ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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Mideast

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Key stories in the media:
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All media led with last nightQs vote at the Labor Party convention,
in which 58% percent (680 to 507) backed the partyQs entrance into
PM-designate Benjamin NetanyahuQs government coalition. Leading
media reported that Netanyahu QdisbursedQ 4-6.5 billion shekels
($1-1.6 billion) to form the coalition. Leading media predicted
that Ehud Barak, Matan Vilnai, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Shalom Simhon,
and Yitzhak Herzog will retain their posts in the cabinet. Israel
Hayom reported that Orit Noked or Avishay Braverman will get a
ministry without portfolio, in charge of minorities. IDF Radio
reported that many Labor Party members rescinded their memberships.
Yediot quoted Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman as saying
that Labor has received too many cabinet seats.

Israel Radio quoted President Obama as saying yesterday at a White
House press conference that the Israeli-Palestinian status-quo was
"unsustainable" and that working toward a two-state solution is
"critical." The President fielded a question on the incoming
Israeli government to be led by Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said
that talk of Palestinian statehood is premature. Describing the
difficulty of negotiating peace under such circumstances, he said:
"It's not easier than it was, but I think it's just as necessary.
We don't yet know what the Israeli government is going to look like,
and we don't yet know what the future shape of Palestinian
leadership is going to be comprised of. What we do know is this:
that the status quo is unsustainable, that it is critical for us to
advance a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can
live side by side in their own states with peace and security.
Obama also knocked back critics of his friendly video message last
week to Iran's leadership, offering engagement and recognition as
part of serious talks about reducing Iran's belligerent profile.

Media reported that Ofer Dekel, PM Ehud OlmertQs point man on the
Gilad Shalit issue, and Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin have returned to
Cairo to renew talks over ShalitQs release. Israel Radio reported
that Egypt refused to host three Hamas leaders involved in the
talks: They had been very critical of Egypt. The Jerusalem Post
reported that William Daroff, the (U.S.) Jewish CommunitiesQ vice
president for public policy, told the newspaper yesterday that the
International Committee of the Red Cross was continuing its good
faith efforts to seek access to and information about Shalit.

Maariv reported that Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is promoting
construction in the eastern part of the city: tomorrow the Jerusalem
Municipality will vote on whether to authorize the construction of
20 housing units in the Sheffer hotel, at the foot of Mount Scopus.
HaQaretz reported that the Jerusalem Municipality has frozen a plan
for a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem -- known as Kedmat
Zion, in the area of Abu Dis -- that was initiated by the right-wing
group Ateret Cohanim. IDF Radio reported that in their coalition
agreement, Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu agreed to expand construction
in the E-1 area near MaQaleh Adumim. The radio reported that, while
Labor Party officials are unaware of this development, MaQaleh
Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel, who acknowledged Yisrael Beiteinu
Chairman Avigdor LiebermanQs personal intention to build in MaQaleh
Adumim, said that this was only about a new neighborhood of his city
that will not be connected with Jerusalem.


HaQaretz cited an updated list of Palestinian losses issued by the
IDF that more than 600 of the Palestinians killed during Operation
Cast Lead in Gaza have been identified as militants, while another
309 were innocent civilians. The list is significantly different
from the one the Palestinians use. The Israeli document lists 1,370
fatalities, whereas different Palestinian lists range from 1,324 to
1,434. The IDF claims to have identified 1,249 of those on its
list. The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday UN Special
Rapporteur Richard Falk charged that Israel's military incursion
into Gaza "was not legally justified given the circumstances and
diplomatic alternatives available, and was potentially a crime
against peace." He made the comment as he presented a report to
the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, claiming that the IDF's
22-day operation in January appeared to be "a war crime of the
greatest magnitude." Falk argued further that Palestinian rocket
fire into Israel had been mostly a retaliatory act. In response,
IsraelQs Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Roni Leshno-Yaar, said that
Falk's defense of what he called in the report the "Palestinian
right of resistance" constituted "poorly veiled" support for
terrorism against Israeli citizens.

The media reported that yesterday radical right-wing march through
the Israeli Arab city of Umm el-Fahm lasted only 30 minutes.
However, HaQaretz noted that the marchers, the Arab inhabitants of
the town, and the police Qall seemed to have derived satisfaction
with the outcome.Q Thirteen protesters from the town were arrested.
Police Maj. Gen. Shimon Koren, commander of the northern district,
said they had "endangered life and disturbed the peace." Among the
28 people injured during the clashes were 15 police officers hit by
stones, including Deputy Police Commissioner Maj. Gen. Shahar
Ayalon. Yediot reported that the far Right intends to buy houses in
Arab and mixed communities (within the Green Line).

The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Hamas announced that it
was planning to press charges against PA Prime Minster Salam Fayyad
for QcollaborationQ with Israel and QsquanderingQ public funds.

The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Acting Assistant
Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman testified before the House
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, urging Israel to
turn over more information about land mines in southern Lebanon, as
the Obama administration allocates more money to help locate and
defuse mines and unspent cluster bombs. Feltman also defended the
U.S. administrationQs decision to engage with Damascus at the same
time that he took a hard line against Hizbullah and said that no
deal with Syria would come at LebanonQs expense.

HaQaretz cited the Israeli human rights group BQTselem as saying

that IDF violence against Palestinians has increased since Operation
Cast Lead.

The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that yesterday the High
Court of Justice issued a conditional order to justify its
opposition to enforcing an evacuation and demolition order for nine
homes in the West Bank settlement of Ofra.

The Jerusalem Post reported that a land deal involving a former
primate of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem that Qremains shrouded
in mystery and controversyQ five years after it was made public is
now being fought over in a court case with political underpinnings.
One of the properties is the Imperial Hotel in the Old City.

Yediot devoted several pages to the 30th anniversary of the peace
treaty with Egypt.

Yediot reported that today in Holon (a southern Tel Aviv suburb) an
orchestra composed of 12 youths from the Jenin refugee camp will
play to an audience of Holocaust survivors.

Major media reported that yesterday U.S. businessman Morris (Moshe)
TalanskyQs Israeli lawyers announced that their client would be
returning to Israel to complete his testimony against PM Olmert.

The Jerusalem Post reported that, while Israel is staying out of the
debate over the World War I Armenian massacre, QU.S. Jews may be
ready to step in.

Yediot reported that Israel has opened a new consulate in southern
China.

HaQaretz reported that the Tribeca Film Institute's April 2009
festival has announced that the documentary "Borderline," directed
by Shirli Michalevicz, which presents the story of the Kfar Shaul
mental health center in Jerusalem, will participate in its Tribeca
All Access project. Kfar Shaul, which treats both Jewish and Muslim
patients, is located on the site of the former Arab village of Deir
Yassin, which was almost completely destroyed in the 1948 War of
Independence. Another Israeli film, "Gefilte Fish," directed by
Shelly Kling-Yosef, will also participate in the festival.

YediotQs New York correspondent Yaniv Halili reported on a service
on the Web site of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which
gathers information from the public on border violations.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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Veteran journalist and anchor Dan Margalit wrote on page one of the
independent Israel Hayom: Qin the present conditions, this is the
best government that Israel could hope for after the elections.

Shmuel Rosner wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (3/25)Q:
QYesterday Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak did well in agreeing
to honor previous agreements signed by the Israeli government....
But Barack ObamaQs obstacle will not be overcome.

Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QAs dreary as the whole
thing is, the only one who is going to pledge allegiance to the
future government, if it is formed, is Binyamin Netanyahu.

Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid, who started
his political career in the Labor Party, wrote in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: QIt is irresponsible for the Labor Party to
allow the country to participate in a dirty stream of nationalism
and racism, without even trying to put a finger in the dike.

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QFor an
enduring peace, it is imperative that Mubarak use the remaining
years of his tenure to reconceptualize and rebrand Egypt's attitude
toward Israel. A first state visit would be a good starting
point.

Block Quotes:
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I. "Let Him Already Say QTwo StatesQ"

Shmuel Rosner wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (3/25):
QYesterday Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak did well in agreeing,
even before Labor decided to join the coalition, to honor previous
agreements signed by the Israeli government. How could it have been
any different? That wise guy policy, which in effect bypasses the
Qtwo states for two peoplesQ formula, allows Netanyahu to cover all
his bases. His stubborn refusal to clearly announce his support for
a principle that many figures who cannot be suspected of belonging
to the radical Left, like Ariel Sharon and George Bush, helped him
pass the Barak obstacle. But Barack ObamaQs obstacle will not be
overcome.

II. "The Right Government"

Veteran journalist and anchor Dan Margalit wrote on page one of the
independent Israel Hayom (3/25)Q: QIsrael now has a framework for a
government that this newspaper proposed before Election Day -- based
on the Benjamin Netanyahu-Ehud Barak axis, together with Avigdor
Lieberman and Shas leader Eli Yishai.... Many roadside bombs lie
in wait for this government.... But, in the present conditions, this
is the best government that Israel could hope for after the
elections.

III. "Single Parent Coalition"
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/25)Q: QIf I were a
member of the Labor Party, I would have voted yesterday along with
the majority in favor of joining the government. Not because of the
country: It wasn't what is best for the country that concerned the
party members who gathered yesterday. I would have voted in favor
because a party that is headed towards its death, just like a man
who is headed towards his death, feels better when he flies there
first class, when the bed is soft, when the pillow is plumped up and
full of feathers, and when the blanket is warm and cuddly.... As
dreary as the whole thing is, the only one who is going to pledge
allegiance to the future government, if it is formed, is Binyamin
Netanyahu. The other members of his coalition will regard it as a
government of others: The first to dodge votes in the plenum will be
the Labor Party members who were not given portfolios. When they
lock themselves into the bathrooms in the Knesset they will find
themselves in the company of frustrated Knesset members from United
Torah Judaism, along with indifferent Shas Knesset members and
embittered Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset members. The way things look
now, this is going to be a single-parent coalition.




IV. QLike Slaughtered Chickens

Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid, who started
his political career in the Labor Party, wrote in the indent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/25)Q: Q[The members of the Labor Party
convention] screamed into the microphone like slaughtered chickens,
perhaps because they were frightened of the agitated crowd in the
hall.... It is irresponsible to leave a democracy without an
opposition, without an alternative, without a social democracy
deserving its title, and without hope. And it is irresponsible to
allow the country to participate in a dirty stream of nationalism
and racism, without even trying to put a finger in the dike.... With
these men of yesteryear there will be no Labor tomorrow; and if it
is resurrected, it will not be the same party. It will be a new
party.


V. Q30 Years at Peace

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/25)Q:
QWe hesitate to speculate on where the Egypt-Israel relationship
will be 30 years from now. Israelis will watch how President Hosni
Mubarak prepares for a smooth transition in 2011, when he will
presumably retire. Egypt's domestic stability is one of Israel's
most important strategic concerns. Much also depends on
institution-building and political development in Egypt and among
the Palestinian Arabs. Unfortunately, the Mubarak regime has been
delinquent in socializing either the elites or masses to the idea
that peace with Israel is anything more than a bitter necessity.
Consequently, Egypt's political culture vilifies Israel. The cold
peace calibrated by Mubarak has been tolerable, if disappointing.
But the notion that a successor regime which Qknew not SadatQ might
one day field Egypt's colossal and lavishly modernized military
against the Jewish state cannot be ruled out. For an enduring
peace, it is imperative, therefore, that Mubarak use the remaining
years of his tenure to reconceptualize and rebrand Egypt's attitude
toward Israel. A first state visit would be a good starting
point.

CUNNINGHAM