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. DPRK: Missile Launch

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Key stories in the media:
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The Jerusalem Post reported that the Netanyahu government is
conducting a thorough policy review in which all diplomatic
components -Q from the Roadmap to the Annapolis process -Q are being
reevaluated. The Jerusalem Post said that it is for this reason the
Prime MinisterQs Office was unwilling to comment last week on
Avigdor LiebermanQs first speech as foreign minister, in which he
trashed the Annapolis process but said Israel was obligated by the
Roadmap, a document whose final goal is a two-state solution. The
Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu has no intention of
addressing in detail issues such as whether the government is bound
by the Roadmap or the Annapolis process until the policy review is
completed.

The media reported that yesterday PM Netanyahu kicked off his new
term by assembling a huge 15-member cabinet. The Jerusalem Post
reported that he gave equal representation to dovish ministers and
to those considered Qin the middle,Q while the cabinet tilted
slightly toward the Qhawks.

HaQaretz quoted Israeli defense officials as saying over the weekend
that they are concerned about the increased involvement of
Fatah-affiliated militants in attacks against Jews in the West Bank
in the past two months.

All media reported that on Saturday afternoon a 16-year-old Bedouin
girl launched a lone gun attack on a Border Police base at Tel
Shoket junction in the Negev. The base guard killed her.

HaQaretz quoted U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George
Mitchell as saying that the Arab peace initiative will be part of
the Obama administrationQs policy toward the region.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel is expected to boycott the
UN fact-finding mission to Gaza, which will be led by Jewish South
African Justice Richard Goldstone.

The media reported that on Saturday, for the second time in four
days, IDF troops identified and killed two terrorists who were in
the process of planting a bomb near the border fence in Gaza.

Yediot reported that Iran has renewed the arms smuggling route to
Hamas via Sudan. This time the arms smuggling is being done with the
help of Iranians allies including Syrians and Hizbullah agents who
operate in various countries in Africa and Yemen.

HaQaretz reported that yesterday IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi
Ashkenazi dismissed Israeli soldiers' accounts of wrongdoings during
the recent offensive in Gaza as "completely unfounded."

The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that on
Saturday the U.S. Senate moved to fully fund aid for Israel in its
budget.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the Mossawa Center, an Israeli-Arab
advocacy center, is sounding the alarm against what it sees as
potentially harmful policies that the new government may espouse.
The organization's director Jafar Farah will leave for the U.S. on
April 19 to meet with Obama administration members, Congressmen, and
representatives of Jewish and Arab-American organizations.

The Jerusalem Post quoted New York officials as saying on Friday
that the New York Police Department has plans to beef up security at
the cityQs synagogues and other Jewish sites amid escalating
tensions between Israel and Iran.

HaQaretz reported that Germany will host a summit in June that will
include PM Netanyahu and about 10 other Israeli ministers.

Israel Hayom reported that Chief of Staff Ashkenazi left on Friday
for Strasbourg for a brief meeting with the U.S. Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen. The meeting was held
at Admiral Mullen's request. The two men discussed military and
security issues that are pertinent to the two armies. HaQaretz
cited the satisfaction of Israeli officials in Europe over the
appointment of Danish PM Andreas Fogh Rasmussen as NATOQs new
secretary general. The Israeli officials noted that he has taken a
very friendly approach to Israel in the past few years.
E
Today major Hebrew-language media led with socio-economic issues.
The GOIQs National Employment Service reported yesterday that a
record 20,072 people lost their jobs in March. Yediot reported that
PM Netanyahu plans a Qdramatic cutQ in social expenditures.

HaQaretz reported that the director of the Aerospace Agency of the
Republic of Kazakhstan, Talgat Amangeldyuly Musabayev, told the
newspaper last week that Kazakhstan wants to buy surveillance
satellites from Israel.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Generation Connect
(www.smallplateradio.com),a new Internet radio show based in
Portland, OR, is debuting with a focus on creating connections
between American, Israeli, and Palestinian teens.

Erratum: The poll cited here on Friday said that 35% (and not three
quarters) of the world population view Israel as an aggressive
country.

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1. Mideast:
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Summary:
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Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QWhat if Washington decides to
join the condemnation [of Israel]? After all, it will have a good
excuse: Lieberman.

Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in Ha'aretz:
QPerhaps Hamas is the key [to peace in the region]. If that's the
case, it's difficult to expect that peace can be established in our
region.

Block Quotes:
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I. "LiebermanQs Paradoxical Strength"


Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/5): QWhat will happen if
Washington does not automatically veto every resolution condemning
Israel in the Security Council? Or worse, what if Washington
decides to join the condemnation? After all, it will have a good
excuse: Lieberman. Paradoxically, Lieberman is likely to become a
part of Obama's new doctrine of global arrangements: the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not end, but Israeli obduracy will
enhance, not diminish, the United States' standing in the Middle
East. While Lieberman can continue to bang on his tom-toms every
time somebody mentions the phrase Qdiplomatic process,Q he will not
be able to direct forces much larger than him or Israel. He will be
the perfect excuse for these forces to act. This is his strength,
nothing more.

II. "What to Speak with Hamas about"

Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in Ha'aretz
(4/6): QPerhaps it is worthwhile talking to Hamas -- not about its
contribution to peace but rather about what is stated in its
covenant. Perhaps those who espouse the view that we must talk with
Hamas will first talk with it about these subjects? Who knows,
perhaps it will change its principles? I do not expect this to
happen exactly, but I am certainly curious to know what those who
think Hamas is the key to peace in the Middle East will say about
these things. And perhaps they are actually correct, perhaps Hamas
is the key. If that's the case, it's difficult to expect that peace
can be established in our region.

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2. DPRK: Missile Launch:
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Summary:
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Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in the independent,
left-leaning HaQaretz: QThe country that will be watching the United
StatesQ behavior [vis-`-vis North Korea] with a particular interest
will be Iran.

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QNorth
Korea, Hamas, and Iran cannot exchange their belligerency for
normalcy. Why? Because, paradoxically, they derive their
legitimacy from a constant state of confrontation and threat.
Block Quotes:
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I. "Iran -- a Side Observer"

Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in the independent,
left-leaning HaQaretz (4/6): QThe launching of the Northern Korean
missile into space yesterday, even if most Western intelligence
branches agree that it failed, is an act of blatant defiance by
Pyongyang against the U.S.... The country that will be watching the
United StatesQ behavior with a particular interest will be Iran. In
a few months Washington is supposed to start a diplomatic dialogue
with Tehran, whose ultimate purpose will be to contain the Iranian
nuclear program.... A little more than a year ago the previous
Israeli leadership nourished the hope that the U.S. might give
Israel the green light to act in its place.... The connection
between North Korea and Iran is a deep one. Dr. Efraim Kam, the
deputy chief of IsraelQs National Defense Research Institute, says
that IranQs missile program is based on technical know-how from
Pyongyang.

II. "Learning form Pyongyang"

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (4/6):
QThere's a lesson to be learned about North Korea's launching over
the weekend of a Taepodong II rocket -- and it isn't just that the
more treacherous the crisis, the less likely it is that
multilateralism will provide a solution. The launching was yet
another step in North Korea's march toward building and perfecting a
nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea is a
unique case. But beyond Korea's benighted borders, the overarching
lesson to Western leaders is: Don't threaten what you can't deliver.
This is because despotic regimes like North Korea -- but also Iran
and Hamas in Gaza -- use Western failure to follow through to
bolster their position. More than that: North Korea, Iran and Hamas
relish crises because they invariably demonstrate (a) that their
people are under siege by pitiless foreigners; and (b) that only
their leadership and the people's willingness to sacrifice can
ultimately protect them from the alien threat. The people of North
Korea, Gaza and, arguably, Iran, know they would be economically
better off if their leaders played by civilized rules. And yet there
is every reason to believe - certainly in the case of Gaza and North
Korea -- that given a genuinely free choice, the masses would still
opt for the current leadership. The lesson, therefore, is: North
Korea, Hamas, and Iran cannot exchange their belligerency for
E
normalcy. Why? Because, paradoxically, they derive their
legitimacy from a constant state of confrontation and threat.

CUNNINGHAM