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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 001446 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Lebanon and Syria 
 
¶3.  Iran: Nuclear Program 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Maariv reported that associates of PM Sharon ordered 
five different public opinion polls to try to predict 
the results of elections held after a possible split in 
the Likud: the results of the survey, allegedly 
intended to frighten the Likud "rebels" so that they do 
not topple the government by voting against the 2005 
state budget, show that a Sharon-led party comprised of 
disengagement supporters would garner 44 Knesset seats, 
and that a Netanyahu-led party including opponents to 
the disengagement would receive 21 seats.  Jerusalem 
Post quoted sources in the "rebels" as saying that 
renegade Likud Knesset members have asked MKs who 
intend to oppose the budget to tell Sharon that they 
will vote in favor, in order to catch Sharon by 
surprise and topple his government. 
 
The media (banner in Ha'aretz) reported that according 
to a tentative understanding reached by Defense 
Minister Shaul Mofaz and Egyptian President Hosni 
Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh Thursday, the IDF is 
preparing to evacuate the Philadelphi route, along the 
Gazan-Egyptian border, sometime after the disengagement 
from Gaza is completed.  Leading media quoted Mofaz as 
saying that despite Egyptian demands, the IDF would 
continue to maintain control of the strategic corridor 
until it was certain that the smuggling of weapons into 
the Palestinian-controlled areas had ceased.  Leading 
media reported that the final details of the 
arrangement are expected to be worked out at a meeting 
between Israeli and Egyptian military officials.  The 
media quoted Mubarak's spokesman Suleiman Awad as 
saying that the newly named Egyptian ambassador is to 
arrive in Tel Aviv within a week (on Sunday, according 
to some media). 
 
Israel Radio quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 
and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan as 
saying Thursday that the American view of Hizbullah has 
not changed, after New York Times reported a 
modification in Washington's policy.  Ha'aretz cited a 
similar remark by PDAS David Satterfield.  All media 
reported that in an overwhelming, vote (473 in favor, 8 
against, and 33 abstentions), the European Parliament 
decided Thursday to call on the European Council to 
place Hizbullah on its list of terrorist organizations. 
The resolution is not binding on the EU, but the media 
say it will influence Hizbullah's recruitment and 
funding. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted PDAS Satterfield as saying Thursday 
that Israel has yet to live up to its promise to remove 
illegal settler outposts.  Leading media reported that 
at Sunday's cabinet meeting, Sharon will propose that a 
ministerial committee headed by Justice Minister Tzipi 
Livni be set up to discuss the conclusions of the 
Sasson report on illegal settler outposts.  Leading 
media cited a statement made Thursday by Education 
Minister Limor Livnat (Likud) that outposts set up 
before 2001 should not be dismantled, and that the 
outpost issue should not come up for legislation. 
Yediot quoted Labor MK Yuli Tamir as saying that the 
committee will serve as an escape hatch for Sharon to 
avoid making decisions and to continue funding 
outposts. 
 
Ha'aretz (Amos Harel) says that U.S. envoy Lt. Gen. 
William Ward will keep a low profile during his mission 
in the country, and that the level of protection around 
him will be high, in light of the October 2003 attack 
against a U.S. convoy in the Gaza Strip.  The newspaper 
quoted a senior European military officer who served 
with Ward in Bosnia as saying that Ward left a marking 
impression on him.  Ha'aretz also reported that Israeli 
and American officers shared a great deal of 
information at this week's IDF-organized conference on 
Low-Intensity Warfare. 
 
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is due to arrive 
in the country on Sunday for the inauguration of a new 
museum at Yad Vashem, was quoted as saying in an 
exclusive interview with Yediot's Shimon Shiffer that 
Syria must pull out its troops out from Lebanon, and 
that Sharon's disengagement move, which will make 
possible the establishment of a Palestinian state, had 
constituted a surprise as he acts alone in opposition 
to his party.  Annan said that he is not ruling out the 
possibility that one day Israel will be a member of the 
Security Council, and that this depends on the progress 
Israel achieves in resolving the conflict with the 
Palestinians.  The newspaper says that the interview is 
an attempt by Annan to conciliate Israel over the 
negative attitude it faces at the UN.  Jerusalem Post 
reported that Louise Arbor, the UN High Commissioner 
for Human Rights, has told Minister-without-Portfolio 
Natan Sharansky that she hopes that in the framework of 
the new reforms being discussed in the UN, Israel will 
receive more balanced treatment inside the world body, 
especially in forums that deal with human rights. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the police declared a high 
state of alert this morning in Jerusalem following 
warnings about a possible terror attack. The level of 
alert has since decreased. 
Yediot and Hatzofe reported on a warm encounter between 
Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Algerian President 
Abdelaziz Bouteflika at Madrid's international 
conference on terrorism.  Yediot reported that Peres 
also met with Sudanese, Mauritanian, and Moroccan 
leaders. 
 
Lebanese-American Ziyad Abdelnour was quoted as saying 
in an interview with Maariv that President Bush told 
him that the U.S. would eventually crack the Syrian 
"nut." 
 
Israel Radio quoted Washington sources as saying that 
the U.S. is prepared to change its policy vis-a-vis 
Iran, by raising its international status and having 
European countries agree to bring the nuclear issue to 
the UN Security Council. 
 
Asked by Jerusalem Post why the U.S. has decided to 
send New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to next 
week's dedication of Yad Vashem's new museum, the 
spokesman of the U.S. Embassy to Israel warmly cited 
New Yorkers' and Mayor Bloomberg's strong ties with 
Israel.  Ha'aretz also mentioned President Bush's 
decision on the matter. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday, the U.S. House of 
Representatives' International Relations Committee 
authorized the transfer of USD 200 million in 
assistance to the PA. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that an explanatory kit on the 
disengagement plan prepared by the IDF's Education 
Corps points out that all settlements in the 
territories are part of the historic continuum in the 
Land of Israel (i.e. Israel, including the 
territories).  The kit makes no mention of the public 
debate in Israel over the settlements and omits anti- 
settlement groups such as Peace Now. 
 
Yediot reported that a Baghdad Times correspondent will 
arrive in Israel today for a 10-day stay, on which he 
will report in his newspaper. 
 
Yediot confirms the appointment of veteran journalist 
Rafi Ginat as editor-in-chief of the newspaper.  He 
will enter his position at the end of April.  The 
newspaper says that Yoel Esteron, former deputy editor- 
in-chief of Ha'aretz, was appointed deputy editor-in- 
chief of Yediot in early January. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in left-leaning, 
independent Ha'aretz: "Abu Mazen has already informed 
the Americans that he is not the slightest bit 
interested in any entity that mentions an interim 
solution even by the merest implication." 
Editor-in-Chief Lutfi Mashour wrote in weekly Arabic- 
language Assennara: "The disengagement --withdrawal -- 
from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank is the 
beginning of many other disengagements inside of 
Israel." 
 
Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "[President 
Bush's resolve] will mean little if, when tested on the 
frontlines of the battle between the forces of terror 
and the forces of democracy in the PA and Lebanon, the 
Bush administration allows the European obstructionists 
and their terror allies to take the lead." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "They Don't Want Provisional" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in left-leaning, 
independent Ha'aretz (March 10): "The main subject in 
preliminary talks with American officials prior to Abu 
Mazen's visit to the U.S., expected to occur within the 
next two or three weeks, is President George W. Bush's 
'vision'.... Abu Mazen has already informed the 
Americans that he is not the slightest bit interested 
in any entity that mentions an interim solution even by 
the merest implication.... The provisional state suit 
was tailored at the time to the measurements of Abu 
Mazen and his ilk in order to bypass the Israeli 
argument/excuse that as long as Yasser Arafat is alive 
and kicking, there is no Palestinian partner for a 
permanent status solution.... For Bush to manage to 
realize his vision before he becomes a lame duck in his 
last year at the White House, he has to change not only 
the timetable of the road map but also Sharon's basic 
perception that nothing is urgent and that negotiations 
on a final status agreement can wait for generations to 
come.... No one is more aware of the timetable than 
[Bush] is and no on understands better than he that a 
new president coming into the White House will start 
everything all over again from square one.... According 
to [a senior Israeli official], Secretary of State Rice 
is not at all the same as national security advisor 
Rice.  Her milieu is now the Arab and European foreign 
ministers, the UN and other international 
organizations. As far as they are concerned, the 
disengagement is nothing but a marginal introduction to 
the elimination of an exhausting conflict." 
II.  "The Disengagement" 
Editor-in-Chief Lutfi Mashour wrote in weekly Arabic- 
language Assennara (February 18): "The disengagement -- 
withdrawal -- from the Gaza Strip and the northern West 
Bank is the beginning of many other disengagements 
inside of Israel --  'disengagements' from 'many 
occupations' that have neither limit nor retention. 
The disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank 
won't be the toughest disengagement that Israel will 
have to face in the future.  Yes, building Israel 
begins now.  The government's policy regarding 
'occupations' and 'settlements' is much more dangerous 
to its entity than what the occupation and 
disengagement we are facing now might do.  The only 
tests Israel will have to face are the coming internal 
'disengagements,' of course, after the external 
disengagements are completed." 
 
III.  "Don't Wobble, Mr. President" 
 
Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (March 10): 
"This week saw Pakistan admit that the father of its 
nuclear program, A.Q. Khan, sold nuclear centrifuges to 
Iran.  It saw thousands of Pakistani women 
demonstrating against tribal rapes.  It saw thousands 
of Kuwaiti women demonstrating for the right to vote. 
And it saw Bush nominate John Bolton, one of the 
strongest voices for moral clarity and firm action 
against terrorists and their state sponsors in the 
world, as U.S. ambassador to the UN.  All of these 
events are indicators of the power of presidential 
resolve to change the world for the better while 
successfully routing terrorists and the regimes that 
sponsor them.  Yet all of this will mean little if, 
when tested on the frontlines of the battle between the 
forces of terror and the forces of democracy in the PA 
and Lebanon, the Bush administration allows the 
European obstructionists and their terror allies to 
take the lead." 
 
 
 
---------------------- 
¶2.  Lebanon and Syria: 
---------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "Tuesday's rally was a 
blatant exhibition not of Assad's primacy but of 
Nasrallah's. Hizbullah's strength, and the despicable 
charisma of its leader, far from constituting Assad's 
salvation, more likely signal his eclipse." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Eclipse of Assad" 
 
Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (March 10): "If Assad senior 
was always said to have kept Hizbullah on a tight rein, 
allowing it freedom of action only when he deemed the 
moment right, what we have now is an unmistakable 
instance of the tail wagging the dog.  Indeed, at what 
has been widely but inaccurately depicted as a 
demonstration against pressure for Syria's military 
departure from Lebanon, Nasrallah made no call for the 
Syrians to stay and actually endorsed the 1989 Taif 
accord -- which provides for the Syrian troops' 
withdrawal.  Watching from Jerusalem, it was 
discomfiting, to put it mildly, to see the ease with 
which Nasrallah whipped up his multitudes into a chorus 
of anti-Israeli hatred.  Plainly, Hizbullah's 
determination, and capacity, to play a central role in 
the struggle for power in Lebanon constitute a major 
headache for Israel.  Watching from Damascus, though, 
should not have been a much happier experience -- if, 
that is, Assad has the nous to recognize what is 
transpiring.  For Tuesday's rally was a blatant 
exhibition not of Assad's primacy but of Nasrallah's. 
Hizbullah's strength, and the despicable charisma of 
its leader, far from constituting Assad's salvation, 
more likely signal his eclipse." 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
¶3.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"From Israel's point of view, the political solution to 
the Iranian nuclear problem is preferable.  But Israel 
must prepare the military option for itself, as well." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"How To Deter Iran" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(March 10): "Israel's deterrence must include several 
layers of protection.  It must try not to stand alone 
against Iran, but to be part of a large organization. 
In light of the nuclear developments in Iran, Israel 
must give top priority to achieving a defense alliance 
with the U. S.... From Israel's point of view, the 
political solution to the Iranian nuclear problem is 
preferable.  But Israel must prepare the military 
option for itself, as well.  Such an option should be 
developed quietly, and not with belligerent statements 
and a show of strength, as is customary here from time 
to time.  In the military option, we have to build the 
appropriate force, prepare the plans, and examine 
methods of clandestine activity inside Iran, as well. 
At the same time, we must not evade questions such as: 
What can Israel gain from employing a military option, 
and what will the Iranian response be." 
 
KURTZER