Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TELAVIV941
2009-04-28 11:12:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tel Aviv
how-toVZCZCXYZ0006 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHTV #0941/01 1181112 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 281112Z APR 09 FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1554 RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 5339 RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 1928 RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 5853 RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 6149 RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 5378 RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 3907 RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 6194 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3005 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1212 RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 9917 RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 7422 RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 2388 RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 6420 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 8464 RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH PRIORITY 1247 RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 1913 RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT PRIORITY
UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000941
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: There will be no Israel Media Reaction on Wednesday,
April 29, Israeli Independence Day Holiday.
--------------
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
--------------
Mideast
--------------
Key stories in the media:
--------------
All media highlighted events and issues related to Memorial Day and
Independence Day. The media quoted President Shimon Peres as saying
at a Memorial Day ceremony yesterday that Israel wants peace but is
ready for war. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said:
"The IDF is committed to saving human life, and our enemies take
advantage of our high morals when firing at us from within centers
of civilian population." PM Benjamin Netanyahu earlier urged the
country to maintain the unity it feels during Memorial Day every day
of the year. DM Ehud Barak was quoted as saying in an interview
with HaQaretz that there is no existential threat to Israel. QNo
one will dare try to annihilate Israel,Q he said. Makor
Rishon-Hatzofe reported that yesterday, during a press conference,
Barak hinted that Israel should develop defense systems that will
allow it to give up land.
The Jerusalem Post, Maariv, and Israel Hayom quoted senior Israeli
officials as saying yesterday that they were "concerned" at the
prospect that the U.S. may approve funding for a Palestinian
Authority government that includes Hamas. HaQaretz reported that
Israel was QsurprisedQ by the report. The concern arose after it
became known that the Obama administration had asked Congress for
minor changes in U.S. law that would allow the continued provision
of funds to the PA even if Hamas officials became part of a
Palestinian unity government.
Israel Radio reported that Netanyahu will not meet with PA President
Mahmoud Abbas before his visit to Washington. The media continued
to report on the dispute between Israel and the PA on the issue of
the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Israel Radio quoted a
senior PA source as saying that Mahmoud Abbas had presented former
President Bush with the written draft of a peace plan with Israel,
to which previous PM Ehud Olmert never replied in writing -Q he
started the military operation in Gaza soon after.
Israel Radio quoted the PA newspaper Al-Ayyam as saying that
American officials will inspect new Israeli construction plans
around MaQaleh Adumim. The Palestinian daily cited a senior official
in the American Consulate-General in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Post reported that U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman
(ID-CT) told the newspaper yesterday that any engagement with Iran
must come with Qnot just carrots and sticksQ and that he is
introducing legislation to deliver just that.
The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted DM Barak as
saying yesterday that the Syrian-Turkish maneuvers constitute a
Qworrisome development.Q The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior
Israeli strategic analyst told the daily yesterday that the drill
not only disturbed Jerusalem, but that it has also riled the Turkish
military. Israel Radio quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as
saying in the London-based Ash Sharq Al-Awsat that his country was
closer to reaching peace with OlmertQs government than with Ehud
BarakQs in 1990.
Media reported that Kadima MK Tzachi Hanegbi will retain his
position as chairman of the KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee despite being in the opposition.
HaQaretz reported that yesterday two former Border Police officers
were sentenced to several years in prison for their role in killing
a Palestinian teen in Hebron in 2002.
The Jerusalem Post reported that members of the Foreign Press
Association in Israel are complaining of harassment and
discrimination at Israeli airports and other locations.
The Jerusalem Post reported that a new movement to unite trade
unions and other NGOs from Australia, Europe, and North America
working against boycotts of Israel -- Trade Unions Linking Israel
and Palestine (Tulip) -- began operation last week.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Palestinians in a refugee camp near
Bethlehem that Pope Benedict XVI will visit next month want him to
get a close-up look at the security barrier.
HaQaretz reported that several days ago 10 people from southern
Sudan boarded a plane at Ben-Gurion Airport bound for an African
country, from which they would continue toward Sudan. The daily
quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying that the refugees were
repatriated out of their own free will. However, southern Sudanese
community leaders in Israel said that the move endangered the
refugeesQ lives and criticized the QInternational Christian Embassy
Jerusalem,Q which supported the action.
HaQaretz reported that the only state-run Jewish-Arab school in
Israel (in Jaffa) might close down. While the Tel Aviv Municipality
cited the departure of Jews from Jaffa, the school claimed that the
municipality was drying it up.
The media reported that a second traveler was quarantined after his
return from Mexico, to which health officials urge Israelis to avoid
travel.
--------------
Mideast:
--------------
Summary:
--------------
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QOn
Independence Day, we belabor the obvious: The State of Israel was
established to fulfill dreams, not to arm itself ahead of the coming
of the Messiah.
Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote on page one of the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: QNetanyahu will tell Obama
next month that, in an improved climate... he's prepared for
far-reaching concessions, though not as dramatic as previous
governments have entertained.
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: QAbu
Mazen, the Palestinian AuthorityQs moderate figure, has just
rejected NetanyahuQs demand that he recognize Israel as a Jewish
state.
Block Quotes:
--------------
I. "Israel Time, 5769 [2009]"
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (4/28): QLast
year, Israel marked its 60th anniversary with great pomp. Perhaps
now the time is ripe to let go of the euphoria over the country's
very existence, the flip side of existential fear.... Israel is not
the only party responsible for its anomalous situation. Not only
are enemies near and far who question the state's legitimacy not
dissipating with the passage of time, they're becoming stronger.
But the answer does not lie in entrenchment and a contrarian
approach to the whole world, but rather the opposite: remobilization
of the same creative energies that drew Israel admiration in its
early years. Unfortunately, however, stagnation has taken the place
of change when it comes to matters within our control as well. The
new government is not only not heralding change and hope; it is
calling for steps backward -- in its approach to both Israel's Arabs
and to our neighbors and the world. Those who have embraced
Qconflict managementQ and have despaired of a solution, and those
for whom governing is an end in itself rather than a means for
change and improvement, will find themselves marking time and
treading water with us all, driven by crises instead of growing and
renewing. On Independence Day, we belabor the obvious: The State of
Israel was established to fulfill dreams, not to arm itself ahead of
the coming of the Messiah.
II. "NetanyahuQs Bid to Change"
Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote on page one of the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (4/28): QNetanyahu will
tell Obama next month that, in an improved climate, with the Iranian
threat defused and Palestinian readiness for reconciliation
encouraged by an improved economy, he's prepared for far-reaching
concessions, though not as dramatic as previous governments have
entertained. He'll stress that Israel has no desire to govern the
Palestinians, and make plain that his reservations about Palestinian
statehood are practical, not ideological. He'll also doubtless
indicate to Obama his conviction that diplomacy isn't going to work
with Tehran -- that stringent economic sanctions, and the threat of
worse, hold the key. His overall message won over the Israeli
public, just about. Obama is going to be a much tougher sell.
III. "The World Has Not Yet Accepted IsraelQs Essence"
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (4/28):
QAbu Mazen, the Palestinian AuthorityQs moderate figure, has just
rejected NetanyahuQs demand that he recognize Israel as a Jewish
state.... In plain words, [Abu Mazen wants] two states for two
peoples: an Arab-Palestinian one and another common one for Jews and
Arabs. IsraelQs 61 years, its enormous successes, its great
humanitarian enterprise in absorbing, the admiration it has earned
around the world and the very fact of its being the realization of
biblical prophecies in which billions believe, have not been enough
to grant it the simple legitimacy enjoyed by other nations. The
Durban II conference -Q the world hypocrisy conference Q- in which
the worldQs greatest oppressors of human rights took place, debated
IsraelQs very existence.... If anyone celebrating IsraelQs
independence has any doubt about the historic, dramatic significance
of the realization of the Zionist vision, it is enough to look at
the way the world still does not accept the simple point carried by
these words: a Jewish state.
CUNNINGHAM
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: There will be no Israel Media Reaction on Wednesday,
April 29, Israeli Independence Day Holiday.
--------------
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
--------------
Mideast
--------------
Key stories in the media:
--------------
All media highlighted events and issues related to Memorial Day and
Independence Day. The media quoted President Shimon Peres as saying
at a Memorial Day ceremony yesterday that Israel wants peace but is
ready for war. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said:
"The IDF is committed to saving human life, and our enemies take
advantage of our high morals when firing at us from within centers
of civilian population." PM Benjamin Netanyahu earlier urged the
country to maintain the unity it feels during Memorial Day every day
of the year. DM Ehud Barak was quoted as saying in an interview
with HaQaretz that there is no existential threat to Israel. QNo
one will dare try to annihilate Israel,Q he said. Makor
Rishon-Hatzofe reported that yesterday, during a press conference,
Barak hinted that Israel should develop defense systems that will
allow it to give up land.
The Jerusalem Post, Maariv, and Israel Hayom quoted senior Israeli
officials as saying yesterday that they were "concerned" at the
prospect that the U.S. may approve funding for a Palestinian
Authority government that includes Hamas. HaQaretz reported that
Israel was QsurprisedQ by the report. The concern arose after it
became known that the Obama administration had asked Congress for
minor changes in U.S. law that would allow the continued provision
of funds to the PA even if Hamas officials became part of a
Palestinian unity government.
Israel Radio reported that Netanyahu will not meet with PA President
Mahmoud Abbas before his visit to Washington. The media continued
to report on the dispute between Israel and the PA on the issue of
the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Israel Radio quoted a
senior PA source as saying that Mahmoud Abbas had presented former
President Bush with the written draft of a peace plan with Israel,
to which previous PM Ehud Olmert never replied in writing -Q he
started the military operation in Gaza soon after.
Israel Radio quoted the PA newspaper Al-Ayyam as saying that
American officials will inspect new Israeli construction plans
around MaQaleh Adumim. The Palestinian daily cited a senior official
in the American Consulate-General in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Post reported that U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman
(ID-CT) told the newspaper yesterday that any engagement with Iran
must come with Qnot just carrots and sticksQ and that he is
introducing legislation to deliver just that.
The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted DM Barak as
saying yesterday that the Syrian-Turkish maneuvers constitute a
Qworrisome development.Q The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior
Israeli strategic analyst told the daily yesterday that the drill
not only disturbed Jerusalem, but that it has also riled the Turkish
military. Israel Radio quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as
saying in the London-based Ash Sharq Al-Awsat that his country was
closer to reaching peace with OlmertQs government than with Ehud
BarakQs in 1990.
Media reported that Kadima MK Tzachi Hanegbi will retain his
position as chairman of the KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee despite being in the opposition.
HaQaretz reported that yesterday two former Border Police officers
were sentenced to several years in prison for their role in killing
a Palestinian teen in Hebron in 2002.
The Jerusalem Post reported that members of the Foreign Press
Association in Israel are complaining of harassment and
discrimination at Israeli airports and other locations.
The Jerusalem Post reported that a new movement to unite trade
unions and other NGOs from Australia, Europe, and North America
working against boycotts of Israel -- Trade Unions Linking Israel
and Palestine (Tulip) -- began operation last week.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Palestinians in a refugee camp near
Bethlehem that Pope Benedict XVI will visit next month want him to
get a close-up look at the security barrier.
HaQaretz reported that several days ago 10 people from southern
Sudan boarded a plane at Ben-Gurion Airport bound for an African
country, from which they would continue toward Sudan. The daily
quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying that the refugees were
repatriated out of their own free will. However, southern Sudanese
community leaders in Israel said that the move endangered the
refugeesQ lives and criticized the QInternational Christian Embassy
Jerusalem,Q which supported the action.
HaQaretz reported that the only state-run Jewish-Arab school in
Israel (in Jaffa) might close down. While the Tel Aviv Municipality
cited the departure of Jews from Jaffa, the school claimed that the
municipality was drying it up.
The media reported that a second traveler was quarantined after his
return from Mexico, to which health officials urge Israelis to avoid
travel.
--------------
Mideast:
--------------
Summary:
--------------
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QOn
Independence Day, we belabor the obvious: The State of Israel was
established to fulfill dreams, not to arm itself ahead of the coming
of the Messiah.
Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote on page one of the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: QNetanyahu will tell Obama
next month that, in an improved climate... he's prepared for
far-reaching concessions, though not as dramatic as previous
governments have entertained.
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: QAbu
Mazen, the Palestinian AuthorityQs moderate figure, has just
rejected NetanyahuQs demand that he recognize Israel as a Jewish
state.
Block Quotes:
--------------
I. "Israel Time, 5769 [2009]"
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (4/28): QLast
year, Israel marked its 60th anniversary with great pomp. Perhaps
now the time is ripe to let go of the euphoria over the country's
very existence, the flip side of existential fear.... Israel is not
the only party responsible for its anomalous situation. Not only
are enemies near and far who question the state's legitimacy not
dissipating with the passage of time, they're becoming stronger.
But the answer does not lie in entrenchment and a contrarian
approach to the whole world, but rather the opposite: remobilization
of the same creative energies that drew Israel admiration in its
early years. Unfortunately, however, stagnation has taken the place
of change when it comes to matters within our control as well. The
new government is not only not heralding change and hope; it is
calling for steps backward -- in its approach to both Israel's Arabs
and to our neighbors and the world. Those who have embraced
Qconflict managementQ and have despaired of a solution, and those
for whom governing is an end in itself rather than a means for
change and improvement, will find themselves marking time and
treading water with us all, driven by crises instead of growing and
renewing. On Independence Day, we belabor the obvious: The State of
Israel was established to fulfill dreams, not to arm itself ahead of
the coming of the Messiah.
II. "NetanyahuQs Bid to Change"
Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote on page one of the
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (4/28): QNetanyahu will
tell Obama next month that, in an improved climate, with the Iranian
threat defused and Palestinian readiness for reconciliation
encouraged by an improved economy, he's prepared for far-reaching
concessions, though not as dramatic as previous governments have
entertained. He'll stress that Israel has no desire to govern the
Palestinians, and make plain that his reservations about Palestinian
statehood are practical, not ideological. He'll also doubtless
indicate to Obama his conviction that diplomacy isn't going to work
with Tehran -- that stringent economic sanctions, and the threat of
worse, hold the key. His overall message won over the Israeli
public, just about. Obama is going to be a much tougher sell.
III. "The World Has Not Yet Accepted IsraelQs Essence"
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (4/28):
QAbu Mazen, the Palestinian AuthorityQs moderate figure, has just
rejected NetanyahuQs demand that he recognize Israel as a Jewish
state.... In plain words, [Abu Mazen wants] two states for two
peoples: an Arab-Palestinian one and another common one for Jews and
Arabs. IsraelQs 61 years, its enormous successes, its great
humanitarian enterprise in absorbing, the admiration it has earned
around the world and the very fact of its being the realization of
biblical prophecies in which billions believe, have not been enough
to grant it the simple legitimacy enjoyed by other nations. The
Durban II conference -Q the world hypocrisy conference Q- in which
the worldQs greatest oppressors of human rights took place, debated
IsraelQs very existence.... If anyone celebrating IsraelQs
independence has any doubt about the historic, dramatic significance
of the realization of the Zionist vision, it is enough to look at
the way the world still does not accept the simple point carried by
these words: a Jewish state.
CUNNINGHAM