ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000300 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. Iran -------------- Key stories in the media: -------------- The Jerusalem Post cited recent Israeli intelligence assessments that Iran will make the political decision to enrich uranium to military-grade levels once it has accumulated enough fissionable material for a small arsenal of three to four nuclear devices, according to latest intelligence assessments. Maariv quoted a senior official of the Israeli defense establishment as saying that the secret nuclear installation at Qom is the Qtip of an iceberg. Leading media reported that Eli Yishai has ordered the legalization of Beit Yehonatan Q a controversial Jewish-owned building in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem. Various legal decisions had ordered the house pulled down. HaQaretz reported that the move is likely to fail. Major media reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman announced yesterday that they intend to promote a bill that would let Israeli citizens vote from abroad in Knesset elections. According to Israel Hayom, the proposed legislation would bring eight more Knesset seats to the Right. However, HaQaretz quoted Likud sources as saying that it would not alter the composition of Israeli politics. Coalition parties Shas and Labor oppose the bill, as do many opposition parties, which HaQaretz says would lead to the adoption of a softer bill. Kadima filed a no-confidence motion against the government over its intention "to enable people not living in Israel to vote in the elections and determine the fate of those living here." "All decisions for Israel's future must be determined only by those who chose to live here and shape its future," HaQaretz quoted Kadima sources as saying. The media reported on increasing violence against judges. In a lecture yesterday, Justice Dorit Beinisch denounced the overall 
phenomenon of violence in Israeli society. The Jerusalem Post reported that Palestinian leaders will urge the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes during last yearQs war in Gaza. The Palestinians will tell the ICC that IsraelQs probe into the operation is not credible. Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that the Anti-Defamation League gave President Obama an QFQ for failing to deliver in the Middle East. According to The Jerusalem Post most Knesset members agree:Q QAQ for good intentions but poor grades for results. The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Israel opened the Jalama crossing to the West Bank to tour buses. The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Khaled Mashal, the head of HamasQ political bureau, accused the U.S. of Qvetoing Hamas-reconciliation efforts. Mashal spoke during a visit to Moscow. Yediot reported that the Foreign Ministry has started distributing notes to Israeli officials visiting foreign countries. The notes, issued by the authorities of those countries, ensure the Israeli officialsQ safety. The first Israeli who benefits from the move is Deputy FM Daniel Ayalon, who is presently in London. In another development, HaQaretz quoted deputy directors-general of the Foreign Ministry as saying yesterday at weekly meeting the ministryQs management that FM LiebermanQs instructions are Qcrazy.Q They were referring to a new instruction to limit the distribution of diplomatic cables, a move meant to compartmentalize the ministry. Media reported that Border Policemen targeted Palestinians with non-lethal fire in the northern East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat. The police were looking for wanted Palestinians. Israel Radio reported that Likud Knesset Member Ayoub Kara is slated to meet with Ambassador Cunningham with a proposal to import water from Syria. Maariv reported that foreign ambassadors posted in Israel, including Ambassador Cunningham, have requested to be dispensed from the water tax. The diplomats reportedly cited an international treaty. Luis Lieberman, the Jewish deputy of newly elected Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, promised in an interview with Maariv to strengthen his countryQs ties with Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that two Israelis organized the massive snowball fight in WashingtonQs Dupont Circle in Saturday. The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a survey conducted between May 18 and June 16, 2009 by Pew Research CenterQs Global Attitudes. Ninety-five to 98 percent of those polled in Arab countries held an unfavorable view of Jews. Only 35% of Israeli Arabs expressed a negative opinion of Jews, while 56% voiced a favorable opinion. In Turkey, the number of people who said they had a Qvery unfavorable attitude towards Jews jumped from 32% in 2004 to 73% in 2009. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. QThe Year of Capitulation Diplomatic correspondent and television anchor Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv (2/9): QWhat has NetanyahuQs term in office given us until now?.... Anyone who takes an interest in what is going on in our backyard is horrified by what they find. In order to survive, Binyamin Netanyahu has recklessly mortgaged our Zionist future here. He has placed our foreign relations in Avigdor LiebermanQs irresponsible hands; our internal affairs have been placed in Eli YishaiQs hard-working hands. They donQt need more than that. When the cat is away, the mice go on a rampage. Lieberman has done so heavy-handedly. Yishai has done so quietly, behind closed doors. That doesnQt mean that he has been any less efficient. Sometimes, the impression received is that he is far more efficient.... The question that has to be asked is what is Netanyahu surviving for? What is his goal, what is his agenda, what are his aspirations, what does he hope to achieve? To what end, or for whom is he operating? A year has passed already, and there is no sign of a real, courageous and earth-shaking agenda. With one hand he freezes settlements as no one has frozen before, and with his other hand, he stymies every effort to achieve real political progress. Everything is frozen, everything is stuck. The important thing is that heQs there, in the Prime MinisterQs Office, pretending to be the director of affairs, which run of their own accord. There is no law or judge, nothing goes in or out. Once we wake up and realize where all of this is heading, it is going to be too late. II. QNo Return to the Land of Our Forefathers Senior columnist and longtime peace advocate Yoel Marcus wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/9): QAfter the Six-Day War, the emergency government turned into a paralyzed unity government. It focused on settlements in the territories and turned Israel into an occupation state, whose price we are paying today. If Netanyahu really wants peace with Syria and an arrangement with the Palestinians, he must first get rid of Lieberman and his party, and perhaps Shas as well, and add Kadima to his government. Kadima leader Tzipi Livni may be miffed, but this is no time for settling accounts -- it's a time for closing ranks. With Livni as vice premier and foreign minister and Mofaz as internal security minister, it would not be a paralysis government but one that could march us to peace and security. Come on Bibi, forward march. III. QIsraelQs Empty Suitcase Liberal columnist Professor Aviad Kleinberg wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/9): QThe Saudi and Syrian peace initiatives are complex political moves full of successes and impediments. Before signing a peace treaty, one should carefully examine the small print. But the Israeli response is not a logical expression of caution. Instead of reacting with enthusiasm and openness, instead of offering gestures and confidence-building measures, hastily declare that the whole thing is a bluff, a plot. Nothing will come out of it.... Israel has a vital interest in peace. The [government] coalition has no such interest. Peace means plenty of trouble. It might anger the Yesha Council of Jewish Settlements in the Territories, for instance. What interest will the government prefer? IQll let you guess. IV. QA Dark Day for Democracy Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (2/9): Q[The Jerusalem PostQs] decision to cancel the column of Prof. Naomi Chazan, a worldwide respected academic, a former member of Knesset from the Zionist Meretz Party and currently the president of the New Israel Fund is a badge of shame on The Jerusalem Post. The posting of the Im Tirtzu advertisement with its explicit anti-Semitic motif of a caricature of Chazan with horns was dangerously anti-democratic I am also in favor of full disclosure of the sources of funding of all civil society organizations, including Im Tirtzu, NGO Monitor, El Ad, Ateret Kohanim and all of the other civil society organizations working on the right side of the political map. One standard for all -- full disclosure and transparency of funding is what should be legislated by the Knesset. As for The Jerusalem Post, it is not too late to rescind the decision to cancel Prof. Chazan's column. ¶V. QI Would Have Done the Same as my Editor Columnist Shmuel Rosner, who was HaQaretzQs correspondent in Washington, wrote in The Jerusalem Post (2/9): QThe NIF [the New Israel Fund] has nothing to do with the Goldstone Report. [But] It has too many friends who support the Goldstone Report. Whether one likes it or not, those friends will define NIFQs image in the eyes of the Israeli public.... The NIFQs attackers should remember that these are good people trying to do good things for Israel.... I really hate the campaign against NIF -- it's ugly, brutal and quite disgusting. But the demand that it will be censored, and that media outlets would refuse to carry it, should be considered carefully. Bad taste isn't good enough reason to cease from posting an ad. Chazan -- now the new face of the Israel-is-becoming-McCarthystic [sic] campaign -- should have been well-advised to write her next column on the controversy surrounding NIF rather than trying to silence criticism by legal means. Maybe she can still take this course. -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- QLegitimacy Was Granted to Iran Berlin correspondent Eldad Beck wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/9): QSince the international confrontation around the Iranian nuclear program began, the Germans have taken care to invite representatives of the AyatollahsQ regime to voice their radical views -- including Holocaust denial and the rejection of IsraelQs existence... Indeed, Chancellor Angela Merkel personally promotes stronger international sanctions against Iran and makes sure that German firms freeze their many ties with that country. . But the German establishment meticulously maintains communication channels with TehranQs representatives and provides them with public stages to disseminate their sickly views. There is nothing to do, the spirit of Munich still hovers above Germany. CUNNINGHAM