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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 006443 
 
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 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
On Sunday, Yediot led with an "exclusive" filed by its 
Washington correspondent, Orly Azolai, after a brief 
conversation she held with President George Bush at the 
White House Christmas party last Thursday.  Azolai 
quoted Bush as saying he was determined to bring peace 
between Israel and the Palestinians, but that Syria 
would have to wait.  Azolai was impressed that Bush 
intends to place his full weight behind the effort to 
achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace in the next four 
years and to take a hands-on approach. 
 
On Sunday, Yediot reported that President Bush told 
Jewish leaders at a White House Hanukkah reception that 
he is very worried about the resurgence of anti- 
Semitism in Europe. 
 
On Monday, all major Hebrew-language media led with 
calls by Pinchas Wallerstein, the head of the Mateh 
Binyamin local council in the West Bank and one of the 
senior members of the Council of Jewish Settlements in 
the Territories, to engage in nonviolent civil 
disobedience in an effort to foil the evacuation of 
settlements in Gaza.  Charging that the soon-to-be- 
established government is "illegitimate," Wallerstein 
declared that the public should "violate the transfer 
law and be ready to pay the price of mass 
imprisonment."  Wallerstein himself stated he was 
prepared to go to jail.  Israel Radio cited Acting 
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni's condemnation of the 
remarks, and reported that A-G Menachem Mazuz will 
examine the issue in the next few days.  The radio 
reported that not all members of the Council of 
Settlements agree with the style of Wallerstein's 
remarks.  Reporting that PM Sharon voiced criticism of 
Wallerstein's comments, Israel Radio quoted Sharon as 
saying that the government will do all its power to 
keep the law. 
 
All media reported that the Likud-Labor agreement 
reached Saturday night hit a stumbling block Sunday 
after the chairman of the Knesset's Constitution, Law 
and Justice Committee, Likud MK Michael Eitan, refuse 
to rush through legislation to accommodate the deal 
according to which Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres is 
to become the second deputy PM who is authorized to 
function as acting PM when the PM is away or 
incapacitated, along with Trade Minister Ehud Olmert, 
who already holds the title. The Basic Law only 
provides for one deputy PM.  On Sunday, leading media 
reported that Labor would control five ministries: 
interior, national infrastructure, construction and 
housing, tourism, and communications, and would also 
get three ministers without portfolios. 
 
FM Silvan Shalom was quoted as saying Sunday in an 
interview with Jerusalem Post that the security fence 
is not Israel's final border, and that settlers on the 
"other side" of the barrier should not fear they will 
necessarily be moved.  Shalom was responding to a 
question about remarks allegedly made by Elliott 
Abrams, Special Assistant to the President and Senior 
Director of the National Security Council for Near East 
and North African Affairs, that eventually all the 
settlements beyond the fence will be dismantled. 
Shalom was quoted as saying that the U.S. has never 
accepted the idea of settlements in the territories, 
and that the settlers went to live in those areas 
"knowing that the Israeli government took the decision 
to settle them there, not because the Americans gave 
any approval."  Shalom did not rule out the possibility 
that settlers in places such as Beit El could be moved 
"in 40 or 50 years." 
 
Over the weekend, leading media reported that 11 
Palestinians were killed during the raid in Khan Yunis. 
All media reported that three Qassam rockets were fired 
at Sderot Sunday, lightly injuring three people. 
Eleven rocket attacks took place against the city and 
its surroundings over the weekend.  Leading media 
quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and IDF sources as 
saying that if the firing continues, Israel will resume 
its offensive in the northern Gaza Strip.  Hatzofe 
quoted a senior Israeli military source as saying that 
the IDF is unable carry out a military operation like 
the 2002 Operation Defensive Shield, because of lack of 
funds. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Egypt's intelligence chief Omar 
Suleiman is scheduled to come to Israel on Tuesday to 
finalize discussions regarding the deployment of 
Egyptian troops along the Philadelphi Route.  Leading 
media reported that Sunday a special ministerial 
committee approved the release of 170 Palestinian 
prisoners in what PM Sharon described as a "good will 
gesture" to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak following 
the freeing of Azzam Azzam two weeks ago. 
 
Israel Radio reported on a new Israel-PA meeting to 
coordinate positions ahead of the January elections: 
Sharon advisers Dov Weisglass and Shalom Turjeman met 
last night with senior PA officials Saeb Erekat and 
Hassan Abu Libdeh.  The sides agreed that there will be 
a new meeting this week to recap Israel's assistance in 
the Palestinian elections, and that voting in East 
Jerusalem will take place in the same way as in 1996: 
polling booths will be set up in five post offices. 
 
On Sunday, Jerusalem Post quoted PLO Chairman Mahmoud 
Abbas (Abu Mazen) as saying Saturday in Oman that the 
Palestinians would make no concessions on the right of 
return. 
On Sunday, Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post quoted deputy A- 
G for international law Shavit Matias as saying 
Saturday that the Justice Ministry believes that if 
Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi Route, an 
international legal consensus will be established, 
according to which the Israeli occupation of the Gaza 
Strip would have ended and Israel would no longer be 
responsible, as an occupying power, for events in the 
Strip.  Jerusalem Post quoted a "senior international 
source" as saying Sunday that the PA would like Israel 
to tear down all houses in the settlements of Gush 
Katif in the Gaza Strip before the area is handed over 
to the Palestinians.  The newspaper reported that a PA 
minister immediately confirmed this. 
 
On Sunday, Jerusalem Post reported that four House 
Democrats -- Robert Wexler (FL), Robert Menendez (NJ), 
and Eliot Engel and Gary Ackerman of New York -- sent a 
letter to President Bush on Thursday urging him to 
provide them "with information that will clarify the 
circumstances" surrounding the FBI's investigation into 
AIPAC. 
 
Leading media reported that the Iranian intelligence 
services issued a vague statement Sunday indicated that 
they have uncovered a spy ring of eight people 
suspected of collecting intelligence information for 
Israel.  Jerusalem Post cited the Prime Minister's 
Office's response that Iran's claim is "ridiculous." 
 
On Sunday, Jerusalem Post quoted a senior USG official 
as saying: "It is clear we are heading into some kind 
of confrontation with Syria unless the Syrians reverse 
their position."  The newspaper reported that the U.S., 
which is angry at Damascus for sheltering members of 
active opponents to the Iraqi regime, is contemplating 
a range of punitive measures to use against Syria. 
 
On Sunday, leading media reported that Ukrainian 
presidential contender Viktor Yushchenko, who was 
poisoned with dioxin, is considering getting medical 
treatment in Israel. 
 
On Sunday, leading media reported that a document filed 
Friday by the Justice Department and the Department of 
Homeland Security seeks John Demjanjuk's deportation 
for his participation in Nazi-sponsored persecution 
while serving as an armed SS guard and because he lied 
about his wartime job and residences when he applied 
for an immigration visa in 1952. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted PA officials as saying on Sunday 
that Israel is allowing candidates in the elections to 
travel freely in the territories.  Ha'aretz quoted a 
senior Hamas leader in the West Bank city of Dahariyeh 
as saying that the arrest by the Shin Bet of four Hamas 
candidates in the upcoming municipal elections in his 
town is a "political targeted killing." 
 
On Sunday, Yediot quoted Peres as saying in an 
interview with the French daily Le Figaro that the 
seaport and airport of Gaza should be reopened. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that terrorist attacks and pressure 
by the government of Thailand has led to an exodus of 
Thai workers from Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip, and 
that farmers there are said to fear a collapse of their 
farmers.  Thailand's Labor Minister Uraiwan Thienthong 
and the Thai Ambassador to Israel met on Saturday with 
around 150 Thai workers in Gush Katif and asked them to 
leave the area as soon as possible. 
 
Yediot cited Interior Ministry data according to which 
local councils in the territories received in 2003 four 
times the amount of government allocations granted to 
local councils in poor "development towns." 
 
Yediot reported that Deputy Speaker of the Knesset 
Likud MK Moshe Kahlon met Sunday in Rome with a senior 
Libyan official. 
 
Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post reported that during a 
visit to Israel Sunday, 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate 
Mairead Corrigan Maguire compared Israel's reported 
nuclear arsenal to Hitler's gas chambers, while calling 
for travel restriction to be lifted on nuclear 
whistleblower Mordecai Vanunu. 
 
Maariv cited an internal Immigrant Absorption Ministry 
report whose data cover the years 1989-2003, which says 
that 22.9 percent of immigrants from the U.S. left 
Israel during that period.  During that period, 8.8 
percent of all immigrants dropped out.  Only 7.6 
percent of immigrants from the CIS left Israel. 
 
On Sunday, Maariv cited a survey conducted among 
Israeli youth aged 15-18 and 21-24: 
-51 percent said Israeli Arabs should be prevented from 
being elected in the Knesset. 
-67 percent stated: "The Arabs would have annihilated 
Israel if they only could." 
-33 percent believe that democracy should be 
significantly restricted, in case of even a minor 
threat to the state's security. 
 
 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Bush is 
serious.  This time he isn't merely talking; he really 
intends to produce an agreement that will have his name 
on it." 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: 
"Israel, which wanted a different Palestinian 
leadership ... now finds itself in a dilemma.... The 
government and the IDF must act within these new 
constraints." 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "[A possible trend of 'self-normalization'] 
is good news for Israel, provided it doesn't make 
everyone angry by trying to play the patron again." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in Ha'aretz: 
"Let us not forget the contemptible statement about 
'the way in which the right of return could be 
realized,' which the European Union published in 
response to U.S. President George W. Bush's letter to 
Ariel Sharon." 
 
Publicist Benny Cohen wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "One shouldn't ignore the fact that Arab 
televisions are allowing themselves to broadcast 
'propaganda' for peace with Israel." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The President Is Determined" 
 
Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (December 19): 
"Bush is serious.  This time he isn't merely talking; 
he really intends to produce an agreement that will 
have his name on it.... Bush's body language in the 
conversation I had with him at the traditional 
Christmas party indicated that this time he means to 
remove the obstacles with his own two hands.  He is 
truly confident that now that Arafat has been removed 
peace is within reach.... The President has not yet 
decided on a timetable, but the general direction of 
things is clear: first Israel and the Palestinians, 
while Syria will be dealt with only at a later 
stage.... Bush will be sworn in for his second term in 
office on January 20.  Shortly thereafter both Sharon 
and Abu Mazen will hear from him.  The President, who 
described himself as a wartime president in his first 
term in office, wants his second term to go down as one 
in which peace was achieved.  The fact that the war in 
Iraq has become bogged down and exacts more and more 
American casualties with every passing day has only 
intensified his determination to achieve peace in the 
Middle East.  That is why he is going to let Sharon 
begin to implement the disengagement plan, will let the 
Palestinians elect their new leadership, and then he is 
going to take the reins into his own hands and will try 
to show the world what the lord of the manor is capable 
of doing when he so desires." 
 
II.  "Acting Within New Constraints" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(December 20): "Israel, which wanted a different 
Palestinian leadership -- something that, according to 
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, is likely to turn 2005 
into a year of great opportunity -- now finds itself in 
a dilemma.  On one hand, no government can sit on its 
hands when its towns are attacked by rockets; Israel 
cannot abandon the towns of the western Negev to their 
fate.  Yet on the other hand, a massive operation 
against the Palestinians is liable to dissipate the 
atmosphere of good will that has begun to develop and 
is necessary to ensure that the historic opportunity 
comes to pass.  Therefore, the government and the IDF 
must act within these new constraints.... Right now, 
while Palestinian leaders are trying to convince their 
public to stop the armed Intifada, Israel must be 
careful not to play into the hands of opponents of this 
policy.  Instead, it must help the PA to draw a line 
between adherents of the diplomatic process and those 
who want to continue fueling the flames.  Without this 
crucial distinction, Israel will not be able to reach 
the desired goal: for the disengagement plan to cease 
to be a unilateral Israeli measure and for it to bring 
additional agreements in its wake." 
 
III.  "Don't Play the Patron" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
Ha'aretz (December 19): "The official assessment [in 
Egypt] is that the trade agreement, once it reaches 
maturity in three or four years -- that is, after the 
establishment of the factories and the creation of the 
marketing network in the United States -- will create 
'only' 100,000 new jobs a year.  That, too, is a 
tremendous gain in a country that 'creates' tens of 
thousands of fictitious jobs every year in the 
governmental system and is not succeeding in 
implementing its privatization plan.  Egypt is not the 
only [Middle Eastern] country that is need of a mass 
production of jobs.... Economic needs in the region, 
which will become increasingly more acute, may impose 
the creation of an atmosphere that promotes trade.... 
It is possible that the trade agreement with Egypt is 
the first signal of this new trend, in which economic 
interests overcome sentimentalism and the settling of 
accounts with the past.  The trend of 'self- 
normalization,' even if under constraint, is beginning 
to do a calculation of real profit and loss instead of 
examining the prestige index.  If this is, indeed, the 
trend, it is good news for Israel, provided it doesn't 
make everyone angry by trying to play the patron 
again." 
 
IV.  "Enlightened But Exasperating Europe" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in Ha'aretz 
(December 20): "Fortunately, since [the Yom Kippur War] 
Israel has not been dependent on European generosity. 
And the crude self-interest of 1973 has been replaced 
by a policy of preaching morality.... It is 
exasperating to hear European foreign ministers talking 
about 'Israel's right to exist' as if it were being put 
to the test.  Who's asking them?  Will an Israeli 
foreign minister ever talk about France or Germany's 
'right to exist'?  Are the Europeans talking like this 
in Damascus and in Cairo as well?  The Europeans' votes 
in the United Nations are masterpieces of diplomatic 
cowardice, as is the European support for self-defense 
against terror while condemning the means Israel has 
used against it.  And let us not forget the 
contemptible statement about 'the way in which the 
right of return could be realized,' which the European 
Union published in response to U.S. President George W. 
Bush's letter to Ariel Sharon, which recognized the 
Jewish settlement blocs in the territories.... The 
European dislike of the use of force is not a 
sanctified value.  Inherent in it is the danger of 
resignation to a determined aggressor like the 
leadership of Iran.  There must be no hasty bombardment 
of the Iranian installations, but giving up the 
military stick a priori weakens Fischer's diplomacy, 
and ultimately it will leave Israel alone facing the 
Iranian warheads. The main thing is that it will be in 
accordance with international law and UN resolutions." 
 
¶V.  "A Peace Promo in Arabic" 
 
Publicist Benny Cohen wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv (December 19): "The 'Geneva Initiative' is 
currently screening a television campaign that includes 
promos on which 'partners' for peace are being 
presented.  Palestinian figures address the Israeli 
public, who declare that 'there is a partner' for 
peace.  The ads aimed at the Palestinian public convey 
a similar message.... The campaign's key importance 
lies in its very appearance on the screens of all Arab 
TV networks.  This is a significant novelty to which 
attention must be given.  The campaign producers must 
emphasize it.... In addition to the Palestinian TV 
channels, the campaign will also be broadcasted on the 
Arab TV station Al-Arabiya.  One shouldn't ignore the 
fact that Arab televisions are allowing themselves to 
broadcast 'propaganda' for peace with Israel -- even if 
those are paid ads.  The very fact that those TVs 
literally put themselves at risk by broadcasting this 
message, shows that there is change.  Until recently it 
had been obvious to Israel and to those broadcasters 
that it was dangerous to get near 'propaganda' that was 
considered pro-Zionist." 
 
KURTZER