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. U.S.-Israel Relations

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Key stories in the media:
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All media led with the murder of a 13-year-old boy and the wounding
of a seven-year-old boy when an axe-wielding Palestinian man
attacked them in the settlement of Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion
yesterday. (The wounded boyQs father is a jailed Jewish terrorist.)
According to Israel Radio security sources denied that the lifting
of roadblocks allowed the attack. Maariv cited the IDFQs concern
that Jewish settlers might avenge the murder.

Maariv quoted senior cabinet ministers as saying that FM Avigdor
Lieberman is an embarrassment to the government. Former Education
Minister Yuli Tamir was quoted as saying in an interview with the
Arabic-language Assennara that the damage that this Government will
bring upon Israel will be huge.
This morning, speaking on Israel Radio, former FM Tzipi Livni said
that Lieberman erased the peace process in twenty seconds and
deplored PM Benjamin NetanyahuQs silence on the matter. Major media
quoted Egyptian FM Ahmed Abu al-Gheit as saying that he will not
shake LiebermanQs hand. Media reported that yesterday, speaking to
an audience of Kadima members, outgoing PM Ehud Olmert emphasized
the importance of the two-state solution. Citing remarks by State
Department Spokesman Robert Wood, Yediot reported that the U.S.
administration is determined to compel Israel to recognize
Palestinian statehood.

In response to LiebermanQs statements, Yasser Abed Rabbo, member of
the PLO's Executive Committee was quoted as saying at an interview
with the Arabic-language Assennara that they will not sit down to
negotiations with such a madman. QThose who chose him as foreign
minister deserve to show this face of Israel to the world.Q When
questioned whether there are promises given by the new USGQs
administrationQs envoy he said that they havenQt yet held deep
discussions and that without halting the settlement growth,
especially in Jerusalem, there is no place for more negotiations
which would distract the world from the true plan of this extreme
government chosen by Israel.

Leading media reported that yesterday police questioned Lieberman
for more than seven hours about suspicions of bribery, money
laundering, fraud and breach of trust, less than a day after he took
office in the new government.

The media reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad told the
Qatari newspaper A-Sharq that Syria would soon liberate the Golan
"by peace or war." HaQaretz reported that FM Lieberman responded
coolly to the idea of talks with Damascus. "There is no cabinet
resolution regarding negotiations with Syria, and we have already
said that we will not agree to withdraw from the Golan Heights," he
said. "Peace will only be in exchange for peace."

The Jerusalem Post quoted Washington analysts as saying that the
mixed messages on Iran conveyed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates
and Gen. David Petraeus highlight the different roles played by
Gates, a Qpolitical appointee implementing the Obama
administrationQs program, and military personnel who are advocating
certain policy goals.Q Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted PM Netanyahu as
saying in an interview with The Atlantic Monthly that if the U.S.
does not stop Iran, Israel will.

The Arabic-language Kull Al Arab reported that there are suspicions
that an Israeli Arab organization calling itself QAhrar Al Jaleel
[Free people of the Galilee] or another secret group were behind
last weekQs Lev Hamifratz mall [car bomb] in Haifa.

The Media Line reported that the U.S. Embassy in Israel opened an
American Corner cultural center in post-riot Acco in the presence of
Ambassador Cunningham.

Leading media reported that a Spanish court ruled to suspend a suit
against Israeli politicians and military officers regarding the
killing of 14 Palestinian civilians in the 2002 bombing of the house
of Hamas terrorist Salah Shehadeh.

Yediot reported that this week Iranian Ayatollah Mehdi Khurshidi,
who was Ayatollah KhomeiniQs deputy, visited Israel. He was quoted
as saying that the weapons and money that the Revolutionary Guards
inject into terror are more dangerous to Israel than nuclear
weapons.
The media reported that Tel Aviv started celebrating the centennial
of its foundation. A festive popular rally will take place in Rabin
Square tomorrow night.

Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited a poll conducted by the international
Arabic-language newspaper Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat whose results are a
reversal of the recent trend: Mahmoud Abbas now enjoys the support
of 64% of Palestinians, while 36% back Ismail Haniyeh. Marwan
Barghouti remains the leading contender to lead the PA.

Yediot cited an Israeli poll according to which three quarters of
the world population view Israel as an aggressive country. India,
the U.S., and Russia are the countries most sympathetic to Israel;
France and Spain are the most hostile to Israel.

The Arabic-language newspapers Assennara and Kull Al Arab reported
that the GOI hasnQt yet forwarded the promised budget for the PopeQs
visit preparations.




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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: QIt is doubtful whether [Israeli] arguments
claiming that the Qother side was also disruptiveQ will convince
Barack Obama to ignore the continued settlement construction and not
removing the outposts. It will be particularly difficult because
unlike the previous government, the new one did not shield the
occupation with words of peace.

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QThis
was an inept performance by our novice foreign minister, no
question. Nevertheless, Annapolis has become just another footnote
in the 100-year history of Palestinian rejectionism.

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz:
Q[Lieberman] is in complete accord with Netanyahu, who in his
inauguration speech said that Israel does not want to control the
Palestinians, but rather aspires to Qfull peace with the entire Arab
and Muslim world.

The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized:
QThrough the Annapolis Conference, [Olmert and Livni] decided to
surrender to the inaction of the Palestinians and the Americans
regarding the implementation of the Roadmap.

Jonathan Speyer, a senior research fellow at the Global Research in
International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote
in HaQaretz: QThe only regional state capable of mounting a real
resistance to the westward march of Iranian power is the one against
whom all Arab League members can still momentarily unite in displays
of verbal ferocity -- namely, Israel.

Block Quotes:
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I. "An Excuse to Abandon Peace"

Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/3): QNot only did [yesterdayQs
axe-wielding] attack ruin the marred welcome for Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman by the international community, but it reminded
them of days past with incoming right-wing governments, which
transformed such events into Defensive Shields against diplomatic
talks and as excuses for setting up more settlements. Indeed, at
the ceremony in which Lieberman took over as Foreign Minister, he
suggested that the new government will fall back on old formulas.
First Qwe will eradicate the terrorist infrastructureQ -- and then,
only God knows. Lieberman's demand that the Palestinian Authority
do away with Hamas in the Gaza Strip -- a task which the mighty IDF
has not met -- undermines his declared QcommitmentQ to the Roadmap
for peace.... It is doubtful whether arguments claiming that the
Qother side was also disruptiveQ will convince Barack Obama to
ignore the continued settlement construction and not removing the
outposts. It will be particularly difficult because unlike the
previous government, the new one did not shield the occupation with
words of peace.

II. "Who Killed Annapolis?"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (4/3):
QActually, the cabinet did endorse Annapolis, on December 2,
2007.... But the thing is, Annapolis is dead -- just as Lieberman so
undiplomatically stated. And everyone knows it. It died when
Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qurei rejected Olmert's and Tzipi Livni's
offer last year of virtually the entire West Bank (the Palestinians
already have Gaza),plus tracts of the Negev to make up for
strategic settlement blocs retained beyond the Green Line.... By
talking tough instead of talking smart, Lieberman claimed he won
Qrespect.Q In fact, he handed an unnecessary win to those who
misrepresent Israel's stance by arguing that it is blocking the
creation of a Palestinian state. This was an inept performance by
our novice foreign minister, no question. Nevertheless, Annapolis
has become just another footnote in the 100-year history of
Palestinian rejectionism.

III. "They Stole My Headline"

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz
(4/3): QTo retain power, Bibi has from the outset surrendered to
power bases -- Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas -- and sold them the goods
for a pittance. The appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as foreign
minister constitutes a challenge to the United States, the European
Union, and our neighbors. Lieberman has not held back: On his first
day on the job he already declared that the principles of the
Annapolis process are not binding on us and that peace will not be
achieved through concessions. In this he is in complete accord with
Netanyahu, who in his inauguration speech said that Israel does not
want to control the Palestinians, but rather aspires to Qfull peace
with the entire Arab and Muslim world.Q Only a fool would fail to
notice the sleight of hand, or tongue, in this when the first
condition for making peace with the Qentire Arab worldQ must be
recognizing and implementing the principle of two states for two
peoples.

IV. QA New Government in Jerusalem

The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (4/3):
QIt was obvious that the Annapolis outline was the platform on which
Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni, ran... Through the Annapolis
Conference, the two decided to surrender to the inaction of the
Palestinians and the Americans regarding the implementation of the
Roadmap.... It appears that, despite the objections of some Israeli
and foreign newspapers, there is a new Israeli government.


V. QArab Summit, Iranian Agenda

Jonathan Speyer, a senior research fellow at the Global Research in
International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote
in HaQaretz (4/3): QThe issues that dominated the 21st Arab League
summit in Doha, Qatar, this week testified to the weakness and
disunity of the Arab states. Sunni Arabs are the majority
population group in the Middle East. Yet the Doha agenda reflected
a regional reality dominated by the interests of, and clash between,
two strong but non-Arab countries -- Israel and Iran.... Doha
signaled that for the moment the Iranian star in the region is on
the rise, with the leading states of the Arab system -- Egypt and
Saudi Arabia -- reduced to scolding and attempted bribery
respectively in their efforts to limit its influence. It is perhaps
the final ironic testimony to the Arabs' weakness that the only
regional state capable of mounting a real resistance to the westward
march of Iranian power is the one against whom all Arab League
members can still momentarily unite in displays of verbal ferocity
-- namely, Israel.

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2. U.S.-Israel Relations:
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Summary:
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Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv: QIt must be hoped that Netanyahu understands reality: [The
United States] is the superpower, not us.... BushQs America is
dead.

Block Quotes:
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"Talk Softly to Obama"

Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv (4/3): QThe husband of the current Secretary of State, who
used to be President of the U.S., asked his entourage at the
conclusion of a meeting with Prime Minster Netanyahu in 1996: QWhat
the heck, he is convinced that Israel is the superpower, not us.
It must be hoped that Netanyahu understands reality: [The United
States] is the superpower, not us. We should talk quietly, not
preach; listen too, sometimes. BushQs America is dead. Obama is
the new President. Contrary to Israel, this cannot change.
Netanyahu must understand that his Evangelical and neo-Conservative
admirers, who ruled America during the past eight years, are no
more. Against this background, it will be interesting to see whom he
will appoint ambassador in Washington.

CUNNINGHAM