ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000025 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 -------------- SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: -------------- ¶1. Mideast ¶2. Islamist Aims -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- Yediot reported that a few weeks ago White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told IsraelQs Consul-General in Los Angeles, Yaki Dayan, that the U.S. administration is Qfed upQ with the Israelis and the Palestinians, and that the administration will leave them alone with the unending conflict. The media reported that yesterday a letter containing a death threat on DM Ehud Barak was received at the Defense Ministry. The media reported that Barak and other officials recently received dozens of such threats following the governmentQs decision to freeze settlement construction for 10 months. Maariv reported that the religious ZionistsQ moderate leader, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, has decided to change his mind and support opposition to serving in the army among religious hesder soldiers (who combine military service and religious studies). The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday a State Department official told the newspaper that Israel damaged the peace process when it approved the construction of four new buildings next to the Beit Orot Yeshiva in a Palestinian area on East Jerusalem's Mount of Olives a day earlier. The Jerusalem Post quoted the official as saying: "We have noted that these types of announcements and activity harm peace efforts." Nonetheless, the newspaper noted that the harsh response was more measured than several previous U.S. criticisms of plans to build in East Jerusalem. The official added, "We believe it is important to resume negotiations between the parties in order to resolve all permanent-status issues, including Jerusalem." Yediot quoted State Department officials in Washington as saying that the project harms the peace process. Yediot also quoted AbbasQ spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh as saying that the move proves lack of seriousness on the part of the Israeli Government concerning the resumption of negotiations. Maariv briefly noted U.S. and Palestinian condemnations of the Israeli action. HaQaretz reported that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has issued an order requiring the IDF to consult with the army's legal advisers while military operations are underway and not just when they are being planned. Ashkenazi imposed the stricter regulations despite opposition by several commanders, including members of the General Staff. HaQaretz says that the policy comes after international criticism of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The media quoted President Obama as saying last night that U.S. intelligence agencies had enough information to potentially disrupt a NigerianQs attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound plane, but failed to connect the dots. The media also quoted the President as saying that is determined to fight al-Qaida. The Israeli media reported on the gradual introduction at Ben Gurion Airport of a biometric system (QUnipassQ) that is meant to replace the questioning of Israelis by security agents prior to check in. The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday PM Benjamin Netanyahu told a visiting U.S. congressional delegation that the international community must stop QcoddlingQ the Palestinians and tell them to return to the negotiating table. HaQaretz and other media reported that Saudi Arabia is adopting an Egyptian plan for the resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and that it is trying to rally Syrian support for the continuation of the negotiations process. Egyptian sources told HaQaretz yesterday that PA President Mahmoud Abbas "has expressed willingness to accept the Egyptian plan on condition that it will also enjoy the support of Arab leaders, which is the reason of the Egyptian and Saudi effort to rally broader Arab support so that Abbas will have the necessary backing." The media reported that last night the IAF struck a terrorist cell in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip. Leading media reported that a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees was killed in the attack. Israel Radio reported that Palestinians called for revenge. HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon met with Britain's Attorney General Patricia Janet Scotland, who is on a private visit to Israel, to protest the issuing of arrest warrants in Britain for senior Israeli officials. Major media reported that later yesterday, in a speech at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she noted that the British government "is looking urgently at ways in which the U.K. system might be changed to avoid this situation arising again, and is determined that Israel's leaders should always be able to travel freely to the U.K." Ayalon said the warrants "make it difficult for the two countries to maintain a normal relationship," and stressed that the majority of Israeli citizens have served in the IDF, and as such would be unable to visit the U.K., which Ayalon said would damage British interests as well. Scotland characterized the use of arrest warrants in these circumstances as "essentially a political campaign in which any and every tactic can be used," but at the same time stressed that Britain would continue to permit war crimes prosecutions so as "not to allow safe haven for those who have carried out heinous crimes." At the same time, she stressed that care must be taken to ensure that the tool is "effective and used for the purpose of prosecution, not for political or other purposes." Maariv reported that Israel is negotiating with the German Government the purchase of an additional Dolphin-class submarine to improve the Qcapability of a second strike. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the Israeli building company Neot Hapisga demands millions of shekels in compensation from the state over losses it incurred due to the construction freeze in the West Bank. HaQaretz reported that the IDFQs Civil Administration ordered Palestinian residents of the West Bank this week to stop erecting tents and building animal enclosures in the Bir el-Eid area -- even though the state allowed them access to the site only two months ago, after a 10-year enforced absence and a protracted legal effort. Tomorrow, the Civil Administration's supervisory committee is to discuss the next step, which could involve demolition of the tents and restoration of the site to its prior condition. The site, which is in the southern Hebron Hills, is in Area C, meaning that since the Oslo Accords, it remains under full Israel control. Citing the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Jerusalem Post reported that the State Department has expressed Qcomplete supportQ for its Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Hannah Rosenthal and encouraged Qbroad dialogueQ toward Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. Rosenthal had criticized IsraelQs Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, for snubbing the liberal pro-Israel lobby J Street. The Jerusalem Post social column reported that tomorrow Tel Aviv Univerity (TAU) will host a discussion on QPeace Parks onIsraelQs Borders.Q The newspaper noted the Fred Hof, deputy to U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Senator George Mitchell has expressed profound interest in advancing the idea of a peace park on the Golan. The Jerusalem Post quoted Shahar Sadeh of TAUQs Porter School of Environmental Studies as saying that this is Qnot merely a theoretical issue. The Jerusalem Post reported that the PA is forming a Qnational team to drive the bid to gain membership in the World Trade Organization. The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a survey conducted in early December by the Kelim Shluvim Research Institute at the behest of Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs that 91 percent of Israelis believe that Israel has an QacuteQ or Qvery acuteQ image problem in the world, with 51% saying Qvery acute. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. QLieberman Is Right Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning HaQaretz (1/6): QForeign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is right: during the next two years Israel will not reach a permanent status agreement with the Palestinians. Lieberman is also right in the importance he attributes to national honor. Like the Foreign Minister, I, too, get annoyed when my country is attacked in the foreign media, and I am proud of Israelis who win the Nobel Prize or Olympic medals.... A country's strength is measured in comparison to its foes, and its justness is determined in the international mind. Israel has weakened because of Iran's strengthening, and its justness has been undermined because of Operation Cast Lead and the settlements. Lieberman is right in his assessment of the situation and wrong in his conclusion: precisely because the conflict continues, Israel needs recognition and support -- and therefore it must mollify the world and gradually move forward in the peace process instead of unnecessarily irritating the gentiles. II. QJoin the Court Ha'aretz editorialized (1/6): QFormer [Israeli] Supreme Court President Aharon Barak has recommended that Israel join the International Criminal Court at The Hague that tries those indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Barak, who spoke on Monday at a legal conference in Jerusalem, says that Israel will benefit from its participation in the court despite the risk that IDF soldiers and officers, and even Israeli politicians, may be brought to trial.... A country that believes in the morality of its actions and those of its soldiers should not behave like a permanent suspect and boycott institutions of international law. On the contrary: it must fight within those institutions for its positions and justice. Joining the International Criminal Court at The Hague will place Israel on the side of the enlightened nations, and will contribute to restraining forceful and harmful actions. Barak's recommendation deserves to be adopted. III. QEurope DoesnQt Understand Shimon Stein, a former Israeli Ambassador to Germany, wrote in HaQaretz (1/6): QThe arrest order issued in Britain against Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni is nothing but one of many symptoms of a deep and long-running problem that is unlikely to be solved as long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues. The apology by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (whose own government would be well advised to deal with the issue, of which it has long been aware) and his government's plan to tackle the problem through legislation, will not solve our troubles with the European Union. The root of the problems lies in the fundamental disagreements between Israel and the E.U. regarding the manner in which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved and our conduct vis-a-vis the Palestinians.... After observing the situation for many years it is hard to escape the conclusion that Israel and the Europeans are conducting not a dialogue, but rather two monologues. A solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could lay the foundations for a new stage in our relations with Europe. Until that happens we must get used to reality, the expressions of which we have been witness to in recent weeks. IV. QCivil Responsibility Should Not Be Optional Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset Member Daniel (Danny) Ayalon wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (1/6): QWhile significant numbers in the [Israeli] Arab community are seeking greater integration, their supposed representatives in the Knesset are falling over themselves to play to a different constituency. During a recent rally at the Erez crossing, Balad [National Democratic Assembly] Knesset Member Jamal Zahalka hurled disgraceful abuse at Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who he said enjoys Qclassical music and killing children in Gaza.Q He then reiterated these remarks in an interview with Dan Margalit on the New Evening TV show until Margalit became so incensed with this blood libel that he ordered Zahalka to leave. Earlier at the same rally, Knesset Member Taleb a-Sanaa (United Arab List-Ta'al) allowed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to use his cell phone as a speaker to direct his torrent of abuse against Israel to the assembled crowd. Sanaa is an employee of the state and thus receives certain benefits like a cell phone, which means that our taxes were being used by a member of an organization sworn to destroy our state. This is unacceptable and should be a matter of concern for all. Can one imagine a scenario where an American congressman relayed the rants of Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri to a crowd in the U.S. using a state-funded communications device? No nation on earth would accept this situation, and this is why Public Security Minister [and Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset Member] Yitzhak Aharonovitch has rightly demanded that Sanaa be charged with supporting a terrorist organization. It has long been clear to us that the public declarations of many Arab Knesset members are primarily for foreign consumption, where they seek the approval of extreme elements in the wider Arab world. -------------- ¶2. Islamist Aims: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- QQTurningQ Islamists The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (1/6): QDuring the Cold War, Westerners consoled themselves in the belief that most people behind the Iron Curtain did not believe in Communism; they were simply entrapped by a morally bankrupt system driven by a moribund ideology. It was not so much the allure of capitalism that ultimately won over the people of Eastern Europe; it was the failure of Communism. What will it take to QturnQ vast numbers of Muslims now enthralled with extremist Islam, and convince those uncommitted, not to follow the path of the Islamists? Much depends on the outcome of the ongoing battle within Islamic civilization between those promoting jihad against the West and those who say Islam does not need to tear down the West in order to thrive.... Clearly, some Islamists are irredeemable. But others are not. If the West recognizes the scale of the challenge and confronts it effectively, and if there are enough courageous men the caliber of [the slain Jordanian pro-U.S. agent] Sharif Ali bin Zeid working to preserve Islam from within, we can be reasonably hopeful that the jihadis will one day find themselves relegated to the dustbin of history. If... CUNNINGHAM