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DE RUEHTV #1990/01 2461038
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P 021038Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001990 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media reported that PM Ehud Olmert and PA President Mahmoud 
Abbas met on Sunday.  Ha'aretz reported that Abbas demanded that 
Olmert release more prisoners as a goodwill gesture, to which Olmert 
reportedly replied that he would only release prisoners as part of 
the Shalit deal. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that PM Olmert and Secretary Rice 
favor the immediate signing of an Israeli-Palestinian accord, while 
FM Tzipi Livni, Deputy PM Shaul Mofaz, DM Ehud Barak, and PA 
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are opposed.  Yesterday Ha'aretz reported 
that Israel and the PA will aim for a peace deal by the end of this 
year.  On Sunday Ha'aretz reported that Olmert is pressing Abbas to 
accept a framework deal.  On Sunday Yediot quoted a senior U.S. 
administration official in Washington as saying in a conversation 
with the newspaper that the U.S. administration has come to the 
conclusion that Abbas has lost interest in achieving an agreement 
with the Olmert government and that he has begun to adopt extremist 
positions both in order to improve his standing against Hamas and in 
advance of the establishment of new governments in the U.S. and 
Israel.  The American official denied vehemently the statements that 
Abbas made during a visit to Beirut that the U.S. would support the 
return of Palestinian refugees to Green Line Israel. 
 
Leading media reported that GOI officials revealed yesterday that 
two attempts by Hizbullah to kidnap Israeli businessmen abroad in 
retaliation for the February assassination of Imad Mughniyah were 
foiled by Israeli security services.  Yediot reported that Israel 
warned the kidnappers of an Israeli businessman captured in Nigeria 
---- against handing him over to Hizbullah.  The kidnapped Israeli 
was released yesterday. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Turkish sources as saying that yesterday 
there was no new date scheduled for the fifth round of indirect 
talks in Turkey between Syrian and Israeli negotiating teams. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior PA official as saying 
over the weekend that the Israeli government has informed the PA 
that it has no objections to the release of jailed Fatah leader 
Marwan Barghouti. 
 
Yesterday Ha'aretz reported that Israel told the U.S. on Sunday that 
it was prepared to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar along 
the Lebanese border, a change in its policy for the past year and a 
half of not wanting to discuss the issue.  Ha'aretz quoted a GOI 
source in Jerusalem as saying the decision was made after the 
Lebanese government delivered written assurances that UNIFIL would 
be given security and civilian control over the northern part of the 
village, which is in Lebanese territory. 
 
Israel Radio quoted the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai as saying that 
Hamas leader Khaled Mashal has move from Damascus to Sudan. 
Palestinian sources were quoted as saying that this is the result of 
an agreement between him and the Syrian authorities and thanks to 
progress in negotiations between Israel and Syria. 
 
Israel Radio quoted the London-based newspaper Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat as 
saying that some Hamas elements are not ruling out direct 
negotiations with Israel on the release of Gilad Shalit.  Ha'aretz 
reported that "Israeli and Palestinian sources seem to agree on one 
thing: The negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit are stuck." 
The newspaper quoted Israeli security sources involved in the 
negotiations over Shalit as saying that no significant progress was 
achieved in recent talks.  The sources were quoted as saying that a 
ministerial meeting on Sunday to reevaluate the criteria for 
releasing Palestinian prisoners was meant as a signal to Hamas about 
Israel's willingness to be flexible.  However, the sources said that 
Hamas has taken an even tougher stance.  Palestinian sources were 
also quoted as saying that negotiations are going nowhere. Ha'aretz 
reported that Gilad Shalit's father Noam met two weeks ago with 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy.  Shalit asked that Sarkozy discuss 
his son with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom he is scheduled to 
meet in Damascus tomorrow for an official visit.  On Sunday Ha'aretz 
reported that Israel sent a message to Hamas on Sunday, telling it 
to retract its demand that Israel free more than 1,000 Palestinian 
prisoners in exchange for Shalit's release.  Leading media reported 
that 1,000 Palestinians have been released since Shalit was 
abducted. 
 
On Sunday Ha'aretz quoted Arab sources as saying that Hamas recently 
laid a pipeline for supplying Gaza with fuel from Egypt.  The 
newspaper also reported that Gazans operate 200 tunnels between 
Egypt and Rafah. 
 
Over the weekend Minister Shaul Mofaz accused FM Livni of wanting to 
divide Jerusalem, similar to Benjamin Netanyahu's blaming Shimon 
Peres in 1996 of harboring the same intentions at the time. 
 
Leading media quoted an IDF source as saying yesterday that the 
soldiers who fired rubber bullets at a mentally ill man in the West 
Bank village of Na'alin acted appropriately. The man, Awad Srur, was 
seriously injured after he tried to snatch a soldier's gun.  He lost 
an eye and is now hospitalized in Ramallah.  The soldiers were 
trying to arrest Srur's brother, who had thrown a tear gas grenade 
at them during a demonstration.  The IDF source's comments came 
after a Central Command investigation of the incident. 
 
Yesterday Ha'aretz cited newly released CIA documents according to 
which Henry Kissinger instructed the CIA to continue diplomatic 
contacts with Yasser Arafat's PLO representatives before the 1973 
Yom Kippur War, even after Arafat ordered the kidnapping and murder 
of the American ambassador and his deputy in Khartoum. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad has 
been named the temporary coordinator of government activities in the 
territories. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted former Israeli ambassador to Washington Danny 
Ayalon, who has joined Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party, 
as saying yesterday that Galilee Arabs constitute a secessionist 
threat. 
 
Yediot and Israel Hayom reported that the Jerusalem District Court 
confirmed a U.S. ruling that the PA has to pay over $116 million to 
the Unger family, whose parents were killed in a 1996 terrorist 
attack.  Israel Hayom reported that the Israeli court ruled that the 
American sentence can be applied in Israel. 
 
Various media reported that yesterday the High Court of Justice 
rejected a petition that it strip former MK Azmi Bishara of both his 
citizenship and his pension. 
 
Maariv reported that tomorrow in Jerusalem right-wing MK Arieh Eldad 
will screen the anti-Islam Dutch film "Fitna." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the army recently expelled 91 
Africans who crossed the border into Israel from Egypt -- in 
violation of its own procedures, which it presented to the High 
Court of Justice less than four months ago. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Palestinian Campaign for the 
Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel has called on former Beatle 
Paul McCartney to cancel his upcoming show in Israel, saying that 
"Palestinian dispossession and Israeli apartheid are not cause for 
celebration." 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "If one Israeli soldier is worth 
a thousand prisoners in their eyes, the honor is all ours -- and the 
shame theirs.  Before that sinks in, we must do everything to bring 
Shalit home, whatever it costs." 
 
Professor Eyal Zisser, the Chairman of the Department of Middle 
Eastern History at Tel Aviv University, wrote in an online service: 
"The truce ... serves Israel's short-term interests, but fails to 
solve for it the fundamental problem that is inherent to HamasQs 
control over the Gaza Strip." 
 
Giora Eiland, the former head of Israel's National Security Council, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The time 
has arrived to begin thinking about other solutions.  One of them is 
a return not to the 1967 borders but to the situation that reigned 
until 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank." 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz: 
"Will Israel have the right response if Russia decides that the time 
has come to intervene in our little conflict?" 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Unique Freedom" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (9/2): "Our inability to free 
Shalit is a kind of impotence that we haven't seen around here since 
the disappearance of Israeli navigator Ron Arad.  Apart from the 
humanitarian aspect, every day Shalit sits in captivity eats away at 
our power of deterrence.  But when Hamas says it will not settle for 
less than a thousand prisoners in exchange for Shalit, we have 
reason to be proud.  If one Israeli soldier is worth a thousand 
prisoners in their eyes, the honor is all ours -- and the shame 
theirs.  Before that sinks in, we must do everything to bring Shalit 
home, whatever it costs." 
 
II.  "The Calm in Gaza -- Situation Assessment" 
 
Professor Eyal Zisser, the Chairman of the Department of Middle 
Eastern History at Tel Aviv University, wrote in an online service 
(8/31): "Ostensibly, it would seem that the truce agreement plays 
into Hamas's hands.... Now that calm is in place, Hamas can dedicate 
itself to rehabilitating its standing in the Gaza Strip, to 
replenishing its forces and outposts, to smuggling weapons in, to 
building its military strength in anticipation of future needs.  All 
this can be pursued under Israel's watchful eye, but without Israel 
doing a thing to stop it.  It seems, however, that the facts on the 
ground are a little bit different.  The fact is that Hamas's 
standing and situation hasn't improved and has remained poor even in 
the absence of Israeli military pressure.... The truce, therefore, 
serves Israel's short-term interests, but fails to solve the 
fundamental problem that is inherent to Hamas's control over the 
Gaza Strip.  In order to deal with that problem, the Israeli 
leadership is going to have to take a long-term strategic view and 
to evince determination and resolve and mainly political might, 
which currently do not exist." 
 
III.  "The Jordanian Option" 
 
Giora Eiland, the former head of Israel's National Security Council, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (9/2): "The 
maximum that the Israeli government (any government) will be able to 
offer the Palestinians (and survive politically) falls short of the 
minimum that the Palestinian government (any government) can agree 
to accept (and survive politically). The real disparity between the 
parties is enormous and, with the passage of time, it is only 
getting bigger, not smaller. Furthermore, if one were to compare the 
conditions that reigned eight years ago to the current conditions, 
it is plain to see that the current conditions are far worse.  We 
will briefly note five elements that have changed for the worse: 1. 
The state of the leadership -- the Clinton-Barak-Arafat trio enjoyed 
far stronger national and international support than the Bush-Abu 
Mazen-Olmert trio does.  2. In July 2000, when the process began, 
the second Intifada had not yet erupted.... 3. The rise of Hamas -- 
today it is clear that if a final status arrangement is achieved, 
provided Hamas doesnQt derail it, there is a high probability that 
the Palestinian state on the West Bank will be controlled by Hamas. 
From Israel's perspective this will involve not only 'painful 
concessions' but taking an unreasonable risk.  4. Lack of] trust 
between the parties.  5. New military threats ... provide yet 
another reason for pausing to reconsider the security risks 
entailed.  In light of the above, the following question becomes 
clear: On the basis of what should we assume that what failed eight 
years ago, when the conditions were so much better, will succeed 
now?  In practical terms, there are two conclusions that can be 
drawn.  One, that this final status arrangement, even if its 
components are known to all, will not be achievable in the 
foreseeable future.  The other is that the time has arrived to begin 
thinking about other solutions.  One of them is a return not to the 
1967 borders but to the situation that reigned until 1967, when 
Jordan controlled the West Bank." 
 
IV.  "If Russia Shows Interest in the Conflict" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz 
(8/31): "According to Russia's rationale, if the United States could 
dispatch the destroyer Cole off Lebanon's shores in March, Russia 
can send its warships to Syria's port.  Because from now on, 
anything the United States can do, Russia can do, and maybe with 
even greater force and brutality.... If this were a matter of 
ideology, we would see Russia, a member of the international 
Quartet, working overtime to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict, or at least encouraging dialogue between Israel and 
Damascus.  If it were a matter of checking America's diplomatic 
strength in the region, Bashar Assad would have returned from his 
recent visit to Moscow with a pile of missiles, and not a cool 
promise for only defensive weapons, and only if he pays in cash.  It 
may be possible to stop panicking from the Syrian-Russian ties, but 
it is best not to fall into diplomatic hibernation.  Regional 
conflicts have always given powers reason to intervene, and Russia 
may renew its ambitions in this direction.  Will Israel have the 
right response if Russia decides that the time has come to intervene 
in our little conflict?  To become an active member of the Quartet? 
To recognize Palestinian independence as it recognized Abkhazia? 
Because if Russia becomes interested in the conflict, this may cause 
the United States to move, and this would be cause for panic." 
 
CUNNINGHAM