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. Mideast


2. Iran


3. Muslims in European Society

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Key stories in the media:
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The Jerusalem Post quoted former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore
Gold, one of PM-designate Benjamin NetanyahuQs top foreign policy
advisers, as saying yesterday that Netanyahu has no intention of
sidelining the Palestinian track in favor of a Syrian one.

All media highlighted the role of Gilad ShalitQs family in efforts
to secure his release. DM Ehud Barak and relatives of MIA or killed
IDF soldiers visited them yesterday. The media quoted the Kuwaiti
daily Al-Jarida as saying that, during his visit to Gaza, Deputy
Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk allegedly received a videotape of
Shalit and a letter hand-written by him. The media quoted Gilad
ShalitQs father Noam as saying that his family has not received
information about this development.

The media reported that yesterday Netanyahu tried to head off a
revolt within his party, as his fellow Likud members complained that
he is breaking promises by giving away senior cabinet posts to
coalition partners. HaQaretz reported that he told Likud Knesset
members that the Qcoalition talks have not ended. They are at their
apex, in terms of both principles and portfolios." HaQaretz quoted
Netanyahu's aides as sayng that he hopes to present his new cabinet
next Wednesday or Thursday, and that he fears that his faction may
rebel. Since the narrow right-wing government will lean on a
coalition of 61-65 MKs, internal opposition could topple it.
Meanwhile, Yisrael Beiteinu's leader MK Avigdor Lieberman is adamant
in demanding that Daniel Friedmann be kept as justice minister and
that his party chair the Knesset Constitution Committee. Israel
Radio reported that Netanyahu wants to reach an agreement with
Lieberman according to which Yisrael Beiteinu would be entrusted
with the justice portfolio, but that it would not be in FriedmannQs
hands. HaQaretz reported that the police will summon Lieberman for
an investigation next week. The media reported that yesterday the
LikudQs Knesset faction nominated Likud MK Reuven QRubyQ Rivlin to
be Knesset Speaker, a post he held from 2003 until 2006.

HaQaretz quoted Hizbullah Deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem as saying
yesterday that there is little prospect of another conflict with
Israel in the short term. But "in the distant future all things are
possible," he warned.

HaQaretz quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying that
hostile unmanned aerial vehicles overflew Iran last month and
disrupted the communications systems at the launch site of a missile
carrying Iran's first satellite to space. The newspaper reported
that Meir Jabandafar, an expert on Iran, told HaQaretz on Monday
that Israel is presumed to be the No. 1 suspect for this operation.
"The intelligence war against Iran is intensifying and becoming more
public. It seems that the aim is not only to foil Iran's military
developments but also to embarrass the leadership and put pressure
on it. This may be an important tool for Ahmadinejad in the coming
presidential elections," Jabandafar was quoted as saying.

HaQaretz reported that the recent refusal to grant construction
permits to the residents of JerusalemQs Bustan quarter (in the
village of Silwan) could lead to violent reactions similar to those
caused by the excavation of the Western Wall Tunnel in 1996.

Yediot cited the assessment of senior diplomatic sources in
Jerusalem that Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech
Republic, and Australia will boycott the Durban 2 conference.

The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the left-wing group Yesh
Din filed a petition with the High Court of Justice claiming that
IsraelQs practice of transferring 75% of the rock and gravel it
mines in the West Bank into areas within the Green Line is illegal.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Yad Vashem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and
Bethlehem will be among the sites that Pope Benedict XVI will visit
in May. HaQaretz reported that yesterday, in conjunction with the
Vatican, Yad Vashem began a seminar on the role of Pope Pius XII
during the Holocaust.

Citing the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Jerusalem Post reported on
local attempts at Muslim-Jewish dialogue in Paris.

HaQaretz reported that the Governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley
Fischer, will recommend a stimulus package that seeks to stem the
effects of long-term unemployment and recession, in a presentation
scheduled to take place in Jerusalem.

HaQaretz reported that, in a report delivered to Minister Benjamin
Ben-Eliezer, the Gas Authority at the Ministry of National
Infrastructure recommended that the state should abandon its
intention to publish a tender for the construction of a liquefied
natural gas (LNG) storage facility. The Authority said that the
state should rely on reaching a comprehensive deal regarding both
the offshore field Tamar-1, found near Haifa, and the Tethys Sea
field off Ashkelon.

Citing the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Jerusalem Post reported
that several U.S. Jewish groups applauded President ObamaQs decision
to lift the executive order restricting federal funding for
embryonic stem cell research.

The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a poll conducted last
weekend by the West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and
Survey Research: If elections were held today in the West Bank and
Gaza, Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh would defeat PA President Mahmoud
Abbas, but Marwan Barghouti would beat Haniyeh. The survey also
showed that HamasQs popularity among Palestinians had increased in
the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead.






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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote on page one of the
independent, left-leaning HaQaretz: QIsrael must decide whether to
accept the [Palestinian prisonersQ] list, but as things stand now,
it doesnQt seem to intend even to discuss it.

Former Meretz leader Dr. Yossi Beilin wrote in the independent
Israel Hayom: QFayyad is one of the only people who knew what to ask
of Israel and of the world, and how to get it.... It is not only the
Palestinians who will pay the price for his leaving.

Liberal columnist Prof. Aviad Kleinberg wrote in the
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QThe true makeover of
the recent elections was not the rise of the Right, but the Israeli
middle classQs turning away from the parties that represented it
over the past decades -Q Labor and Meretz.

Block Quotes:
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I. "Fading by the Day"

Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote on page one of the
independent, left-leaning HaQaretz (3/10): QDefense Minister Ehud
Barak timed his visit to the Shalits' protest tent yesterday to
coincide with the evening news broadcast. That visit is as close as
Barak has gotten in expressing public support for paying what Hamas
is demanding: the release of 450 serious offenders in exchange for
the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.... If there are no dramatic
last-minute moves, the Olmert government will dissolve before the
cabinet even sees which prisoners Hamas is demanding. The group is
insisting on the overwhelming majority of those prisoners. Israel
must decide whether to accept the list, but as things stand now, it
doesnQt seem to intend even to discuss it.... [OlmertQs] successor,
Benjamin Netanyahu, will be even less committed to GiladQs fate.
After all, the solider wasnQt abducted on his watch. As head of a
narrow, right-wing government, Netanyahu will also have trouble
concluding a deal that demands such great concessions.

II. QSalam Fayyad's Resignation

Former Meretz leader Dr. Yossi Beilin wrote in the independent
Israel Hayom (3/10): QIn contrast to many of his colleagues,
[outgoing Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad] is always
cautious not to blame Israel for everything.... Fayyad is one of the
only people who knew what to ask of Israel and of the world, and how
to get it.... Hamas does not forgive him for his good relations with
the Americans, the Israelis, and the world, and he himself, three
years ago, became caught up in forming a new social-democratic party
that did not win more than three seats out of 128-which quickly put
him back in being in the position of not belonging to any party.
There are threats to his life, there is criticism of various
franchise holders for his QdryingQ them up after poring seriously
over the account books of the PA and discovering worrisome
corruption reservoirs. The temptation to go into academia, into
business, or to return to the U.S., was enormous for him. But it is
not only the Palestinians who will pay the price for his leaving.

III. "We Showed Them"

Liberal columnist Prof. Aviad Kleinberg wrote in the
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/10): Q[Through their
votes,] the Israelis wished to show their might to the Arabs, and at
the same time to reach some arrangement that would dispense us from
being so busy with them.... The true makeover of the recent
elections was not the rise of the Right, but the Israeli middle
classQs turning away from the parties that represented it over the
past decades -Q Labor and Meretz. Labor was punished for not being
fuzzy enough and Meretz for being too fuzzy. Israel is desperately
in need of a voice that it gave up in the last elections, a voice
that would demand serious criticism of the defense establishment and
its brawny way of thinking that has become the national religion, a
voice that would again demand the insertion of social considerations
in the order of national priorities. Israel urgently needs the
offended to abandon their domestic fights, to get rid of those
trying to maintain the old order, to merge forces, and offer Israel
a real alternative.







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2. Iran:
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Summary:
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Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QEspecially now, when it seems
we are on our way to a narrow and extreme coalition, it is important
for Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to be cautious and
more aware of the limitations of Israel's power.

Block Quotes:
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"DonQt Jump In Headfirst"

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/10): QWe are prattling on too
much about the Iranian threat. If jabbering could kill, no doubt we
would have been at war with Iran long ago.... With unnecessary talk
we burden ourselves with the Iranian threat and make it easier for
countries that do not want to get involved, former Israel Air Force
chief Eitan Ben-Eliyahu said. The risk to Europe and to American
interests in moderate Islamic countries in our region is no greater
than the risk to Israel. It is no coincidence that one of the first
acts of President Obama was to propose to Russia's Putin: We will
not place missiles in Eastern Europe and you will stop assisting
Iran.... Especially now, when it seems we are on our way to a narrow
and extreme coalition, it is important for Prime Minister-designate
Benjamin Netanyahu to be cautious and more aware of the limitations
of Israel's power. Don't prattle on and don't jump in headfirst.

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3. Muslims in European Society:
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Summary:
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Conservative Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in the popular,
pluralist Maariv: QThere is no connection between last SaturdayQs
violence [outside MalmoQs tennis courts] and QIsraeli policy in
GazaQ.... This is SwedenQs problem, EuropeQs problem.


Block Quotes:
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"Because They Are Fanatics"

Conservative Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in the popular,
pluralist Maariv (3/10): QA recent study indicates increasing
Islamization among MalmoQs Muslims. A violent minority has taken
over.... In Malmo, but not only there, radicals rule under the cover
of openness and enlightenment. The Islamists find allies among the
radical Left. Any argument, including that study, is countered by
claims against QIslamophobia.Q It is not that Israel is the victim
of that crazy coalition of radicals -Q not at all. In general, the
victims are young Muslim women who are forced to marry against their
will with a cousin who needs a Swedish visa.... [Such a woman] was
murdered by her father and brother. It would have been the fate of
the Israeli tennis players, had the demonstrators been given that
chance. Thus there is no connection between last SaturdayQs
violence and QIsraeli policy in GazaQ -Q none whatsoever. This is
SwedenQs problem, EuropeQs problem. As long as various Qexperts
continue to nurture the most perverted version of
Qmulticulturalism,Q which turns women into victims, and progressive
people continue to encourage hatred of Israel, the result will be
comparable.

CUNNINGHAM