ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000823 STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM NSC FOR NEA STAFF SECDEF WASHDC FOR USDP/ASD-PA/ASD-ISA HQ USAF FOR XOXX DA WASHDC FOR SASA JOINT STAFF WASHDC FOR PA CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD COMSIXTHFLT FOR 019 JERUSALEM ALSO ICD LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL PARIS ALSO FOR POL ROME FOR MFO SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION Please note: The Israel Media Reaction report will not appear on Thursday, April 9, due to the Passover holiday. -------------- SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: -------------- Mideast -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- HaQaretz reported that, Qin an unprecedented move,Q the Obama administration is readying for a possible confrontation with PM Benjamin Netanyahu by briefing Democratic congressmen on the peace process and the positions of the new government in Israel regarding a two-state solution. The media reported that the Obama administration is expecting a clash with Netanyahu over his refusal to support the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. HaQaretz says that the preemptive briefing is meant to foil the possibility that Netanyahu may try to bypass the administration by rallying support in Congress. HaQaretz reported that the message that administration officials have relayed to the congressmen is that President Obama is committed to the security of Israel and intends to continue the military assistance agreement that was signed by his predecessor, George W. Bush. However, Obama considers the two-state solution central to his Middle East policy, as he reiterated during a speech in Turkey on Monday, and he intends to ask that Netanyahu fulfill all the commitments made by previous governments in Israel: accepting the principle of a Palestinian state; freezing settlement activity; evacuating illegal outposts; and providing economic and security assistance to the PA. HaQaretz also reported that administration officials made it clear to congressmen that the Palestinians will also be required to fulfill their obligations in line with the Roadmap and the Annapolis process. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Netanyahu intends to show President Obama that he is also striving for a diplomatic solution to the Palestinian issue, without explicitly advocating Palestinian statehood. ;The Jerusalem Post and Yediot quoted FM Avigdor Lieberman as saying yesterday at a Yisrael Beiteinu forum in Jerusalem that the new government will formulate a diplomatic program compatible with the wishes of the electorate, but that the world "should not stand over us with a stopwatch." Saying that after 16 years of a diplomatic "dead end" in the peace process, the world must be ready to listen to new ideas, Lieberman declared that "we intend to work with determination on the diplomatic plane and formulate a detailed and up-to-date assessment. This will not happen overnight, and they should not stand over us with a stopwatch in hand. We will formulate the policy compatible with our world view and as the voters wanted in the elections." Speaking on Israel Radio this morning, Deputy FM and former ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon said that there is no chance of a confrontation with the U.S. Maariv reported that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and senior Israeli defense officials showed Netanyahu plans to contain the Iranian nuclear project. The newspaper reported that Netanyahu was pleasantly surprised by progress in training and preparations to this effect. Maariv also quoted senior defense sources as saying that the U.S. defense establishment is aware of IDF preparations against the Iranian threat. The leading online news service Ynet quoted Vice President Joe Biden as saying yesterday on CNN that he does not believe that Netanyahu will decide to attack Iran, and that such an attack would not be wise. HaQaretz reported that Israel's successful test yesterday of the upgraded Arrow II anti-ballistic missile system has made defense officials hopeful that the U.S. will continue funding the system, which is designed to defend against possible ballistic missile attacks by Iran and Syria. Other media doubted the possibility that the funding would continue. The Jerusalem Post quoted Haim Eshed, who has headed IsraelQs space program for three decades, as saying that Israel could be losing its Qqualitative edgeQ as other Middle East nations Q notably, Iran invest in space-based capabilities. HaQaretz quoted the armaments development authority Rafael as saying yesterday that the first complete short-range missile interception "Iron Dome" system is expected to become operational as early as summer 2010. Maariv reported that a first incident has occurred between Netanyahu and DM Ehud Barak, after less than a week since the formation of the government: Yesterday Barak approved the transfer of some 100 million shekels (around $25 million) to banks in Gaza, an approval given without the knowledge of the Prime Minister. Maariv reported that Ofer Dekel, the PMQs point man on prisoners, was not invited to PM NetanyahuQs meetings with the parents of Noam Shalit. The newspaper cited assessments that Netanyahu will name a new envoy. Claiming that far-Left organizations are pressuring the IDFQs Judge Advocate General, Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that an IDF officer who slapped a Palestinian in the face was arrested until the conclusion of the legal proceedings against him. HaQaretz reported that the U.S. has been training senior Palestinian security officials in an advanced officers' course in Ramallah for top brass. The new course, entitled "senior leaders' course," is a two-month long program conducted in Ramallah with the assistance and supervision of the U.S., and is part of the project overseen by the U.S. security coordinator in the territories, Gen. Keith Dayton. So far, the program has produced 80 graduates divided into two 40-student classes. A third class, made up of commanders from the Palestinian National Security Force -- the largest security force with 15,000 members, tasked with policing borders, providing military intelligence, military police services and presidential security -- is currently being trained in Jordan. That class is undergoing special training by Jordanian instructors under American auspices. The Jerusalem Post reported that Moscow has promised to supply PA security forces in the West Bank with new weapons, including two helicopters. The Jerusalem Post quoted former national security adviser Giora Eiland as saying in a document penned for the right-leaning Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs that IsraelQs Qpresent border line [with Syria] is the only one affording plausible defense for Israel. The Jerusalem Post and other media quoted Dani Dayan, head of the Yesha Council of Jewish Settlements in the Territories, as saying that IDF budget cuts will leave a Qlarge numberQ of settlements unguarded. Yediot quoted an American source as saying that the elite naval commando unit QShayetetQ took part in the Israeli raid on an arms convoy in Sudan. Israel Radio cited an Al Jazeera-TV report that seven Israeli Arabs were arrested in Egypt over Hizbullah-linked activities. The radio reported that the Foreign Ministry denies any knowledge of this. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel will not facilitate Northern Ireland politician Gerry AdamsQ entrance into Gaza through the Erez rossing because he will not commit to not meeting amas officials. The Jerusalem Post reported on te long, cozy IRA-PLO cooperation. The JerusalemPost reported that on March 31 Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat met with film industry figures in Los Angees to encourage more filming in his city. TheJerusalem Post cited Tel Aviv UniversityQs March 209 War and Peace Index (held on March 30-31) as saying that for a clear majority of the Israeli public, the economic crisis is the most important issue facing the new government (62% put it in first or second place). Trailing far behind are the security and political issues -- the Iranian threat at 39% and the negotiations with the Palestinians at 27%. A majority of the Jewish citizens of Israel (53%),but not of the Arabs (33%),believe NetanyahuQs declaration that his government will strive for peace with the Palestinians. However, a majority of both sectors supports NetanyahuQs view that the key to achieving stability and quiet is Qeconomic peaceQ based on advancing the economic condition of the Palestinians. In contrast, however, to NetanyahuQs refusal to commit himself to the formula of two states for two peoples, a majority of both sectors (56% of the Jews and 78% of the Arabs) currently favors working toward this solution. That is, the Israeli public thinks Qeconomic peaceQ is a good idea but not enough to achieve ongoing quiet and stability. The support for the two-state idea is especially evident when comparing it to two other possibilities: continuing the existing situation or establishing a binational state. Among the Jews, 51% now back the two-state formula, 28% favor continuing the existing situation, and only 7% are for setting up a binational state. For the Arabs the parallel figures are 66% for the two-state formula, 8% for continuing the existing situation, and 17% for binationalism. In other words, the Arabs, not surprisingly, overwhelmingly oppose continuing the existing situation; at the same time a large majority also opposes the idea of a binational state and supports, like the Jewish public, the two-state solution. A further interesting finding is that a majority -- about three-quarters -- of both groups disagrees with the ominous claim that unless the two-state idea is realized soon, the result will be the rise of a binational state between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. A majority of Israelis, both Arab (59%) and Jewish (54%),believe that despite the new governmentQs right-wing composition it will maintain a good relationship with the Obama-led U.S. administration when it comes to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace. However, while a majority of the Jewish public (55%) expects Obama to pressure Israel harshly if it does not cooperate in advancing the negotiations, a majority of the Arab public (51%) sees the chances of U.S. pressure on Israel as low. -------------- Mideast: -------------- Summary: -------------- Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QVery soon, in Netanyahu's visit to Washington and Obama's visit to Jerusalem, either a change will be imposed on Israeli policy, or a change will be imposed on the Israeli government. Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: QLieberman is more dangerous than Ahmadinejad because we have the military power to deter Iran's threat to destroy us physically. I don't know if we have the power to deter Lieberman from destroying us morally. The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: QProgress with the Palestinians should only be made in conjunction with the ability of Abu MazenQs leadership to abide by its respect of understandings and agreements reached with Israel. Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. "ObamaQs Seder [Passover Night or Order]" Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/8): QFrom the Israeli standpoint, the most essential strategic development is the shift of American interest eastward from Iraq, which took center stage during the Bush years. The focus is moving to Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea. The significance is that the attention devoted to existential threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons intensifies exactly as it did during the Bush presidency, yet it is disconnected from the Arab-Israeli conflict. Concessions on the Israeli front will not aid in the fight against Al Qaida and the Taliban, nor will they dissuade Kim Jong-il from launching missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.... Conversations with U.S. civilian and military officials suggest that in recent weeks there has been greater recognition among members of the Obama administration that the danger of a nuclear Iran to the entire Middle East and, together with North Korea, to the spread of nuclear weapons around the world, is greater than the anticipated cost of an Israeli operation against Iran.... But only an Israeli government that seeks peace can convince the public that its order to the IDF to act was given free from ulterior motives. If Netanyahu's natural partner is Avigdor Lieberman, Obama is indicating that his natural partner is Tzipi Livni. Very soon, in Netanyahu's visit to Washington and Obama's visit to Jerusalem, either a change will be imposed on Israeli policy, or a change will be imposed on the Israeli government. II. QThe Threat from Within Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (4/8): Q[Ahmadinejad and Lieberman] both exult in beating the drums for racism and war. They both brand entire ethnic and religious groups as the enemy and promise a sweeping, violent solution. They both appeal to a nation's spleen. The main ideological difference between them is that Ahmadinejad is a religious fanatic, while Lieberman is secular -- which, I imagine, is one reason he left Kach to develop his secular brand of Kahanism in the political mainstream. Otherwise, he and Ahmadinejad are cut from the same cloth. Lieberman talks a lot about the Qthreat from withinQ being more dangerous than the threat from without -- that the Arabs inside our borders can destroy this country easier than the Arabs outside. He's right about the threat from within, but it isn't from Israeli Arabs, it's from Lieberman himself and what he represents and the power he's gained. He's now taken over the Foreign Ministry. He's gotten the stamp of approval from the leading parties of the right, center and center-left -- the Israeli consensus. He's being laundered and sanitized by virtually the entire American Jewish establishment. And he's not through by a long shot. At this point, he seems to have an even brighter future ahead. Lieberman is more dangerous than Ahmadinejad because we have the military power to deter Iran's threat to destroy us physically. I don't know if we have the power to deter Lieberman from destroying us morally -- from turning us into the image of what we claim to hate. III. "Obama and the New Israeli Government" The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (4/8): QThose who did not find the declaration of the European foreign ministers around two weeks ago clear, heard President ObamaQs speech to the Turkish Parliament.... Everybody repeats the mantra of two states for two peoples, the code word being Annapolis.... This approach is the recipe for an impasse from the very first stop of the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government.... There is a consensus in Israel that the country should not take upon itself QshelfQ commitments and that progress with the Palestinians should only be made in conjunction with the ability of Abu MazenQs leadership to abide by its respect of understandings and agreements reached with Israel. CUNNINGHAM