ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000290 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: -------------- ¶1. Mideast ¶2. Chad -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- All media reported that in response to the Hamas suicide bombing in Dimona, Israel killed nine Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians in turn fired heavy barrages of rockets at southern Israel -- including some in the Ashkelon area -- that wounded several including a 14-year-old girl. Tuesday's rocket barrages were the heaviest since Hamas breached the border with Egypt two weeks ago. Leading media reported that some of the rocket fire was directed at President Shimon Peres, who was scheduled to visit Sderot in the afternoon. Ha'aretz cited the IDF's belief that should the escalation continue, a large-scale ground operation in Gaza will become more likely. Maariv reported that the IDF is weighing stepping up targeted assassinations. The Jerusalem Post reported that FM Tzipi Livni is expected to present her ministry's recommendations to allow Egypt to increase the number of soldiers and security guards along the border, at a special meeting scheduled for Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office. At the same time, government officials told The Jerusalem Post that Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, the powerful head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, remained opposed to any increase to the 750 troops already there. The officials were quoted as saying that Gilad believed the Egyptians currently had enough troops deployed along the border and that what was needed were not additional troops, but an increase in motivation. Prof. Yehezkel Dror, one of the members of the Winograd Commission, hinted in an interview with Maariv that the fact that PM Olmert may reach peace or that new elections could bring Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu to power influenced the commission's conclusions. Dror's remarks triggered a strong rebuke from Likud members and other right-wing politicians. Several media quoted Dror as saying on Tuesday at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya that Israel has turned abductions of its citizens into a weapon against itself. Israel Radio later quoted members of the commission as saying that Dror's remarks only reflected his own views. Leading media reported that on Tuesday FM Tzipi Livni wrote all employees in her ministry -- in Israel and abroad -- that the Winograd report "holds a mirror to Israel's leadership [and] reflects a very harsh picture." Livni wrote that the ministry is bracing for future events. The Jerusalem Post reported that a number of Foreign Ministry employees "reacted with a mixture of cynicism and bemusement" to Livni's letter, which one ministry official said smacked of self-aggrandizement, in particular because Livni wanted to amplify her role in the achievement of UN Resolution 1701. Ha'aretz reported that an interministerial task force was established to examine the possibility of stationing an international force in the Gaza Strip. Among other things, the panel is analyzing the similarities and differences between Lebanon and Gaza and assessing the effectiveness of UNIFIL, the multinational UN force in Lebanon. Lading media reported that Shas chairman Eli Yishai asked FM Livni on Tuesday morning to end diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians in the wake of Monday's bombing in Dimona. Yediot reported that Iran has conceived special assembly lines for weapons intended for Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday the High Court of Justice will hold a hearing on a petition by Peace Now and Palestinian landowners demanding that the state dismantle the illegal outpost of Migron. In what it called a "U.S. flip-flop," Ha'aretz quoted National Intelligence Director John "Mike" McConnell as saying on Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee that it is unclear whether Tehran has returned to producing nuclear weapons in the past six months. He warned that Iran "would be technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon" by the end of next year. Maariv reported on the results of a poll that shows that the Israeli government is using to support its position that the Palestinians are prepared to concede the right of return. The newspaper said that the poll, by the Arab World Research and Development, conforms to a great extent to the proposal that was made by Vice PM Haim Ramon, who has written an Israeli proposal for the final status arrangement in which only a handful of refugees would be permitted to resettle inside Israel, and that the others would be permitted only to return to the territory of the Palestinian state. The principal findings of this poll, which was reported to the cabinet ministers by Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin, also shows that there has been a drop in the overall support for the two-state solution.` Ha'aretz reported that thousands of right-wing activists, including hundreds wearing sackcloth as a symbol of mourning, gathered at Jerusalem's Western Wall on Tuesday for a day of prayer aimed at keeping Jerusalem unified in the face of proposals to divide the city. The rally was organized with the approval of three of Israel's leading rabbis: Yosef Sholom Elyashiv, Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef, and former Mordechai Eliyahu, who have a wide following among all sectors of the religious public. The Jerusalem Post reported that Knesset Member Benny Elon (National Union-National Religious Party) is proposing the establishment of an international body in lieu of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to deal with the resettlement of Palestinians over the next decade. Elon was quoted as saying that Jordan, not the PA, is the Palestinians' official representative. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "[Ehud Barak's] remaining in the government while behaving like a separatist may add to his political power, but will cause destructive paralysis and damage the government's operations, politics and the country." Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Now of all times, we need to set our anger and old scores [with Egypt] aside and sit down for a serious talk about this affair." The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Israel knows all too well that the price of reckless prisoner deals is the loss of many civilian lives, more kidnappings, and more suffering. A truly responsible and reformed premier cannot overlook such experience." Columnist and former justice minister Yosef Lapid wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "Following the [Second] Lebanon War, Syria noted that Israel's Achilles' heel is its home front." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Either In or Out" The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/6): "As the publication of the final [Winograd] report approached, [Ehud] Barak ... continued to broadcast a vague message that presumably lets him change his mind at any given moment. First he declared that the report was severe, but he said he had to stay in the government 'because of the challenges that are confronting the country.' Just one day later he told his party faction that the 'report is severe, with personal and ethical conclusions that are not simple,' that Olmert is not immune to criticism and that 'we will decide when to respond and we will determine a date for elections.' Barak's choice does no honor to him and shames the Labor Party.... If Barak believes that Olmert is not worthy of continuing to head the government, and is interested in replacing him, he must resign and run at the head of his party in elections. If he has chosen to stay he is signaling that he has confidence in Olmert. Remaining in the government while behaving like a separatist may add to his political power, but will cause destructive paralysis and damage the government's operations, politics and the country." II. "A Bone in Both Our Throats" Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/6): "Who is angrier? Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Barak came away from the Gaza border breach affair embittered not only with Hamas. They are angry (very much so, but quietly for the time being) with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was already marked as a collaborator by the convoys of Gazan pilgrims to Mecca, the arms smuggling and the penetration of armed terrorists to Sinai... On the other side of the divide, Mubarak is seething with anger at Israel. His political senses and the intelligence he had warned him about an impending catastrophe. Two days before the fence collapsed Mubarak warned Olmert and Barak that the Gaza cage was on the verge of boiling over, that the despair therein was liable to cause a meltdown.... We need to talk. Now of all times, we need to set our anger and old scores aside and sit down for a serious talk about this affair. We need to examine along with Egypt the new situation and to create cooperation -- to think about the present and to plan the future. The Shin Bet with the Mukhabarat [the Egyptian Intelligence Service], IDF Intelligence with the Egyptian military intelligence, the Israeli security establishment with the Egyptian security establishment, the Israel Police with the Egyptian police. We need to shy away from the cameras and to sit down until we obtain results, until trust is established. Egypt and Israel arenQt going anywhere and Gaza is stuck like a bone in both sidesQ throats. If a fence is built, then build it with Egypt, not behind its back." III. "No More 'Crazy Deals'" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (2/6): "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is understood to have decided in favor of 'relaxing' the criteria that qualify Palestinian terrorist convicts to be swapped for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. His decision is geared to loosen definitions of which convicts have 'blood on their hands,; a category of convicts that it has been longstanding Israeli policy not to release.... Thus the Olmert government, though acting for the laudable cause of bringing home a kidnapped soldier, potentially escalates the risk of more terrorism to Israel's civilian population (whose defense is the government's primary obligation),boosts some of Israel's worst enemies, and simultaneously diminishes the credibility of these enemies' potentially more moderate political rivals.... The Winograd report .. approvingly notes American resolve not to negotiate with terrorists, a 'factor that makes the kidnapping of Americans unprofitable.' The fact that Olmert seems to be acting in direct and unequivocal contravention of the conclusions of the very report he ceremoniously undertook to accept and implement casts heavy doubts on his credibility and prudence. But he should have known better even without the report.... Israel knows all too well that the price of reckless prisoner deals is the loss of many civilian lives, more kidnappings, and more suffering. A truly responsible and reformed premier cannot overlook such experience." IV. "The Next War Will Not Be Like the Previous One" Columnist and former justice minister Yosef Lapid wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (2/6): "For some reason, Israel is not worried about the possibility of Syria starting a war. Mossad Director Meir Dagan warned this week that Syria has doubled its number of missiles.... Following the [Second] Lebanon War, Syria noted that Israel's Achilles' heel is its home front.... There are two reasons why Israel does take this threat seriously. The first is practical -- Syria cannot afford to start a war with Israel, even were Hizbullah to support it. There is great logic in this. Assad knows he could be beaten, even he were able to cause Israel great harm. The only question is whether Syria would act according to that logic.... The second reason ... is that the [Israeli] government has enough trouble as it is." -------------- ¶2. Chad: -------------- Summary: -------------- Ovadia Soffer, former Israeli ambassador to Chad and France, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "The war now raging in Chad ... goes beyond the rebels' attempt to topple Idriss Deby, Chad's current President. The rebels are openly supported by the Sudanese regime." Block Quotes: -------------- "African Plots" Ovadia Soffer, former Israeli ambassador to Chad and France, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (2/6): "Chad's importance to Israel grew after Qadhafi came to power (at the beginning of my tenure in Chad).... Years later, around the Yom Kippur War, Chad broke its relations with Israel, followed by most African states; but while those resumed their relations with Israel in the 80s, Chad has not done so.... The war now raging in Chad ... goes beyond the rebels' attempt to topple Idriss Deby, Chad's current President. The rebels are openly supported by the Sudanese regime, which is attempting to prevent the European EUROFOR unit from positioning itself along the Sudanese border.... [Sudan] is taking advantage of the West's ineptitude. Meanwhile the flow of refugees to Cameroun and other neighboring countries is increasing. They leave behind hundreds of bodies and thousands of wounded in Chad and Kenya as well -- where battles and mutual ethnic killings, as [Sudan] is destabilizing pro-Western regimes and strengthening global terror and the regimes supporting it." JONES