ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000314 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 reported that USAF Gen. Paul Selva visited Israel in the past few days. Other aides of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- James Steinberg and Jacob Lew -- are expected in the county in the coming days for talks expected to deal with both regional and bilateral issues. All media reported that yesterday afternoon a PA police officer stabbed to death a Druze IDF soldier from an elite unit who was sitting in a military jeep in a traffic jam near the Tapuah junction in the northern West Bank. The Jerusalem Post quoted IDF sources as saying that the attacker was the head of bureau for the PAQs Ramallah police chief. The Jerusalem Post also quoted IDF sources as saying that the PA police are trained by a European Union organization, based in Ramallah, called the EUPOL COPPS (the EU Police Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support). Israel Radio cited a condemnation of the act by Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad. Maariv (Amit Cohen) led by recalling a series of explosions in the past two months that have killed a number of Hamas officials and Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen. The explosions in question, which occurred in Damascus, Beirut and Gaza City, were reportedly hushed up by Syrian, Lebanese and Hamas officials. Cohen notes that QHamas opted to maintain a low media profile and refrained from pointing an accusatory finger in IsraelQs direction, as it did in the aftermath of the Mabhouh assassination. Leading media quoted the PA as saying that it arrested six al-Qaida militants. Leading media reported that yesterday the PA accused former intelligence officer Fahmi Shabaneh of QcollaborationQ with Israel and that it issued a warrant for his arrest. Shabaneh had exposed corruption cases in the PA to Israeli media. Israel Radio quoted Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of the KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, as saying that sanctions are not the only alternative in countering the Iranian nuclear program. HaQaretz reported that senior U.N, officials told the newspaper that a Security Council resolution tightening the sanctions on Iran has become more likely, and that the resolution is probably going to be approved. According to HaQaretz, observers in both New York and Washington estimate that China will think twice about using its veto on a resolution after Russia recently threw its support behind a move against Iran. A veto could expose Beijing as isolated and out of touch with its fellow Security Council members. China could also abstain from voting and allow the decision to be made by a simple majority. However, the sources told HaQaretz, the U.S. is still trying to obtain Chinese support for the sanctions. Israel Radio reported on the trip to Washington of an Israeli delegation that discussed the Iran issue with senior U.S. officials Dennis Ross and Dan Shapiro. The Jerusalem Post reported that PM NetanyahuQs spokesman Mark Regev hinted yesterday that LebanonQs infrastructure is fair game in the event of war. HaQaretz cited a new report published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) that Col. Desmond Travers, co-author of the Goldstone Report, claims that Hamas fired only two rockets at Israel prior to last winter's conflict. JCPA head Dr. Dore Gold, former ambassador to the U.N. and an adviser to PM Benjamin Netanyahu, revealed the report at a press conference on Wednesday. Makor Rishon-Hatzofe says that Travers is suspected of anti-Semitism. The Jerusalem Post reported that Nadav Tamir, IsraelQs Consul-General in Washington, attended J StreetQs first annual convention. Israel Hayom reported that Likud officials have made a new offer to Shaul Mofaz in an attempt to split Kadima. According to the newspaper, Mofaz has been offered fifteen prestigious executive positions -- six ministers, six deputy ministers and three Knesset committee chairs -- if he succeeds in enlisting another 14 Knesset members to join him in a bid to divide Kadima and to join the Netanyahu government. The daily notes that if Mofaz does cobble together a group of 15 Knesset members, as the majority holder in the Kadima faction he will be entitled to KadimaQs name and, more importantly, its money. Officials in NetanyahuQs office denied any involvement in these talks. Maariv and The Jerusalem Post reported that Kadima is divided over a bill introduced by MK Eli Aflalo that proposes measures in favor of the Jewish residents of the Golan. Tzipi Livni is in favor, Shaul Mofaz opposes it. Russian-language newspapers and Web sites reported that QRussian immigrant women received special awards have received special awards from the State Department -- Rita Chaikin was nominated for the International Women of Courage Award. The QWomen Make a DifferenceQ video, a project of the NGO QSupportive CommunityQ, won a top spot in the QMy Culture+Your Culture=?Q online contest. HaQaretz and Yediot reported on the death at the age of 76 of former Democratic Texas Congressman Charles Wilson, a friend of Israel who reportedly was the only Representative who stood by and visited the country during the Yom Kippur War. Major media quoted the Israel Antiquities Authority as saying yesterday that archeologists in Jerusalem have discovered an ancient street that confirms the accuracy of the famous 1,500-year-old map depicted in a mosaic floor of a church in Madaba, Jordan. Erratum: The author of the 2/9 Jerusalem Post op-ed in defense of New Israel Fund President Professor Naomi Chazan (QA Dark Day for DemocracyQ) was not Larry Derfner but Gershon Baskin, Co-Director of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information. -------------- ¶1. Mideast: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- ¶I. QA Dilemma on Both Sides (2/11): QYesterday Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad condemned the stabbing of an IDF soldier at the Tapuah checkpoint by a Palestinian police officer. It is hard not to appreciate the political courage summoned by Fayyad Wednesday in condemning the killing of an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint in the occupied territories. But Fayyad apparently realizes that to maintain his extraordinary cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank, he needs to compromise on his dignity, even if at a hefty political price. However, one emerging trend is difficult to ignore. Most of the fatal attacks in the West Bank in recent years were carried out by members of Palestinian security forces.... These attacks create quite a dilemma for Israeli security organizations. On the one hand, the Palestinian Authority is combating Hamas and Islamic Jihad, often demonstrating a surprising ability to counter the Islamist terrorist threats. But the same PA neglects its own men, including former members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade and security service men. II. QLow-Intensity ntifada Editor-in-Chief Amnon Lord wrote in the editorial of the nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe (2/11): QIt is worthwhile recalling that the Israel and world press has totally ignored: last summer the Fatah convention made the clear decision to continue the Qarmed combatQ and renew the QstruggleQ at a QpopularQ level.... The radical Israeli Left is full partner in this Intifada, which is presently on a low fire.... What can be expected, should the PalestiniansQ efforts succeed, is not necessarily a war of terror like the one we saw during the first half of the previous decade. Abu MazenQs strategy is more moderate: that there be enough violence to keep the Palestinians in the headlines. It is impossible to ignore the fact that both recent murders were carried out by members of the Palestinian security forces. Their actions are inspired by the Palestinian leadership. III. QThe Minister of Delegitimization Senior commentator Ari Shavit wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/11): QThe Foreign Ministry must be just as powerful and effective as the Defense Ministry. It must adopt the Mossad and Shin Bet work ethos and lead a complex and sophisticated diplomatic, public relations campaign, the likes of which we have not seen since ¶1947. But there's a problem. The minister heading the Foreign Ministry today is exacerbating Israel's distress over legitimacy instead of alleviating it. This minister cannot solve the problem he is part of. The Arab world abhors him. Europe sees him as a Le Pen-style nationalist. The United States sees him as an embarrassing malfunction. While Shimon Peres is perceived abroad as the attractive side of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman is seen as its ugly side. He cannot thwart the delegitimization assault while his abusive rhetoric and bullying behavior empowers it. Lieberman is playing into the hands of those who want to portray Israel as a racist, lunatic state. Ehud Olmert paid a heavy price for one reckless mistake -- appointing Amir Peretz defense minister. Netanyahu may pay a similar price for appointing Lieberman foreign minister. There are no fatalities in the legitimacy war. In the short range, it doesn't cost any blood. But in the long range, it is immeasurably more important than the Second Lebanon War. -------------- ¶2. Iran: -------------- Block Quotes: -------------- QIran and Israeli Politics Columnist Nadav Eyal wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (2/11): QIt can be assumed that all Israelis are interested in the elimination or the cessation of IranQs nuclear program. We would all want this to be done on our behalf -- through sanctions or a military assault by others. Still, should Israel reach the decisive moment, it is important that our decision-makers not be found in a public-political situation into which they would be pushed by public opinion. However important it is for the prime minister to be publicly able to make the decision not to attack Iran -- in accordance with the rationale and situation assessments that will be presented to the Government when time comes. As regards Iran, pragmatism must be particularly strong. CUNNINGHAM