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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 000545 
 
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.  Iraq 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported on, and Yediot and Maariv bannered, 
an anti-disengagement rally held opposite the Knesset 
last night, to demand a national referendum or 
elections.  The event, which gathered 130,000-150,000 
protesters (250,000, according to the organizers), will 
continue through tonight.  Israel Radio reported on 
minor arguments between members of the Yesha Council of 
Jewish Settlements in the Territories and far-right 
demonstrators, who carried posters comparing PM Sharon 
with some of the Jewish people's worst tormentors, like 
Titus and Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the U.S. administration is 
satisfied about the relative quiet in the region. 
Leading media reported that Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice is likely to visit Israel next Sunday 
and Monday.  The station reported that Secretary Rice, 
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Elliott 
Abrams will hold a meeting today in Washington with 
Sharon aides Dov Weisglass, Shalom Turjeman, and Maj. 
Gen. Yoav Galant, as well as Ambassador Danny Ayalon. 
Jerusalem Post reported that Weisglass is carrying a 
dual message to Secretary Rice: Abbas is making the 
right moves, but they are still insufficient to warrant 
discussions on a permanent agreement.  On Sunday, 
Ha'aretz quoted senior U.S. officials as saying that 
the CIA is set to resume its role in security 
coordination between Israel and the PA in an effort to 
stabilize the situation in the territories. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that 
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) will ask Sharon 
at their meeting to release around 8,000 Palestinian 
prisoners.  The radio cited the London-based Al-Quds Al- 
Arabi as saying that Abbas has finalized the makeup of 
this government, in which PLO representative to the UN 
Nasser Al-Kidwa will serve as foreign minister. The 
station reported that Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and 
Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah 
decided on Sunday to continue their armed struggle 
against Israel. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israel has promised the U.S. 
that it will reexamine a decision made last summer to 
confiscate East Jerusalem property owned by 
Palestinians, who have been cut off from their land by 
the separation fence.  The newspaper quoted GOI sources 
as saying that Secretary Rice will raise the issue with 
Weisglass's team today.  On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported 
that Sharon is expected to have the cabinet approve the 
amended fence route in Gush Etzion (the Etzion Bloc) 
before his meeting with Abbas. 
 
Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post highlighted Sunday's 
elections in Iraq.  The media quoted President Bush as 
saying that the elections were "a resounding success," 
while warning that more hard work lay ahead to build a 
democracy.  Yediot's headline: "Historic Day: Democracy 
Defeated Terror."  Over the weekend, the media 
recounted the stories of Maariv journalist Jackie 
Hoogie and of Ha'aretz writer Shahar Smooha, who are of 
Iraqi origin.  They registered and voted at the polling 
station in Amman.  Yediot reported that three Jews of 
Iraqi origin voted in London. 
 
Maariv reported that following the cease-fire, Israel 
has erased the name of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades 
commander in Jenin Zakaria Zubeidi, as well as other 
militants, from its list of wanted Palestinians. 
 
Yediot quoted Ramallah sources as saying that Israel 
will hand over security responsibility for the city of 
Ramallah on Wednesday.  The newspaper cited the GOI's 
response that the transfer will not take place 
overnight.  Leading media reported that Sharon told 
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz at Sunday's cabinet 
meeting that he should not hurry to hand over control 
of the cities to the Palestinians before making sure 
they are prepared to take responsibility.  Leading 
media quoted Mofaz as saying that the number of 
terrorist attacks has recently dropped by 70 to 75 
percent, but that the quiet is fragile.  Reporting that 
Mofaz is scheduled to hold a new meeting with 
Palestinian security official Muhammad Dahlan today, 
Israel Radio cited the dissatisfaction in some 
Palestinian circles at Dahlan's self-appointed role. 
On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that at a high-level 
meeting between Israelis and Palestinian officials in 
Davos, Switzerland, the wide gap between their 
different visions of the future could not be disguised, 
as the Palestinians stated their expectations to see 
the renewal of a bilateral diplomatic process, which 
would lead to an agreement and an Israeli withdrawal 
from the West Bank. 
 
Yediot reported that Sharon has instructed his bureau 
to add substantial compensation to settlers who will be 
evacuated from their homes.  A draft bill on the matter 
will be ready by Monday. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Supreme Court President Justice 
Aharon Barak has issued a temporary injunction 
prohibiting the Civil Administration in the West Bank 
from demolishing homes in the village of Wadi al-Rasha, 
near Qalqilya.  The newspaper cited Palestinians claims 
that Alfei Menashe settlers had pressed to obtain the 
demolition of the houses because the petitioners had 
refused to rescind their appeal against the separation 
fence. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Abbas has turned down a 
request to apologize to Egypt on behalf of the 
Palestinians for celebrating the assassination of the 
late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981. 
 
Pakistani PM Shaukat Aziz was quoted as saying in an 
interview with Maariv that his country will not engage 
in normal ties with Israel as long as there is no 
progress in the diplomatic process between Israel and 
the PA.  Aziz expressed his stupefaction at FM Silvan 
Shalom's attempts to meet with him at the World 
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted senior Israeli security sources 
as saying on Sunday that the determination by the UN 
Security Council that the Sheba Farms area is Syrian 
and not Lebanese totally negated that pretext that 
Hizbullah has been using for continuing its terrorist 
attacks against Israel.  On Sunday, Yediot cited a 
similar statement by Israel's Representative to the UN, 
Danny Gillerman. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that a joint Palestinian- 
Israeli initiative for monitoring media coverage of the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict was launched in Jerusalem 
on Sunday by the Jerusalem-based Keshev Center for the 
Protection of Democracy in Israel and the Palestinian 
Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and 
Democracy. 
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying 
in an interview with Channel 10-TV over the weekend 
that Russia is rejecting criticism of its sale of 
shoulder-held SA-18 missiles to Syria.  Putin said: 
"The weapons do not breach the balance of forces in the 
region, which we know ... is significantly in Israel's 
favor." 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israel and Turkey are currently 
discussing further security cooperation that would 
involve the refurbishment of another 48 of the Turkish 
air force's F-4 Phantoms and some 200-300 M48 Patton 
tanks belonging to Turkey's armored corps.  The 
newspaper wrote that Turkey is also looking into the 
possibility of purchasing Israeli-made Harpy UAVs.  The 
deals could amount to USD 1.5 billion. 
 
All media reported on the death on Saturday night of 
celebrated satirist Ephraim Kishon. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Exemplary 
order was maintained at [Sunday's anti-disengagement] 
demonstration, which was restrained and disciplined." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman opined in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Behind the series of [settler] 
protests, which have been held one after another in 
recent months, are calculated individuals trying to 
terrify the Prime Minister and the general public." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "Iran has 
a different agenda from that of Ariel Sharon and Abu 
Mazen." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "An Orange Evening" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 31): 
"The disagreement is over, but the struggle is not. It 
is being waged on two levels. The one is public, and 
involves an attempt to enlist the Israeli street's 
support so as to force Sharon at the last moment to 
hold either a referendum or early elections and, by so 
doing, to delay the evacuation and maybe kill it.  The 
other is surreptitious, and it involves an effort to 
create a traumatic public atmosphere that will bog down 
the government and the political establishment in 
advance of future withdrawals.... Exemplary order was 
maintained at [Sunday's anti-disengagement] 
demonstration, which was restrained and disciplined. 
This may have been the last such demonstration.  The 
closer the date of evacuation comes, the stormier, the 
more threatening the demonstrations will be.  [Likud 
Knesset Member] Ehud Yatom, the pardoned Shin Bet agent 
from the bus number 300 affair [in which he was accused 
of killing two captured prisoners], quoted from the 
podium the famous [Hebrew] song about the little girl 
who stood up and asked:  Why?... It was impossible not 
to invoke the Holocaust survivor Miriam Yahav, who 
stood up last week in Auschwitz and, in front of all 
the leaders of the world, asked that very same 
question: Why?  Why?  With all due understanding for 
the settlers' pain and for the political calculations 
of their supporters, everyone ought to bear in mind the 
difference between the one why and the other.  The 
difference is enormous." 
 
II.  "Trauma Made to Order" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman opined in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (January 30): "Behind the series 
of [settler] protests, which have been held one after 
another in recent months, are calculated individuals 
trying to terrify the Prime Minister and the general 
public.... Those who interpret the crisis of evacuation 
in terms of national trauma are the settlers. Those who 
create the conditions that will lead to a violent 
confrontation are the settlers. Those who equate the 
evacuation with sacrilege are the settlers. And they 
have a reason for their behavior: They seek to equate 
the evacuation to a disaster of such proportions that 
it must be stopped at all costs, and if it is to be - 
that no one will ever think to repeat the act in other 
parts of the whole Land of Israel [i.e. Israel and the 
territories]. 
 
III.  "The Familiar Headlines" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (January 
31): "There is no doubt at all that a decisive majority 
of the Israeli public wants to see the elected 
Palestinian leadership turning over a new leaf and 
taking part in the elimination of all elements of 
terrorism, but we have already seen Palestinian police 
changing their uniforms and joining every one of the 
militant terrorist organizations, and also exploiting 
their position in order to support terrorism in every 
possible way.  Iran has a different agenda from that of 
Ariel Sharon and Abu Mazen.  All the intelligence 
agencies say that Iran's proxy murderer Hizbullah is 
trying to sabotage the understandings between Israel 
and the Palestinian Authority, and a senior military 
source said there is still no change in the level of 
hostilities in the Gush Katif area, according to 
Hatzofe reporters.... Moreover, 'hudna' is only a 
ceasefire, and there is no guarantee that the period of 
quiet will not be exploited by Hamas and Islamic Jihad 
to step up their arms production and to improve its 
weapons.... Nasrallah's arrogant declaration that he 
intends to abduct Israeli civilians to expedite the 
release of prisoners, has encouraged the terrorist 
organizations to operate against Israel, especially 
since they are guaranteed appropriate remuneration.  It 
is dangerous to be optimistic about the terrorist 
organizations, and it is to be hoped that the heads of 
the intelligence agencies will keep their eyes open and 
will not be deluded by the wishful thinking of 
politicians, even if they have long experience in 
getting to know the enemy." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iraq: 
--------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Expert on Iraqi affairs Dr. Ofra Bengio wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "The true test of democratic 
development in the long term will be at two crossroads: 
when concrete power sharing begins, and after the 
pullout of the U.S. and its allies." 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: " Israel has 
nothing to expect from a Shi'ite-fundamentalist regime 
[in Iraq]." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  " For Iraqis, True Test Still Ahead" 
 
Expert on Iraqi affairs Dr. Ofra Bengio wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv (January 31): "It should be 
remembered that those 'free' elections are being held 
under the watchful eyes of no less than 30,000 troop; 
in the past, when the Western eyes disappeared, the 
entire democratic structure collapsed.  Furthermore, 
the small turnout among Sunnis could push them even 
farther into the political margins, and cause them to 
make more radical moves in order to nip democracy in 
the bud.  Finally, the true test of democratic 
development in the long term will be at two crossroads: 
when concrete power sharing begins, and after the 
pullout of the U.S. and its allies.... In spite of 
everything, no one disputes one fact: the historic 
makeover ... is irreversible." 
 
II.  "Saddam Hussein Is Turning in His Jail" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 31): 
"This morning, the Arab world is waking up to a new 
reality in Iraq, and, no less important, in the Arab 
world itself.... Iraq's fate will be determined in 
coming days.  If the Shi'ites, backed by the Kurds, 
start a 'new order' at the expense of the proud, 
defeated Sunnis, the country could slide into a civil 
war.  If the Shi'ites demonstrate maturity and 
generosity, and embrace the Sunnis in a future regime, 
there is still hope for that large, despondent 
country.... Israel has nothing to expect from a Shi'ite- 
fundamentalist regime.  Should a civil war start in 
Iraq, that country would be busy with itself for a few 
years, but there would be no warming of relations with 
Israel.  In a better scenario, the new regime would 
ignore Israel." 
 
KURTZER