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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Major media highlighted a CBS News report according to which the
Israel Air Force carried out an attack last January against a convoy
of trucks in Sudan carrying arms for Hamas in Gaza. According to
the report, 39 people riding in 17 trucks were killed, while
civilians in the area suffered injuries. Official Israeli sources
refused to confirm or deny on Wednesday any report of Israel's
involvement in an air strike in Sudan. Israel Radio cited the U.S.
GovernmentQs ignorance of the alleged raid. However, HaQaretz
quoted Sudanese State Minister for Highways Mabrouk Mubarak Saleem
as saying on the Paris-based Sudan Tribune Web site as saying that a
"major power bombed small trucks carrying arms, burning all of
them."

HaQaretz reported that yesterday, Qin what seemed to be a drastic
turn from his pre-election stance,Q Netanyahu vowed to engage in
peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. He was speaking
before the STEP Jerusalem Wealth Management Conference. He was also
quoted as saying: "The economic track is not a substitute for
diplomatic negotiations; it is a complement to it. If we have a
strong Palestinian economy, that's a strong foundation for peace.
If we have a strong Israeli-Palestinian economic relationship,
that's a strong foundation for peace." The one-day meeting was
aimed at both showcasing Israel as a good place for investment and
an opportunity to enhance Israeli-Palestinian economic cooperation.
HaQaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying: "I urge you to invest in the
Palestinian economy and Palestinian-Israeli economic relationship.
You won't be disappointed." Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Nabil Abu
Rodeineh, spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, as saying that
Netanyahu should act, not talk.

While Yediot and Israel Radio quoted senior Hamas official in Syria
Ali Barakeh as saying that the talks to release Gilad Shalit have
resumed, the radio reported that, in an interview with Al
Arabiya-TV, Hamas spokesman in Gaza Ayman Taha denied reports of the
renewal of indirect talks on the matter of Shalit. Taha was quoted a
saying that the bone of contention was Israel's refusal to release
450 prisoners. According to Taha, Hamas would be willing to renew
negotiations from the point where they broke off last week. Barakeh
stressed that Israel's recent actions, among these the worsening of
conditions for Hamas prisoners and the arrest of its leaders in the
West Bank, would not cause Hamas to change its positions. Leading
media reported that Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev
told the UN Security Council yesterday that Hamas is an immediate
threat to the current fragile cease-fire in Gaza. The Jerusalem
Post also quoted Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN
Alejandro Wolff as saying that HamasQs behavior is Qthreatening to
set off another deadly round of violence.Q Wolff also called on
Israel to dismantle settlement outposts created since March 2001.
Israel RadioQs Web site reported that yesterday B. Lynn Pascoe, UN
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the UN Security
Council that he is concerned about the slow progress in establishing
a cease-fire in Gaza. He urged the Quartet to help stabilize Gaza
and resume the peace process.

HaQaretz reported that senior Likud figures have reportedly
threatened to make the life of PM-designate Benjamin NetanyahuQs
QdifficultQ after the ministerial portfolio distribution should they
find they have been left out. (Netanyahu left only six portfolios
available for the partyQs 11 ministerial candidates.) Israel Radio
reported that Rabbi and Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, the Chairman of
the right-wing party Habayit Hayehudi (The Jewish Home),will become
science minister and be responsible for the Disengagement
Administration. Major media reported that five of the Labor PartyQs
13 Knesset members are leaning toward abstaining from next weekQs
Knesset vote to endorse the new government.

The Jerusalem Post quoted IDF Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin as
saying yesterday, in a briefing to the KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee that, now that Iran has crossed the technological
threshold needed to build a nuclear weapon, it is not in its
interest to actually do so. Yadlin said that the Iranian regimeQs
approach is to work slowly so as not to give the international
community a reason to take punishing measures.

Israel Hayom quoted IsraelQs Ambassador to Egypt Shalom Cohen as
saying yesterday at a conference held at the Hebrew UniversityQs
Truman Institute to mark three decades of peace with Egypt that
Israel is a dirty word in Egypt. Israel Radio quoted the Egyptian
daily Al-Ahram as saying today that there is no reason to celebrate
three decades of peace with Israel, as Israel is engaged in Qvile
schemesQ against Egypt. Leading media reported that there was no
mention of the anniversary in Egypt. The Jerusalem Post cited newly
declassified documents from the Jimmy Carter Library that the
administration of the former U.S. President wanted Egypt to have a
liaison role in Gaza.

Major media reported that an official medical panel comprising
members of the Israel Medical Association, a legal expert, and a
scientist from the Weizmann Institute, has concluded that tests on
anthrax immunization carried out on IDF soldiers during the second
half of the 1990s may have been unnecessary and there may have been
"no medical justification" for what was done. The medical testing,
to evaluate vaccine effectiveness and safety, was done on behalf of
the Institute for Biological Research at Nes Ziona and the IDF
Medical Corps. Moreover, in its conclusions the committee appears
to suggest there may be some validity to the claims by dozens of
soldiers who say their participation in the experiment has harmed
their health, and are demanding in court the release of the relevant
documents. Israel Radio noted that the experiment was meant to
update research conducted in the U.S. in the 1950s.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying in
an interview with the Lebanese daily As-Safir that a Netanyahu-led
government would not present a long-term hindrance to ongoing peace
talks with Syria.

Leading media reported that today Human Rights Watch will publish a
report saying that white phosphorous shells used by the IDF during
Operation Cast Lead killed dozens of Palestinians. The media cited
the IDFQs denial of allegations that the IDF indiscriminately used
such shells to intimidate the population.

Maariv, Israel Hayom, and Yediot reported that a few days ago India
signed a $2-billion deal with Israel to procure state-of-the-art
weaponry, including QBarak 8Qmissiles for the Indian Navy. Yediot
noted that IsraelQs relations with India have strengthened since
last NovemberQs Mumbai terrorist attacks.

HaQaretz reported that State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss will
soon issue a report listing opportunities missed by successive
Israeli governments to have convicted spy Jonathan Pollard
released.

Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that 100,000 American Christians have
signed a petition in support of Israel drafted by the American
organization Christians United for Israel. The groupQs founder and
National Chairman is televangelist Pastor John Hagee.

Israel Radio reported that the Anti-Defamation League labeled a
syndicated cartoon by Pat Oliphant that appeared yesterday in
newspapers across the U.S. and on the Internet as "hideously
anti-Semitic" because of its use of Nazi-like imagery and hateful
evocation of the Jewish Star of David. The cartoon portrays a
headless, jack-booted figure marching in a goose step with a sword
in one hand and pushing a Star of David on a wheel with the other.
The Jewish Star has fangs and is chasing after a woman carrying a
child, labeled "Gaza."

HaQaretz reported that the deterioration of Bank HapoalimQs status,
which manifested itself yesterday in the resignation of its CEO Zvi
Ziv, began when its U.S. investors decided to sell their holding.

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Mideast:
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Summary:
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The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: Q[At his
latest press conference] Obama answered an AFP question, reasonably,
that QWe 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 ofQ.... Now, maybe, some of the
spotlight will shift to where it belongs -- on Palestinian
intransigence."


The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QWhile [the]
stability [of the peace treaty with Egypt] is not in doubt, its
quality and especially the degree of its QwarmthQ will continue to
depend on Israel's willingness to move forward on serious
negotiations with the Palestinians and with Syria.

Intelligence affairs writer Ronen Bergman opines in the
mass-circulation pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QSince the 1990s, Israel
has been monitoring with concern the takeover of Sudan by radical
Islamic elements and the establishment of terror organization
training bases there.
Block Quotes:
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I. "Thank You, Ehud Barak"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/26):
QFor all his quirks, Barak is known abroad as a tough man who knows
how to compromise. When he says he won't be a Qfig leafQ for Israeli
foot-dragging if the Palestinians start singing a different tune,
world leaders will be inclined to believe him.. [At his latest
press conference] Obama answered an AFP question, reasonably, that
"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." But he would keep trying
to bring the sides closer.Q Israel's adversaries want the focus to
be on the QoccupationQ and, now, the new government's supposed
rejection of a two-state solution. It would have been far better to
have Livni in the government telling the world about everything she
and Ehud Olmert offered the Palestinians, that they rejected. But
Barak's joining is the next best thing. Now, maybe, some of the
spotlight will shift to where it belongs -- on Palestinian
intransigence.

II. "Stable, Essential, and Cold"

The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (3/26): QToday
marks the 30th anniversary of the peace agreement between Israel and
Egypt.... President Hosni Mubarak's insistence on viewing the peace
agreement as a strategic asset for Egypt eventually made it an
extremely powerful political lever that paved the way for the
formulation of the Arab peace initiative, which turned peace with
Israel into a strategic Arab choice. At the same time, the peace
agreement enabled Egypt to turn its attention to economic
development, to modernize and improve its army and to benefit from a
political and economic pact with the United States. It is a cold
agreement, one that has not been embraced by the Egyptian people and
does not have the support of its intellectual elites. Israel's
relations with Egypt are different from those with European states
or the U.S., lacking the cultural ties, extensive tourism and
economic cooperation. But then the U.S. and Europe were never
enemies of Israel.... [Israeli politicians, including foreign
minister-designate Avigdor Lieberman, forget that the peace
agreement is not a favor Israel is doing for the Egyptians and that
the political and security achievements that come in its wake cannot
be taken for granted. The agreement with Egypt is not divorced from
the Middle East reality, and in particular from the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While its stability is not in doubt,
its quality and especially the degree of its QwarmthQ will continue
to depend on Israel's willingness to move forward on serious
negotiations with the Palestinians and with Syria.

III. "Sudan, Grounds for Concern"

Intelligence affairs writer Ronen Bergman opined in the
mass-circulation pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/26): QSince the Second
Lebanon War ended -- in which we tried to show our neighbors that we
had gone crazy but didn't really succeed -- something has changed in
Israel. In the time that has since elapsed it turns out that not
only is Israel touchy, it also has very long arms. Israel does not
publicly take responsibility for actions deep in enemy territory,
but if they are attributed to it in the international media, it
responds with silence and a wink.... Since the 1990s, Israel has
been monitoring with concern the takeover of Sudan by radical
Islamic elements and the establishment of terror organization
training bases there. In recent years Sudan has become one of the
preferred smuggling routes for Iranian intelligence in transferring
arms from the bases of the Revolutionary Guards to Sudan and from
there to Egypt to the Sinai Desert and to the tunnels under
Philadelphi Road.... The balance of terror created by the two terror
attacks in Argentina in wake of the assassination of [senior
Hizbullah operative Abbas] Musawi led Israel to focus on operations
only against Hizbullah -- and not against its mother and father,
Iran and Syria. In the recent actions attributed to Israel against
the arms shipments from Iran and in Syria, there is more than a hint
that this balance of terror no longer exists.

CUNNINGHAM