime change,Q he said. QNor are they a precursor to military action. We are 100% committed to a diplomatic resolution of this disputeQ.... The Foreign Secretary's overly nuanced and highly conservative message could easily lead the mullahs to conclude that there is no credible downside to their building a bomb: Existing sanctions are insufficiently draconian to deter; the pace by which they could conceivably be strengthened is pathetically out of whack with Iranian nuclear advances; the regime is under no threat; and the military option is off the table. MORENO