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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 000499 
 
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.  Iran: Nuclear Program 
 
¶3.  Iraq 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice will leave next week for a tour of 
Europe and the Middle East, which will include nine 
countries and the PA.  (According to Jerusalem Post, 
Secretary Rice will start her trip early next month.) 
 
SIPDIS 
The radio quoted. Deputy A/S David Satterfield as 
saying that Israel must cease settlement activities in 
the territories because they impede application of the 
principle of two states for two peoples.  He expressed 
satisfaction with the actions of PA Chairman Mahmoud 
Abbas (Abu Mazen), but explained that there is no room 
for flexibility, and Abbas must confront all those who 
wish to continue on the path of terrorism.  All media 
reported that outgoing A/S William Burns held separate 
meetings with PM Sharon and Abbas on Thursday. 
(Ha'aretz reported that Burns has been appointed U.S. 
ambassador to Moscow.)  Ha'aretz wrote that Burns told 
Sharon that the Bush administration has been favorably 
impressed by Abbas and by the measures undertaken by 
Israel to facilitate the elections in the territories. 
Ha'aretz reported that Shin Bet head Avi Dichter met 
with National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley on 
Thursday in Washington, and updated him on the steps 
taken by the PA to curb terrorism, and the role of 
Hizbullah in fostering militant activities in the 
territories.  Ha'aretz reported that senior U.S. 
administration officials have told their Israeli 
counterparts that Abbas is the "best man in the 
foreseeable future and he must be given a chance."  The 
U.S. officials reportedly also asked that Israel "give 
time" to Abbas in order for him to gradually deal with 
terrorism, without ignoring the responsibility of the 
Palestinians to combat terrorism.  Ha'aretz reported 
that the new Bush administration is organizing for 
dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian file: it includes 
Secretary Rice, NSA Hadley, Elliott Abrams, a White 
 
SIPDIS 
House official who will be moved up to the number three 
spot in the NSC, and current U.S. Ambassador to Egypt 
David Walsh, who will move to head the Middle East 
section. 
 
All media (lead story in Ha'aretz) quoted Sharon as 
saying Thursday that "the conditions have been created 
that will enable us and the Palestinians to reach a 
historic breakthrough in our relations."  Sharon 
further said, "It is apparent that there is a positive 
approach [in the PA] to the fight against terrorism and 
to the furthering of the diplomatic process.  Yediot 
reported that Abbas has suggested that Israel and the 
PA jointly declare a cease-fire. 
 
In an interview conducted in Krakow on Thursday with 
Jerusalem Post, Russian President Vladimir Putin 
refused to rule out his country's sale of anti-aircraft 
missiles to Syria, insisting that such weapons serve 
"defensive" purposes only and would not affect the 
balance of forces in the region. 
 
Leading media reported that citing in crime and 
lawlessness in PA-controlled areas, the PA on Thursday 
issued an order banning Palestinians from carrying 
"unlicensed" weapons.  Israel Radio reported that Hamas 
was the big winner in the PA's municipal elections. 
 
All media extensively reported on the ceremony marking 
the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi 
death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau.  A headline on 
Yediot's front page: "60 Years Too Late: The World Bows 
Its Head at Auschwitz."  President Moshe Katsav said 
that a Jewish state was the answer to the Holocaust. 
Jerusalem Post notes that Putin's failure to mention 
Jews in his speech upset Israeli officials.  Leading 
media quoted Vice President Dick Cheney as saying: "The 
story of the camp reminds us that evil is real, must be 
called by its name and must be confronted." 
 
Yediot reported that from this week, all arrests in the 
territories must be approved by the Shin Bet head or 
his deputy, and that in each case it must be a wanted 
person about to carry out a terrorist attack.  The 
number of arrests has already decreased by 40 percent. 
The newspaper quotes Israeli defense sources as saying 
that the new policy is meant to encourage the 
Palestinians to cooperate in the thwarting of attacks. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the organization Breaking the 
Silence has collected new testimony from IDF soldiers 
on harsh actions carries out during the course of the 
fighting in the territories.  Two of the testimonies 
pertain to a military doctor who gave medics lessons in 
anatomy using the bodies of Palestinians killed by 
Israeli forces.  Yediot reported that in his annual 
report, John Dougard, the UN Special Rapporteur on the 
Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian 
Territories, wrote that Israel's demolition of homes in 
the territories constitutes a war crime. 
 
Leading media reported that IDF soldiers killed an 
unarmed Palestinian civilian at the Netzarim Junction 
in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and that another 
Palestinian, a security prisoner held by Israel, died 
Thursday in a fire that broke out at the IDF prison at 
Megiddo.  The media reported on clashes and rocket 
launchings in the Gaza Strip. 
 
Leading media reported that the Foreign Ministry has 
been making a diplomatic effort in recent weeks to 
convince the EU to include Hizbullah on its list of 
terrorist organizations.  Israeli representatives are 
highlighting the threat Hizbullah poses to Abbas. 
 
Jerusalem Post cited the Interior Ministry as saying 
Thursday it will appoint accountants to review the 
books of nine local authorities in the West Bank 
accused of illegally contributing to the settlers' 
campaign to derail the government's disengagement plan. 
 
Leading media reported that Egypt and Jordan are 
shaping a joint peace plan modeled after the "Saudi 
initiative."  Yediot reported that Egypt has decided to 
establish an embassy in Ramallah. 
 
Leading media reported that the Jewish National Fund 
(JNF) and the Finance Ministry are currently trying to 
draft a new agreement that would separate the JNF from 
the state, thereby allowing it to continue selling land 
to Jews only.  Maariv reported that right-wing Knesset 
members have called for the dismissal of A-G Menachem 
Mazuz over his decision to allow sales of state land to 
Arabs. 
 
Leading media reported that on Thursday, Tourism 
Minister Abraham Hirschson and his Palestinian 
counterpart, Mitri Abu Eita, signed a joint letter 
requesting a meeting with Pope John Paul II to discuss 
promoting Christian tourism to Israel and the PA. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Massachusetts Congressman Michael 
Capuano (D) as saying that city councils across the 
U.S. are vulnerable to being manipulated and adopting 
divest-from-Israel petitions. 
 
Maariv reported that the families of three IDF soldiers 
who were killed during the Intifada intend to sue the 
Arab Bank's branch in New York City for receiving large 
sums from terror groups posing as Islamic charity 
organizations.  The newspaper quoted Mark Werbner, lead 
legal counsel for the prosecution, as saying that U.S. 
law "allows us to sue in the name of soldiers who were 
murdered during their service."  Maariv reported that 
two Israelis who were wounded in the suicide bombing at 
Tel Aviv's Doplhinarium discotheque three and a half 
years ago are suing the PA at the Tel Aviv District 
Court for 40 million shekels (around USD 9 million). 
The plaintiffs claim that evidence that the bomber 
received financial assistance from the PA was 
discovered during the IDF's 2002 Defensive Shield 
operation in Jenin. 
 
Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that 
U/S of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith announced on 
Wednesday that he intends to resign for personal 
reasons.  The media recall that Feith has been one of 
Israel's closest allies in Washington, but that he has 
been behind the crisis between the two countries over 
the supply of Israeli-made UAVs to China. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli pianist Daniel 
Barenboim compared Zionism founder Theodor Herzl to 
Richard Wagner and Israeli soldiers to Nazis during a 
lecture this week on "Wagner, Israel and Palestine" at 
Columbia University. 
 
A Maariv/Teleseker poll: 
-"Against the background of the quiet in the Gaza 
Strip, what should Israeli do in case an easy 
opportunity to eliminate terrorist leaders presents 
itself?"  Exercise restraint: 62 percent.  Eliminate 
them: 35 percent. 
-"What do you believe should be done with the houses in 
the settlements after the evacuation?"  They should be 
demolished: 55 percent.  They should be handed over to 
the Palestinians: 37 percent. 
 
Yediot cited the results of a poll conducted by the 
German newsmagazine Der Stern: 74 percent of Germans 
claim that the Germans should not feel shame over what 
happened in the Nazi death camps. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: 
"Given the current fragile situation ... the U.S. 
Secretary of State ought to exploit the momentum that 
 
SIPDIS 
has been created and provide immediate assistance, 
thereby injecting a little more goodwill and motivation 
into both sides." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Abu Mazen will apparently succeed in 
reaching a cease-fire.  The situation on the ground 
will calm down." 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "[Sharon] has all the public support he needs 
to crush this unholy alliance between the Land of 
Israel zealots and Hizbullah, who are working in the 
name of God and Allah to destroy the State of Israel." 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in Ha'aretz: "Israel will ... discover 
that what it has done recently in East Jerusalem is 
contrary to the road map it adopted.... This is not the 
way to begin negotiations for peace." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Stop Shooting" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(January 28): "The sense that each individual soldier 
in the field could end the partial lull between the 
Palestinian Authority and Israel -- a lull that has 
created a positive atmosphere between the parties and 
enabled talks aimed at arranging a meeting between 
Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) -- is no 
illusion.  Regrettably, it seems that uncontrolled 
outbursts of shooting are not confined to the 
Palestinian side.... Upon Condoleezza Rice's assumption 
of her new job as U.S. secretary of state, she 
announced that she would become personally involved in 
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and even agreed to 
consider American involvement in the Israeli- 
Palestinian mechanism that will resolve disputes 
between the parties during implementation of the 
disengagement plan.  Given the current fragile 
situation, in which the cease-fire could be shattered 
by loss of control, military caprice, or insufficient 
coordination between the sides, the U.S. Secretary of 
State ought to exploit the momentum that has been 
created and provide immediate assistance, thereby 
injecting a little more goodwill and motivation into 
both sides." 
 
II.  "The Good Bang" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (January 28): "Arafat has gone; the 
U.S. and France are joint applying heavy pressure on 
Syria to curb terror; Egypt is acting in favor of the 
[disengagement] move; the Palestinians are exhausted 
and hope for something else; and Ariel Sharon is ripe 
for big moves.  Everything is flowing in desirable 
directions.  Bush is serious, so are Sharon and Abu 
Mazen; [Egyptian intelligence chief] Omar Suleiman is 
very serious.  By the way, an official agreement will 
soon be signed between Israel and Egypt, including an 
exact definition of the Egyptian terror-fighting task 
force, which will provide protection at Israel's 
southern border.  A new galaxy has been forming before 
our very eyes.... There is a reasonable chance that the 
worst is behind us (giving way to a different sort of 
unpleasantness: an accelerated road map with the 
cessation of terrorist attacks, but without the 
crushing of terror).  Abu Mazen will apparently succeed 
in reaching a cease-fire.  The situation on the ground 
will calm down." 
III.  "An Unholy Alliance" 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
Ha'aretz (January 28): "Every morning we open our eyes 
and can't believe it.  Is this for real?  Another day 
without mortars, rockets, and suicide bombings?  It 
makes us want to stretch out in bed and heave a sigh of 
relief at the thought that we're on the verge of a 
turning point in our relations with the Palestinians. 
Only we're not sure that it's really happening or that 
it will last.... [Mahmoud Abbas] has not only silenced 
the guns, but also managed to rein in Sharon and stop 
the gunfire on this side.... Sharon has embarked on a 
historical move, and he is more determined than ever to 
complete it.   He has all the public support he needs 
to crush this unholy alliance between the Land of 
Israel zealots and Hizbullah, who are working in the 
name of God and Allah to destroy the State of Israel." 
 
IV.  "A Property Theft That Must Not Be Allowed" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in Ha'aretz (January 28): "The 
government's decision from July 2004 to confiscate 
lands and infrastructures in East Jerusalem that belong 
to Palestinians who live in the West Bank is odd, to 
say the least.... Israel will ... discover that what it 
has done recently in East Jerusalem is contrary to the 
road map it adopted.  The map's first phase explicitly 
states that the government of Israel will not 
confiscate property and houses that belong to 
Palestinians.  It is worth reminding the government 
ministers that the first phase of the road map contains 
an Israeli commitment to reopen the Palestinian 
institutions and their chamber of commerce in East 
Jerusalem.  All of this is in direct contradiction to 
what Sharon's government did in July 2004, in the 
matter of the Palestinian property in East Jerusalem. 
This is not the way to begin negotiations for peace." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Editorial Page Editor Saul Singer wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "If Europe 
and the U.S. together side with the people in the 
streets against the thieves of their government, the 
mullahs will not be able to retain power." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
"What the Realists Don't Realize" 
Editorial Page Editor Saul Singer wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (January 28): 
"What the realists don't realize is that if there is a 
problem with Bush's [inaugural] speech, it is neither 
utopianism nor excess ambition.  If anything, Bush has 
made the goal of securing the world seem more daunting 
than it really is.... It is ridiculous to assert that 
the Iranian regime is stable or permanent.  In a month, 
a year, or a decade, it will collapse under its own 
weight, with much help from the Iranian people.... How 
long this takes is determined less by the ample bravery 
and desire for freedom of the Iranian people, than by 
the entirely optional hypocrisy of the West.... If 
Europe and the U.S. together side with the people in 
the streets against the thieves of their government, 
the mullahs will not be able to retain power....  It is 
absurd to argue that it makes no difference which 
finger is on the nuclear button, the mullahs or their 
much more democratic, pro-Western successors.  The best 
would be neither, but the latter is vastly preferable. 
Realists should get this: unless they have an idea how 
to stop the coming Islamist nuke, they have nothing to 
offer." 
 
 
--------- 
¶3.  Iraq: 
--------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote 
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "On the way to 
achieving [their] goals, the Americans and those being 
aided by them are sustaining daily tactical losses, but 
not a strategic defeat, because Bush and Rumsfeld have 
remained in office and their determination to persist 
with their policy has not slackened." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Iraq Is Not Vietnam" 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote 
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (January 28): "In 
the Americans' profit-and-loss balance sheet in Iraq, 
the price -- reported every day -- is threatening to 
blur the achievement that is being accumulated from a 
broader angles.  It is an expensive, protracted, 
bleeding intervention, but all in all worthwhile, 
better than the realistic alternative.  Contrary to the 
nonsense sometimes voiced, Iraq is not Vietnam.... On 
the way to achieving [their] goals, the Americans and 
those being aided by them are sustaining daily tactical 
losses, but not a strategic defeat, because Bush and 
Rumsfeld have remained in office and their 
determination to persist with their policy has not 
slackened." 
 
KURTZER