SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002431 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: -------------- Mideast -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- The Jerusalem Post quoted U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham as saying yesterday, in a lecture under the auspices of Tel Aviv University, that Barack Obama is Israel's "closest friend," contrary to what many Israelis seem to believe in recent polls. He offered examples of this friendship, foremost among them the American administration's opposition to the Goldstone Report. "From the inception of the Goldstone Commission we objected to its flawed mandate," Cunningham told the Israeli audience. He said that America's bond with Israel had been clearly demonstrated by its "opposition to delegitimizing [of] Israel internationally" and its efforts to ensure "Israel is treated fairly in the United Nations." Cunningham urged Israel and the Palestinians "to relaunch negotiations without preconditions on the core issues of the conflict: security for both Israelis and Palestinians, borders, refugees and Jerusalem." He insisted the U.S. was "eager to support the difficult decisions that must be made and the risks that must be run if peace is to come." Responding to a question from an audience member if the U.S. had reexamined its initial assumptions about the conflict when it took office some 10 months earlier -- including a demand for an Israeli settlement freeze widely seen as contributing to a short-lived diplomatic rift between the two countries -- Cunningham admitted that American efforts to jumpstart negotiations through "finding the right context" had yet to bear fruit. The administration "started out with several factors that were new and [which] we thought provided a different kind of opportunity to move rapidly into negotiations," Cunningham said of the American demand for a settlement freeze and the parallel call on Arab states to offer normalization gestures toward Israel. That opportunity had not materialized, he admitted. Israel Radio also quoted Cunningham as saying in his address that Obama is Israel's "closest friend." The radio reported that the Ambassador noted that the United States is committed to the existence, security, and prosperity of Israel as Jewish and democratic state. Israel Radio quoted Cunningham as saying that there are misunderstandings between the two countries but that they can be overcome between friends. IDF Radio emphasized Ambassador CunninghamQs reiteration in his lecture that the U.S. is opposed to construction in the settlements. The radio quoted British Foreign Secretary David Miliband as saying on Tuesday that Jewish settlement in the West Bank is an obstacle to peace. IDF Radio noted that MilibandQs remarks came on the heels of Secretary of State Hillary ClintonQs comments in Morocco. The media quoted Clinton as saying yesterday in Cairo: QOur policy on settlement has not changed. We do not accept the legitimacy of settlement activity. Ending all settlement activity current and future would be preferable." Of the Israeli offer to restrain, not halt settlement construction, she said, "It is not what we would prefer because we would like to see everything ended forever." HaQaretz reported that yesterday Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a document to Israeli embassies and consulates around the world, instructing employees to utilize Israel's seizure of a ship carrying some 300 tons of weapons, believed to have been shipped by Iran and meant for Hizbullah, to direct international pressure toward Iran. Israeli diplomats were instructed to stress Iran's violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions forbidding it from supplying weapons to Syria or Hizbullah. Major media quoted PM Benjamin Netanyahu as saying last night in a statement: "Those who needed further proof that Iran is continuing to supply weapons to terror organizations got it today." Netanyahu added: QIran is sending these weapons to terror groups with the aim of hurting Israel and killing civilians. It is high time that the international community apply significant pressure on Iran to stop this criminal activity and support Israel as it defends itself against terrorists and their sponsors." Maariv and Israel Radio quoted Syrian FM Walid Muallem as saying that QpiratesQ have commandeered a Qcommercial ship.Q Israel Radio quoted Arab politicians and media as saying that IsraelQs action was a fabrication meant to coincide with the UNGA debate on the Goldstone Report. Ynet and Israel Radio reported that Sweden's Ambassador to the UN Anders Liden, representing the European Union, called on both Israel and the Palestinians to "take responsibility for the crimes perpetrated," stressing that any violation of human rights must be investigated. Leading media reported that yesterday Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, attacked both the Goldstone Report and the UN General Assembly (UNGA) as being "irreparably tainted" and "bending both fact and law." The Ambassador also said the report, which accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during their war in the Gaza Strip in January, was "born in hate and prepared in sin." "[The] report and this debate do not promote peace; they damage any effort to revitalize negotiations in our region," added Shalev. The ambassador said the report ignored "the reality of terror" and the complexities of urban warfare against terrorists. She also dismissed the Goldstone panel as "a politicized body with predetermined conclusions." Shalev reminded the General Assembly that Israel had suffered eight years of rocket attacks from Gaza, which violated the human rights of Israeli civilians. "[But] rather than discuss how to better stop terrorist groups who deliberately target civilians, this body launches yet another campaign against the victims of terrorism, the people of Israel," she said. Time and again, Shalev charged, the report turned Israel's unprecedented efforts to save civilian lives against it, using them as proof that any civilian casualties were therefore deliberate. Leading media reported that last night former Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Gillerman left for New York to assist IsraelQs efforts at the UNGA, at the behest of PM Netanyahu and FM Avigdor Lieberman. The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday the Israeli human rights organization published details of 13 criminal investigations currently being conducted by the Southern District Military Police Investigations Unit. HaQaretz reported that yesterday President Shimon Peres called PA President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss efforts to restart the peace process. The daily quoted unnamed sources as saying that Peres asked Abbas to agree to resume negotiations with Israel and to meet with PM Netanyahu. The media reported that Netanyahu told the security cabinet yesterday that Israel aims to resume talks shortly, despite obstacles such as the possibility of Palestinian elections in the near future. He said the race is radicalizing the Palestinian Authority position on Irael and making it difficult to renew talks. Media reported that yesterday Secretary Clinton met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and asked him to pressure Abbas to resume negotiations with Israel. Yediot reported that President Abbas is expected to deliver a QdramaticQ speech in Ramallah today. The daily cited assessments in Ramallah that Abbas will announce that he will not run in the PAQs January elections. Yediot wrote that AbbasQ anger and disappointment over the American behavior surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are causing him to exacerbate personal steps. The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, warned that the Palestinians would not Qrule out other options if the peace process failed. Maariv reported that for the first time the GOI has included Islamist groups operating in Indonesia in its list of terror organizations. The Jerusalem Post reported that the rift between the International Federation of Journalists and the National Federation of Israeli Journalists following the Israeli unionQs expulsion from the international group in June has been mended by an agreement reached at an emergency meeting held in Tel Aviv this week. Yediot hinted that members of the Israeli security forces could know the same fate as the 23 American intelligence agents who were jailed in Italy. Yediot printed an article by Tuvia Tenenbaum, an Israeli-born American journalist, who tells about his attendance of the Qatar Film Festival, where anti-Israeli films were shown. Yediot and Israel Radio reported that QObamaQs rabbi,Q Reform Rabbi Capers Funnye, who is Michelle ObamaQs cousin, is visiting Israel with 15 senior African-Americans from Illinois. All media reported on the Democratic losses in Virginia and New Jersey elections. A Yediot headline reads: QA Year Has Gone [since ObamaQs Election], Everything Has Changed.Q Maariv: QBeginning of a Makeover? The DemocratsQ Losses. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. QMofaz in the Footsteps of Sharon Senior commentator Ari Shavit wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/5): Q[Former Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz's basic assumptions are those of [Ariel] Sharon: On one hand, at this point in time, there is little chance of reaching a final-status agreement. On the other hand, Israel must urgently effect a change that will produce a two-state solution. The way to do this is via an interim solution -- an agreement that will create a Palestinian state in two years in about 60 percent of the territory of the West Bank.... Once 99 percent of the Palestinians are citizens of a free Palestine, the Israeli-Palestinian situation will look different. Once the evacuation-compensation law is implemented, Israel will gradually converge within its own borders. Even if the conflict does not come to an end immediately, it will be stabilized. Just as in Sharon's vision, Israelis and Palestinians will live side by side in relative calm until peace arrives.... The plan that [Mofaz] has prepared is not flawless and is not free of risks. But it is the most serious and practical plan any Israeli leader has prepared in years. It is backed by Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres, and has a chance of interesting the Americans and the moderate Arabs. The plan may also restore Kadima to its lost path. Therefore, it is worth listening to the former chief of staff, and it would be appropriate to extend him credit with which to launch his initiative. It would not be surprising if this move by Mofaz once again rearranges the shape of Israeli politics. II. QThe Shield Was Confiscated Attorney Michael Sfard, legal advisor to the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/5): QOver recent years Israeli human rights organizations have published particularly harsh reports [about IDF soldiersQ suspected law violations against Palestinians], but -- to this day -- there has been no significant criticism by an international professional legal body on this issue. It is important to understand that serious local law enforcement, beyond carrying a moral ... obligation, is a shield from international law enforcement. International law recognizes the superiority of local legal proceedings and grants them a preference over foreign or international investigation and judgment. IsraelQs law enforcement systems have long enjoyed high esteem and a professional and independent imagine Q sometimes beyond what they deserve.... [Attorney General Menachem] Mazuz, who in the past rejected a demand by Israeli human rights organizations to conduct an external investigation into the Gaza events, supports it today. He apparently grasps the mistake he made. The IDF Advocate General, the Chief of Staff, and the Defense Minister, who oppose it, are pushing the IDF soldiers and themselves into the arms of the foreign legal systems. CUNNINGHAM