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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 001315 
 
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.  Performance of Ariel Sharon 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The investigation of Elchanan Tenenbaum: 
-In its expansive lead story, Maariv revealed that 
Shimon Cohen, Tenenbaum's father-in-law, was PM 
Sharon's agricultural instructor and friend, and that 
Sharon's late wife Lili was a partner in and managed 
for years a company owned by Cohen that marketed the 
produce from Sharon's farm.  Yediot mentioned the 
connection in a modest news item.  Maariv and other 
media cited denials by Sharon and his bureau that he 
knew about the family connection between Cohen and 
Tenenbaum.  On Israel Radio, Cohen said that his 
connection with Sharon ended in 1975. 
-Ha'aretz reported that Tenenbaum had top-secret 
military documents in his possession before leaving for 
Dubai.  Ha'aretz says that its exclusive disclosure 
only heightens the mystery of why officials were in 
such a hurry last week to work out the controversial 
immunity deal with Tenenbaum. 
 
Leading media reported that the U.S. and Israel will 
hold more rounds of talks in Jerusalem and Washington 
about Sharon's proposed "unilateral disengagement" plan 
before Sharon is actually invited to the White House. 
Jerusalem Post reported that Tuesday senior diplomatic 
officials downplayed reports in various Israeli media 
that the U.S. Administration told top Sharon aide Dov 
Weisglass that the disengagement move should wait until 
after the November presidential elections.  Reporting 
on FM Silvan Shalom's diplomatic meetings in London, 
leading media wrote that the UK gives qualified support 
to the disengagement plan.  Yediot reported that 
Tuesday British PM Tony Blair told him about his plan, 
according to which the territories would be divided 
into areas controlled by Palestinian officers not 
subordinated to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat.  Yediot 
quoted senior GOI sources as saying that Israel and the 
U.S. reject the initiative and believe that it will 
only strengthen Arafat. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon as 
reiterating Tuesday before the Knesset Foreign Affairs 
and Defense Committee that he opposes Sharon's plan to 
give up the "Philadelphi axis" -- the 100-200 meter 
wide strip of Israeli-controlled territory between 
Egypt and the Gaza Strip.  Ya'alon said that should 
Israel concede it, the route would be wide open to arms 
smuggling from Egypt to Gaza. 
Jerusalem Post (banner) and other leading media 
reported that Tuesday Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told 
the High Court of Justice that settlers must leave six 
West Bank outposts or else the IDF will evacuate them. 
Jerusalem Post and Yediot cited data released by the 
governmental Central Bureau of Statistics Tuesday: 
there were 1,850 building starts in the territories in 
2003 -- a 35 percent rise from 2002.  Also in 2003, 
total building starts in Israel fell to their lowest 
since 1989, the start of mass immigration from the FSU. 
 
Jerusalem Post printed a Letter to the Editor from the 
U.S. Embassy Spokesman, criticizing an opinion piece 
about Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist crushed 
to death last year by an Israeli military bulldozer, 
published Tuesday in the newspaper by author Ruhama 
Shattan as "nothing less than hateful incitement." 
Shattan had claimed that Corrie's "help in fanning the 
flames of violent anti-American sentiment" may have led 
to "the October 2003 bombing of the Fulbright 
delegation to Gaza to interview scholarship candidates, 
killing three." 
 
All media reported that Tuesday a large-scale terrorist 
attack was averted in Tel Aviv, and that the security 
forces declared a state of alert and conducted searches 
mostly in the southern part of the city and the area of 
the Central Bus Station.  A gag order was issued 
regarding the case. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei (Abu 
Ala) as saying Tuesday that Arafat agreed that members 
of PA security forces would be paid directly, which 
Qurei said removed an obstacle in the way of vital 
foreign aid.  Asked by Channel 2-TV Tuesday if Islamic 
Jihad was contemplating a truce in attacks against 
Israel, Nafiz Azzam, a senior member of the group, said 
that many in the organization have second thoughts on 
the matter in light of the frequent assassinations. 
 
Yediot reported that a few days ago Qatari 
transportation official Akbar Al-Baker invited 
Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman to a 
professional conference that will take place in early 
May.  The newspaper quoted Lieberman, "an unpopular 
figure in the Arab world," as saying that he is 
inclined to accept the invitation. 
 
Leading media cited The New Yorker magazine as saying 
that an Israeli intelligence unit deciphered an Iranian 
code used in communications with Pakistan. 
 
Yediot reported that the Immigrant Absorption Ministry 
has devised a plan nicknamed "Business IL" to make 
Israelis who left the country come back.  The program, 
which includes loans and financial benefits, will first 
be publicized in a U.S.-wide campaign.  The newspaper 
quoted skeptical Israeli emigres as saying that they 
might get loans but no jobs. 
All media reported on Thursday's bombings against 
Shiites in Karbala and Baghdad, in which over 140 
people were killed and hundreds of others were wounded. 
Leading media quoted Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan 
Nasrallah as saying that Israel stands to gain from 
causing a war between Sunnis and Shiites. 
 
All media reported that NASA revealed Tuesday, based on 
findings from its Opportunity rover, that water was 
once abundant on Mars. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Veteran op-ed writer and the late prime minister 
Yitzhak Rabin's assistant Eytan Haber opined in the 
lead editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "The Americans, who have not greeted Sharon's 
disengagement plan enthusiastically, are giving him a 
'hazing.'" 
 
Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: " Truth can't be concealed for much 
longer.  Does Sharon have a silent understanding with 
Bush or is he just gambling?" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"Why should Egypt agree to accept from Israel the role 
of a bit player in Sharon's disengagement plan?" 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left 
Palestinian sympathizer Amira Hass opined in Ha'aretz: 
"Despite talk of 'withdrawal,' Israeli society has yet 
to show any signs that it is shaking off the blatantly 
immoral logic that feeds the very existence of the 
settlements." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Americans Give Sharon a 'Hazing'" 
 
Veteran op-ed writer and the late prime minister 
Yitzhak Rabin's assistant Eytan Haber opined in the 
lead editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (March 3): "The words that were not uttered by 
spokesmen in Washington were: 'Respected sir, we will 
not set a date for your visit, and you will not come 
here until it is absolutely clear to us what your plan 
for separation from your Palestinian neighbors 
entails.'  Or in even other words: 'Have you 
coordinated your position with the Palestinians and 
Egypt?  We want the Palestinians to agree to your plan. 
Don't trick us any more, the vagueness of your policies 
and actions may be your chief tool in war -- but don't 
use it here.'  The Americans, who have not greeted 
Sharon's disengagement plan enthusiastically, are 
giving him a 'hazing.'  They do not want any shockwaves 
in the Middle East before their elections.  As far as 
they are concerned, Sharon will have to sweat some 
before he gets to shake George Bush's hand and bask in 
the light of the camera flashes.  There are no free 
meals at the White House.  Either way, Sharon's real 
moments of truth are drawing near.  At the end of March 
he will go to Washington where he will be obliged to 
present a detailed and genuine plan to the 
administration.  If the plan that he devised of late is 
genuine and is meant to be implemented (and I am 
certain that that is the case), the coming month of 
May, give or take a week or a month, will be a critical 
moment in Arik Sharon's political career." 
 
II.  "Sharon's Gamble" 
 
Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (March 3): "As far as he is concerned, 
the Prime Minister's latest diplomatic moves constitute 
a critical gamble, as he has placed all his chips in a 
single basket -- that of President George Bush.  If the 
latter doesn't like his ideas, Sharon will be depicted 
as politically broke.... He doesn't intend to discuss 
with Bush an annexation of security zones included in 
Sharon's interim arrangement plan.  In this regard, his 
ideas coincide with those once enunciated by Dr. Henry 
Kissinger: replacing the motto 'land for peace' with 
'land for time' -- time for examining interim 
arrangements and chances for coexistence between 
Palestinians and Israelis.  It is very doubtful whether 
the Palestinians would accept such ideas today.... If, 
after all, [Sharon] were prepared to sacrifice the Gush 
Katif [Gaza Strip] settlements and some other ones in 
the West Bank, one could apparently assume that Sharon 
did so because of a possible hidden understanding with 
Bush.  This is what his associates believe.  Truth 
can't be concealed for much longer.  Does Sharon have a 
silent understanding with Bush or is he just gambling?" 
 
 
III.  "Gaza's Reluctant Neighbor Stays Aloof" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(March 3): "It is a mistake on Israel's part to regard 
Egypt in the conflict with the Palestinians as a 
policeman tasked with catching smugglers.  The role of 
the leader of the Arab world should be much broader -- 
on condition it indeed wants to end the Israeli- 
Palestinian conflict that threatens to sweep into its 
territory.  Egypt has made efforts in the last two 
years to achieve a cease-fire, but the Hamas leadership 
out-maneuvered it without paying anything for the 
prestige that it won as a result of that Egyptian 
mediation.  Why should Egypt agree to accept from 
Israel the role of a bit player in Sharon's 
disengagement plan?" 
 
IV.  "Words Have Failed Us" 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left 
Palestinian sympathizer Amira Hass opined in Ha'aretz 
(March 3): "This is an admission of failure.  The 
written word is a failure at making tangible to Israeli 
readers the true horror of the occupation in the Gaza 
Strip.... A picture [too] may indeed be worth a 
thousand words, but for the Israeli occupation to 
approach some level of comprehension, Israelis need to 
see tens of thousands of photographs, one after the 
other, or watch documentaries that are at least eight 
hours long each, so they could grasp in real time the 
fear in the eyes of the school children when some 
whistling above turns into twisted crushed metal with 
charcoaled bodies inside.... The IDF operates within 
the logic of ... arrogant, cynical, and ruthless 
settlements of a privileged fat few sitting in the 
midst of the only land reserves that the Palestinians 
have in the Gaza Strip.  Despite talk of 'withdrawal,' 
Israeli society has yet to show any signs that it is 
shaking off the blatantly immoral logic that feeds the 
very existence of the settlements.  And that's as true 
of the Gaza Strip as it is of the West Bank." 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
¶2.  Performance of Ariel Sharon: 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit "addressed" Prime 
Minister Sharon on page one of popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "For long weeks you and your associates 
explained why you are so determined to bring Elchanan 
Tenenbaum back home.... Why didn't you reveal the 
relationship between you?.... Go home." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Return the Keys" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit "addressed" Prime 
Minister Sharon on page one of popular, pluralist 
Maariv (March 3): "Mister Prime Minister.... For long 
weeks you and your associates explained why you are so 
determined to bring Elchanan Tenenbaum back home. 
'Arik, savior of the Jews,' we named you.  Poor 
Tenenbaum, they extracted all his teeth.  The barbarian 
savages.  Today he is in Hizbullah captivity, tomorrow 
who knows.  Either he will be killed, or die of his own 
accord.  And here, it is all tall tales.  Neither teeth 
nor ears.  The only savage we have seen here is 
Tenenbaum himself.  A swindler who endangered state 
security for money, the man with a thousand faces, lies 
and families.  Why didn't you reveal the relationship 
between you, indirect or direct, that was exposed today 
in these pages?  What is so complicated about telling 
the truth?.... You dragged a government, a state, a 
nation in your wake.  Without blinking.  Is it possible 
that you don't even understand this?  If so, it is an 
even harsher problem.  This is, perhaps, your natural 
way of thinking.... There is no choice.  You can no 
longer rule us.  You have lost your basic legitimacy. 
We have lost faith in you.  We somehow got through the 
stories, the recordings, the photographs, the denials, 
the silences.  We tried to wipe the saliva off our 
faces and move on.  We can no longer do it.  For your 
sake, for our sake, for the sake of the country that 
means so much to you: vacate the stage, go to the 
president and from there go home, to the Sycamore 
Farm." 
 
KURTZER