SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000675 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: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION -------------- SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: -------------- Vice President Cheney to Israel, West Bank, March 22-24, 2008 -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- The Jerusalem Post cited a release put out by Defense Minister Ehud Barak's office on Sunday that Barak told Vice President Dick Cheney that "Iran's build-up is endangering the stability of the region and the entire world. Israel believes that there is still time for sanctions, but none of the options should be removed from the table." During a press availability with the Vice President, Israeli President Shimon Peres indicated that under the current constellation of forces in the region, Israel could not afford to withdraw from the Golan Heights. While Israel's hand was always extended in peace, Peres said: "Israel is not prepared for a deal whereby the Golan Heights will be returned to Syria in exchange for Iranian-Syrian control." The Jerusalem Post cited Peres's office quoting VP Cheney as saying that the U.S. was concerned about arms going to Hizbullah from Syria, and that it did not appear that Syrian President Bashar Assad was interested in any kind of dialogue. All media reported that the Vice President told Peres that the U.S. was well aware of the threats facing Israel, and that it was clear that the Iranian threat was not to Israel alone, but also to the U.S. All media highlighted VP Cheney's remark in Ramallah on Sunday: "Terrorism and rockets not only kill innocent civilians, they also kill the legitimate hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people." Cheney, who was speaking at a press conference with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, reassured him that the U.S. would continue to support efforts to establish a Palestinian state. The media cited the desire of Palestinian officials to see settlement construction activity halted, with the help of the USG. The Jerusalem Post quoted an official in Ramallah as saying that VP Cheney did not bring anything new, and that "we don't want statements, we want deeds. Bush is deluding himself if he thinks that a peace agreement could be achieved by the end of 2008." The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli government officials as saying on Sunday that a list of goodwill measures Defense Minister Ehud Barak is considering for the Palestinians may be intended as a message for the PA that if it gets too close to Hamas, it risks "losing everything." Maariv quoted a senior cabinet minister as saying that Israel cannot agree to take in rocket volleys from Hamas while continuing negotiations with its "coalition partner." (The media reported that in Sanaa on Sunday Fatah and Hamas agreed to keep reconciliation contacts alive but that they immediately wrangled.) The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that Barak is considering a series of measures meant to ease the lives of Palestinians ahead of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit next week. Ha'aretz reported that a source in the Israeli defense establishment recently told the newspaper that Israel has lifted its opposition to a deal with Hizbullah involving the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for signs of life from captured soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. This source and other officials were quoted as saying that indirect negotiations for the release of the two IDF soldiers whom Hizbullah abducted in July 2006 did not bog down after the assassination of senior Hizbullah official Imad Mughniyah last month in Damascus, for which Hizbullah blamed Israel. Yediot cited the IDF's concern that a terrorist attack by Hizbullah overseas would spark an all-out war between Israel and Lebanon. Yediot quoted senior IDF officers as saying that Hizbullah may kidnap IDF soldiers, hit senior IDF officers in the Northern Command, or infiltrate an Israeli community or a strategic facility. Reviewing the U.S.- and Israeli-devised interception systems (Magic Wand, Iron Dome, Arrow, and Nautilus),Ha'aretz reported that the Defense Ministry is developing it own unique, laser-based system. Ha'aretz reported cited an internal Meretz-Yahad report released last week as saying that the party is on the verge of paralysis and would be unable to contest an election. The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Israel has been granted membership to the Development Center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), marking another step on the country's path to full membership in the OECD. Ha'aretz and Maariv reported that PM Olmert has issued instructions that African refugees caught crossing the Sinai border will be immediately deported to Egypt. The media reported on a surge on Tel Aviv's financial market but quoted analysts as saying that this may be a fleeting trend. Ha'aretz reported that the Israeli government is planning to set up an Internet portal in English and Hebrew for Jews and Judaism. The newspaper said that the initiative is part of a comprehensive program being prepared for PM Ehud Olmert to redefine the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora. -------------- Vice President Cheney to Israel, West Bank: -------------- Summary: -------------- The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "If the U.S. had limited itself to the gist of what Cheney said in Jerusalem on Saturday night, and to elaborating in this same spirit, it is likely that the prospects for peace and moderation in this region would be substantially greater." Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The more the diplomatic negotiations meant to achieve final-status arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled, the more Israel is required to conduct a wise and courageous policy vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority." Former Ambassador to the U.S., former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and former Minister of Defense Moshe Arens wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Shas knows that nothing will come of the negotiations with Abbas. Olmert also knows that nothing will come of them, but in the meantime he is keeping his coalition together. Each gets what he needs, at least for the moment. This is Olmert's agenda. That's all there is to it." Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "The Cheney Model" The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/24): "U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney is not known for making flamboyant speeches, but sometimes less is more. If the U.S. had limited itself to the gist of what Cheney said in Jerusalem on Saturday night, and to elaborating in this same spirit, it is likely that the prospects for peace and moderation in this region would be substantially greater.... There are, it should be understood, two basic models for looking at the conflict, each of which leads to different policy approaches. The standard model is that Arabs and Israelis have been fighting for years and that blame for perpetuation of the conflict lies with both sides, or perhaps mainly with Israel, since Israel is the 'occupying power' and the Palestinians are seeking independence within land held by Israel. The second model is almost nonexistent in diplomatic circles but was instinctively expressed by Cheney and is taken as axiomatic by the many Americans who sympathize with Israel. This model holds that the Arab world opposed Israel's creation, tried many times to destroy Israel, and still has not come to terms with Israel's right to exist. It is this Arab rejection of Israel, not a supposed Israeli refusal to allow the creation of a Palestinian state, that is the true obstacle to peace. A peace process designed to produce Arab acceptance of Israel would start with simple statements of the problem. The U.S. might state that: 'Israel has accepted and seeks to implement the two-state solution. So the principal obstacle to peace is the remaining rejection among many Palestinians and within much of the Arab world of the legitimate national rights of the Jewish people to their own state, the State of Israel.' The next important step would be to demand that the Arab states lead by example, rather than waiting for the divided and radicalized Palestinians to move first. Indeed, the Arab states are behind, in that Mahmoud Abbas routinely meets Israeli leaders, but the leaders of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states will not." II. "A Lighter Touch" Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/24): "The more the diplomatic negotiations meant to achieve final-status arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians remain stalled, there is no tangible chance for an agreement and Israel must do all it can to preserve and strengthen the PA's current leadership.... Everyone understands that the collapse of the [PA's] current leadership would bring about a much worse alternative: a PA ruled ... by Hamas, with the Gazan reality moving to Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank].... In the current circumstances Israel must help nurture life conditions in the PA so that the Palestinian population-at-large understands the PA's conciliatory policy toward Israel benefits the Palestinians and stabilizes the current PA." III. "Olmert's Agenda" Former Ambassador to the U.S., former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and former Minister of Defense Moshe Arens wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/24): "To those who have their doubts about the wisdom of Olmert's policy, he produces the American card. Visits by Condoleezza Rice to Israel and Tzipi Livni to Washington give the impression that Israel really has no choice. The U.S. will not allow effective action to be taken in Gaza and the negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas must continue. Nobody who knows the U.S. scene will be fooled by this argument. George W. Bush might welcome an Israeli-Palestinian agreement to crown the final months of his tenure as president, but he surely has the Palestinian Authority sized up. In any case he is not about to get into a confrontation with Israel at this time. That's all he needs in addition to his other headaches. But some people want to be fooled, and some even want to be raped. With the peace camp in tow, all Olmert needs to survive politically is Shas. He is showering them with presents they could only have dreamed of. Meanwhile, Labor and even Meretz grin and bear it. After all, this is for the sake of peace.... Shas knows that nothing will come of the negotiations with Abbas. Olmert also knows that nothing will come of them, but in the meantime he is keeping his coalition together. Each gets what he needs, at least for the moment. This is Olmert's agenda. That's all there is to it." JONES