This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 002021 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR NEA STAFF 
 
JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD 
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
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Gaza Withdrawal Plan 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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Israel Radio reported that, at the conclusion of the 
U.S.-Israeli talks in Washington and Jerusalem, the 
U.S. and Israel have decided, among other things, that 
President Bush and PM Ariel Sharon will exchange 
missives: the U.S. will recognize that there will be no 
return to the 1967 borders, that it will provide 
support and backing to Israel's security needs and that 
Palestinian refugees will only return to the future 
Palestinian state, in accordance with Bush's vision of 
"two states for two peoples."  The radio reported that 
Israel does not believe in coordinating the Gaza 
withdrawal with the Palestinians and that it views 
recent conciliatory statements by Palestinian PM Ahmed 
Qurei (Abu Ala) as a "last-minute attempt to jump onto 
the bandwagon in whose wheels both he and PA Chairman 
Yasser Arafat have placed sticks."  The radio quoted 
GOI sources in Jerusalem as saying that there is a wide 
consensus that the PA is no longer a partner and that 
Qurei should not be granted a prize after he and his 
people did not do anything to fight terrorism, and that 
they have not stood by their commitments to the road 
map. 
 
The three major Hebrew newspapers (Yediot, Maariv and 
Ha'aretz) led with separate interviews PM Sharon 
granted them upon the occasion of the Passover holiday, 
and which will appear in their entirety on Monday.  The 
main points of the interviews, as bannered by the 
newspapers, are: 
-Sharon told both Yediot and Maariv that "by next 
Passover" Israel will be withdrawing/will have 
withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, and that Arafat and 
(Yediot) Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan 
Nasrallah have no insurance against assassination. 
-He told Yediot that he has ordered an immediate halt 
to the development of Gaza Strip settlements. 
-He told Maariv that Likud is holding contacts towards 
the formation of a national unity government. 
-He told Ha'aretz that once the separation fence is 
completed, the government will act vigorously to expel 
Palestinians living illegally within Israeli Arab 
communities.  He said that there are tens of thousands 
of such illegal Palestinians in the country. 
 
Most media quoted Qurei as saying, after meeting U.S. 
envoys William Burns, Elliott Abrams and Steve Hadley 
in Jericho Thursday afternoon, that the Palestinians 
are a full and ready partner for the peace process. 
Qurei criticized Israel's unilateral moves.    Leading 
media quoted senior PA officials as saying that the 
U.S. has not promised Israel it would unconditionally 
support its disengagement moves.  Hatzofe reported that 
an official in Qurei's bureau told the Israeli Itim 
news agency that the U.S. envoys promised the 
Palestinians the U.S. will not support an Israeli move 
that could harm or put aside the issues to be discussed 
towards a final-status agreement -- such as the right 
of return and the status of Jerusalem. 
 
Leading media reported that Thursday Hamas and Fatah 
rejected Qurei's appeal to stop terrorist attacks.  All 
media reported that Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades activist 
Jamal Hamamreh and the other militants captured in 
Bethlehem Thursday planned to carry out a large-scale 
terrorist attack during Passover.  Israel Radio 
reported that this morning a column of IDF armored 
vehicles made an incursion in Rafah into the border 
area with Egypt, in an attempt to find smuggling 
tunnels. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Thursday a European 
Parliament body gave the EU Commission an investigatory 
report that concludes that there is "no conclusive 
evidence" linking EU funds give to the PA with 
terrorist activity. 
 
Channel 2-TV and Ha'aretz reported that, according to 
treasury data that reached Meretz Knesset Member Haim 
Oron, a member of the Finance Committee, at least 300 
million shekels (around USD 66.3 million) -- and 
possibly 340 million shekels (around USD 75.2 million) 
-- out of 846 million shekels (around USD 187 million) 
in short-term loans made between 1990 to 2003 by the 
Housing Ministry to housing associations in the 
territories have never been repaid.  Channel 2-TV notes 
that Israelis living within the Green Line who default 
on their mortgage payments are routinely expelled form 
their homes over much lesser debts. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Yossi Beilin, the chairman of the 
new left-wing party Yahad, as saying Thursday that the 
Sharon government is "destroying the PA and 
strengthening Hamas, so that Israel will have no one 
left to speak with, and nobody to negotiate with." 
 
Citing AP, Ha'aretz reported that the United Nations 
Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said Thursday that it 
has stopped distributing emergency food aid in Gaza 
because of tightened Israeli restrictions at the Karni 
crossing point, the only crossing through which goods 
move between the Gaza Strip and Israel.  This morning, 
Israel Radio reported that the Erez crossing was closed 
due to security warnings. 
 
Leading media reported that Thursday the Jordanian 
security forces were looking for two trucks filled with 
explosives, which had crossed the border from Syria, 
and for four fugitives.  The media cited concerns that 
Israeli and U.S. nationals and institutions could have 
been targeted.  Yediot reported that senior Israeli 
defense officials are "closely monitoring" the chase 
after the terrorists, who could try to smuggle weapons 
and explosives into PA-controlled territory. 
 
Maariv reported that Russian elements warned Israel a 
few months ago that several suitcases containing small 
nuclear bombs have reached extremist Chechen Islamists. 
The newspaper, which says that the suitcases were 
apparently stolen in Russia, cited the belief of 
Israeli terror expects that this information is 
insignificant, because of the need to maintain those 
weapons. 
 
Citing documents seized in the territories, Maariv 
reported that Arafat has transferred tens of thousands 
of dollars to Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, the leader of the 
anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox sect of Neturei Karta. 
[NB: at http://www.nkusa.org/].  The newspaper cited a 
denial by Hirsch's son Yisrael. 
 
Maariv reported that the Iraqi Governing Council has 
expressed its support for compensation to former Iraqi 
Jews, and that it will soon allow Jews of Iraqi origin 
to resettle in the country starting in June.  However, 
Israel Radio quoted the chairman of the Organization of 
Jews from Arab Countries in Israel as saying that Jews 
from Arab countries will not be entitled to reclaim 
their property. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Sunday Maj. Gen. Elyezer Shkedy 
will officially take over from Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz as 
commander of the IAF. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that Pups For Peace, a 
Los Angeles-based organization, has donated 30 sniffer 
dogs to the Transportation Ministry and Israeli police 
force. 
 
Yediot quoted former British intelligence agent 
Alistair Crooke as saying that, since the '80s, Sheikh 
Ahmed Yassin had initiated peace plans with Israel. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Thursday the Israeli Arab 
leadership cautiously welcomed a proposal by Justice 
Minister Yosef Lapid to designate a national day 
devoted to citizenship and coexistence between Jews and 
Arabs. 
 
--------------------- 
Gaza Withdrawal Plan: 
--------------------- 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "These are 
Sharon's three nos: no to negotiations, no to 
international plans, no to the status quo.  There is no 
disengagement here, at least not in the first years, 
but there is certainly a change." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman opined in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The picture that has emerged 
thus far (before the [U.S.-Israeli] discussions 
Thursday) is one of clear American support for the idea 
of the withdrawal and the security arrangements that 
Israel wants to institute in its wake." 
 
Veteran print and TV journalist Dan Margalit wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "So, [Sharon], vigorously 
urge [your son] Omri and his friends to do what they 
really know to do -- the name of the game in crucial 
decisions is effective organization.  This time for a 
good cause." 
 
Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon wrote in 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "Condoleezza Rice has 
made clear that there won't be any change in the United 
States' Middle Eastern policy." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Three Nos" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (April 2): "The 
[disengagement] move, says Sharon, 'will establish in 
writing a firm American position that rules out any 
plan that would endanger Israel.'  What else?  It will 
relieve Israel of responsibility for the lives of 1.8 
million Palestinians, from whom the donor countries are 
threatening to cut off support, and will deny the 
Palestinians the argument that due to the occupation 
they are unable to act against terror.  And it will 
return the initiative to us.  'There is nothing worse 
than having Israel dragged into taking steps due to 
international pressure.'  These are Sharon's three nos: 
no to negotiations, no to international plans, no to 
the status quo.  There is no disengagement here, at 
least not in the first years, but there is certainly a 
change." 
 
II.  "Territorial Imperative" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman opined in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (April 2): "The picture that has 
emerged thus far (before the [U.S.-Israeli] discussions 
Thursday) is one of clear American support for the idea 
of the withdrawal and the security arrangements that 
Israel wants to institute in its wake.... The 
discussions revolved, in effect, around tailoring the 
disengagement plan to the American political agenda and 
to the conceptual framework the administration has 
created regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
The United States has been dragged into supporting 
Sharon's initiative because it has been convinced there 
is great importance to his willingness to pull out of 
the Gaza Strip.  But it has anchored its support in its 
own declared view on the resolution of the conflict. 
It has chosen to do so through the formulation of a 
presidential position that will take the disengagement 
plan into account, but will refrain from accompanying 
this with a practical quid pro quo.  In any case, the 
withdrawal will not be carried out before the U.S. 
elections." 
 
III.  "Hot Referendum" 
 
Veteran print and TV journalist Dan Margalit wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv (April 2): "The referendum 
only intended for the exclusive club of registered 
Likud voters is the least of all evils.... The 
referendum is good for the supporters of the unilateral 
withdrawal, who believe that Ariel Sharon has lost the 
political strength and the personal authority to impose 
his plan on his party.... The referendum is also good 
for the opponents -- actually, not for those whose 
ideological objection is a pure one.... It is 
comfortable for Binyamin Netanyahu, Silvan Shalom, 
Danny Naveh and Tzachi Hanegbi.  Arik will take out the 
chestnuts from the fire for them.... So, [Sharon], 
vigorously urge [your son] Omri and his friends to do 
what they really know to do -- the name of the game in 
crucial decisions is effective organization.  This time 
for a good cause." 
 
IV.  "Withdrawal With Nothing in Exchange" 
 
Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon wrote in 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (April 2): "Prime 
Minister Ariel Sharon, who is clinging to a unilateral 
withdrawal plan, knows Washington's policy extremely 
well.  He is not deluding himself that [his senior aide 
Dov] Weisglass could achieve the 'impossible.'  But, 
because of pressure being put on him from all sides, 
mainly in the domestic arena -- by the Likud movement - 
- he has decided to apply his entire influence in order 
to obtain any achievement in Washington.  His efforts 
have failed thus far.... Even the perk that he hoped to 
get in Washington is hanging by a thread.  In actual 
fact, it doesn't exist.  Condoleezza Rice has made 
clear that there won't be any change in the United 
States' Middle Eastern policy.  The issue of borders, 
including the status of Jerusalem, will be determined 
in direct talks between the parties -- Israel and the 
Palestinians." 
 
KURTZER