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. FAA Downgrading of Israeli Aviation Status

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Key stories in the media:
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The media quoted Likud sources as saying that Justice Minister
Daniel Friedmann will probably lose his job in the new government.
According to the sources, PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and
Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman yesterday tentatively
agreed to name Prof. Yaakov NeQeman as the next justice minister.
NeQeman was justice minister and subsequently finance minister in
the first Netanyahu government. HaQaretz reported that, although it
received five major portfolios in the coalition deal, Yisrael
Beiteinu has apparently made far-reaching compromises in its demands
pertaining to state and religion. Lieberman has reportedly backed
down from most of his demands for a civil marriage law, a solution
to the conversion problem, and changing the system of government.
Shas mouthpiece Yom Leyom predicts that Netanyahu will declare that
he will set up a narrow government for a defined amount of time.

The Jerusalem Post and HaQaretz reported that Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton made clear during her visit to the region last week
that a Palestinian unity government that does not recognize Israel,
renounce terrorism, or accept previous Israeli-Palestinian
agreements is one that the U.S. will not be able to accept. The
newspapers quoted senior diplomats as saying yesterday that Clinton
"reiterated" during her visit that the "Quartet and the Arab League
are in agreement" that those three principles are ones that Hamas
would have to adopt in order for there to be engagement with Hamas.
The diplomatQs comments come amid attempts by some European
countries to look for ways to circumvent the international
community's three benchmarks that for the most part have kept the
world from dealing with Hamas. Leading media quoted Syrian
President Bashar Assad as saying in an interview that appeared
yesterday in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun that Syria could
conduct direct peace negotiations with Israel if the U.S. acted as a
mediator.

Israel Radio reported that Ofer Dekel, PM Ehud OlmertQs point man on
the prisoner issue, is extending his current mission in Egypt. The
radio quoted senior Israeli defense sources as saying that, although
no breakthrough has been achieved in the matter of Gilad ShalitQs
release, lively negotiations are continuing. HaQaretz quoted a
senior Israeli diplomatic source as saying that the goal of DekelQs
mission is to try to reduce gaps between the prisonersQ list
presented by Israel and the one demanded by Hamas. Yediot quoted
sources in Cairo as saying that Israel is willing to release some of
the prisoners on HamasQs list, provided they are expelled aboard,
but not to the territories. Maariv reported that five senior
cabinet members demanded to review the prisonersQQ list, saying that
the deal should not be left in the incoming governmentQs hands.
Maariv reported that National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin
Ben-Eliezer told the Shalit family that a majority of ministers will
approve the deal. Maariv reported that a mass demonstration in
favor of ShalitQs release will take place near OlmertQs official
residence in Jerusalem tomorrow. Maariv printed a call by Gilad
ShalitQs mother Aviva imploring Olmert to make a Qbold decision.
Yediot reported that Olmert wrote a bereaved father who asked him
not to release terrorists that he is opposed to Qtotal surrender.

The Jerusalem Post and HaQaretz reported that yesterday, in a
message posted on the Foreign Policy blog The Cable, Charles QChas
Freeman blamed the Israel lobby, "clearly intent on enforcing
adherence to the policies of a foreign government," for stoking the
controversy that led him to withdraw his name as chairman of the
National Intelligence Council (NIC). Reporting that pro-Israel
groups that opposed FreemanQs appointment openly welcomed the news
that he would not be taking the post, The Jerusalem Post also
presented opinions that the affair could turn into a Pyrrhic victory
for Israel supporters.

All media (lead stories in The Jerusalem Post and Makor
Rishon-Hatzofe) reported that almost 16 years after Israel's Supreme
Court overturned his conviction and life sentence for war crimes and
crimes against humanity at the Treblinka death camp, German
prosecutors yesterday charged retired Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk
with more than 29,000 counts of accessory to murder during his time
as a guard at the Nazis' Sobibor death camp, and will seek his
extradition from the US. The Jerusalem Post quoted Efraim Zuroff,
the Qtop Nazi hunterQ at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, as saying in
Jerusalem: "We're on our way to a victory for justice today,"

Yediot reported that Israel will return to the PA weapons that the
IDF took away from Palestinian security apparatuses during Operation
Protective Shield. The newspaper reported that a diplomatic source
in Jerusalem linked the gesture to Secretary ClintonQs visit to the
region.

Maariv reported on a disagreement between Israel and the U.S.
regarding the imminence of the nuclear threat from Iran. The
newspaper quoted Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, head of IDF Intelligence, as
saying that Iran is stockpile hundreds of kg of uranium. Maariv
quoted U.S. intelligence as saying that Iran needs one to six years
to produce enough uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, but that it
does not intend to pursue this course. HaQaretz reported that Iran
has increased its investments in oil-producing Latin American
countries in order to counter the extension of international
sanctions against it. The newspaper reported that Iran is about to
inject hundreds of millions of dollars into EcuadorQs energy
projects. HaQaretz cited the Foreign MinistryQs concern about the
growing pro-Iranian axis in South America. The newspaper cited the
ministryQs hope that the Obama administration will overturn the
Qnegative trendQ undertaken during George BushQs administration.

HaQaretz quoted Finance Ministry Director-General Yarom Ariav as
saying yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg that the GOI could
well run a deficit equivalent to 6% of GDP this year.

HaQaretz reported that the Defense Ministry is urging Lockheed
Martin to subcontract work on the future F-35 jet fighter to Israeli
companies, including Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel Military
Industries, and Rafael. The Israeli companies could build parts for
the plane, electronic systems, and so forth.

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1. U.S.-Israel Relations:
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Summary:
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Shmuel Rosner wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: QA government
of right-wingers and religious will not be able to hide behind the
[Israeli] ambassador [to the U.S.] -Q even if he comes from the
secular Left -Q but it will have to get his help to clarify that the
Israeli devil is not so terrible.

Block Quotes:
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"Selling Netanyahu"

Shmuel Rosner wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (3/11):
QKnowing that what the [new Israeli ambassador] says represents the
prime minister is important to Washington.... Netanyahu and
Lieberman will have a tough image problem from the very first
working day of [the Israeli ambassador]. Thus it is important that
the person holding the job be experienced enough to begin working
immediately, without an extended adjustment period. A government of
right-wingers and religious will not be able to hide behind the
ambassador -Q even if he comes from the secular Left -Q but it will
have to get his help to clarify that the Israeli devil is not so
terrible. This will be particularly important while working with a
Democratic administration many officials of which do not view
Netanyahu as their favorite leader.

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2. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: QIf we're willing to free 220 killers to
get Gilad Shalit back, why not 450?.... Now is not the time to say
Qwe don't make deals with terrorists,Q because we do.

Block Quotes:
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"Time to Pay HamasQs Price"

Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (3/12): QOf Hamas's [list of] 450
[prisoners it wants released], the government has signed off on 220.
And that's where the negotiations are stuck. So the question is
this: If we're willing to free 220 killers to get Gilad Shalit back,
why not 450? What risk would we be taking by freeing 450 terrorists
that we wouldn't be taking by freeing 220? What principle would we
be violating that we haven't already violated? Some very strong
arguments have been made against the idea of freeing terrorists --
certainly large numbers of them -- in return for one Israeli
hostage. Maybe that's the policy the government should follow --
after Shalit is back home. But it's not a policy to suddenly invoke
after pursuing the opposite course for nearly three years, a course
that has had an unbearably tantalizing, maddening effect on Shalit's
family and, to a much lesser but still very significant extent, on
the entir nation. There's no telling what effect it's had n Gilad
Shalit himself. So now is not the time t say Qwe don't make deals
with terrorists,Q becase we do.... If the government balks now, if
it efuses to give up 450 killers when it's already ageed to give
up 220, this will all have been a log, torturous tease -- of Gilad
Shalit, of his famly, of the whole nation. Enough. Bring him
hom. Before it's too late. We have nothing more to lose, and we
have a soldier's life to gain.

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3. FAA Downgrading of Israeli Aviation Status:
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Summary:
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HaQaretz editorialized: QA mere three months ago, the Federal
Aviation Authority of the United States announced that it was
downgrading Israel's aviation safety rating.... [Transportation
Minister Shaul Mofaz] must demand fast and thorough action to
eradicate the lawlessness in the air and save Israel's civil
aviation from international ostracism and collapse.

Block Quotes:
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"Anarchy in the Air"

HaQaretz editorialized (3/12): QThe serious findings by the
Transportation Ministry's chief air accident investigator with
regard to ultra light aircraft, as reported yesterday in HaQaretz,
add weight to the grave picture regarding the safety of civilian
aviation in Israel. The investigator found that for the past ten
years, modern and advanced ultra light aircraft have been added to
the flight sector that do not meet the required standards and are
prone to accidents.... Light planes received flight permits from the
licensing department in the [Israeli] Civil Aviation Authority Qby
various and unacceptable means that contradict the requirements of
the law.Q Moreover, in view of the close ties between the
supervisors and those being supervised, local permits are issued on
the basis of the supervisors' goodwill and without any clear policy
dictated from above. A mere three months ago, the Federal Aviation
Authority of the United States announced that it was downgrading
Israel's aviation safety rating. Two weeks ago, the European
aviation authorities stated they were stepping up the safety tests
for Israeli air companies in the wake of the American report. The
international organization monitoring scheduled flights warned that
Israeli airlines would soon be forbidden to land in Europe or even
to over-fly the continent. The responsibility for this grave
situation with regard to civil aviation in all its forms lies with
Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz. He must begin to do his job.
He must give full backing to Giora Rom, the head of the Civil
Aviation Authority, and demand of him fast and thorough action to
eradicate the lawlessness in the air and save Israel's civil
aviation from international ostracism and collapse.

CUNNINGHAM