ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. U.S.-Israel Relations


2. Mideast


3. Iran

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Key stories in the media:
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All media quoted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as saying
yesterday in a televised address that he had no wish to seek
reelection through a presidential poll he called for January. Abbas
blamed the stalemate in the peace talks on Israel and the U.S.
HaQaretz reported that Abbas and his associates were particularly
critical of the U.S. administration, which Abbas believes betrayed
him. Media quoted Abbas associates as saying that Abbas may
recant. Leading media surmised that jailed Fatah leader Marwan
Barghouti may eventually run in the PA Presidency race and that
Israel may have to face him and Hamas.

Yediot reported that Israel is keeping mum about Abbas
announcement. Israel Radio quoted Israeli Government officials as
saying that AbbasQ move was motivated by domestic considerations and
that Israel does not intend to interfere in the matter. On the
other hand, HaQaretz and other media reported that Israeli and
American officials expressed concern over Abbas' announcement.
President Shimon Peres telephoned Abbas on Wednesday night in an
effort to persuade him to change his mind. HaQaretz reported that
Peres told Abbas that he was worried that the decision would trigger
political crisis in the PA, leading to a Hamas takeover in the West
Bank. "If you leave the Palestinians would lose their chance for an
independent state," Peres reportedly told Abbas. "The situation in
the region would deteriorate. Stay, for the Palestinian people's
sake," he was quoted as saying. HaQaretz reported that aides to PM
Benjamin Netanyahu refused to comment on Abbas' statement, but that
the PM has reportedly said in private meetings recently that it was
in Israel's interest to have a strong Abbas who could advance the
peace process. Yediot quoted Netanyahu as saying in private
meetings the he appreciates Abbas. According to HaQaretz, Netanyahu
made similar statements to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a week
ago, saying that it was in Israel's interest to strengthen Abbas as
much as possible. HaQaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying a few days
ago: "Of the existing alternatives, if we want an agreement with the
Palestinians then Abbas is the best partner.Q Netanyahu reportedly
said he was serious about the peace process with the Palestinians
and was ready to take risks to advance peace, despite the PA
leadership's impression to the contrary. HaQaretz quoted Netanyahu
as saying: "The best partner is Abbas, but any Israeli intervention
in internal Palestinian politics would only do harm." DM Ehud Barak
added that he hoped Abbas' reluctance to run for reelection would
not damage the attempt to resume the peace process. "It's important
for both sides to adhere to the principle of negotiating to advance
an arrangement," Barak said in a statement. HaQaretz quoted Barak as
saying: "I suggest making every effort to reach a
two-states-for-two-peoples arrangement, while preserving Israel's
security interests," he was quoted as saying. Former Meretz leader
Yossi Beilin as quoted as saying in an interview with Israel Radio
that the remainder of AbbasQ term should be used to conclude a
final-status agreement.

HaQaretz quoted a senior U.S. official, speaking anonymously about
the possibility of Abbas disappearing from the political scene, as
saying: "There's a real crisis situation in the PA." HaQaretz
reported that Clinton asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on
Wednesday and Arab foreign ministers she met in Morocco two days
earlier to urge Abbas to remain in office and run for reelection.

Major media reported that today Israel rejected a U.N. General
Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging an investigation into the
Goldstone Report and condemned the world body vote as "completely
detached from realities". In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said
in response to yesterdayQs vote that Israel "maintains the right to
self-defense" and would "continue to act to protect the lives of its
citizens from the threat of international terrorism.Q The
192-member UNGA adopted the resolution Thursday by a vote of 114-18,
with others absent or abstaining. The resolution calls on the
Security Council to act if either side fails to launch credible
investigations within three months. HaQaretzQs Web site reported
that the harshly worded U.N. draft resolution, composed by Arab
member states, has not been softened despite U.S. and European
efforts. Israel's Ambassador to the U.N., Gabriela Shalev, told
HaQaretz before the vote that she did not plan to take part. "I
won't lend a hand to a debate whose conclusions are predetermined.
It was a predictable Arab game." The draft resolution includes a
demand for the Israeli Government to carry out an "independent and
credible" internal investigation of its own conduct during Israel's
three-week offensive in Gaza, which left over 1,000 Palestinians
dead. Hamas is not mentioned by name in the UN draft resolution.
Instead, it calls on the "Palestinian side" to carry out an
investigation into the Goldstone report findings that relate to
Palestinians. The draft resolution also includes a recommendation
to convene the signatories of the fourth Geneva Convention treaty
for an emergency session to discuss Israel's violations of the
treaty. Apart from Israel and the U.S., a number of European
countries including Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and the Czech
Republic voted against the resolution. But the European Union was
split, with others including Britain and France abstaining. Most
developing countries voted in favor. Media reported that Israel's
Deputy Ambassador Daniel to the U.N. Daniel Carmon told the assembly
that the resolution "endorses and legitimizes a deeply flawed,
one-sided and prejudiced report of the discredited Human Rights
Council and its politicized work that bends both fact and law."
HaQaretz quoted U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Alejandro Wolff
as sayng that the resolution was flawed in several respects,
including its failure to name the Hamas militant movement that rules
Gaza. He also said a demand for international supervision of any
Israeli and Palestinian investigations was "unhelpful." HaQaretz
reported that IDF Advocate General Maj. Gen. Avihai Mandelblit has
already instructed the army to investigate the claims of the
Goldstone Report.

The Jerusalem Post and Yediot quoted the Prime MinisterQs Office as
saying that no formal meeting with President Obama has yet been
scheduled for PM Netanyahu, who leaves for Washington on Sunday.
Yediot quoted senior sources in Washington as saying that Netanyahu
should Qcontinue to sweat.Q The dailyQs Shimon Shiffer commented
that the White House is QhazingQ Netanyahu.

Major media reported that yesterday, in the wake of Israel's
interception of the Iranian arms-laden Francop cargo ship, PM
Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of "war crimes" and called on the
U.N. to investigate it instead of Israel for attacking innocent
civilians. The "sole objective" of these Iranian weapons, Netanyahu
said, "was to attack and kill as many civilians -- women, children
and the elderly -- as possible. This is a war crime." "The UN
General Assembly, which is meeting today, should investigate,
discuss and condemn [the Iranian shipment]. This is a war crime
that should prompt the U.N. Security Council to convene in special
session, especially since it was in gross violation of UN Security
Council resolutions," Netanyahu said. "This is what the
international community should concentrate on at all times -- but
especially today. But instead, they have chosen to assemble and
condemn the IDF and Israel, and to try and undermine our legitimate
right to defend ourselves," Netanyahu stated. The PM added that the
IDF was a moral army of the highest caliber. "We know that it is the
IDF and IsraelQs security services that stand against the war
criminals who plan to perpetrate war crimes against Israeli
citizens. I think that the time has come for the international
community, at least its more responsible countries, to recognize the
truth and not promote a lie," Netanyahu said. The Jerusalem Post
reported that Israel's envoys overseas were instructed to urge their
host countries to cease all dealings with Iran's state shipping
company, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines -- IRISL --
which shipped the weapons from Iran to Egypt, in containers marked
with its logo. Britain last month barred all such dealings.
The media reported that in spite of the Israeli PR effort,
international and even American media gave relatively minor coverage
to the ship seizure. State-run Iran TV said in a commentary that
the "Israeli propaganda" was aimed at diverting attention from
allegations of Israeli war crimes in Gaza. A Syrian Foreign
Ministry official expressed the same view. Iran's English-language
Press TV said FM Manouchehr Mottaki had dismissed the allegations on
the cargo's destination and route. The Jerusalem Post quoted
Ghassan Khatib, a spokesman for AbbasQ government, as saying: "Since
the Israeli leadership and society are not ready for peace, they are
using any pretext to shun peace obligations, and one is the issue of
the Iranian shipment." Yesterday Hizbullah denied any links to the
shipment -- as Syria had done on Wednesday, when its Foreign
Minister Walid Muallem accused Israel of "piracy." In a statement
faxed to the AP on Thursday, Hizbullah said it "categorically
denies" any connection to the weapons. It also called Israel's
actions "piracy."

HaQaretz reported that President Obama has promised the Palestinian
leadership that there will be no change to U.S. policy on the issue
of Jerusalem, and that East Jerusalem does not constitute part of
Israel. As such, any Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, like
in the West Bank, is illegal. According to HaQaretz, this promise
was meant to resolve the crisis of confidence between President
Abbas and the U.S., and remove his threat to resign from political
life. HaQaretz recorded that two weeks ago the U.S. administration
asked Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to stop the
reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas. The Americans
announced that if a Palestinian unity government is set up that
would include Hamas, the U.S. would have to cease its financial aid
to the PA.

Maariv (Shmuel Rosner) tells the Qfull story behind [recent]
U.S.-Israel relations,Q including a reported meeting between
President Obama and Saudi King Abdullah, which allegedly changed the
PresidentQs opinion that Israel should be kept in check. Rosner
reported that U.S. Special Envoy Senator George Mitchell told one of
his acquaintances that President Abbas is the last of his concerns.
Reminded by RosnerQs friend that Abbas insists on refusing to talk
with Netanyahu without a full freeze in settlement construction,
Mitchell reportedly answered that he will have no choice but to
negotiate with Israel.

The Jerusalem Post headlined an article on the current perception of
President Obama among the American public: QAmericans Want Results,
not Symbolism, from Obama.

HaQaretz cited a report [on International Religious Freedom] from
the State Department according to which Israel dismally fails the
requirements of a tolerant pluralistic society: despite boasting
religious freedom and protection of all holy sites, Israel falls
short in tolerance toward minorities, equal treatment of ethnic
groups, openness toward various streams within society, and respect
for holy and other sites. The comprehensive report, written by the
State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, says
Israel discriminates against groups including Muslims, Jehovah's
Witnesses, Reform Jews, Christians, women, and Bedouin. The report
says that the 1967 law on the protection of holy places refers to
all religious groups in the country, including in Jerusalem, but
"the Government implements regulations only for Jewish sites.
Non-Jewish holy sites do not enjoy legal protection under it because
the Government does not recognize them as official holy sites." The
report makes it clear that practices that have become routine in
Israel are considered unacceptable in enlightened countries and
should be corrected. Among other examples, the report notes that
more than 300,000 immigrants who are not considered Jewish under
rabbinical law are not allowed to marry and divorce in Israel or be
buried in Jewish cemeteries. The paper advertised a fuller read-out
of the report in its upcoming Sunday edition.

HaQaretz does not expect many people to join the QDemocratic Scene
(freely translated) -- the circle formed by the Labor Party
Qrebels,Q which will convene for the first time on Sunday. Shalom
Yerushalmi of Maariv expects the group to drive yet another nail in
the Labor PartyQs coffin and demand the partyQs division.

HaQaretz reported that on Thursday the first part of a new five-acre
memorial plaza for the September 11, 2001 attacks will be unveiled
in JerusalemQs Arazim Valley in the Ramot neighborhood. The
newspaper notes this will be the first 9/11 memorial with names
outside the U.S.

The Jerusalem Post reviewed a new book by Allis Radosh and Ronald
Radosh: QA Safe Heaven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel.
The newspaper says that TrumanQs example should inspire President
Obama in his quest for Middle East peace.

The media reported that the annual rally in memory of the late PM
Yitzhak Rabin, which was delayed because of the weather, will take
place tomorrow night at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv.

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1. U.S.-Israel Relations:
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Block Quotes:
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I. QHalf a Meeting

Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in the mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/6): QI'm guessing that in the end
there will be a meeting [between President Obama and Prime Minister
Netanyahu]. It will take place because not having it will depict
Netanyahu as the victim and Obama as the enemy of Israel. That
would damage Obama in the Jewish community, damage that he can less
and less afford. Should it take place, the meeting will not meet
the role it was assigned. It will be forced, coerced. It will not
give Netanyahu an opportunity to clean the slate, to turn over a new
leaf, to create trust, to build intimacy. Relations are cloudy,
admit sources on both sides. There is mutuality in this crisis,
there is symmetry: Obama is convinced that Netanyahu stuck a knife
in his back; Netanyahu is convinced that Obama is the one who stuck
the knife. Above this troubling story, which has still not turned
into headlines, hovers a cloud of failure. The Obama administration
failed abysmally in the strategic step it took, which was meant to
turn the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians into the
engine that would bring the entire region under America's wing, from
the Mediterranean Sea to the edges of Afghanistan. His failure is
liable to ultimately be our disaster. Ironically, the only ray of
light at the moment is the activity relating to Iran. Netanyahu is
sure that he knows who is to blame: White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel. He heard inside information, from the White House,
verified information. Emanuel drips venom. My sources may be less
good, but the picture they paint is different. Netanyahu's problem,
they say, is not Emanuel. It is Obama.

II. QObama Needs Us

Editor-in-Chief Amnon Lord wrote in the nationalist, Orthodox Makor
Rishon-Hatzofe (11/6): QThe Obama administration needs Israel and
Benjamin Netanyahu to provide some response on the narrow front of
American politics. The Palestinians make it easy for Prime Minister
Netanyahu to sound and look positive regarding the Qpeace process,
as he expresses his willingness to enter negotiations at once....
[In the Iranian arena,] Netanyahu has presented a positive position
regarding the agreement to transfer enriched uranium [sic] to Russia
and France. This is excellent, particularly as Iran announced a few
hours later that it is rejecting the proposed accord.

III. QWhat Are American Jews Good for?

Jewish affairs correspondent Anshel Pfeffer wrote in Ha'aretz
(11/6): QWhy don't we all grow up? We are brothers and sisters.
But we live in different neighborhoods, on separate continents.
[American and Israeli] Jews can all be proud of their incredible
success stories and are all facing enormous challenges. We should
try and help each other out, without expecting much gratitude, but
ultimately we all have to deal with our own troubles. American Jews
are doing themselves a disservice by mistaking Israel's problems for
their own.

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2. Mideast:
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Block Quotes:
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I. QThe Bitterest Deadlock

Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (11/6): QGetting Obama alongside Meretz
on the Israeli political spectrum, as I did in this column last
week, misrepresents the thrust of his administrationQs policies
regarding the Palestinians. Broadly speaking, indeed, it seems
reasonable to acknowledge that a fairer sitting might have been
closer to the flexible OlmertQs Kadima Q although the
administrationQs forceful calls for a complete freeze to include
east Jerusalem and the settlement blocs would not have sat easily
even with Olmert. Whatever the respective attitudes to a permanent
accord, however, the sorry truth for now is that the U.S., for all
its energetic diplomacy, cannot so much as get the players back into
the same room. Indeed, that full freeze demand, including east
Jerusalem, has proven as counterproductive as critics, this
columnist included, predicted the U.S. took a position that even the
much-moderated Netanyahu was never going to accept, a position that
raised Palestinian expectations. While Abbas has been arguing that
he can hardly come back to the peace table under terms less
advantageous than those the U.S. was attempting to impose on its
ally Israel, Washington has been searching, so far in vain, for a
means to help him down from the tree. Now Abbas may be gone for
good.

II. QPolitical Foil

Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent,
left-leaning HaQaretz (11/6): QSeveral weeks ago Israel embarked on
a mission to politically foil the president of the Palestinian
Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. The man who was a favorite of Ariel
Sharon and Ehud Olmert became, in the age of Benjamin Netanyahu, a
dangerous rival.... Netanyahu celebrated a diplomatic victory: the
U.S. administration pulled back from its efforts to resume
negotiations and the blame fell on the Palestinians. Netanyahu told
the Americans that he could not comprehend the Palestinian refusal.
The Prime Minister is of the opinion that the Palestinians are
prisoners of a notion that the current Israeli government is
unwilling to compromise, instead of giving it a chance. Netanyahu's
temporary victory may prove to be a defeat for Israel if Abbas
carries out his threat to resign from politics. Then there will
really be no one to talk to, and Israel will find itself exposed
against Hamas and the initiative for the unilateral declaration of a
Palestinian independent state, or an imposed agreement. Like
Netanyahu, President Obama is also not pleased, as is reflected by
his efforts to avoid a meeting with Netanyahu, who is due in
Washington next week.

III. QCrying QWolf

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz
(11/6): QDespite international calls for him to stay on, from the
moment Abbas demanded an immediate and total freeze of construction
in the settlements as a condition for negotiations, he brought the
negotiating track to a dead end. The Palestinian President misread
the diplomatic map in believing that the Americans would stick to
their initial firm demands for a construction freeze. Abbas has
portrayed himself as the only Palestinian partner for peace. He
threw down the gauntlet to that effect on the White House lawn, but
he could find himself paving the road for the opponents of peace
while his gauntlet lies abandoned in Obama's front yard.

IV. QWe Will Miss Abbas Yet

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv (11/6): QThe present situation between Israel and the
Palestinians is both ridiculous and paradoxical simultaneously. On
the one hand, the present Israeli government is not building in the
settlements. Period.... Meanwhile, a senior American official
underscored this by saying: in fact, there is a clear understanding
between Israel and the United States on a total freeze for a nine
month period. The problem is that this cannot be openly declared.
Netanyahu has to go for a freeze quietly. As far as Abu Mazen is
concerned, silence is rubbish.... Bibi explained last week to
Knesset Member Daniel Ben Simon, who had just come from meeting Abu
Mazen in Morocco, the extent to which the Palestinians do not want
him, and are attempting to topple him. The congratulations for this
impossible predicament ought to be sent to the U.S. administration,
which has put on an inept performance here, particularly by placing
all parties on high limbs from which it is now impossible to descend
unharmed. Rahm Emanuel, George Mitchell, and Hillary Clinton have
been shown to be complete amateurs. As of now, everything is in
stagnation. Abu Mazen has announced that he is not interested in
running for reelection. On the other hand, who knows.... The ball
is now in the American court. A presidential act of leadership is
necessary to get this cart out of the mud and running. However,
Barack Obama now appears to be anything but a strong leader. A year
has already passed since his election, and we remain with the hope
and its shattered pieces.

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3. Iran:
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Block Quotes:
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QUs, Them, and Obama

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/6):
QPresident Barack Obama noted the [30th] anniversary [of the seizure
of the American Embassy in Tehran] by saying, QIran must choose. We
have heard for 30 years what the Iranian government is against; the
question, now, is what kind of future it is for.Q But this is a
question the President, who this week marked the anniversary of his
own election, cannot reasonably forever ask.... We close out the
week on a glimmer of hope -- the certainty that evil regimes don't
have to last forever. Next week marks the fall of the Berlin Wall
which led to the collapse of the Soviet Empire. If only Barack
Obama could walk in the footsteps of John F. Kennedy (QIch bin ein
BerlinerQ) and Ronald Reagan ("Tear down this wall!"),and provide
the moral leadership the civilized world needs to help the people of
Iran take down this regime.

CUNNINGHAM