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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 000348 
 
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.  Prospect for Second Bush Administration 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that the diplomatic-security cabinet 
decided on Wednesday to give PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas 
(Abu Mazen) a few days to take action to stop the 
firing of Qassam rockets and mortars from the Gaza 
Strip.  Leading media quoted FM and Deputy PM Silvan 
Shalom as saying that the GOI's boycott of Abbas has 
been successful.  At the same time, the ministers 
approved in principle a military operation to take 
control of the areas in the northern Strip from which 
the firing has been taking place, in the event that the 
PA fails to take action and the attacks on Israeli 
communities continue.  Israel Radio reported that this 
morning PM Sharon will update Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer 
on the cabinet's decision.  Yediot reported that for 
the first time since the beginning of the Intifada, 
paratroopers will join the IDF fighters in the Gaza 
Strip, bolstering the forces there.  Yediot highlighted 
the cabinet's warning to Syria that Israel would from 
now on respond harshly to Hizbullah's attacks. 
 
Leading media reported that Israeli and Palestinian 
security officials met Wednesday night at the Erez 
Crossing to coordinate security steps aimed at 
preventing Qassam rocket fire.  Among the participants 
in the meeting, which was held at the request of the 
Palestinians, were Gaza security chief Musa Arafat and 
the IDF's Gaza division commander, Brig. Gen. Aviv 
Cochavi.  Arafat presented Cochavi with the PA's plan 
to deploy its security forces in Gaza Strip areas from 
which militants have launched rockets and mortar 
shells.  According to the Palestinian plan, hundreds of 
Palestinian police will take up positions in the areas 
from where Qassam rockets and mortar shells are fired. 
The plan follows a series of meetings between Abbas and 
the heads of the security branches in the Gaza Strip. 
Jerusalem Post reported that Abbas has ordered Maj. 
Gen. Sa'eb el-Ajez, head of the Palestinian police 
force in Gaza, to deploy his 8,000-man force for this 
purpose.  Maariv reported that Abbas is expected to ask 
Israel to release 4,000 prisoners, and to say that this 
is the only thing that can save him. 
 
Jerusalem Post cited an interview with President Bush 
that CNN broadcast on Tuesday, in which the President, 
when asked about Natan Sharansky's latest book, The 
Case For Democracy, replied: "He's now an Israeli 
official who talks about freedom and what it means and 
how freedom can change the globe.  And I agree with 
him." 
Ha'aretz reported that the Sharon government 
implemented the Absentee Property Law in East Jerusalem 
last July, contrary to Israeli government policy since 
Israeli law was extended to East Jerusalem after the 
Six Day War.  The law means that thousands of 
Palestinians who live in the West Bank will lose 
ownership of their property in East Jerusalem.  The 
newspaper notes that GOI officials estimate the assets 
total thousands of dunams (one dunam equals 0.22239 
acres), while other estimates say they could add up to 
half of all East Jerusalem property. 
 
Maariv quoted IDF Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon 
Zeevi-Farkash as saying Wednesday that Secretary of 
State-designate Condoleezza Rice will not want to see a 
large-scale IDF operation in the Strip immediately 
after she is confirmed to her post.  The newspaper also 
cited NSA Rice as saying Wednesday before the Senate's 
Foreign Relations Committee: "It's really hard to find 
common ground with a government that thinks Israel 
should be extinguished."  Rice was referring to Iran. 
Ha'aretz noted that Democratic Senators John Kerry and 
Barbara Boxer voted against Rice's nomination. 
 
Leading media reported that on Wednesday, two 
Palestinians affiliated with Fatah were killed when 
they tried to infiltrate Kibbutz Nahal Oz, next to the 
Gaza Strip.  Two IDF soldiers were wounded in the 
clash. 
 
Maariv reported that some figures in the religious 
Zionist movement have suggested that their public 
disengage from the State of Israel, give up Israeli 
citizenship and withhold recognition of Israel. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that academics, educators, and 
human rights activist met at Givat Haviva, an 
educational dialogue center run by Yahad's kibbutz 
movement, to map out a range of new ways in which 
Israelis and Palestinians do -- or soon will be able to 
-- communicate on-line. 
 
The media cited projections by the GOI's Central Bureau 
of Statistics (CBS) that in 2025 the Muslim population 
of Israel will grow by 80 percent -- from 1.1 million 
today to 2 million.  The CBS announced Wednesday that 
Muslims now represent 16 percent of Israel's 
population.  Maariv quoted leading Israeli demographer 
Sergio Della Pergola as saying before the Knesset's 
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Wednesday that 
research led by right-wing political consultant Yoram 
Ettinger, according to which Arab demography does not 
threaten Israel, is contradicted by other findings that 
predict a 52-percent Arab majority between the 
Mediterranean and the Jordan River in ten years.  The 
media extensively cited the findings of Ettinger's 
team. 
Yediot reported that Majid Rauf, a young Iraqi from 
Kirkuk, arrived in Israel several days ago to undergo 
open-heart surgery at Petah-Tikva's Schneider Hospital. 
Rauf thanked Israel for its help.  A pro-Israel British- 
American Christian group, Shevet Ahim ("brothers 
dwelling together"), connected Rauf with the hospital. 
 
Yediot and Ha'aretz's web site quoted UN Secretary- 
General Kofi Annan as saying Wednesday at a news 
conference: "Every generation must be on its guard, to 
make sure that such a thing [the Holocaust] never 
happens again. " 
 
Ha'aretz reported that, in its discussion on the 
suitability of American economist Stanley Fischer as 
the next governor of the Bank of Israel, the Bach 
Committee on Senior Civil Service Appointments has 
found no conflict of interest in Fischer retaining his 
American citizenship. 
 
Jerusalem Post cited the police as saying that four 
Americans studying in Jerusalem yeshivas were arrested 
Tuesday on suspicion of selling drugs to dozens of 
American yeshiva students in the city over the last 
several months.  Yediot also reports on the case. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶1.  Prospect for Second Bush Administration: 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: 
"Expectations in the Middle East are for practical 
steps that will make tangible that Bush and Rice 
understand the severity of the situation and the 
urgency of dealing with it." 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"It is the job of George W. Bush from the inaugural 
podium today not only to convince the American people 
that accomplishing their mission in Iraq is well worth 
the sacrifices being asked of them, but that success in 
Iraq alone is not enough to win this war." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: 
"It may be assumed that the senior echelons of the 
State Department, which tried their hand at artificial 
respiration of the peace process, will either leave or 
form a new line, on the right." 
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach opined in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Religion will 
be the main concern of the second Bush 
administration.... [The Americans] may have elected a 
president in their own image, who will change America's 
face in the next four years." 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Middle East Awaits Rice" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(January 20): "The most important appointment in 
[Bush's] new team is the promotion of Condoleezza Rice 
from national security advisor to secretary of 
state.... Rice's testimony to the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee in the hearings this week show that 
the Middle East, after September 11, 2001, will 
continue to be the focus of American foreign and 
defense policy.  Seemingly that is good news for those 
who believe that active involvement by the 
administration is necessary, expressed in energetic 
personal involvement by the president and secretary of 
state, in an effort to calm the tensions between Israel 
and the Arabs in general and the Palestinians in 
particular.... The equation Rice waved about in front 
of the senators and the rulers and nations of the 
region was 'justice, dignity and a viable, independent 
and democratic state for the Palestinians; peace and 
security for Israel.'  As an overall vision that is 
reasonable, but the test will be in its fulfillment as 
the two states move toward concessions on their mutual 
demands regarding territories and borders, enabling 
them to establish thriving societies and economies with 
a demographic balance.  Rice evaded the issue of 
appointing a presidential envoy to the region.  She is 
aware of her responsibility, along with the 
president's, to prevent neglect and a deterioration of 
the situation.  Expectations in the Middle East are for 
practical steps that will make tangible that Bush and 
Rice understand the severity of the situation and the 
urgency of dealing with it." 
 
II.  "A Mission to Accomplish" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(January 20): "The decision to invade Iraq was the most 
decisive act of the President's first term; his success 
in bringing security and freedom to its people will 
begin the deciding verdict of his second term.  It is 
hard to imagine Iraqi democracy succeeding, however, if 
the Iranian mullocracy achieves a nuclear umbrella.... 
In the post-9/11 world, securing Iraq may be the 
linchpin of the administration's efforts to drain the 
swamps of despotic regimes in Muslim countries where 
radical Islamic fundamentalism has been allowed to 
fester, but America does not have the luxury of dealing 
with region one country at a time.... It is the job of 
George W. Bush from the inaugural podium today not only 
to convince the American people that accomplishing 
their mission in Iraq is well worth the sacrifices 
being asked of them, but that success in Iraq alone is 
not enough to win this war.  His success in doing so 
will be crucial to the future freedom and security of 
the United States, and for the fates of free and unfree 
people all over the world." 
 
III.  "The White House Won't Be Changing Its Colors" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz 
(January 20): "Insiders at the Foreign Ministry in 
Jerusalem also assess that the rose-by-any-other-name 
evolution of the national security adviser to secretary 
of state will not generate any change in Ms. Rice's 
views and in what are termed as the three main elements 
of foreign policy in the Middle East: democracy, 
democracy, and democracy.  It may be assumed that the 
senior echelons of the State Department, which tried 
their hand at artificial respiration of the peace 
process, will either leave or form a new line, on the 
right.  Departing Secretary of State Colin Powell once 
admitted to his colleague Silvan Shalom that basically, 
he didn't really intend to push the President into our 
swamp.  Powell said he was fed up with receiving a 
phone call every morning from yet another European 
foreign minister offering solutions to the Israeli- 
Palestinian crisis.  Formation of the quartet and the 
road map, he said, were inventions that were intended 
to silence the Europeans." 
 
IV.  "The Most Important Thing Bush Will Do" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach opined in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 20): 
"Religion will be the main concern of the second Bush 
administration.  The result of the elections will 
justify that: after all, almost one quarter of the 
Americans said that they voted for [Bush] because of 
'moral issues' ... and not because of the war in Iraq 
or the success of his economic policy.... Religion will 
be behind the most important step in the next four 
years, in the view of many Americans -- neither Middle 
East peace, nor preventing the dissemination of nuclear 
weapons, but the nomination of up to four new Supreme 
Court Justices.... This will sadden those who, justly 
or unjustly, look up to America as a beacon of human 
freedom: some people -- whether Americans or others -- 
find this freedom hard to bear.  Even in a situation 
when the Constitution and many other institutions 
guarantee freedom, they may choose religion as an 
answer to their fears.  They may have elected a 
president in their own image, who will change America's 
face in the next four years." 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
 
Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon asserted in 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "Not only is [Abbas's 
policy] not leading to progress toward peace, but it is 
going in the other direction -- the continuation of 
terrorist activity." 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Arafat is 
dead, but he managed to leave behind him tens of 
thousands of successors who sanctify the slogan that he 
first aired four decades ago: 'the armed struggle.'" 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Abu Mazen Is Looking For a 'Hudna'" 
 
Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon asserted in 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (January 20): "The policy 
been conducted by Abu Mazen, which is based on 
'dialogue' with the terrorist organizations, has been 
flawed from the very beginning. Not only is it not 
leading to progress toward peace, but it is going in 
the other direction -- the continuation of terrorist 
activity.  One should assume that Abu Mazen is aware of 
that.  He is not a 'new face' on the Palestinian 
political scene.  Not long ago, he was Yasser Arafat's 
prime minister.  Thus, there is no justification for 
claims that he should be granted at least 'one month of 
mercy' as he starts his term, so that he can learn the 
issues challenging him.... Should his soft policy vis-a- 
vis the terror organizations continue, Abu Mazen will 
find out he is a president by name only, while facing a 
Palestinian parliament dominated by Palestinian terror 
organizations.  The question is how the Israeli 
government relates to Abu Mazen's moves." 
 
II.  "Teach Us, Students of Gaza" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 20): "A 
new generation has come of age in the last decade in 
the territories, the fruits of the defiance and hatred 
that Arafat brought here with him in the framework of 
the Oslo accords, and this generation now is the 
generation of fighters: it is young, impudent, violent 
and uncompromising, since it grew up and was raised on 
absolute truths of demands for justice.  This 
generation is disdainful of the ageing Palestinian 
politicians, of the idea of diplomacy, negotiations and 
compromise; it was nurtured on either Palestinian 
nationalism or political Islam, two worldviews that do 
not accept the concept of compromise.  Arafat is dead, 
but he managed to leave behind him tens of thousands of 
successors who sanctify the slogan that he first aired 
four decades ago: 'the armed struggle.'  Like then, 
anti-Israel violence today is a platform for a 
Palestinian changing of the generational guard. 
Perhaps, here and there, we will find someone who is 
prepared to agree to a hudna [truce] arrangement, for 
tactical purposes, but those tools are regarded as 
things of the past." 
 
KURTZER