ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001262 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: -------------- HaQaretz quoted sources close to PM Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that he will announce in his foreign policy speech scheduled for Sunday the adoption of the Roadmap and the "two-state solution" for settling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The sources said the speech will "revolve around the Roadmap." Netanyahu will present a few conditions for the implementation of the Roadmap, above all a Palestinian recognition of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. He will also demand that the future Palestinian state be demilitarized. The prime minister will reportedly propose the immediate renewal of negotiations with the PA on the basis of a formula that will allow for self-government as long as the Palestinians do not endanger Israel. In his speech at Bar-Ilan University, near Tel Aviv -- a bastion of Israel's national-religious movement -- Netanyahu will discuss at length the opportunity that has been created for cooperation between Israel and the Arab states in light of shared concerns about Iran's nuclear program. Netanyahu will reportedly propose a regional process in which Arab states will initiate the normalization of ties with Israel, parallel to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. In recent days, Netanyahu has asked his aides to collect data on the settlements. HaQaretz quoted sources close to the PM as saying that Netanyahu will not announce during his speech a freeze on construction in the settlements, as the U.S. has insisted Israel must do. Netanyahu will reportedly declare that the settlements in the West Bank are not an obstacle to peace. All media reported that Likud Knesset members that Netanyahu met in his office yesterday pleaded with him not to utter the catchphrase Qtwo states for two peoplesQ when he delivers his policy address. Cabinet minister Benny Begin declared at the meeting that Qif the only solution is two states for two peoples, then there is no solution.Q He denied statements from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that he had already decided to endorse the formation of a Palestinian state in the speech. However, The Jerusalem Post reported that he hinted that he would use the threat of a nuclear Iran to justify additional steps to meet President ObamaQs demands. HaQaretz quoted a Jerusalem source as saying that the talks between Netanyahu and U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell "resulted in a great deal of progress," as a consequence of the more flexible proposals put forth by Netanyahu on the settlements. HaQaretz reported that a senior Washington source confirmed that progress had been achieved, but stressed that "our position on the need to cease settlement construction has not been altered at all. The talks were good and we will continue in a few days." NetanyahuQs bureau refused to comment. Yediot reported that the U.S. administration is trying to convince Israel and the Palestinians to reach understandings in principle regarding land exchanges that would allow Israel to continue building in settlement blocs. According to Yediot, Mitchell suggested that Israel retain the settlement blocs and hand over land within the Green Line to the Palestinians encompassing the same area as the blocs. The Jerusalem Post quoted Mitchell as sayng after his talks with opposition leader Tzipi Livni yesterday that peace for Israel includes Syria and Lebanon. All media reported that yesterday James Von Brunn, an 89-year-old linked to an anti-Semitic Web site, opened fire with a rifle inside WashingtonQs crowded U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, killing a security guard before being shot and wounded. Media quoted President Obama on Wednesday as saying he was "shocked and saddened" by the fatal shooting attack. "This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms," Obama said at the White House. HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday High Court of Justice President Dorit Beinisch sharply criticized the state for not having dismantled the unauthorized West Bank outposts of Harsha and Hayovel. "We have heard about demolition orders for years," she said, "and nothing has happened." Beinisch's comments came at a hearing by the Court on a 2005 petition by Peace Now. HaQaretz reported that Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) has instructed ministry employees to nix a master plan for Jerusalem on the grounds that it allocates too much territory to Palestinian construction. Leading media reported that PA officials expressed deep satisfaction with the talks they held yesterday with Special Envoy Mitchell, saying that the new administration of President Obama was Qone of the friendliest in decades.Q HaQaretz quoted senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat as saying yesterday that the Palestinians are in a position of strength vis-a-vis Israel for the first time in their history. Speaking to the BBC, Erekat said American pressure on Israel would probably succeed and move the peace process forward. HaQaretz quoted sources close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as saying that the Obama administration has shifted the Mideast agenda, taking a tough position on settlements. Senior Palestinian officials add that even American Jewish organizations are unwilling to take a strong stance to defend Israel on the issue. HaQaretz quoted Mitchell as saying after his meeting with President Abbas that the United States hoped negotiations on a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians would begin immediately, leading to an "early conclusion" of talks. The Jerusalem Post reported that an Israeli defense source told the newspaper yesterday: QIf you pay attention, there is a catch. The U.S. is conditioning the opening of crossings on coordination between Israel and the Palestinians.Q The source was responding to U.S. pressure to reopen the crossings. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that senior Hamas member Salah Albardawil told the paper that if his movementQs conditions are met and a Palestinian state is established, it will recognize Israel. HaQaretz reported that this week the Foreign Ministry sent Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv Oppenheimer to a meeting with senior Egyptian journalists. FM Avigdor Lieberman was not informed about this. Media quoted the Web site of HizbullahQs Al Manar-TV as saying that yesterday at Beirut Airport Lebanese authorities arrested two Israeli Arab sisters in their sixties. The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli and Georgian officials as saying yesterday that Israel has QdiminishedQ its military sales to Georgia follwing Russian pressure on Jerusalem. Maariv cite an index put out by the consulting firm ECA Intrnational ranking Tel Aviv as more expensive than ew York and Washington for foreign visitors. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "Reaching Out to Islam" The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (6/11): QNetanyahu, who is very well-acquainted with the way the American administration works, knows this time around the evasive tricks aren't going to help.... Netanyahu can embrace Obama's style and alongside his policy extend a hand for reconciliation -- reconciliation with the Palestinians, reconciliation with the Arabs in Israel who have absorbed QloyalQ blows from the partners in his government, and reconciliation with the Muslim world, which is anxiously watching Israel's attempt to take over the city that is holy to three faiths. The Premier's rhetorical skills do not need proving. This time they can serve him as a tool of statesmanship that could bring about a new atmosphere and plant hope similar to the hope instilled by Obama's speech. II. "The Way to Build Lack of Trust" Liberal columnist Uzi Benziman wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (6/11): QWhether reports about the influence of [President ObamaQs aides David] Axelrod and [Rahm] Emanuel are correct or false, what is the diplomatic logic in sullying them as enemies of Israel? WhatQs the object of labeling the President as someone who bluntly intervenes in the Jewish stateQs affairs? In the upcoming period, Netanyahu and his bureau will have to conduct correct working relations with the White House staff and perhaps earn their good will. It was proven his week that Netanyahu surrounds himself with not particularly successful advisers. III. "The Seven-Word Formula" Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz (6/11): QNetanyahu must make a grand statement [in his policy speech] on Sunday. He must say words of substance and truth.... On the one hand, the Prime Minister must accept the two-state idea. There is no other way. On the other hand, he must remove its inherent dangers. Netanyahu must summarize this complexity in one brief phrase that everyone can understand and that will clearly reinforce the Israeli peace concept. This is the phrase: a two nation-state solution. In detail: a demilitarized Palestine alongside a Jewish Israel. No more than seven words. But seven words that encompass everything. Seven words that transfer the onus from Israel to the Palestinians. Seven words that shift the burden of proof from Benjamin Netanyahu to Barack Obama. Anyone who accepts these seven words is saying that he intends to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a responsible manner. Anyone who rejects them reveals he is hostile to Israel and is not really committed to its security and existence. IV. "Mashal Is Waiting for Netanyahu" Former Mossad Director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (6/11): Q[Hamas leader Khaled Mashal] will attentively listen to the Prime MinisterQs speech in order to understand what Israel intends to do about Gaza over the next months.... Make no mistake: Hamas wonQt adopt the three conditions of Obama and Israel soon. Not now, but this will come. During his European tour, Obama very justly said that Israel is one of the strongest countries in the world. He also expects it to behave as such -- sure of itself and its strength, without penetrating its daily existence too deeply.... Mashal already said Qtwo states.Q He is not interested in Netanyahu making similar comments. What Netanyahu will say about the continuation of his policy in Gaza and vis-a-vis Hamas will strongly influence what Mashal will understand and do. -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- "Moussavi Is Bad for Israel" Soli Shahvar, an Iranian affairs expert from Haifa University, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (6/11): QMany people will feel relieved if [Mor-] Hossein Moussavi is elected president of Iran tomorrow. There can be no doubt that Israel is interested to see a liberal, less hostile regime in Iran. But, in view of the regimeQs structure and its determination to obtain nuclear weapons, it is likely that AhmadinejadQs election -- resulting in the continuation of domestic popular embitterment and a tough foreign policy stance -- would be better for Israel. CUNNINGHAM