ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002750 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 ¶3. Copenhagen Climate Change Summit -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- All media reported that the senior cabinet ministers who constitute the so-called Qforum of sevenQ are to convene again this morning at the PMQs Office to continue their discussion on the proposed prisoner-release deal. The ministers met much of the day yesterday and until late in the night to discuss the terms of the deal with Hamas that would see the release of Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians now held in Israeli prisons. HaQaretz quoted a senior Israeli official as saying: "The purpose of the meetings is to try and reach understanding within the forum. At this stage, there is no such understanding." Media reported on a tie between the members of the Qforum of seven:Q while three -- namely, Labor PartyQs Ehud Barak, ShasQ Eli Yishai, and LikudQs Dan Meridor -- are in favor of a deal with Hamas, three -- Yisrael BeiteinuQs Avigdor Lieberman and LikudQs Moshe YaQalon and Benny Begin -- are opposed to it. The media reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu could resolve the draw. The media reported that Netanyahu is expected to meet with members of the Shalit family, as the forum renews its discussion this morning. This morning GiladQs mother, Aviva Shalit, told Israel Radio that their meeting with Netanyahu has been postponed indefinitely. The radio reported that Netanyahu is opposed to release to the West Bank terrorists who killed Israelis "with their own hands." HaQaretz reported that yesterday right-wing activists began preparing for a fight against the planned demolition of structures built in contravention of the 10-month freeze on construction in West Bank settlements. The media reported that the demolition plans were described in an internal IDF memo detailing the intelligence-gathering methods to be used to detect freeze violations. The memo was leaked to the press on Saturday. Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that IsraelQs relations with the E.U.Qs new foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton got off to an inauspicious beginning on Saturday, as she criticized Israel. Deputy FM Daniel Ayalon was quoted as saying: QJust as the Romans did not succeed in cutting off Jerusalem from Israel, so, too, will diplomats from the U.N. and the E.U. be unsuccessful as well. Yesterday the media reported on the perceived failure of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. The Jerusalem Post reported that in the face of the growing missile threat against Israel, the IDF Home Front Command and the U.S. National Guard have decided to exchange liaisons to enable a steady exchange of information on civil defense. The media reported that yesterday the head of the Har Bracha Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, agreed to sign a document which clearly bans any political demonstrations within the framework of the IDF, reversing his previous position on the matter. Nearly 50 hesder yeshiva heads met yesterday at the Or Etzion Yeshiva, to discuss Defense Minister Ehud Barak's recent decision to remove the Har Bracha Yeshiva from the hesder arrangement with the army, which combines Torah study with military service. Barak's decision came on the heels of Rabbi Melamed's comments in which he openly supported soldiers refusing to obey IDF orders on the basis of political and ideological reasons. Following that, Melamed refused to rescind his controversial statements. The rabbis eventually agreed to sign a joint statement in which "all hesder yeshiva heads clearly reject all demonstrations in the IDF, out of a wish to preserve the unity of the IDF." The rabbis also declared their appreciation of the Qdefense establishment, the IDF and its commanders, who are carrying out a holy function in preserving and defending the State of Israel and its residents." HaQaretz quoted a source who attended the meeting as saying: QIn the end, all the rabbis understood that Melamed had gone too far in his incitement against the defense establishment and, therefore, they forced him to reverse his position." Yesterday HaQaretz presented a roundtable discussion involving former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Professor Itamar Rabinovich, and former senior Israeli diplomat Oded Eran. The debate revolved around the United StatesQ policy in the Middle East. The media reported that yesterday Labor Party ministers prevented the Ministerial Committee on Legislation from discussing a proposed amendment to the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom. Forty-four Knesset members support the proposed legislation. The amendment is intended to make constitutional the so-called Citizenship Law that prohibits Palestinians married to Israelis from obtaining citizenship. Supporters fear that the High Court of Justice, which is presently hearing four petitions against the controversial amendment, will declare that it is unconstitutional in its present format. Knesset Member Nachman Shai (Kadima),one of the sponsors of the law, announced yesterday he was withdrawing his support after he learned that passage of the proposal would require amendment of a Basic Law. The Labor ministers yesterday demanded that the government find a compromise within the next two weeks that provides solutions to the wide range of problems arising from the Citizenship Law as it stands, and to present the compromise in the form of a government-backed bill. Over the weekend the media reported that Hamas leaders in Gaza were behind the arrest warrants for former FM Tzipi Livni and other senior Israelis in Britain and other countries. The media wonder what lies behind the apparently friendly visit of Lebanese PM Saad Hariri to Damascus. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. QNetanyahuQs Test Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (12/21): QA state that is unable to employ any option -- either a rescue by military operation or subduing Hamas by military or economic means -- ultimately has no choice but to surrender. Because there is one option that the Israeli government does not have -- to leave Gilad Shalit in the captivity of a terror organization forever. Three years are more than enough.... The key lies with the Prime Minister. Not because there is a tie between the seven ministers, but because this is his job.... In the end, what should decide is not advice given by someone or the assessment of an expert or pressure by the family in one direction or pressure by the Director of Shin Bet in the opposite direction. What decides is a gut feeling, an instinct. For Netanyahu, this is the first leadership test of his present term. He has to come to grips with everything he preached in the opposition years, his self image, the books he has written, and the speeches he has given. I donQt envy him. II. QA Deal on the Edge Diplomatic correspondent and television anchor Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/21): Q[Prime Minister Netanyahu] wants so very much to bring Shalit home and is so very incapable of paying the price. Just like in the big political dilemma. He wants so very much to make peace and is so very incapable of paying the price. That is how life is here, immeasurably cruel, claiming a heavy price for everything, no free lunches, and now Benjamin Netanyahu needs to make the enormously large decisions that he has feared all his life. There is nothing to envy about him or about us. III. QThe Conflict Awaits ObamaQs Program Labor Party Knesset Member Ophir Pines-Paz, a member of the KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (12/21): QHow do we get the peace train back on track? How do we restore the hope of peace and the faith in a partner on the other side? Now more than ever, the region needs President Barack Obama to initiate a new peace plan. Such a plan would replace George W. Bush's road map, which can no longer serve as a basis for renewed talks.... [The plan] should end in a permanent agreement of two states for two nations within two years. History will not forgive those who do not take advantage of the current relative calm -- that has not existed for decades -- to promote peace and, instead, contributed to a dangerous deterioration which would sabotage any chance for peace and will lead, God forbid, to another wave of violence or to diplomatic moves which would intensify the existing rift. Obama, who recently received the Nobel Peace Prize, has a golden opportunity to undertake an act of inspiring leadership which will justify the public's trust and expectations. Only a new pragmatic peace initiative can save us from endless treading and time-wasting. Only a new peace program can bring both sides to the negotiating table, prevent the resignation of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, and stop the destructive political deadlock. This historical opportunity must not be missed, as no one knows when another will come our way. IV. QIt's Always Best To Ask Columnist and former IDF Intelligence chief Shlomo Gazit wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/20): QI am not among those who categorically reject a referendum law. Indeed, this is a sensitive matter, unusual and atypical for the whole of Israel's legislative practice; however, a decision mandating a change of the country's borders should be brought for the people's direct approval and not merely to the coalition and some haphazard majority of Knesset members.... Israel now and in the future will be forced to make fateful decisions which could influence its permanent borders. Unlike in 1967 or 1981, if we are about to construct a judicial mechanism which will require the direct consent of the people, it must be ensured that the new law also mandates a referendum following any intent to annex territory to Israel - just the same, and no less, than it requires that we do this in the event that we intend to withdraw from a territory. ¶V. QThe Great Disconnect The Jerusalem Post editorialized (12/21): QHas the relative prosperity of West Bankers made them more inclined to compromise with Israel? Not really.... Gazans are as grateful to Hamas as West Bankers are to Fatah for returning normalcy to their lives -- though Gazans acknowledge they have paid a greater human-rights price for their calm. From an Israeli viewpoint, the heartbreak is that despite a massive investment of resources by the E.U. and U.S., accompanied by essential Israeli cooperation, the relatively well-off West Bankers hanker after the imprisoned Barghouti, partly because he refuses to rule out a third paroxysm of violence. The core attitudes of West Bankers and comparatively deprived Gazans are not poles apart, with so many believing that violence pays. Economic well-being, then, does not obviate political frustration. Tragically, Palestinian QmoderatesQ are doing precious little to lessen the dissatisfaction of their people because they have failed to candidly discuss the compromises necessary to achieve viable aspirations. -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- QBomb and Be Done with It Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the independent, left-Ha'aretz (12/20): QMany countries have the capability to threaten Israel or Western countries, but without motivation, this capability means nothing.... The effort required to change Iran's motivation has not yet begun. Sweeping sanctions on gasoline imports into Iran could quiet down for a while those who seek to acquire the bomb, but they will not effect change in Iran. They will only help cement the solidarity between the opposition and the regime. If we assume that Iran is a rational state, then dialogue between the Islamic Republic and the United States -- not only on nuclear issues -- is the proper leverage to be used. Recognizing it as a regional power, not just a QShi'ite Iranian threat,Q could change its policy. But those who think Iran is crazy better skip the rhetoric - bomb already and be done with it. -------------- ¶3. Copenhagen Climate Change Summit: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- QWho Is Barack Obama? Columnist Shmuel Rosner, who was HaQaretzQs correspondent in Washington, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/21): QOnce, [Barack Obama] knew very well how to explain his actions. This ability has ceased to impress. Obama explained at the Copenhagen Conference that there is a Qclear formulaQ to rein in global warning. It may be clear to Obama -- but less so to the rest of the worldQs leaders. Neither did his speech succeed in swaying the balance nor in reaching a somewhat significant agreement in this domain. We have already become accustomed to this pattern: the President-electQs well-crafted speeches used to be admired; today he is being treated as a man who can talk but finds it hard to implement. This is not a good sign -- neither diplomatically nor politically. CUNNINGHAM