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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 001289 
 
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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Lebanese-Syrian Track 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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All media (lead stories in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post) 
reported that last night in Tel Aviv, the Likud Central 
Committee overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging 
the party's Knesset members to work for the enactment 
of legislation to enable a referendum on the 
disengagement plan.  In an aggressive speech -- 
punctured by periodic calls of "Sharon, go home!" and 
"Sharon is a dictator -- PM Sharon made it clear that 
he intends to pay no more attention to this decision 
than he has to other party decisions that contravened 
his plans.  Both Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu 
and FM Silvan Shalom spoke in favor of a referendum. 
At the same time, Netanyahu called on the Likud to 
support the 2005 state budget, which will determine the 
future of the government.  Jerusalem Post quoted some 
far-right activists and Gaza settlers as saying that 
there are groups of settlers who have decided that they 
would rather commit suicide than evacuate their homes. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the PA is asking that Israel 
allow two (four, according to Israel Radio) Islamic 
Jihad activists whom PA security forces have arrested 
in Tulkarm in the wake of last week's suicide bombing 
in Tel Aviv, to be jailed in Jericho.  The media 
reported that Israel has not acceded to the demand. 
Ha'aretz reported that in contravention of the Sharm el- 
Sheikh understandings, Israel is chasing the members of 
the Islamic Jihad in Tulkarm. 
 
Yediot prominently front-paged a picture of a 
demonstration in Beirut, illustrating the lead story 
written by its special correspondent Eldad Beck, who 
underscored the protesters' determination to bring 
about the pullout of Syria's forces from the country. 
Israel Radio reported that President Bush will meet 
with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today to 
discuss ways of implementing the Syrian forces' 
withdrawal from Lebanon. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Lebanese figures have conveyed 
messages to Israeli elements in recent days, in which 
they wished to encourage the U.S. not to relax its 
pressure on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon. 
 
Israel Radio reported that based on International 
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports that Iran may be 
conducting underground trials, Bush has accused Iran of 
secretly planning to acquire nuclear weapons. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Palestinian Mufti, Akrameh 
Sabri, has issued a religious endorsement of the death 
sentences imposed on 15 collaborators with Israel. 
Sabri did not endorse 10 other death sentences.  A 
Maariv headline: "[Abu Mazen] Talks About Peace and 
Executes."  Jerusalem Post reported that the sentences 
will be carried out this month. 
 
Leading media reported that on Thursday, Sephardic 
Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar met with senior Druze officers, 
promising them that there will never be a Jewish 
religious ruling making it possible to harm Bedouin and 
Druze IDF soldiers.  Amar denied recent rumors about 
such a ruling. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that nearly six years after he 
fled to Qatar, Issam Abu Issa, chairman and founder of 
the Palestine International Bank, returned to Ramallah 
this week to challenge Yasser Arafat's decision to take 
control of his bank. 
 
Ha'aretz cited documents recently declassified by the 
state, which show that in November 1954, Egyptian 
president Abdel Gamal Nasser initiated a peace move 
with the Israeli government led by Moshe Sharett.  In 
February 1955, David Ben-Gurion returned to his post of 
defense minister and launched an operation in Gaza, in 
which 13 IDF soldiers and over 40 Egyptian soldiers 
were killed.  The contacts with Egypt were interrupted. 
 
A Dialog poll supervised by Prof. Camille Fuchs and 
conducted for Ha'aretz: 
-"If a referendum on the disengagement were held, how 
would you vote?"   In favor: 68.5 percent; against: 
27.6 percent. 
"If the candidates for PM in the next Likud elections 
are Sharon and Netanyahu, who do you favor?"  Sharon: 
50 percent; Netanyahu: 29.7 percent. 
"If the next elections are held in October 2006, when 
Sharon is 79, do you think he should run, or retire?" 
He should retire to his farm: 61.1 percent; he should 
run again: 33.7 percent; undecided: 5.2 percent. 
-"Which Likud candidate is most suitable to succeed 
Sharon?" Netanyahu: 24.8 percent; Shaul Mofaz: 19.6 
percent; Ehud Olmert: 13.3 percent; Shalom: 9.5 
percent; Limor Livnat: 2.2 percent. 
 
A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll: 
-"Do you agree with the view that Sharon is the right 
leader at the right time?"  Yes: 61 percent; no: 39 
percent. 
-"Before the elections, Sharon spoke of 'painful 
concessions.'  Did you understand that he was speaking 
about evacuating settlements?"  Yes: 62 percent; no: 27 
percent. 
-"If the disengagement [move] succeeds, will Sharon 
evacuate further settlements?  Yes: 71 percent; no: 19 
percent. 
-How will Sharon be remembered in history?"  As the 
father of disengagement: 45 percent; as the man 
responsible for the Lebanon War: 20 percent; as the man 
who dismantled the Likud: 11 percent; as the father of 
the settlements: 10 percent. 
-77 percent of Likud voters favor Sharon as PM; 17 
percent prefer Netanyahu. 
 
A Maariv/Teleseker poll: 
-"What should Israel do in the light of last week's Tel 
Aviv bombing?"  Not respond, but let the Palestinians 
continue their fight against terrorism: 64 percent; 
call off the cease-fire and return to full military 
operation and targeted killings: 29 percent. 
-"Should a referendum be held on disengagement or are 
the Knesset and government decisions enough?"  A 
referendum is not needed: 53 percent (43 percent four 
months ago); a referendum is needed: 43 percent (50 
percent four months ago). 
-Were Knesset elections held today, whom would you vote 
for?" (Findings given in number of Knesset seats.) 
Likud: 40 (currently: 42); Labor Party: 21 (22); Shinui 
14 (15); Shas: 9 (11); National Union: 10 (7); 
Yahad/Meretz: 6 (7); National religious Party: 5 (6); 
United Torah Judaism: 5 (4); Arab parties: 8 (8). 
 
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Lebanese-Syrian Track: 
---------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"Despite the risks, Israel should support the move 
toward democracy in Lebanon, which requires Syrian 
withdrawal." 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "It now appears that Hizbullah could reap the 
biggest political gain from Hariri's assassination and 
the clamorous developments in Lebanese politics." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "An Israeli Dispute on the Syrian Question" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(March 4): "The American approach [to the Lebanese 
question] ... asserts that above all else stands the 
desire for democracy in Lebanon, which will require the 
Syrian army to withdraw from that country. Afterward, 
the solutions to other problems will follow.  In Israel 
there are two main approaches.  One, which originates 
in the security services, states that first Hizbullah 
must be disarmed, and that is what will make it 
possible to impose democracy in Lebanon.... Those who 
have this opinion ... should be told that the chances 
of disarming Hizbullah -- which is supported by Iran -- 
are less than the chances of Israel disarming the 
settlers.... The second approach originates in the 
Foreign Ministry, and its main feature is complete 
support for the UN Security Council Resolution 1559, 
which mandates Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.  Those 
adopting this approach rightly say that Israel must not 
oppose the democratic tendency that is penetrating the 
Arab world, a tendency that will reinforce Lebanon's 
independence.  The choice is not between the existence 
of stability in Lebanon and the existence of democracy 
and independence.  The argument that Syria provides 
stability is groundless.  On the contrary: Syria 
supports Palestinian terrorist organizations 
headquartered in Damascus ... dispatches terrorists to 
Iraq, supplies Syrian rockets to Hezbollah, and 
integrates the terror group into the Syrian army 
network -- all these, in addition to negative 
cooperation with Iran, are undermining regional 
stability.  The conclusion is that despite the risks, 
Israel should support the move toward democracy in 
Lebanon, which requires Syrian withdrawal." 
 
II.  "Hizbullah -- The Big Winner From Hariri's 
Assassination" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
Ha'aretz (March 4): "If it had appeared that the anti- 
Syrian civilian rebellion in Lebanon would also 
inundate Hizbullah's headquarters and cause the 
organization to face a new, harsher reality, current 
indications point to the contrary.... It now appears 
that Hizbullah could reap the biggest political gain 
from Hariri's assassination and the clamorous 
developments in Lebanese politics.  This is because the 
Lebanese opposition, which succeeded in bringing about 
the resignation of the pro-Syrian government, now faces 
a new difficulty: it is unable to compose a government 
that would garner a majority in parliament with 
Hizbullah's support or getting those parliament members 
who still back Syria to join it.  For its part, 
Hizbullah understands that if the opposition somehow 
manages to form a government, and if the opposition 
succeeds in getting a large majority in the 
parliamentary elections, the status of any pro-Syrian 
body [in Lebanon] would be at risk." 
 
III.  "Nasrallah Is Holding the Match" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (March 4): "At 
this time, when the Syrians talk about the withdrawal 
of their forces from Lebanon, they are not talking 
about a full pullout, but about the implementation of 
the Taif accord.... The Syrians pretend they do not 
understand what the world wants from them.  They will 
implement the Taif accord, which allows them, among 
other things, to continue running the Hizbullah 
organization.... When the Americans, the French, the 
Europeans, and the world talk about a Syrian withdrawal 
from Lebanon, they mean the implementation of UN 
Security Council Resolution 1559, which requires a 
total pullout, including that of Syrian intelligence, 
and the disarming of Hizbullah.  At this time, [Syria] 
refuse to understand, which guarantees the continuation 
of American and European pressure.  The aggressive 
pressure is what makes the Lebanese opposition tick. 
It maintains the impetus of Lebanon's flag revolution. 
President Assad told Time Magazine about a withdrawal 
of his forces ... in up to six months.  The Americans, 
the Europeans, and the Arab world, too, do not intend 
to grant him even that amount of time.  That earthquake 
is just beginning." 
 
KURTZER