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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 006088 
 
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.  Syrian-Lebanese Track 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media, except Yediot and Maariv, led with PM 
Sharon's efforts to form a new coalition.  Leading 
media reported that Sharon intends to ask Labor Party 
Chairman Shimon Peres to run the country with him in a 
new "super-deputy partnership," that would grant Peres 
vast powers, far beyond those enjoyed by any No. 2 in 
the past.  Ha'aretz quoted senior Likud and Labor Party 
sources as saying that Sharon and Peres have agreed in 
principle that if a national unity government is 
formed, it will last until November 2006 -- when 
elections are scheduled to be held.  The media cited 
Sharon's portrayal of past cooperation between Likud 
and Labor, and between their predecessor movements. 
Ha'aretz quoted Peres as saying Thursday that the year 
2005 must be devoted to advancing the diplomatic 
process with the Palestinians and not wasted on 
elections and internal party squabbling. 
 
Maariv quoted National Security Advisor and secretary 
of state-designate Condoleezza Rice as saying this week 
in a private meeting that the U.S. will increase its 
involvement in the Middle East, placing an emphasis on 
the PA election, and that the U.S. will not accept 
nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran. 
 
Yediot bannered Hamas's mulling over the cessation of 
attacks against Israel -- a development also reported 
on by other media.  Hatzofe cited a document seized 
from the Palestinians in Gaza in 2002, which contains 
the protocol of a secret meeting between Alistair 
Crook, who was security advisor to then EU envoy to the 
Middle East Miguel Angel Moratinos, with a Hamas 
delegation headed by the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. 
 
Maariv led with Sharon's declaration at the PM's 
traditional annual meeting with media editors in Tel 
Aviv Thursday that Syria will find in Israel a partner 
for peace if it serious, and that he is prepared to 
meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad under "certain 
conditions."  All media cited the response of Syrian FM 
Farouk Shara that Syria is prepared to resume talks 
with Israel, but without preconditions.  Israel Radio 
quoted State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher as 
saying Thursday that the U.S. has always supported the 
idea of comprehensive peace in the Middle East, a 
notion that Secretary Powell reiterated most recently 
in his meetings with Shara when they met in Sharm el- 
Sheikh.   Boucher added: "We have always believed that 
direct contacts between the parties are very important 
to this process, and so we would encourage any direct 
contacts that the parties feel it's appropriate to have 
in order to make progress on comprehensive peace. " 
 
All media quoted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as 
saying Thursday that only Sharon can lead to peace. 
Ha'aretz reported that Thursday Sharon's bureau played 
down an announcement from Mubarak on the immediate 
release of six students from Cairo charged with 
allegedly planning a terror attack.  Writing that the 
students might be released, Yediot quoted diplomatic 
sources as saying that the improvement of the 
atmosphere between the two countries could advance the 
release of Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Druze who was 
convinced of espionage and imprisoned in Egypt. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Industry and Trade Minister 
Yossi Olmert "did something Thursday that few 
politicians have dared to do": he declared publicly 
"that with all due respect to the U.S. Administration, 
there is a limit to how much Israel will bend to 
maintain the illusion of good relations."  Olmert stood 
up for the interests of the Israeli pharmaceutical 
manufacturer Teva and other generic drug makers, as the 
U.S. insisted on protecting the interests of American 
companies that develop drugs from scratch -- known as 
ethical drugs -- and want to delay as much as possible 
Teva's development of copycat (generic) versions. 
Although Ha'aretz writer Ora Coren recognized that the 
ethical drug companies have a justified claim, she 
sided with Olmert's approach, which she dubbed "an 
attempt to balance the Israeli drug industry's patent 
protection interests with those of patients and the 
state budget." 
 
All media quoted Sharon as saying Thursday that Tanzim 
leader Marwan Barghouti will remain in jail even if the 
is elected as Yasser Arafat's successor to head the PA. 
 
Leading media quoted Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Maj. 
Gen. Dan Halutz as saying Thursday that had the IDF 
known that assassinating Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh in 
July 2002 would lead to the death of innocent 
Palestinians, the operation would not have been 
approved.  Halutz, then commander of the IAF, also 
explained that his statement at the time that he "slept 
well at night" was intended to back his subordinates in 
the IAF. 
 
Israel Radio reported that this morning mortar shells 
were launched at two Gaza Strip settlements.  The 
station also reported that today south of Jenin IDF 
troops killed Mahmoud Kmel, a senior Islamic Jihad 
activist. 
Yediot (Alex Fishman) reported that, contrary to the 
impression that the evacuation from the northernmost 
part of the West Bank will be a minor operation, Israel 
is examining a plan in which the West Bank would be 
split in two, and Samaria (the northern West Bank) 
"closed in like a box."  In northern Samaria, the PA 
would control an area two-and-a-half times the size of 
that evacuated by Israel in the Gaza Strip. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources a saying that 
IDF soldiers at roadblock in the Gaza Strip had 
prevented a Palestinian delegation including Acting PA 
Chairman Rawhi Fattuh, PA Social Affairs Minister 
Intisar Al-Wazir, and Yasser Arafat's sister Hadija, 
from attending the funeral of Arafat's brother Fathi, 
who died of cancer in Egypt on Wednesday.  Israel Radio 
reported that an Israeli military source denied to AFP 
that Israel had been apprised of the delegation's 
travel. 
 
In interviews with several leading media, UN Middle 
East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen was quoted as saying that 
the chances of reaching a solution to the Israeli- 
Palestinian conflict are better than ever.  Jerusalem 
Post quoted visiting Spanish FM Miguel Angel Moratinos 
as saying that the Intifada was a mistake. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli officials at the UN as 
saying that they are pleased that Canada decided to 
oppose one-sided condemnations of Israel at the UN 
General Assembly, and that a UN panel recommended that 
terrorism, even in cases of national resistance, be 
deemed unacceptable. 
 
Ha'aretz cited the findings of a Tel Aviv University 
research that every third Israeli has been personally - 
- either directly or indirectly, through the experience 
of relatives and friends -- exposed to terrorist 
attacks, and that every tenth Israeli suffers from a 
post-traumatic syndrome following the attacks. 
 
Yediot prints an AFP picture of women visiting an 
exhibition at a cemetery south of Tehran, which 
includes an alleged picture of corpses of Israelis 
covered with the Israeli flag, next to a poster with 
the Hebrew inscription: "Israel must be wiped off the 
face of the earth." 
 
A Maariv/Teleseker poll: 
-"Do you believe the IDF is sufficiently attentive to 
the protection of the lives of the Palestinians and 
their respect?"  Yes: 53 percent; no: 40 percent. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "From Sharon's 
perspective, there are many positive notes now being 
sounded in Washington.... If Sharon has cause for 
concern, it derives from the message expressed by a 
delegation of senior senators who visited him this 
week." 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "[On Thursday] Egyptian President Hosni 
Mubarak described Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as the 
Palestinians' virtually last hope.... Mubarak's 
statements were ... a way of 'preparing hearts and 
minds' for an active Egyptian role in the peace 
process." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "A Solution Is Wanting" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (December 3): " On 
Monday, America returned to work after the Thanksgiving 
holiday.  A senior administration official -- of those 
who call their Israeli colleagues by their first names 
-- hopped over to New York to outline the new American 
policy for the Middle East at the prestigious Council 
on Foreign Relations.  Those present at the briefing 
heard and recorded: 'Whoever believes in a two-state 
solution cannot support the right of return ... At the 
end of the process, the settlement blocs will remain in 
Israel's hands and the rest will not.... The key to 
progress is to build democratic institutions in the 
Palestinian Authority and the war against terror, and 
this depends on the Palestinians.... Israel is not 
acting with sufficient transparency with regard to the 
settlements.'  These remarks indicate that U.S. 
President George W. Bush's plan for a final accord is 
very similar to that of his predecessor, Bill 
Clinton.... From Sharon's perspective, there are many 
positive notes now being sounded in Washington.... If 
Sharon has cause for concern, it derives from the 
message expressed by a delegation of senior senators 
who visited him this week.... They explained that, in 
their view, there is a connection between American 
successes in one place and failures in another place. 
Therefore, in order to improve their situation in Iraq 
and increase public support for American activity 
there, some success must be demonstrated in the Israeli- 
Palestinian arena." 
 
II.  "Egypt's Seal of Approval" 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
Ha'aretz (December 3): "[On Thursday] Egyptian 
President Hosni Mubarak described Prime Minister Ariel 
Sharon as the Palestinians' virtually last hope.  The 
sharp turnabout in Mubarak's public stance toward 
Sharon did not begin on Thursday.... The details [of 
Egypt's agreement with Israel] -- particularly the 
exchange of letters that would enable Egyptian soldiers 
to be stationed on the Gaza border without amending the 
Camp David Accords -- had been settled three weeks 
earlier via American mediation.  Mubarak's declarations 
Thursday are thus a continuation of these official 
steps. They are meant to give legitimacy to Sharon, but 
also to Egypt's own diplomatic moves.... Mubarak's 
statements were ... a way of 'preparing hearts and 
minds' for an active Egyptian role in the peace 
process.  This role has gone into high gear since 
Yasser Arafat's death, due to the need to influence the 
future structure of the Palestinian Authority. 
However, these statements also reflect an important 
working assumption: that Egypt believes in Sharon's 
willingness and ability to implement the disengagement 
plan.... Egypt is once again playing the role for which 
it is most suited: Even when it cannot call the shots, 
it can give them legitimacy.  This is particularly 
important in light of the role that Egypt is expected 
to play in uniting the various Palestinian factions, as 
well as in advancing prospects for negotiations between 
Israel and Syria." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Syrian-Lebanese Track: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"While its deniable, privately conveyed, overtures to 
Israel are plainly motivated by a desire to ingratiate 
itself with the U.S., Syria remains a major defender 
and generator of terror." 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Larsen's Unlearned Lessons" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(December 3): "While its deniable, privately conveyed, 
overtures to Israel are plainly motivated by a desire 
to ingratiate itself with the U.S., Syria remains a 
major defender and generator of terror.  It may be 
argued that the abandonment of that behavior is just 
what Assad wants to discuss.  Unfortunately, we have 
been through this already, with Arafat, 11 years and 
more than a thousand Israeli fatalities ago.... As long 
as Syria continues to supply Hizbullah and cheer-lead 
Hamas, an Israeli readiness to negotiate will be 
perceived across the Arab world not as rapprochement, 
but as a form of surrender.  Perhaps even worse, Syria 
is a major wellspring of anti-Semitism, unique even for 
the Arab world's dictatorships.... [Terje] Roed-Larsen, 
the UN's outgoing Middle East peace coordinator, may 
consider that he is offering Israel a farewell gift in 
encouraging us to take Assad's overtures seriously.  He 
should know better.  With all due respect, we will 
watch Assad's public actions, rather than his efforts 
at Larsen-facilitated private diplomacy." 
 
CRETZ