ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000388 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. Imad Mughniyah's Assassination ¶2. Mideast -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- All media reported that in a recorded video message at Imad Mughniyah's funeral in Beirut on Thursday, Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah vowed to avenge his death, SIPDIS saying, "His blood will lead to Israel's fall.... You have killed Hajj Imad outside the natural battlefield." Nasrallah was referring to Hizbullah's longtime contention it only fights Israel within Lebanon and along their common border. Nasrallah further said. "With this murder, its timing, location and method -- Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open." On Thursday Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a severe travel advisory to all Israeli citizens amid concerns that Hizbullah will attempt terror attacks or kidnappings. The IDF and Shin Bet have gone on high alert. FM Tzipi Livni was quoted as saying in Washington on Thursday that Israel is a "strong country," and that statements uttered by terrorists will not change that. Media reported that Syria intends to provide information on the circumstances of Mughniyah's death soon. Israel Radio reported that the FBI has raised the level of alert in synagogues and other Jewish institutions across the U.S. Ha'aretz reported that the heads of the Palestinian negotiating team and FM Livni object to PM Ehud Olmert's directive to put negotiations on Jerusalem off until the final stage. Ha'aretz quoted chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei as sayng that he was fully authorized and prepared to negotiate on all core issues, without exceptions or priorities. Dr. Saeb Erekat told the paper on Thursday that it was not possible to discuss certain maters without involving Jerusalem. Erekat denied reports of a secret channel between Vice PM Haim Ramon and Palestinian businessman Muhammad Rashid. Erekat added that Rashid had not been authorized by anyone to conduct talks. Ha'aretz further reported that FM Livni sent a letter last week to the head of the Jerusalem city council opposition, Nir Barkat, in which she wrote that in Annapolis Israel and the Palestinians agreed to conduct negotiations on all the core issues "without exception." The paper also mentioned that Livni told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Qassam rocket fire must stop before the end of the negotiations. Israel Radio reported that hundreds of housing units are being built in dozens of settlements in defiance of the orders given by PM Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Ha'aretz reported that on Thursday the Israel Lands Administration named the winners of the tenders to build 307 housing units in East Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood. This will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to stop the planned construction and thus could possibly jeopardize the peace talks. Yediot and Maariv led with interviews and stories linked to the Second Lebanon War. In Yediot, former chief of staff Dan Halutz admitted having made mistakes. Maariv reported that former deputy chief of staff Moshe Kaplinsky told associates that it was too bad that the Winograd Commission did not issue personal recommendations, while Halutz told Maariv that this was a good thing. Ha'aretz reported that on Thursday the IDF bombed a number of abandoned buildings in Gaza that the army said were being used to launch rockets and mortar shells at Israel. Palestinians fired five Qassam rockets at Israel on Thursday. Ha'aretz quoted a security source as saying that that former Hamas FM Mahmoud Zahar entered Egypt from Gaza to resume talks with the Egyptian government on arrangements along the border. Israel Radio quoted senior Egyptian official as saying that Hamas's military branch will not release Gilad Shalit out of concern that Israel will assassinate senior Hamas members. In a feature story, Yediot listed a series of Israeli mistakes in the Shalit affair. Ha'aretz, The Jerusalem Post, and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the U.S. has recently shared new evidence on Iranian efforts to obtain nuclear weapons to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Jerusalem Post reported that the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has set up an Arabic-language web site -- www.infoarab.org (?) -- run by former Israeli ambassador to Egypt Zvi Mazel. Mazel was quoted as saying: "We are seeking to translate materials from progressive and democratic voices in the West into Arabic, and make them available to Arab peoples in the Middle East who otherwise cannot access this material." Yediot reported that Defense Minister Ehud Barak threatens to pull the Labor Party out of the government if the Finance Ministry does not restore certain tax benefits to communities along the northern border. Major media reported that on Thursday hundreds of Golan Heights Druze residents attended an annual protest against Israel's annexation of the area. The Jerusalem Post reported that France and the U.S. have threatened not to participate in the 2009 UN anti-racism conference if it shows signs of being dominated by the same anti-Semitism that was so prevalent in the controversial 2001 event held in Durban, South Africa. Leading liberal writer A.B. Yehoshua was quoted as saying in an interview with Ha'aretz that Israelis and Palestinians are two completely different peoples, that the Palestinians have other moral and cultural codes than Israelis, and that a binational state is a recipe for disaster. Yehoshua, who in 1976 called on Israel to talk to the PLO, said in the interview that the Israeli occupation has to be taken in its proper context. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe and other media reported that on Israel's Independence Day (in May) the pro-settler Jewish-American tycoon Irving Markowitz will award $100,000 to an "outstanding personality in the field of Zionist achievement," as a counterweight to the official Israel Prize. Yediot quoted Silvio Berlusconi, the frontrunner in Italy's legislative elections, as saying in a new book that Europe cannot afford to appear to Israeli society as an enemy entity. Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that the Foreign Ministry and the American Jewish Distribution Committee (JDC) are seeking to tighten relations with the U.S. Latino community through a visit this week by 20 leading American Hispanics to immigrant absorption centers across Israel. The JDC claims that this delegation is the first of its kind. Ha'aretz quoted Dr. Dan Ben David, a Tel Aviv University researcher, as saying that the scope of the brain drain of Israeli lecturers to the U.S. is much more important than that from Western countries. Maariv presented the results of a TNS/Teleseker poll: "Do you support or oppose a ground operation in Gaza aimed at stopping Qassam fire?" Support: 67%; oppose: 25%. "The IDF believes that many lives will be lost in a broad-ranging ground operation in Gaza. In light of this belief do you support or oppose a ground operation in Gaza aimed at stopping Qassam fire?" Support: 51%; oppose: 38%. "Do you believe that a ground operation in Gaza will stop Qassam fire?" No: 53%; yes: 44%. -------------- ¶1. Imad Mughniyah's Assassination: -------------- Summary: -------------- Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Gaza problem is still on the government's agenda. After Mughniyah, escalation could come on both fronts concurrently." Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "Mughniyah's killing does not mark anything.... But one must admit that the [assassination] was sweet. In these crazy times, this is already something." Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Mughniyah's legacy is not simply a laundry list of massacre and torture. It is the nexus of global terror." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Don't Break Out the Champagne Just Yet" Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/15): "The ramifications [of the Mughniyah] operation are likely to be very serious. The year and a half of quiet on the Hizbullah front, about which Olmert boasted at last month's Herzliya Conference, is probably over, although Israeli intelligence officials believe the target will be far from the northern border. Hizbullah is not Syria, which has shown restraint since last September's air force strike. Most indications are that Hizbullah will try to respond relatively quickly, with a terror attack designed to make a big impression. The dramatic news from Damascus made everyone forget the events in Sderot for a day or two. But the Gaza problem is still on the government's agenda. After Mughniyah, escalation could come on both fronts concurrently. The Gaza challenge is immeasurably more complicated, one that cannot be solved by obliterating a jeep.... The IDF is heading toward Gaza. What is not known is whether it will arrive before, after or during the escalation on another front, against Hizbullah." II. "One Man's Defense Establishment" Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (2/15): "Mughniyah has five or six possible successors -- all of them talented and efficient. But an experienced intelligence source who followed Mughniyah for years says that nobody surpasses him.... [But] the West's war on terror is far from over. Mughniyah's killing does not mark anything. There's no knock out, maybe only a victory in points, but one must admit that the [assassination] was sweet. In these crazy times, this is already something." III. "Mughniyah's True Legacy" Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (2/15): "Mughniyah's legacy is not simply a laundry list of massacre and torture. It is the nexus of global terror. While it is a great thing that he is dead, it must be understood that his death is insufficient. Hundreds of thousands converged in Beirut to celebrate his life's work. The West must understand the significance of that work and unite to destroy it -- layer after layer." -------------- ¶2. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Forget sanctions against the civilian population. Forget power cuts. Forget striking down their firstborn. Talk to Hamas. No one ever died from dialogue." David Kimche, former senior Israeli intelligence agent and former director general of the Foreign Ministry wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The Arab states have a vital role to play in the weeks and months ahead.... Prince Turki would never have sent [a] message [of peace] ... if he did not have the backing of the Saudi king to do so." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "A Comment on Gaza" Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/15): "Israelis have stopped believing in victories, with or without quotation marks, for which scores of people have to die. The large-scale operation in Gaza that the generals are talking about is like riding a tiger. It's easy to climb on, but hard to climb off without getting battered and bruised. There is no way to stop the Qassam rockets by force. Massive military incursions are not the answer, and neither are targeted assassinations. Sheikh Yassin was assassinated. So was that the end of Hamas? Did terror stop? Forget sanctions against the civilian population. Forget power cuts. Forget striking down their firstborn. Talk to Hamas. No one ever died from dialogue." II. "An Outstretched Hand" David Kimche, former senior Israeli intelligence agent and former director general of the Foreign Ministry wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (2/15): "For those of us who had connections with Israeli intelligence, Prince Turki al-Faisal was a household name.... The brother of Foreign Minister Prince Faisal, he is considered to be one of the most senior -- and respected -- members of the Royal Household. Perhaps people with a background in intelligence fear less to speak their minds than others.... A Reuters journalist asked the prince if he would like to send a message to the Israeli public. This is what the prince had to say: 'The Arab world, by the Arab peace initiative, has crossed the Rubicon from hostility to Israel to peace with Israel and has extended the hand of peace to Israel, and we await the Israelis picking up our hand and joining us in what inevitably will be beneficial for Israel and the Arab world.' He told the journalist that Israel and the Arabs could cooperate in many areas including water, agriculture, science and education.... The Arab states have a vital role to play in the weeks and months ahead. We should be urging them to become more involved. We should be discussing their peace initiative with them. We should be seeking ways to reach out to them. Prince Turki would never have sent that message via the Reuters journalist if he did not have the backing of the Saudi king to do so." JONES