ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000437 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. Kosovo ¶3. U.S.-Israel Relations -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Yediot reported that preparations are well underway for President Bush's "farewell" visit to Israel in May. Ha'aretz reported that PM Ehud Olmert will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while both are in Japan next week. The meeting was requested by Secretary Rice. Ha'aretz noted that it is particularly surprising because Rice is due to come to Jerusalem for a working visit the following week. Ha'aretz reported that GOI officials predicted that the meeting would focus on the situation in the Gaza Strip, and quoted them as saying that Rice probably wanted to express her concern over the humanitarian situation there. Ha'aretz reported that General William Fraser, the U.S. envoy responsible for monitoring implementation of the Roadmap, visited Israel this week and met with officials in the Prime Minister's Office, the defense establishment and the Foreign Ministry. Ha'aretz quoted a GOI official as saying that on his next trip, Fraser would present a plan for how both sides should move forward on these obligations. The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that on Thursday in Washington Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch cautioned Israel on the use of force in Gaza as the IDF mulls an invasion to stop the Qassam rocket fire. "We urge caution and proportionality," he was quoted as saying. Maariv reported that in private talks, a senior GOI source involved in negotiations to free Gilad Shalit said that the price tag -- the list of prisoners demanded by Hamas -- of a deal is too high. The Jerusalem Post quoted an official at the Prime Minister's Office, who is familiar with a plan by PM Olmert to establish an unprecedented high-level government task force charged with altering the Israel-Diaspora relationship, as saying that "now U.S. Jewry is in a crisis of identity, or intermarriage. We see it and we feel it, if nowhere else, in the cash flow." Israel Radio reported that overnight the IAF conducted two raids against the central Gaza Strip. The radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that two Islamic Jihad militants were killed and that another man was injured. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the IDF is planning to evacuate Ashdod residents in case Qassam rockets hit strategic targets in the city, such as chemical plants. Yediot reported that the Transportation Ministry's security officer has instructed all airlines landing in Israel to compel all passengers to fasten seat belts 290 km (10 miles) from the Israeli coastline, i.e. about half-an-hour before the plane reaches the coast. Until now, that distance was 150 km from the coastline. Yediot reported that Mossad Director Meir Dagan has asked President Shimon Peres to reassure the Diaspora Jews, saying that the fear of terrorist attacks against Jewish targets abroad is exaggerated. Ha'aretz ran a feature about Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, whose unconditional support for Israel "is likely to draw Jewish voters." Yediot reported that Sen. Barack Obama's staff of are distributing to potential Jewish donors his list of Middle East advisors, Dennis Ross being the most prominent one. The Jerusalem Post reported that the residents of the Catholic northern Israeli village of Fassouta, which Sen. Obama visited two years, are particularly supportive of him. Dr. George Ayoub, the Mayor of Fassouta, hailed his charisma, humility, and emphasis on dialogue. Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann was quoted as saying in an interview with Yediot that the High Court of Justice acts "like a religious party" and "does things that I believe no court in Europe dares do: it deals in propaganda, lobbies journalists and Knesset members, and meets Knesset members. Afterwards the Knesset members present petitions to the court." Friedmann also criticized the court's intervention in government and military decisions, such as interdiction of the "neighbor procedure," and the determination of the route of the security fence. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Shas plans to quit the government coalition in the summer, after the completion of religious legislation. Ha'aretz reported that Russia has offered to host and finance events to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary. However, an official source in Jerusalem cautioned that there are no free lunches in Moscow. Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that on Thursday a group of 14 Palestinian militants escaped from a PA prison in Nablus. The prisoners, members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, had been involved in fighting against the IDF in recent months and were hiding in Nablus' old city, the Kasba. Some six weeks ago, the group turned itself in to the PA, following a comprehensive IDF operation in the Kasba. The IDF agreed to let the militants, who are wanted by Israel, stay in the Palestinian prison on condition that the Palestinian security forces keep them incarcerated and deny them weapons and contact with terror organizations until Israel pardons them. So far, however, Israel has refused to include the men in the pardon agreement for Fatah fighters, under which Palestinians give up their arms in return for an Israeli amnesty. Israel Radio reported that this morning the prisoners returned to the prison. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Jordan's King Abdullah II as saying in an interview with the Jordanian newspaper Ad-Dustour that Israel's legitimacy in the region depends on its treatment of the Palestinian people. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday FM Tzipi Livni slammed Europe for failing to grasp Gaza's "zero sum game." Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that on Thursday the European Parliament passed a resolution urging Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza. The resolution says that Israel's policy of isolating Gaza has "failed" and calls for a "controlled re-opening" of crossings in and out of the territory. Ha'aretz reported that Italian FM Massimo D'Alema termed the assassination of Imad Mughniyah "terror" in an interview to be published today in the popular Italian weekly L'Espresso. He also said that Israeli assassinations of Hamas officials "have not bolstered the West's image, and serve as an alibi for terror." Leading media cited the IDF's claim that Peace Now figures on the discrimination by Israel on West Bank building permits are distorted. Yediot and Maariv reported that computerized imaging by experts from the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC) has determined that by July Iran will have enough enriched uranium to produce nuclear weapons. The Jerusalem Post reported that a conference of individuals and NGOs will convene in Brussels on Friday to discuss what organizers call the "crimes committed by the Israeli army in Lebanon. MK Said Nafa (National Democratic Assembly - Balad) plans to attend. Leading media cited the British daily The Guardian as saying that the British Foreign Office fought to keep secret any mention of Israel in the first draft of the controversial Iraq weapons dossier made public this week. Leading media reported that handling of the riots in the mostly Druze village of Peki'in were marked by gross organizational failure on the part of the police. The riots, in which 29 police officers and 13 civilians were injured, occurred on October 30, 2007. The Jerusalem Post quoted senior officials as saying that the government has launched a program to distribute the recent influx of African refugees to the northern and southernmost peripheries. Ha'aretz reported that the Jewish community in Russia is concerned that a rumor campaign by Russia's nationalist parties that Russian presidential candidate Dmitri Medvedev is Jewish could create a backlash that would strengthen anti-Semitic currents in Russia. The Jerusalem Post reported that in a move that ends a central dispute between the two largest Orthodox rabbinic organizations in the world, Israel's Chief Rabbinate has agreed to recognize conversions performed by the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). Until now, RCA conversions were not automatically accepted by the Chief Rabbinate. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Whoever wants to avoid the need for ... international intervention [in Gaza], the need for an IDF offensive, and the suffering of the Palestinian population -- must pressure Hamas to put an end to the shooting that is causing all this." Block Quotes: -------------- "Who Is Pressuring Gaza?" The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/22): "Israel can no longer explain to itself that it has to become reconciled to the shooting of rockets and mortars against its communities. A responsible government is required, at the end of the day, to be accountable to its citizens who are under attack. Its justifications for the failings, however reasonable they may be, may result in its rejection.... It may be exaggerated to describe the attitude of the international community as 'pressure'.... So long as there is no president in the White House who threatens to suspend military aid to Israel, or avoids vetoing a Security Council resolution unfavorable to Israel, it is too much to talk about pressure being applied on Israel.... To this is added the multinational force idea. [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi have sent out a clear message in recent weeks: They are not excited about a large-scale operation in southern and northern Gaza, but the operation is nearing because the Qassam terror is not coming to an end. The duration of the operation will depend on the political and security arrangements that will be reached at its completion -- the transferring of responsibility for the territory from which the IDF will withdraw following the completion of its mission.... The idea will not be enthusiastically welcomed by all; but whoever wants to avoid the need for such international intervention, the need for an IDF offensive, and the suffering of the Palestinian population -- must pressure Hamas to put an end to the shooting that is causing all this." -------------- ¶2. Kosovo: -------------- Summary: -------------- Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "[Israel] should also state that as a consequence of Kosovo's independence, Israel ... refuses to cede its legal right to sovereignty in Judea, Samaria [i.e. the West Bank], Gaza, and Jerusalem to international arbitration." Block Quotes: -------------- "Kosovo's Stark Warning" Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (2/22): "The fledgling failed-state of Kosovo is a great boon for global jihad. It is true that Kosovar Muslims by and large do not subscribe to radical Islam. But it is also true that they have allowed their territory to be used as bases for al-Qaida operations; that members of the ruling Kosovo Liberation Army have direct links to al-Qaida; and that the Islamic world as a whole perceived Kosovo's fight for independence from Serbia as a jihad for Islamic domination of the disputed province.... [In the same direction,] today, Israel is enabling the Palestinians to set the political and legal conditions for the establishment of an internationally recognized state of Palestine that will be at war with Israel.... The lessons of Kosovo are clear. Not only should Israel join Russia, Canada, China, Spain, Romania and many others in refusing to recognize Kosovo. It should also state that as a consequence of Kosovo's independence, Israel rejects the deployment of any international forces to Gaza or Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank], and refuses to cede its legal right to sovereignty in Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and Jerusalem to international arbitration." -------------- ¶3. U.S.-Israel Relations: -------------- Summary: -------------- Daniel Levy, who was the main Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative, wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The preference for a prolonged strategic relationship with the U.S. should not extend to an exclusive reliance on that relationship or preclude placing some eggs in other baskets -- in Europe, in Asia, and yes, also in the Arab and Muslim worlds." Block Quotes: -------------- "Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst" Daniel Levy, who was the main Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative, wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/22): "Israel should be looking beyond the election. Yes, an Obama presidency is more likely to reverse America's decline -- internally and externally -- and to correct the hubris, incompetence and adventurism of the Bush years. The same might also be true of Clinton and McCain, though it seems less likely. It is what Obama could do to reenergize America that is first and foremost the good news for Israel. And when he talks of 'changing the mindset' that got America into the Iraq war, Obama implies a policy of realism and engagement that stands to stabilize the region and even advance genuine peace. Israel could well be a main beneficiary of such a change. But what if the next president is all about more of the same or something very similar? Israel must plan for the possibility of an America that continues in its decline, that can deliver less, and remains militarily bogged down in Iraq and perhaps elsewhere in the region. Under this scenario, the special relationship with Israel will become an ever-more contentious issue. America itself might increasingly turn its gaze toward Asia. So while following American developments closely, and hoping for change, Israel should also be more active out there on the dating circuit. Though efforts have been made to strengthen other alliances, results have been mixed so far, and our options will remain limited so long as the Palestinian issue remains unresolved. The preference for a prolonged strategic relationship with the U.S. should not extend to an exclusive reliance on that relationship or preclude placing some eggs in other baskets -- in Europe, in Asia, and yes, also in the Arab and Muslim worlds." MORENO