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 000370 
 
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 
 
¶3.  Proposed Russia-Syria Arms Deal 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media underscored Thursday's inauguration of 
President Bush in Washington.  The three national TV 
stations broadcast the ceremony live.  The media noted 
that Bush abundantly mentioned world freedom in his 
speech, but not Iraq or Israel. 
 
All media (banners in Maariv and Jerusalem Post) quoted 
Vice President Dick Cheney as warning Israel on MSNBC- 
TV Thursday not to attack Iran, noting that any such 
strike would leave a "diplomatic mess afterwards" and 
should be avoided.  Jerusalem Post and Maariv quoted 
senior Israeli officials as saying that Cheney's 
comment was more a warning to the Europeans and the 
international community that they have to take a more 
concerted action to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear 
power, than a warning to Israel not to act.  Jerusalem 
Post quoted one official, who stated that Cheney "never 
misspeaks," as saying that it was telling that the fist 
part of Cheney's remark gave a justification to Israeli 
action, since he said that Iran has as a stated 
objective the elimination of Israel. 
 
Ha'aretz and other media reported that the PA plans to 
deploy some 500 security personnel in the northern Gaza 
Strip to prevent the launching of Qassam rockets into 
Israel.  This morning, Israel Radio said that 3,000 
Palestinian police are deploying in the area.  Leading 
media note that not a single Qassam rocket or mortar 
shell was fired on Thursday.  Ha'aretz quoted IDF C-o-S 
as saying that a "positive trend" can be discerned in 
the PA.  Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim made similar 
remarks on Israel Radio this morning.  Israel Radio 
reported that the girl from Sderot who was critically 
injured on Saturday died of her wounds this morning. 
 
Leading media reported that two 12-year-old Palestinian 
boys were killed by IDF gunfire -- one near Jenin (who 
was playing with a plastic rifle) and one in the 
southern Gaza Strip. 
 
All media reported that a Danish tourist of Lebanese- 
Palestinian descent has been under arrest in Israel 
since January 6.  The police and the Shin Bet have also 
arrested two Israeli Arabs in the affair.  All three 
detainees are suspected of committing unspecified 
security offenses.  The media reported that the Danish 
Embassy was informed of the arrest soon after the 
tourist was taken into custody, but that Danish 
officials were not allowed into the courtroom.  The 
media note that the next day, the Danish Foreign 
Ministry summoned Israel's Ambassador to Copenhagen and 
demand explanations.  It also demanded that Danish 
Embassy personnel in Israel be allowed to meet with the 
detainee.  The media cited Danish claims that Israel 
has violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic 
Relations. 
 
Leading media reported on migration from Israel to 
settlements slated for evacuation, especially Sa Nur in 
the northern West Bank, the population of which has 
doubled since Sharon launched the disengagement plan. 
Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday, the World 
Bank denied claims that it may purchase hothouses and 
farming equipment from evacuated Katif Bloc settlers 
and hand them over to Palestinians living in the area. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that members of the Likud "rebels" 
asked Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin last week to join 
them in quitting the Likud and forming an independent 
Knesset faction.  However, Rivlin refused, reportedly 
saying, "You must always fight from the inside.  The 
Likud is still alive and breathing, even if the Likud's 
chairman has strayed from the path."  Leading media 
reported that the National Religious Party has split 
up, with chairman MK Effi Eitam and former chairman MK 
Yitzhak Levy teaming up with the National Union, 
following months of talks. 
 
Leading media reported that UN Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan announced on Thursday that Peter Hansen, who 
heads the United Nations Works and Relief Agency 
(UNRWA), will not be reappointed and will leave the job 
at the end of March.  Ha'aretz cited the British daily 
The Guardian as saying that the decision was taken 
against Hansen's will, as a result of pressure from 
Jewish and politically conservative groups in the U.S. 
and from Israel, which accused Hansen of being an 
"Israel hater." 
 
Yediot reported that Emily Amrussi (phon.) has been 
appointed spokesperson of the Yesha Council of Jewish 
Settlements in the Territories. 
 
Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post reported that Sharon called 
Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday, telling him 
that Israel is opposed to Moscow supplying advanced SA- 
18 missiles to Syria.  Sharon reportedly said that the 
deal endangered Israel's security as well as the 
leadership of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). 
 
Last night, Channel 2-TV and Israel TV reported that 
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has decided to indict 
PM Sharon's son, Knesset Member Omri Sharon, in 
connection to illegal donations to his father's 
campaign for the Likud Party leadership (Yediot's lead 
story).  This morning, Israel Radio cited Mazuz's 
bureau as saying that the decision has not yet been 
made. 
 
Peter Erban, the director of the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM), which has been 
registering Iraqi expatriates toward the January 30 
elections for the Iraqi parliament, as implying in an 
interview with Ha'aretz that Israelis of Iraqi origin 
can participate in the election.  Ha'aretz cited 
official reservations in Jordan to Israelis registering 
in that country -- a procedure still possible in the 
next two days. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that American Jewish 
peace activist Kate Raphael Bender was deported 
Thursday after five weeks in Israeli detention 
facilities.  It was Bender's second deportation in a 
year. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that a top-level delegation of 
17 U.S. law enforcement, fire and medical emergency 
personnel arrived in Israel on Wednesday at the start 
of a seven-day visit sponsored by the Anti-Defamation 
League (ADL) aimed at learning from Israel's experience 
in dealing with security and attacks with mass 
casualties.  The delegates are primarily from Long 
Beach, CA. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶1.  Prospect For Second Bush Administration: 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Inside Pages Editor Shmuel Rosner wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Bush and his administration are 
caught in a bind between [their] driving ambition to 
change the world and resigning themselves to the 
limitations of power." 
 
Columnist Rafi Mann wrote in an editorial of popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "If Bush wishes ... to rescue the 
North Atlantic alliance from a veritable rupture, one 
of the first currencies he will have to disburse for 
doing so is the Middle East." 
 
Liberal columnist B. Michael wrote in mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The most bitter, the most 
disappointing, the most eye-opening lesson lies in the 
fact that the Bush administration has efficiently and 
cruelly exposed the brittleness and the thin veneer of 
... the cultural aspect of the 'largest democracy.'" 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Speak Softly -- or Carry a Big Stick" 
 
Inside Pages Editor Shmuel Rosner wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (January 21): "While the world is 
looking for signs of a shift in U.S. foreign policy -- 
for dialogue, for a respite from tension -- it is 
Bush's determination to act that stands in the way.  If 
Bush wants to do, he can't speak softly; if he speaks 
softly, there is not much he can do.  Bush and his 
administration are caught in a bind between this 
driving ambition to change the world and resigning 
themselves to the limitations of power.... Tempting as 
it may sound to European statesmen, the diplomatic 
scenario is not a likely choice today, and for one very 
potent reason: it goes against Bush's instincts and 
activist temperament.  Most of the people who surround 
the president strongly believe that military might, and 
not diplomacy, is the best way to handle a crisis." 
 
II.  "A Celebration With a Limited Warranty" 
 
Columnist Rafi Mann wrote in an editorial of popular, 
pluralist Maariv (January 21): "If Bush wishes to 
rehabilitate his relations with 'blue Europe,' in a 
hope to rescue the North Atlantic alliance from a 
veritable rupture, one of the first currencies he will 
have to disburse for doing so is the Middle East -- not 
only to the supporters of a traditional pro-Palestinian 
line in the European Union, but also to his friend and 
ally Tony Blair.  As the date of the British elections 
is approaching, Blair is expanding his courting of 
Muslim voters ion his country, including with promises 
of substantial aid to the Palestinians.  What will Bush 
do about this?  A serious handling of the Middle 
Eastern problems worrying Israel -- principally Iran 
and Hizbullah, will require serious Presidential energy- 
spending, not just shuttle diplomacy by the new 
Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who will come and 
 
SIPDIS 
go.  As the old-new President is celebrating in the 
palaces of Washington, there is still no answer to the 
following question: Will Bush, from the depths of the 
Iraqi quagmire, be able not only to save himself, but 
also to do something useful in his close entourage?" 
 
III.  "The World According to Bush" 
 
Liberal columnist B. Michael wrote in mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 21): "The lessons 
learned from Bush's terms -- the one that was and the 
one that will be -- go far beyond the borders of daily 
events, political account-settling and the feverish 
Israeli angle.  In the days of his reign -- I beg 
forgiveness for my bombastic words -- there have been 
universal and edifying lessons.  It looks as if the 
most bitter, the most disappointing, the most eye- 
opening lesson lies in the fact that the Bush 
administration has efficiently and cruelly exposed the 
brittleness and the thin veneer of enlightenment, 
democracy, human rights, in fact the cultural aspect of 
the 'largest democracy.  It took that society, 
supposedly the beacon of freedom, no longer than one 
and a half years to brutally crush much of its 
principles.  Not only did it mercilessly pound distant 
countries, but it did so at home, too.  It turns out 
that an awful disaster, several years of frustration 
and violence, a power-thirsty leader devoid of 
intellectual inhibitions, were enough to crush like an 
egg-shell a nice wrapping laboriously shaped during 
over two centuries." 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Prime Minister's overriding 
interest now is to carry out the disengagement plan in 
coordination with the Palestinians." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "It is impossible not to deem 
the cabinet's decision theft, as well as an act of 
state stupidity of the highest order." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "A Free Hand, With Shackles" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (January 21): "The Prime 
Minister's overriding interest now is to carry out the 
disengagement plan in coordination with the 
Palestinians.  Withdrawal under fire, accompanied by 
clashes with right-wing opponents of disengagement in 
Israel, will mean many losses for the country.  And to 
achieve disengagement that is coordinated with the 
Palestinians, it is essential to reach July with Abu 
Mazen still in power -- and to be wary of undermining 
his control, which is in any case only partial, over 
the Gaza Strip.  This is the source of the disparity 
between Sharon's declarations about 'giving the IDF a 
free hand' and the military activity on the ground, 
which is limited.... The army understands the 
constraints of the prime minister, who must provide 
answers to the complaints voiced by the mayor of 
Sderot, Eli Moyal.  This is why there is no true 
tension between Sharon and the General Staff in the 
present round, with the IDF ready to absorb the 
criticism about helplessness in the face of the 
continuing shelling.  The Prime Minister also has 
another problem.... Abu Mazen is the embodiment of the 
longings for a sane Palestinian leadership after the 
death of Yasser Arafat.  The expectation is that Israel 
will show patience in the face of his difficulties and 
give him more time." 
 
II.  "Injustice and Stupidity in Jerusalem" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (January 21): "In July 2004, 
Israel's cabinet adopted a decision that was neither 
made public nor even published in the official 
government gazette, Reshumot: to apply the Absentee 
Property Law to East Jerusalem, and thereby to 
confiscate thousands of dunams of land from owners who 
live in the West Bank.  The reason for the decision was 
security-related: since in practice, West Bank 
residents are barred from entering East Jerusalem 
because of the Intifada, the cabinet decided to enact 
an official measure that would prevent any use of these 
lands by their owners in the future as well, and would 
explicitly state that henceforth their property belongs 
to the State of Israel.... It is impossible not to deem 
the cabinet's decision theft, as well as an act of 
state stupidity of the highest order.... It is also 
impossible to accept the secrecy with which the cabinet 
makes fateful decisions of this nature, which 
unnecessarily damage the fabric of relations between 
Israel and the Palestinians.  The Absentee Property 
Law, which might have been tolerable at the time of the 
state's establishment and the War of Independence, is 
inappropriate 55 years later." 
 
 
 
------------------------------------ 
¶3.  Proposed Russia-Syria Arms Deal: 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Russia's planned sale of SA-18 missiles to Syria looms 
ominously as a throwback to the Brezhnev era's most 
misguided attitudes." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
"Big Russian Mistake" 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(January 21): "Russia's planned sale of SA-18 missiles 
to Syria looms ominously as a throwback to the Brezhnev 
era's most misguided attitudes.  Economically, Syria is 
a basket case whose debt-return record must make one 
doubt its financial commitments.  Ideologically, Syria 
remains part of the terrorist internationale which has 
repeatedly victimized Russia.  And diplomatically, 
arming Damascus while Washington suspects it of fueling 
the war on its troops in Iraq brings to mind memories 
of Russia's role in the Vietnam and Korea wars. 
President Vladimir Putin has earned himself a 
reputation as a rational man out to restore Russia's 
global stature.  In itself, this is a worthy goal. 
However, by pandering to regimes such as Assad's, not 
only will Putin not have restored Russia's clout, he 
will convince people that he has learned nothing from 
his Soviet predecessors' downfalls.  He will also make 
people reconsider their impression of his rationalism." 
 
KURTZER