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 001598 
 
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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¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Aftermath of Madrid Bombings 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
With Yediot and Maariv devoting their entire front 
pages to the event, all media led with Sunday 
afternoon's double bombings at Ashdod Port, one of the 
most sensitive, strategic and heavily guarded locations 
in Israel.  Ten Israelis were killed and 16 wounded, 
one critically.  Hamas and Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs 
Brigades jointly claimed responsibility for the 
bombings.  All media cited the beliefs of security 
officials that the two terrorists planned to launch a 
"mega-terrorist attack" by blowing themselves up near 
the port's bromine tanks.   Leading media reported that 
the meeting between PM Sharon and Palestinian PM Ahmed 
Qurei slated for Tuesday was subsequently canceled. 
Israel Radio reported that the preparatory meeting 
between the PMs' aides Dov Weisglass and Hassan Abu 
Libdeh was also called off.  Leading media reported 
that the PA condemned the attacks, urged Israel to 
commit itself "to break the cycle of violence" and to 
implement the road map.  Jerusalem Post reported that 
scores of Palestinians took to the streets in the Jenin 
and Jabaliya (Gaza Strip) refugee camps to "celebrate" 
the attacks.  Leading media reported that Sunday IDF 
troops in the northern Gaza Strip shot dead three 
Palestinians near the border with Israel.  Some media 
reported that the men were attempting to place a large 
bomb on the Karni-Netzarim road.  Leading media also 
reported that 10 Palestinians and an IDF soldier were 
lightly wounded during an anti-fence demonstration near 
Modi'in Ilit. 
 
Sunday, all media continued to lead with the aftermath 
of Thursday's Madrid bombings.  They reported that the 
Spanish arrested three Moroccan and two Indian 
nationals in connection with the attacks, and that Al 
Qaida allegedly released a videotape claiming 
responsibility for the bombings.  All media reported on 
last night's victory of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's 
Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) over the Popular Party 
(PP) led by Mariano Rajoy, who the polls predicted 
would win the elections.  The media pointed out that 
the conservative majority paid the price for Thursday's 
bombings in Madrid, which are thought to have been 
carried out by Al Qaida, and by the Spanish 
government's insistence that Basque separatists were 
behind the attacks.  Yediot quoted Sharon as expressing 
his hope, at Sunday's cabinet meeting, that the world 
is awakening to terrorism and that it understands that 
everyone must join forces to fight it. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Secretary of State Colin Powell as 
saying Sunday in interviews with U.S. TV networks that 
Sharon's disengagement plan is "an interesting idea." 
The newspaper reported that Powell reiterated the 
United States' view that Israel should also withdraw 
from West Bank land.  Hatzofe reported that Sunday the 
Council of Jewish Settlements on the Territories 
published a position paper -- "Enough With the Silence 
of the Lambs" -- that urges the right-wing ministers to 
voice their opposition to the disengagement plan 
publicly and at once. 
 
On Sunday: Ha'aretz cited the USG's belief that 
Sharon's disengagement plan poses risks, but has 
"historic potential."  The newspaper reported that at 
an "executive forum" with the senior members of his 
administration, President Bush pushed for support for 
Sharon's plan, pending clarifications of details with 
Israel.  (Yediot cited Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's 
belief that Bush would state his support for the 
disengagement plan in coming days.)  Ha'aretz reported 
that senior Sharon aide Dov Weisglass will leave for 
Washington next week for a new round of talks with 
administration officials before Sharon's planned visit. 
Ha'aretz cited a statement released by Finance Minister 
Binyamin Netanyahu after his meeting with the U.S. 
envoys (Steve Hadley, Elliott Abrams and A/S William 
Burns) indicating that the nature and scope of 
guarantees and assistance to be provided by the U.S. 
remain unclear.  Yediot quoted a Netanyahu associate as 
saying following the meeting: "The Americans will not 
give Sharon anything in exchange for the potentially 
disastrous plan.  Ha'aretz quoted Mofaz as saying in 
Washington that the security model to be followed in 
the Gaza Strip is simple, since the region is 
surrounded by a fence, but that the situation in the 
West Bank is more complicated.   Hatzofe reported that 
FM Silvan Shalom told Likud Central Committee members 
last Wednesday that a meeting between Sharon and Bush 
has been set, in principle, for March 29.  Maariv 
reported that the PA has devised a plan for taking over 
the Gaza Strip after the IDF withdrawal, including the 
unification of the Palestinian security branches and 
the prevention of rocket firing at Israel; a campaign 
calling for law abiding; and cooperation with religious 
leaders 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian sources as saying Sunday 
that the PA has released four Palestinians from the 
Gaza Strip who were suspected of carrying out a deadly 
bombing of a U.S. diplomatic convoy on October 15. 
 
Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post quoted Sharon as saying 
Sunday that Israel has no intention of allowing the 
burial in Ramallah of Palestinian Liberation Front 
leader Abu al-Abbas, who died in Iraq, contrary to PA 
Chairman Yasser Arafat's wish.  Yediot reported that 
Balad Knesset Member Ahmed Bishara consoled Arafat over 
al-Abbas's death. 
 
Sunday, all media reported on the Kurdish riots in the 
northern Syrian town of Qamishli. 
During the weekend, the media predicted a tight contest 
between Yossi Beilin and Meretz MK Ran Cohen for the 
leadership of the new left-wing party Yahad. 
 
Sunday, Yediot cited the anger of Foreign Ministry 
officials over the fact that the former chief rabbis 
Mordechai Eliyahu and Yisrael Meir Lau were required to 
leave their fingerprints at the U.S. Embassy, even 
though they have diplomatic passports.  The newspaper 
quoted   U.S. embassy officials as saying that they 
regretted the imposition, but that they insisted that 
those were the regulations and noted that Rabbi Lau and 
former defense minister Moshe Arens had both gone to 
the embassy to be fingerprinted. 
 
Sunday, Yediot quoted American sources as saying 
Saturday that U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer has 
recently expressed his dissatisfaction over the fact 
that IDF officers travel in Japanese or European cars, 
while the U.S. is transferring millions of dollars to 
Israel.  The newspaper quoted GOI sources as saying 
that American cars are too big and American car 
manufacturers should make attractive bids to compete on 
the GOI market, "like everybody else." 
 
Sunday, Ha'aretz cited the belief of Greek sources that 
Greece will allow armed Shin Bet personnel to guard 
Israel's delegation at the Athens Olympic Games.  The 
assessment came after Greek media reported over the 
weekend that U.S. armed guards would be allowed to 
provide security for the American delegation at the 
Games. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Sunday family members of 
the crew of the Columbia space shuttle that crashed 
last year arrived in Israel for a week-long visit. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted officials at the Simon Wiesenthal 
Center in Los Angeles -- and Yediot sources at Israel's 
Consulate-General in Los Angeles -- as saying Sunday 
that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be 
in Israel for the ground-breaking of the Museum of 
Tolerance in Jerusalem.  Maariv reported that during 
his upcoming visit to Los Angeles, FM Silvan Shalom 
will finalize the details of Schwarzenegger's trip to 
Israel. 
 
Leading media cited the results of a Tel Aviv 
University poll: 
-Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post reported that 56 percent 
of Israelis support Sharon's disengagement plan. 
(Yediot reported that the support rate in the survey 
was 68 percent.)  Jerusalem Post reported that the 
support rate drops to 50 percent if it is contingent on 
dismantling settlements. 
-60 percent support inclusion of "the larger, populated 
areas [settlements] of Judea and Samaria [the West 
Bank]" on the western part of the fence. 
-71 percent object to the idea of building the fence on 
the Green Line. 
-Only 24 percent of respondents state their absolute 
support for the Geneva Accord. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"Current developments tend to support [a prediction] 
that the moment Israel evinced its readiness to carry 
out a unilateral withdrawal, the Palestinian 
organizations would make a concerted effort to show 
that Israel is retreating under military pressure." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "[Sharon] deserves credit for 
the very fact of raising the initiative, but he will 
pay a heavy political price if it turns out that he 
failed to carry it through." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: 
"A party that believes in a peace agreement based on 
the 1967 borders will have a hard time explaining to 
its voters why it turned its back on a move that brings 
Israel closer to those very borders." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Militants Want Israel to Retreat Under Fire" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(March 15): "Cooperation between Hamas and Fatah in an 
attack such as Sunday's strike at the Ashdod port, is 
nothing new.  This operational cooperation has 
solidified over the past several weeks.  For Hamas, the 
development is a major achievement: It has succeeded in 
building a kind of joint military apparatus with the 
Fatah establishment.... Current developments tend to 
support an assessment offered by Major General Aharon 
Zeevi (Farkash), head of Military Intelligence, who 
predicted that the moment Israel evinced its readiness 
to carry out a unilateral withdrawal, the Palestinian 
organizations would make a concerted effort to show 
that Israel is retreating under military pressure." 
 
II.  "Lost in the Mist" 
Ha'aretz editorialized (March 15): "Ever since Prime 
Minister Ariel Sharon announced his dramatic initiative 
for a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the 
steps he is taking to implement his plan have been 
clouded in mist.... Sharon will be making a grave 
mistake by assuming he'll be able to bury the Gaza 
withdrawal plan and lay the blame for this at the feet 
of the other side.  He deserves credit for the very 
fact of raising the initiative, but he will pay a heavy 
political price if it turns out that he failed to carry 
it through." 
 
III.  "Joining the Disengagement Government" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz 
(March 15): "There is only one political course of 
action worse than disengaging from territories in the 
Gaza Strip and West Bank without getting anything in 
return and without coordination with the Palestinian 
side -- not disengaging from the territories.  There is 
only one political course of action worse than the 
Labor Party's support for Ariel Sharon's disengagement 
plan -- opposition to the plan.... A party that 
purports to fly the flag of peace cannot stand idly by 
when the prime minister needs its support for a peace 
initiative.  A party that believes in a peace agreement 
based on the 1967 borders will have a hard time 
explaining to its voters why it turned its back on a 
move that brings Israel closer to those very borders." 
 
IV.  "Wandering in a Fog" 
 
Correspondent Efraim Ganor wrote in popular, pluralist 
Russian-language Novosty Nedely (March 14): "The 
unilateral disengagement plan's particulars are still 
covered with ... fog.  The U.S.  is unable to define 
its attitude regarding it ... and [determine] the 
strong and the weak sides of the plan.  It is unclear 
what the plan's completion would bring Israel, the 
Palestinians and the U.S....  Doubtfully, Sharon 
himself and his closest advisors have definite answers 
to these questions.   In addition, the [Israeli] 
security forces have ... objections against the plan, 
arguing that in its present form, it cannot be executed 
without clear agreements with the Palestinians. ... 
Sharon sincerely tries to get his country and his 
people out of the old and bloody conflict with the 
Palestinians, and he is sure that Israel has to do it 
unilaterally as opposed to coordination with the 
Palestinians.  Any agreement would force Israel make 
more significant concessions than those it is ready to 
carry out in a unilateral disengagement." 
 
--------------------------------- 
¶2.  Aftermath of Madrid Bombings: 
--------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "U.S. 
President George W. Bush's demand that countries around 
the world take a stand and show who is in favor of 
wiping out terror is simplistic, yet just." 
 
Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever 
Plotker wrote in the lead editorial of Yediot Aharonot: 
"Even if it becomes evident that Al Qaida indeed bears 
full responsibility for the terrorism in Spain, on whom 
will the demonstrators vent their anger?  You guessed 
correctly: on the United States, of course." 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"The longer Europe waits to join with America in common 
cause, the more the war will escalate and spread, 
including within Europe.  The sooner Europe joins the 
fight, the sooner these massacres will end and the 
cause of freedom and human rights will prosper." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "World at War" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (March 
14): "Europe has been roused from its slumber. Terror 
is not limited to New York and Washington, Bali and 
Mombasa, Russia and Israel.  Courting the favor of Arab 
and Muslim populations in whose name terror purports to 
strike -- even though this population has not 
authorized the terror -- will not tame the beast.... 
Judging by the response displayed by the Spanish 
people, Europeans are not showing a precious degree of 
unity and joining the alliance of victims being led by 
the Americans.  Should terror not be vanquished in a 
long, hard struggle waged around the world, the way of 
life cherished by citizens of free states will be 
undermined.  U.S. President George W. Bush's demand 
that countries around the world take a stand and show 
who is in favor of wiping out terror is simplistic, yet 
just." 
 
II.  "The Politics of Mourning" 
Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever 
Plotker wrote in the lead editorial of Yediot Aharonot 
(March 14): "According to the contemporary European 
cultural rulebook, the terrorism of the 21st century is 
nameless, faceless and without religious identity. 
Terrorism is repressed as an abstract threat or, at the 
very most, a threat that stems from age-old internal 
European conflicts.  But to demonstrate explicitly 
against Islamic terror?  To send millions into the 
street to that end?  Heaven forbid.  That is 
politically incorrect, unmulti-cultural and 
frightening.   Mass anti-American demonstrations were a 
common feature of Western European cities throughout 
the duration of the Cold War.  Not a single 
demonstration was held in them at the time against the 
USSR and the Soviet regime. This spectacle is now 
repeating itself in reference to radical Islam.  The 
European code of conduct permits only demonstrations 
against imperialism, and not against Al Qaida. 
Therefore, even if it becomes evident that Al Qaida 
indeed bears full responsibility for the terrorism in 
Spain, on whom will the demonstrators vent their anger? 
You guessed correctly: on the United States, of 
course." 
 
III.  "It's a World War" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(March 14): "From Bali, Casablanca, and Manhattan to 
Moscow, New Delhi, and Madrid, the evidence is too 
vast, clear, and appalling to ignore: the world is at 
war.... Spain and the rest of Europe must understand 
that, just like last century's threat to their future 
was fascism, this century it is the militant form of 
Islam, and that just like Nazism's in its time, the 
jihad's excuses for its mass-murders are not even worth 
a hearing.  Europe must concede it is at war, and has 
no choice but to fight it until it is won.  The jihadis 
see Europe and America as a common enemy against which 
they hope to play divide and conquer.  The longer 
Europe waits to join with America in common cause, the 
more the war will escalate and spread, including within 
Europe.  The sooner Europe joins the fight, the sooner 
these massacres will end and the cause of freedom and 
human rights will prosper." 
 
KURTZER