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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 006502 
 
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.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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Israel Radio reported that last night the IDF entered 
the Khan Yunis refugee camp, from which it had pulled 
out three days ago, in order to neutralize mortars and 
Qassam rocket launchers.  The IDF killed an armed 
Palestinian in the camp.  The station reported that the 
operation is expected to last for two days. 
 
All media, except Ha'aretz, led with events related to 
the planned disengagement from the Gaza Strip. 
Jerusalem Post and other media say that the opponents 
of the disengagement plan sharpened battle lines 
Tuesday when dozens of settlers donned orange Star of 
David badges.  The media reported that right-wing MKs 
were among those who condemned the badge campaign. 
Maariv quoted right-wing activists as saying that 2,500 
IDF soldiers, including several hundred in regular 
service, have signed a petition in which they pledge 
refusal to serve orders to evacuate settlers.  Leading 
media quoted IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon as saying 
before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense 
Committee that he is worried by the radicalization of 
statements by settlers. 
 
Ha'aretz (Zeev Schiff) reported that the U.S. is 
demanding that Israel not send back to China some of 
the drones sent here for upgrading.  The UAVs are 
already Chinese property.  The newspaper reported that 
the Israelis were astonished, considering there is no 
American technology in the drones.  However, Ha'aretz 
quoted American sources as saying that Israel will have 
no choice but to comply with the U.S. demand.  The 
newspaper says that the "powerful" pro-Taiwan lobby is 
warning that advanced Israeli weapons technologies 
could be used against U.S. soldiers defending the 
island state off the coast from China. 
 
The electronic media reported that Sharon met with 
British PM Tony Blair this morning in Jerusalem, and 
that Blair is expected to meet toady with other Israeli 
leaders and with the PA leadership.  Reviewing the 
joint Sharon-Blair news conference, in which Blair said 
that disengagement should lead to the implementation of 
the road map, Ayala Hasson of Israel TV said there was 
a total alignment of U.S., British and Israeli 
positions regarding the issue of terrorism in the 
region.  Sharon said at the conference that an end to 
terrorism would "change the situation in the region." 
He added: "The road map offers a solution to both 
sides, but ending terror is prerequisite."  All media 
reported that Blair arrived in Israel last night after 
a surprise visit to Baghdad. 
Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that Israel 
has allowed 1,000 Palestinian policemen to carry 
pistols in order to maintain order during local 
elections in the PA, which are scheduled for Thursday 
in 26 Palestinian municipalities in the West Bank. 
Ha'aretz cited the concern of the Fatah leadership that 
it may lose ground to Hamas in those elections 
 
All media reported that a woman was stabbed to death 
Tuesday in Moshav Nehusha, south of Beit Shemesh.  The 
media cited the police's belief that the murderer 
infiltrated Israel from the West Bank and acted out of 
nationalist motives.  All media cited a Shin Bet 
announcement that it has arrested Muhammad Abu-Gweed, a 
Syria-born Palestinian who has resided in the West Bank 
during the past few years, on suspicion that he was a 
Hizbullah agent.  Abu-Gweed had lived in Iraq, where he 
took part in battles against U.S. forces.  He is 
suspected of planning attacks on Israeli trains. 
Maariv reported that around 15 Palestinians wanted by 
Israel have returned to the "Muqata" in Ramallah. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the Justice Ministry has 
asked President Moshe Katsav to pardon 37 Palestinian 
prisoners who are included in a list of 170 detainees 
to be freed -- likely by Monday.  The release of the 
others is within the powers of the Defense Ministry and 
senior IDF officers. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Trade Minister Ehud Olmert 
will meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman on 
Thursday. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on the first anniversary of the 
signing of the Geneva Accord, an advertising campaign 
is being aired on the Palestinian Qalqilya Channel-TV 
and five other TV channels, featuring Israeli and 
Palestinian statesmen voicing their support for the 
venture.  The newspaper quoted Qalqilya Channel-TV 
director Tariq Jabara as saying that while a similar 
campaign elicited violent reactions in the PA a few 
months ago, the current promotion "does not go beyond 
the bounds of ordinary debate." 
 
Jerusalem Post and other media reported that Wissam 
Tayem, who was allegedly forced by an IDF soldier to 
play a tune on his violin at a West Bank roadblock six 
weeks ago, was invited by the Keshet Eilon Music Center 
in the Galilee to participate in a three-day master 
violin class that brings together Jewish and Arab 
musicians. 
All media reported that Tuesday the Labor Party's 
Central Committee approved the coalition agreement, and 
that it will name its choice of five ministers Thursday 
out of 13 candidates.  Leading media reported that the 
passage of legislation allowing a second deputy PM 
could postpone the establishment of the new government 
by three weeks. 
Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post reported that Tuesday a 
majority of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice 
Committee expressed their opposition to the possibility 
that the bill calling for compensation for settlers 
evacuated during the planned disengagement in 2005 will 
also include penalties for refusal to abide by it. 
Yediot reported that government officials have promised 
compensation to some settlers, even if the 
disengagement plan is eventually not implemented. 
 
Leading media quoted visiting Italian FM Gianfranco 
Fini as saying as saying Tuesday that Italian 
paramilitary police will begin training Palestinian 
security forces in the coming weeks.  He was quoted as 
saying in an interview with Jerusalem Post that Italy 
should justify Israel's case to the EU, and that 
reports of growing internal dissent in Israel will only 
give European leaders a greater appreciation of what 
Sharon is trying to do. 
 
Hatzofe quoted a high-ranking Israeli security official 
as saying that the Palestinians have recently begun to 
manufacture rocket propelled grenades of the kind that 
once were manufactured by the USSR. 
 
Maariv reported that Yoel Hasson, a Likud activist who 
also serves in Sharon's bureau, has announced, in a 
letter to thousands of Young Likud members, his 
intention to place moles at Peace Now, in order to 
investigate the movement.  Peace Now D-G Yariv 
Oppenheimer demanded that Sharon fire Hasson 
immediately. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the interrogation of four AIPAC 
senior officials, which was to take place this week, 
has been postponed until after the New Year holiday. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that UNESCO is initiating a project 
for Israeli and Palestinian journalists: the Israelis 
will learn Arabic at the Western Galilee College, while 
the Palestinians will learn Hebrew at Bir Zeit 
University.  The courses, which will be almost entirely 
funded by UNESCO, will start in January. 
 
Yediot and Maariv cited stories in The New York Times 
and The Washington Post, based on FBI memoranda, as 
saying that U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo Bay had 
wrapped an Iraqi prisoner in the Israeli flag. 
 
Yediot reported that over 30 young Israelis have been 
arrested in the U.S. in recent days over illegal 
peddling and breaking the terms of their entry visas. 
The arrests were made in the Minneapolis and San 
Francisco areas, as well as in Texas and Florida. 
 
All media reported on, and Ha'aretz underscored, 
Tuesday's mortar attack on a mess tent in a U.S. 
military base in Mosul, Iraq, where hundreds of U.S. 
troops were lunching, in which at least 24 people were 
killed and 60 other were wounded. 
 
A Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll conducted among 
settlers (Yediot's leading story): 
-"Do you support the call by the Yesha Council of 
Jewish settlements in the territories for breaking the 
law?"  Support: 47 percent;  (55 percent among Gaza 
settlers); opposed: 40 percent (29 percent among Gaza 
settlers); 13 percent are undecided (16 percent among 
Gaza settlers). 
-"How will you behave if an evacuation is decided upon 
and policemen come to your house to evacuate you?" 
"I'll barricade myself in my home and will refuse to be 
evacuated, without applying physical violence": 42 
percent (44 percent among Gaza settlers); "I'll let 
myself be evacuated without resisting": 38 percent (23 
percent among Gaza settlers); "I'll resist, using 
physical violence": 10 percent (11 percent among Gaza 
settlers); 10 percent are undecided (22 percent among 
Gaza settlers). 
-"How do you believe the settlers in the territories 
will behave during the evacuation?"  "They will 
barricade themselves in their homes and refuse to be 
evacuated, without applying physical violence":  45 
percent (46 percent among Gaza settlers); "They will 
resist, using physical violence": 27 percent (22 
percent among Gaza settlers); "They will let themselves 
be evacuated without resisting": 11 percent (6 percent 
among Gaza settlers); 16 percent are undecided (27 
percent among Gaza settlers). 
 
Ha'aretz cited a poll commissioned by Peace Now and 
conducted by Market Watch: 63 percent of Israelis are 
opposed to violations of the law that might be carried 
out in the process of disengagement; 20 percent favor 
such breaches; 17 percent are undecided. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The only way to put the settler 
leadership to the test ... is to start the actual 
evacuation, without any more blather, without turning 
weak-kneed." 
 
Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever 
Plotker wrote in the editorial of mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "A Middle Eastern 'Marshall 
Plan' of sorts ... is feasible only if it is led by the 
United States and if it is executed in cooperation with 
Israel.  But its foundation has to be Palestinian." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Two Forces Move Into the Fray" 
 
Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (December 22): "During a nerve- 
wracking waiting period, a few facts are becoming 
evident. the main one is that the Prime Minister, in a 
series of well thought-out moves, has for the moment 
achieved most of his complicated goals.  He's the 
knight of disengagement, but he manages to get along 
with his own unruly party.... Sharon the juggler is the 
key to the success or failure of the Gaza evacuation 
initiative.  The settler picture is also becoming 
clear. They'll go all the way, and it could end up in 
bloodshed.... The possibility that the taut Yesha [i.e. 
settler] force ready for battle will manage to obstruct 
the disengagement cannot be taken lightly.... The only 
way to put the settler leadership to the test -- and 
the weight of the majority in favor of the exit from 
Gaza -- is to start the actual evacuation, without any 
more blather, without turning weak-kneed." 
 
II.  "The Palestinians' Test" 
 
Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever 
Plotker wrote in the editorial of mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (December 22): "The economic 
results of the Intifada for the Palestinians have been 
catastrophic.... The World Bank now assesses that 
increasing the annual aid to the Palestinians in the 
coming few years to USD 1.4 billion annually.... A far 
greater investment will be needed to produce a real 
change in the Palestinian Authority.... of USD 15 
billion in an international project that will center 
around settling ... 1.4 million Palestinians who are 
defined as 'refugees,' and who live in Judea, Samaria 
and Gaza [i.e. the territories].  An operation on that 
scale -- a Middle Eastern 'Marshall Plan' of sorts -- 
is feasible only if it is led by the United States and 
if it is executed in cooperation with Israel.  But its 
foundation has to be Palestinian: the Palestinians 
themselves have to want this.  And indeed they do want 
it; after a few decades' delay, they, we and the world 
are capable of ending, once and for all, the chapter of 
refugeeism in the life of the Palestinian nation.  The 
death of Arafat, the planned elections in the 
Palestinian Authority, the democratic and liberal 
reforms that it has undertaken to implement, and the 
Israeli withdrawal from Gaza (and it is vital that it 
be carried out sooner than planned and completed by 
this coming Passover [late April]) create an historic 
opportunity to find an economic and human solution to 
the refugee problem in the natural and only possible 
place there is: in the territory of the future state of 
Palestine." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"Israel walked into the problem of a severe clash -- 
and not for the first time -- with many members of 
Congress who maintain an anti-China line.... A key 
question that cannot be ignored is why such 
misunderstandings repeatedly come up between Israel and 
the U.S. regarding China." 
 
Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar "addressed the U.S." in 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "Who better than you knows 
that a flag is a sensitive thing, that is for looking 
at only." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Selling Arms to China, Or Not" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(December 22): "The Israeli-American crisis over the 
sale of an advanced technology weapons system to China 
has also turned into an Israeli-Chinese crisis in the 
wake of an American demand that Israel not return to 
the Chinese the Harpy assault drone that China recently 
acquired and which it sent back to Israel for an 
upgrade.... The problem is that Israel walked into the 
problem of a severe clash -- and not for the first time 
-- with many members of Congress who maintain an anti- 
China line.  In recent weeks there have been hysterical 
reports in the U.S. about Israeli advanced technology 
sales to China.... A key question that cannot be 
ignored is why such misunderstandings repeatedly come 
up between Israel and the U.S. regarding China.... It 
is impossible [for Israel] to win with the argument 
that Taiwan is trying to drive a wedge between Israel 
and the U.S.; or that we told the Americans that they 
apparently did not understand the Israeli English; or 
that it is all a matter of jealousy in the arms 
industry, as if it were a matter of citrus exports. 
And there's too much counting on friends in Washington 
to get us out of every problem." 
 
II.  "Dear Uncle Sam" 
 
Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar "addressed the U.S." in 
popular, pluralist Maariv (December 22): "You know that 
the Geneva Convention forbids torturing prisoners, and 
that in the culture in my neighborhood, wrapping an 
Arab up in the Israeli flag [as was reportedly done by 
U.S. military officials in Iraq and in Guantanamo Bay 
prison] is as inhuman an act as tossing a pig's body on 
a suicide bomber as he is making his way to a better 
and far more sensual world that ours.  Because who 
better than you knows that a flag is a sensitive thing, 
that is for looking at only.  After all, it is in 
America that the entire nation rears up on its 
hindquarters -- or at least runs to the Supreme Court - 
- every time someone dares to desecrate the stars and 
stripes. Every June you have your 'Flag Day,' and it 
was less than four years ago, before the current 
outburst of patriotism that brought bin Laden to your 
land, that your administration proposed amending the 
constitution so that any American who burned your 
pretty flag could be sent to prison.   So let's make 
sure we understand one another on this matter: from now 
on, let's leave ... flags out of it." 
 
KURTZER