ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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U.S. Special Envoy Sen. George Mitchell to Israel, West Bank

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Key stories in the media:
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All media reported on the arrival in Israel last night of U.S.
Special Envoy for Middle East Peace former Senator George Mitchell.
Israel Radio quoted a source in PM Benjamin NetanyahuQs bureau as
saying that IsraelQs friendly relations with the U.S. are very
deep. The radio reported that DM Ehud Barak told Mitchell that it
is possible to reach coordination and strategic understandings with
the U.S. while maintaining IsraelQs interests. The Jerusalem Post,
which headlines: QMitchell Calls for QUnderstandings with Israel on
All Regional Issues.Q reported that DM Barak told Mitchell that the
U.S. Qcan and needsQ to Qcoordinate and reach understandingsQ on all
the issues on the regional agenda. The Jerusalem Post quoted
Mitchell as saying in Morocco before coming to Israel: QIn the case
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we believe that the two-state
solution, two states living side by side in peace, is the best
and only way to resolve this conflict.Q Maariv said that Mitchell
is coming with a clear message from the U.S. administration that it
is intent on leading a diplomatic process. Maariv cited concerns in
Israel that gaps in views between the two countries may lead to
tensions. HaQaretz reported that Mitchell is expected to ask
Netanyahu during their meeting today to clarify Israel's position
regarding the resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians and
Syria. According to HaQaretz, a decision has been made in
Washington to follow a regional peace plan that will be based on the
Arab peace initiative, bolstered by international security
guarantees for Israel. Under this plan, Arab states will proceed
with normalization of ties with Israel in parallel with progress in
the negotiations to be held on the Palestinian and Syrian tracks. A
senior U.S. administration official told HaQaretz several days ago
that the U.S. is committed to the principles of the Quartet, which
set the acceptance of a two-state solution as a precondition for
talks with a Palestinian unity government. The official added that
the U.S. expects the Israeli government to adopt the same principle,
in line with commitments made by the previous Israeli government at
the Annapolis conference in November 2007. HaQaretz quoted
Palestinian sources as saying yesterday that they intend to present
clear demands to Israel through the U.S. envoy as preconditions for
resuming final status talks. In an interview with the PA daily
Al-Ayyam, the sources were quoted as saying that PA President
Mahmoud Abbas will ask Mitchell to press Israel to recognize the
principle of two states for two nations. Moreover, the Palestinians
would like Israel to agree to talk about all aspects of a final
settlement that will ultimately result in the establishment of a
Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Israel Radio reported that Mitchell will again meet DM Barak today,
as well as FM Avigdor Lieberman, President Shimon Peres, and
opposition leader Tzipi Livni.

Yediot Aharonot (Shimon Shiffer) reported that the Obama
administration is sharpening its statements on Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations, and that it is hinting to the Netanyahu government
that the handling of the Iranian nuclear issue will depend on
progress in negotiations and an Israeli withdrawal from the West
Bank. The newspaper reported that White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel told a Jewish leader that a permanent-status agreement will
be reached between Israel and the Palestinians, no matter what.
Yediot Aharonot further reported that Netanyahu might postpone his
visit to Washington because President Obama cannot find the time to
meet him.

HaQaretz quoted Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair as saying in an
interview in TIME Magazine that in talks with PM Netanyahu, the
Israeli premier suggested that a Palestinian state be established
from the bottom up. Blair said that Netanyahu's plan calls for the
question of the borders of the Palestinian state and the fate of
Jewish settlements and Jerusalem to be deferred to the final stage.
The first step would concentrate on the consolidation of Palestinian
institutions, strengthening its security forces, and reconstructing
the economy in the territories. Netanyahu reportedly is not opposed
to the PA assuming attributes of statehood at this stage.

Leading media quoted Egyptian FM Ahmed Abu al-Gheit as saying
yesterday in an interview with Russia Today-TV that his Israeli
counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, is not welcome in Egypt. Abu
al-Gheit said: "His feet will not step on Egyptian soil as long as
he maintains his positions.

HaQaretz quoted security sources as saying that yesterday Egyptian
police found 900 kg of explosives near the Gaza border and that they
detained three Palestinian youths on suspicion of crossing illegally
into Egypt. The media also reported that a Qassam rocket landed in
the western Negev after a period of calm.

Leading media quoted GOI officials as saying yesterday that Israel
will not cooperate with a UN Human Rights Council investigation into
whether war crimes were committed during Operation Cast Lead earlier
this year.

Yediot Aharonot reported that the QDurban 2Q anti-racism conference
may fizzle, as European nations decide tomorrow whether to
participate in the conference or boycott it.




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U.S. Special Envoy Sen. George Mitchell to Israel, West Bank:
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Summary:
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The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: Qthe
sooner Iran's toxic sway over the region is dissipated, the better
the prospects that Mitchell can help us all move toward
reconciliation.
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: Q[George MitchellQs] mission is
liable to disintegrate; instead of dealing with the peace process,
he might be sucked into resolving local crises. It will be
important to think creatively.

Ha'aretz editorialized: QIran and Hizbullah are Egypt's enemies no
less than they are Israel's. It behooves us to remember this, even
when it appears that Egypt is positioning itself on the other side
of the divide.

Liberal columnist and anchor Ofer Shelach wrote in the popular,
pluralist Maariv: QAn almost united international coalition is
urging Israel to move out of its shell, break the Middle East
stalemate, and create a new front against the real threats
confronting it. An elected Israeli government responds to the
pressure by turning a blind eye.

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz:
QObama's foreign policy prestige will face its greatest test in
[the] negotiations [with Iran].

Columnist Meir Gross wrote in the nationalist, Orthodox Makor
Rishon-Hatzofe: QMay I suggest that the Jews be generous and give up
Morocco -- and even Algeria.

Block Quotes:
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QHelping Mitchell

The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (4/16):
QWith the threat of an Iranian nuclear device hanging over us,
emboldening this region's extremists and cowing its moderates, it is
improbable that Mitchell will make much headway on the Palestinian
track. Furthermore, the Palestinian polity is paralyzed by
divisions between an ascendant Hamas and a fading Fatah. Yet in
rejecting an unprecedentedly magnanimous peace plan proffered by the
Kadima government late last year, Mahmoud Abbas's Qmoderates
exposed themselves as unwilling to make the most rudimentary
compromises necessary to achieve a two-state solution. And while we
welcome Abbas's cordial pre-Passover telephone call to Netanyahu,
what Israelis would really like to happen is for Fatah to become a
genuine alternative to Hamas. That means preparing its people for
the kinds of painful concessions they will have to make -- alongside
the painful concessions Israelis have already indicated a
willingness to make - for peace. So the sooner Iran's toxic sway
over the region is dissipated, the better the prospects that
Mitchell can help us all move toward reconciliation.

II. QFrom the Bottom Up

Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in the
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/16): QThe Irish conflict was
basically a religious one, fought between two communities speaking
the same language and sharing a common history. Here we have a
struggle between two national movements with some religious
aspects. While no one in Northern Ireland casts doubt over
Britain's right to exist, many on the Palestinian side question the
legitimacy of the Jewish state, and some Israelis doubt the right of
the Palestinian nationality to exist. Despite this, some lessons
can be learned from Northern Ireland.. Decommissioning all militias
should be a precondition for elections. Mitchell, meanwhile, faces
the challenge of achieving an effective truce between Israel and
Hamas, rebuilding Gaza and opening the crossings. His mission is
liable to disintegrate; instead of dealing with the peace process,
he might be sucked into resolving local crises. It will be
important to think creatively. Even those who supported the Oslo
Accords cannot deny that the process failed for reasons beyond the
obstacles put up by both parties. In the last two years, the
Quartet's Middle East envoy Tony Blair and U.S. Security CoordinatorKeith Dayton have made some successful attempts tobuild Palestinian
institutions from the bottom u. These actions are not at all
similar to Benjamn Netanyahu's Qeconomic peace,Q intended to serve
as an alternative to a Palestinian state. On the contrary, they are
the only successful attempts s far to create infrastructure for a
state. True this process is gradual and bound to take time, but
the other process -- the top-down one -- failed, and it was time to
admit it. One last comment, on the Syrian front. Mitchell should
look into a sensitive issue at his next meeting with the Syrians:
Does their position stem from merely trying to maintain their
occupation of land in 1948, or is it something deeper -- a
non-recognition of the Middle East's borders, claiming they were set
by Western imperialism after World War I? This is not merely a
theoretical question, because it can help explain Syria's approach
to Lebanon and other regional issues.

III. QIn the Same Boat

Ha'aretz editorialized (4/16): QEgypt's resolute response to the
terror network again points to the mutual interests underpinning the
peace between Israel and Egypt. Israel and Egypt are at the core of
this matter. Both countries are considered QlegitimateQ targets in
the eyes of Hizbullah and Iran. The two countries see eye to eye
not only on the fight against terror organizations, but also against
those who send and fund them. Iran and Hizbullah are Egypt's
enemies no less than they are Israel's. It behooves us to remember
this, even when it appears that Egypt is positioning itself on the
other side of the divide.

IV. QDid Anybody Say Golda Meir?

Liberal columnist and anchor Ofer Shelach wrote in the popular,
pluralist Maariv (4/16): QAn almost united international coalition
-- a new, energetic U.S. administration, Europe, and the moderate
Arab countries Q is urging Israel to move out of its shell, break
the Middle East stalemate, and create a new front against the real
threats confronting it. An elected Israeli government responds to
the pressure by turning a blind eye. It is its full right, of
course, since it has a fresh mandate from the public. But almost no
one -- in politics, the media, or public squares -- protests, cries
out, or warns against what this indifference will bring Israel.


V. QTehranQs First QYes

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz
(4/16): QIt appears Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has begun treating the
declarations of U.S. President Barack Obama as policy, and this is a
substantive response to the new American strategy, coordinated with
the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tehran and Washington
are now forming a joint position on Iran's right to equal treatment
and the need to lift all preconditions for negotiations. This way
Obama has adopted the demand for Qmutual respectQ that Iran has
desired as the basic principle for negotiations. However, the new
public rhetoric is no alternative to negotiations. Obama's foreign
policy prestige will face its greatest test in these negotiations.
His conduct will determine the future of nuclear arms development
and Iran's willingness to stabilize the conflicts in Afghanistan and
Iraq, two issues that have become central to Obama's policies.

VI. QTwo States for Two Peoples

Columnist Meir Gross wrote in the nationalist, Orthodox Makor
Rishon-Hatzofe (4/16): QYes, there are two peoples in the Middle
East -- the Jewish people and the Arab people. There are 22 Arab
states that share the same mentality, language, and religion. There
are many more Muslim states. This means that the plan that the
entire world is fervently embracing is calling for a redivision of
the entire region between Jews and Arabs. May I suggest that the
Jews be generous and give up Morocco -- and even Algeria. All the
rest will be divided in equal parts between the two peoples in the
region. That agreement will bring peace to the region and perhaps
to the entire world.
CUNNINGHAM