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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 006286 
 
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 reported that five Israeli soldiers were 
killed and six others were wounded in the Gaza Strip 
Sunday when a booby-trapped tunnel blew up under an IDF 
outpost near Rafah.  The attackers also launched mortar 
shells and fired at the outpost.  The soldiers, who 
were all from the Bedouin reconnaissance battalion, 
killed an armed Palestinian who participated in the 
assault.  Hamas and a Fatah faction, the Fatah Hawks, 
claimed joint responsibility for the attack.  Israel 
Radio reported that last night the IAF bombarded 
targets in the Gaza Strip, including weapons- 
manufacturing workshops.  During the weekend, the media 
reported that four Israeli civilians were injured 
Friday by Palestinian mortar fire directed against Neve 
Dekalim in the Gaza Strip.  Ha'aretz reported that the 
IDF response to the attack resulted in the death of a 7- 
year-old Palestinian girl in Khan Yunis.  The media 
reported on various other incidents in the territories. 
 
U/S of Defense Douglas Feith was quoted as saying in an 
interview published by Jerusalem Post on Sunday that 
the U.S. hopes that Iran will follow Libya's lead in 
abandoning its nuclear program, but that nobody should 
rule out the possibility of military action against 
Tehran's nuclear sites if it does not. 
 
Leading media reported that Sunday, jailed Tanzim 
leader Marwan Barghouti withdrew his candidacy for 
chairmanship of the PA.  On Sunday, Yediot reported 
that a first group of European monitors arrived Friday 
in the PA ahead of the elections. 
 
The media reported on progress in Likud-Shas coalition 
talks.  Leading media quoted Shas negotiators as saying 
Sunday that the Likud negotiating team promised them 
that anti-religious legislation initiated during the 
Shinui era would not move forward, particularly the 
legitimization of common-law couples.  On Sunday, 
Yediot reported that in the next government, Labor 
Party Chairman Shimon Peres is expected to be in charge 
of the development of the Gaza Strip after the Israeli 
withdrawal, as well as of the Galilee and the Negev. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Sunday, during a visit to 
Kuwait, PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) 
apologized for Yasser Arafat's support of the 1990 
invasion of Kuwait.  On Sunday, Jerusalem Post reported 
that Arafat's economic adviser, Muhammad Rashid, has 
agreed to hand over to the PA some USD 600 million 
believed to be held in secret bank accounts. 
 
Yediot reported that the cabinet Sunday unanimously 
endorsed PM Sharon's proposal that hundreds of 
Palestinian prisoners be released, as a gesture toward 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.  One hundred to 200 
prisoners will be freed in total.  Leading media 
reported that Trade, Industry and Employment Minster 
Ehud Olmert will sign a free trade agreement with Egypt 
Tuesday in Cairo.  Yediot reported that Sharon's choice 
for the next ambassador in Cairo is Likud Knesset 
Member Majalli Whbee, a Druze. 
 
Over the weekend, leading media reported that Secretary 
of State Colin Powell told a gathering of Islamic 
leaders in Rabat, Morocco, on Saturday that the Middle 
Eastern countries must carry out political and economic 
reforms to ease the "despair and frustration" that 
affects much of the region.  Citing AP, Jerusalem Post 
quoted Powell as saying en route to Rabat on Friday 
night that reform in the Islamic world should not be 
impeded by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
 
Yediot reported that the Knesset's Constitution, Law 
and Justice Committee intends to drastically reduce, or 
even cancel, penalties that will be imposed on settlers 
resisting evacuation. 
 
Yediot and Maariv reported that Sharon told the cabinet 
Sunday that the press plays a negative role in its 
"sickly fervor" to publish information about alleged 
immorality among IDF troops. 
 
All media cited the Shin Bet as saying Sunday that 
security forces have arrested four Israeli citizens 
from East Jerusalem on suspicion that they were 
involved in September 2003's bombing of the Hillel Cafe 
in Jerusalem that left seven people dead. 
 
On Sunday, Jerusalem Post quoted O/C Israel Navy Adm. 
David Ben-Bashat as saying that Israel will purchase 
two more Dolphin-class submarines from Germany, and 
that the contract will be signed this coming spring. 
 
During the weekend, leading media reported that retired 
U.S. generals have presented President Bush with a plan 
to invade Iran. 
 
On Sunday, Yediot reported that eight Israeli 
consultants left for Iraq several days ago to 
participate in the reconstruction of the infrastructure 
in the country.  The newspaper says that the mission is 
coordinated with the Iraqi government. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that veteran personality and 
journalist Rafi Ginat is expected to be named editor-in- 
chief of Yediot, replacing current editor Moshe Vardi. 
 
On Sunday, Maariv printed a White House picture 
representing President Bush attending the lighting of 
Chanukah candles at the White House last Thursday.  The 
newspaper quoted Bush as saying at the ceremony: "In 
every generation, these lights have warmed the hearts 
of those not yet free." 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one 
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: 
"Already, more than a year ago, we learned that 
terrorist groups in Gaza were moving on from primitive 
terrorist activity to guerrilla activity inspired by 
Hizbullah.... But somebody on our side missed the 
target by a mile." 
 
Security and intelligence affairs commentator Amit 
Cohen wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv: "These people 
[the extremist Palestinian groups] can do to Abu Mazen 
what Israel did to Arafat: make him into an irrelevant 
leader." 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Ariel Sharon 
received the legitimization he needs from the President 
of Egypt, and there is no one, at least not in the 
coming week, to challenge that in the Arab states." 
 
Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "Sharon has now returned 
home.  With the Likud he can buttress a much more 
serious political status ahead of the disengagement. 
This is bad news for the settlers." 
 
Zuheir Andrawus, Editor-in-Chief of the Israeli-Arab 
newspaper Kul Al-Arab, wrote in Ha'aretz: "[Marwan] 
Barghouti is the authentic representative of the 
Palestinian people, which has know a lot of suffering." 
 
Efraim Inbar, Director of the Begin-Sadat Center for 
Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "More 
vigorous American peace-making in the Arab-Israeli 
arena would not only divert energy from the push for 
reform in the Arab world; it also has the potential for 
increasing tensions between Jerusalem and Washington." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Under the Nose of the IDF" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one 
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot 
(December 13): "It is intolerable for guerrilla 
activity on this scale and of this quality to develop 
under our nose for so many months, completely 
undetected.  Guerrilla activity, as we learned in 
Lebanon, is more sophisticated than the terrorism that 
we have known in the Gaza Strip, but it is also more 
exposed, because it requires more organization and 
resources.  Already, more than a year ago, we learned 
that terrorist groups in Gaza were moving on from 
primitive terrorist activity to guerrilla activity 
inspired by Hizbullah, which also supplied the know- 
how.  This called for a different form of offensive and 
intelligence activity on the part of the IDF.  But 
somebody on our side missed the target by a mile.... 
Now the army will have to tailor a military operation 
appropriate to the spirit of the times: it will be 
painful enough to deter Hamas, but it will also take 
account of Israel's relations with Egypt, of the 
international observers who will be arriving in the 
region and also of the rise in Abu Mazen's popularity 
in the polls." 
 
II.  "Clear Signal to Abu Mazen" 
 
Security and intelligence affairs commentator Amit 
Cohen wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (December 13): 
"If for a moment it seemed that Abu Mazen was 
succeeding in taking control of the Palestinian 
imbroglio, at least until the coming elections, the 
terror attack last night reminded us how fragile that 
illusion was....  Publicly, the Palestinian leadership 
in the making will find it hard to condemn the 
operation.  As long as the IDF continues to operate in 
Gaza, the Palestinians view the area as a legitimate 
killing field.  But behind closed doors, there is a 
great deal of anger about the double game being played 
by Hamas.  'Certainly Abu Mazen is angry when he hears 
about things like this,' said a Palestinian security 
source.  'But what can we do?  The understandings we 
reached with Hamas spoke only about terror attacks 
inside Israeli territory'.... This is the second signal 
that Abu Mazen received from Fatah elements in Gaza. 
The first was several days after Arafat's death, when 
shots were fired at Abu Mazen and Dahlan.  This time as 
well, the centers of power within the Gaza Strip are 
trying to signal that their ability to influence does 
not stop at the ballot box next January.  These people 
can do to Abu Mazen what Israel did to Arafat: make him 
into an irrelevant leader." 
 
III.  "The Arabs Are Coming!  The Arabs Are Coming!" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (December 12): "The 
great wonder has already occurred, even before half a 
tile has been removed from the roof of a house in the 
Gush Katif settlement bloc or before even one 
settlement outpost (remember that issue?) has folded: 
Ariel Sharon received the legitimization he needs from 
the President of Egypt, and there is no one, at least 
not in the coming week, to challenge that in the Arab 
states, especially when even Syrian President Bashar 
Assad is ready to talk to Sharon and Yasser Arafat is 
no longer in the picture.  Sharon grabbed the reins of 
the diplomatic process with the object of steering it 
not when he declared the disengagement plan but when he 
proved that he is ready to take great risks to 
implement it.  Egypt understood very quickly that this 
is the only wagon on which any sort of process can be 
moved ahead; as such, it opened the periodic window of 
opportunity of the peace process, while an array of 
hitchhikers wait by the roadside.  Now the Arab states, 
too, are waiting to see whether the democratic process 
in Israel -- in the form of the activists of the Likud 
Central Committee -- doesn't tip over at the first 
sharp turn." 
 
IV.  "Sharon Has Come Home" 
 
Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv (December 13): "[Until 
recently,] the Prime Minister was perceived as someone 
who had lost his political base.  But Sharon came to 
his senses at the eleventh hour.  Today he has an 
anchor.  Members of the [Likud] Central Committee are 
behind him, even if many of them hate the disengagement 
plan.... Sharon has now returned home.  With the Likud 
he can buttress a much more serious political status 
ahead of the disengagement.  This is bad news for the 
settlers and the leaders of the Council of Jewish 
Settlements in the Territories, who have effectively 
led the Likud in the past few months; they will now 
have to find new channels for their activity.  Perhaps 
they will focus on broad popular opposition activity -- 
something in which they excel." 
 
 
¶V.  "Run Barghouti, Run" 
 
Zuheir Andrawus, Editor-in-Chief of the Israeli-Arab 
newspaper Kul Al-Arab, wrote in Ha'aretz (December 12): 
"[Marwan] Barghouti is the authentic representative of 
the Palestinian people, which has know a lot of 
suffering.... To many members of Palestinian society, 
he is a freedom fighter who has paid a hefty price. 
Thus, the people won't betray him and would vote for 
him, be it only in defiance of the old leadership, 
which has to leave.  Barghouti symbolizes all those 
Palestinians who have paid a heavy price for the 
liberation of their people from the burden of Israeli 
occupation -- and he hasn't made a fortune.  Therefore, 
run, Barghouti, and don't give up." 
VI.  "Reading the Egyptian Sphinx" 
 
Efraim Inbar, Director of the Begin-Sadat Center for 
Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (December 12): 
"More vigorous American peace-making in the Arab- 
Israeli arena would not only divert energy from the 
push for reform in the Arab world; it also has the 
potential for increasing tensions between Jerusalem and 
Washington.  Egypt well understands that the Bush 
vision of a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict is 
closer to its own vision than to Sharon's prescription. 
A renewal of Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Syrian 
peace talks might therefore put stress on Israel's 
relationship with Washington.  Weakening Israel is not 
inimical to Egyptian interests.  What should Israel's 
response be?  While Egypt obviously has its own agenda, 
Israel should welcome any improvement in bilateral 
relations.   However, Jerusalem must demand that Cairo 
live up to its 1979 peace treaty commitments." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Syrian-Lebanese Track: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Uri Savir, chief Israeli negotiator with Syria from 
November 1995 to March 1996, wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "Israel should ... accept 
the Syrian offer for negotiations without 
preconditions." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Say Yes to Syria" 
 
Uri Savir, chief Israeli negotiator with Syria from 
November 1995 to March 1996, wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (December 12): "Our region 
is too fragile for a step-by-step approach, as each 
step may potentially be sabotaged by the opponents of 
stability, democratization and peace.  Accordingly, the 
Bush administration could encourage a quantum leap in 
the region by suggesting guiding principles for 
negotiations on all fronts, with an emphasis on 
regional cooperation, which is part of the Bush vision. 
Israel should adhere to such a strategy and, in this 
context, accept the Syrian offer for negotiations 
without preconditions.... It seems that in most of our 
negotiations about this region, we know the end result 
-- more or less.  However, we don't know how to 
begin.... There seems to be little doubt about the 
changing currents in Syria, yet many believe that Prime 
Minister Ariel Sharon cannot wage a peace offensive on 
Gaza and Syria simultaneously.  Israel has, in the 
past, won wars on many fronts.  In the future it should 
attempt to make peace on all these fronts.  The Middle 
East has moved in recent months from despair to hope. 
It is in Israel's best interest not to miss this window 
of opportunity." 
 
KURTZER