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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TEL AVIV 002324 
 
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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Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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Jerusalem Post quoted senior Israeli diplomatic 
officials as saying that the U.S. is "watering down" 
assurances President Bush gave PM Sharon, less than a 
week after the two met in Washington.  The newspaper 
quoted the officials as saying that as a result of 
pressure on Washington from the Arab world and Europe, 
Secretary of State Colin Powell has played down Bush's 
 
SIPDIS 
ideas about the shape of the final-status deal. 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio quoted Bush as saying 
Wednesday, in a speech to the Newspaper Association of 
America Annual Convention, that a "free Palestinian 
state would be a major change agent for world peace." 
Bush remarked that "the whole world should have said, 
thank you Ariel," for the withdrawal plan.  Bush added: 
"The Palestinian leadership has failed the people year 
after year after year." 
Israel Radio quoted Sharon as saying this morning 
before the Knesset plenum that Bush told him that he 
completely supports the disengagement plan.  Sharon was 
also quoted as saying that the U.S. backing of Israeli 
disengagement is "unprecedented," that whoever wants to 
hold on to settlement blocs -- an achievement reached 
during his visit to Washington -- must back a pullout, 
and that he will bring his plan for approval to the 
Knesset after the cabinet ratifies it.  Sharon said 
that the negative Palestinian response was a 
confirmation of the validity of his move.  The radio 
noted that in his remarks Sharon hinted that he does 
not consider the Likud referendum as binding.  Labor 
Party Chairman Shimon Peres said that his faction -- 
preferably not as a coalition member -- would support 
the plan. 
 
The media reported that Wednesday in the northern Gaza 
Strip, a total of nine Palestinians were killed in 
clashes with the IDF and that at least 40 were wounded. 
This morning reported that three armed senior Tanzim 
militants were killed near Tulkarm, West Bank.  Israel 
Radio reported that last night PA Chairman Yasser 
Arafat, as Israel was about to attack his Ramallah HQ 
(according to his aides), expelled 21 Al Aqsa Martyrs 
Brigades activists who had been hiding there for the 
past two months. 
 
Ha'aretz and Hatzofe reported that Sharon associates 
are urging him to cancel the Likud referendum on his 
withdrawal plan, since its results are foreknown. 
Ha'aretz quoted opponents of the plan in the party as 
saying that those attempts are actually due to the 
decline in the party members' support for the plan. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Ambassador J. Cofer Black, the 
State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, as 
saying, in a testimony before a Senate subcommittee, 
that the assassination of the Hamas leaders has 
disrupted the group's activity and greatly influenced 
Palestinian society.  He was also quoted as saying that 
it is too early to say whether the assassinations will 
influence Hamas's ability to strike at Israel. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei 
(Abu Ala) called on Bush to retract his declaration 
that, in a final-status agreement, Israel will not have 
to withdraw from the entire West Bank and that it will 
not have to take in Palestinian refugees. 
 
All media continued to highlight the release of nuclear 
whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu.  (Both Yediot and 
Maariv devoted their first 11 pages to the topic.) 
 
All media reported that, at a press conference in Tel 
Aviv Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador Dan Kurtzer and U.S. 
Consul-General in Tel Aviv Phil Covington announced 
that the Embassy will ease visa restrictions for 
Israelis born in countries classified as sponsors of 
terror, including Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North 
Korea and Cuba.  Ha'aretz quoted Kurtzer as saying: "We 
in the Embassy have been working with Washington for 
almost two and a half years to see this change."  The 
media quoted Covington as saying that the changes do 
not apply only to Israelis, but that they were made 
primarily out of concern for Israeli travelers who left 
their birthplace at least 50 years ago. 
 
Yediot reported that in June El Al is to fit its first 
plane with a protection system against shoulder- 
launched missiles.  The system was developed by Israel 
Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Israel Military 
Industries. 
 
Citing AP, Ha'aretz reported that the UN Relief and 
Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that it would renew 
shipments to the Gaza Strip after reaching an 
arrangement with Israeli security. 
 
Israel Radio reported that, at the request of Arafat, 
Malaysia is convening a meeting of the Islamic 
Organization Conference (IOC) to discuss the United 
States' support for Israel and its policy in Iraq.  The 
radio notes that only one third of the member states 
have sent delegates -- most of them under ministerial 
level -- to the meeting. 
 
All media reported that UEFA, European soccer's 
governing body, lifted its ban on playing international 
games in Israel, saying it is satisfied with the 
country's security arrangements. 
All media reported that Wednesday four people were 
wounded in the bombing of the old Saudi General 
Security building housing offices of the Interior 
Ministry in Riyadh.  Ha'aretz noted that Deputy 
Secretary of State Richard Armitage was in Riyadh for 
 
SIPDIS 
talks Wednesday. 
 
A Dialogue poll for Ha'aretz (also cited in Maariv and 
Yediot) found that the gap between supporters and 
opponents of Sharon's disengagement plan in the Likud 
is narrowing: 44 percent support it, while 40 percent 
are opposed; 11 percent are undecided.  Maariv and 
Yediot say that internal Likud polls and other surveys 
confirm the trend. 
 
 
 
 
 
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Mideast: 
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                       Summary: 
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Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "This is an 
election year in the United States, and it's a 
convenient time for Israel to establish more facts on 
the ground.  But even within these restrictions, Bush 
is doing more for the Palestinians than did any of his 
predecessors." 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "We still have 
a paramount interest to disengage from Gaza, but to 
disengage for real.... Let their Arab brethren take 
care of the Palestinians." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "A U.S. 'Trusteeship' For the Palestinians" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (April 22): "The 
United States appointed itself in the past year as the 
governess of the Palestinians and the guardian of their 
rights, as the custodian of a future Palestinian state. 
The same Bush who is considered an enthusiastic 
supporter of Sharon, who backs every assassination and 
every Israeli military action in the territories, has 
quietly created an American "trusteeship" for the 
Palestinians.  Bush was the first president to call for 
the establishment of a Palestinian state, and he is 
trying to fill his words with substance.... There are 
several expressions of this American trusteeship, which 
were mentioned in Bush's letter to Sharon and in 
accompanying documents.  The most important of them is 
the preservation of reserves of land for a Palestinian 
state in the West Bank, which will enjoy reasonable 
territorial contiguity.... [For his part,] Sharon has 
evaded most of his promises until now.... This is an 
election year in the United States, and it's a 
convenient time for Israel to establish more facts on 
the ground.  But even within these restrictions, Bush 
is doing more for the Palestinians than did any of his 
predecessors." 
 
II.  "Beware of the Gaza 'Conception'" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (March 4): "Now 
that Hamas has become such a central element in the 
Gaza Strip, because of the two most recent 
assassinations, we must not allow ourselves to be 
fooled by our own illusions, such as the ones about 
Muhammad Dahlan, that have cropped up among the 
dreamers of Oslo.  Dahlan is Arafat, and neither of 
them have any reason to make Israel's life easier.  And 
the Hamas leaders will not suddenly become lovers of 
Zion and reduce the volume of terrorism.  We still have 
a paramount interest to disengage from Gaza, but to 
disengage for real.  To wit, to seal the crossings 
between Israel and the Gaza Strip for good, to stop 
supplying electricity and water, and to evacuate in 
tandem the Philadelphi road that runs between the Gaza 
Strip and Egypt.  Let their Arab brethren take care of 
the Palestinians.  Only Egypt, when it bears sole 
responsibility for the only exit from the Gaza to the 
world, will know how to cope with Hamas.  If weapons 
are smuggled into the Gaza Strip after that, there will 
be no doubt as to who is responsible for it and where 
that responsible party is." 
 
KURTZER