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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 001058 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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All media (banners in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post) 
reported that in Brussels on Monday, President Bush 
called for the establishment of a democratic 
Palestinian state with territorial contiguity, and that 
he again urged Israel to freeze settlement activity and 
help create a Palestinian state.  The President was 
quoted as saying: "A state on scattered territories 
will not work."  Leading media also quoted Bush as 
saying: "Our shared commitment to democratic progress 
is being tested in Lebanon -- a once-thriving country 
that now suffers under the influence of an oppressive 
neighbor [Syria]."  Ha'aretz says that Bush has put the 
Middle East conflict at the top of Bush's agenda. 
Jerusalem Post cites an annual Foreign Ministry 
"intelligence report" presented to the Knesset's 
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to 
which by the end of his term, President Bush wants to 
complete the road map, which is to conclude with the 
establishment of a Palestinian state. 
 
During the weekend, the key event was the cabinet's 
setting on Sunday of the date of the evacuation of the 
settlements for July 20, by a 17-5 vote.  In a separate 
move, the cabinet voted 20-1 with one abstention to 
approve the route of the separation fence south of 
Jerusalem.  The implementation of the inclusion of 
Ariel in the fence has been postponed until further 
notice 
 
All media reported that Israel released 500 Palestinian 
prisoners on Monday, and cited the Palestinians' hope 
that more will be freed. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei 
will present his new government to the Palestinian 
Legislative Council today.  The media had reported on 
the difficulties faced by Qurei in his task of 
assigning cabinet positions over the past few days. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli military and government 
officials as saying Monday that Israel must be prepared 
to carry out an air strike against Iran's nuclear 
program, although it does not expect a nuclear strike 
from Iran. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Minister for Diaspora Affairs 
Natan Sharansky's book "The Case for Democracy: The 
Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny," has gathered 
popularity among the American public and leaders, 
especially since President Bush mentioned it in his 
State of the Union Address.  The newspaper also says 
that the book is causing concern in Egypt. 
 
On Monday, Ha'aretz reported that two more mainline 
Protestant denominations -- the United Church of Christ 
(UCC) and Disciples of Christ -- are now weighing 
divestment proposals aimed at pressuring Israel to 
withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. 
 
In an interview with the Knesset TV Channel last night, 
former PM Ehud Barak called the Sharon family "corrupt 
to the core."  Barak also said that the disengagement 
plan is the result of a military failure, and not a 
calculated strategic move.  He also lambasted Labor 
Party leaders for following Sharon in a servile manner. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Bush's running argument with Europe is over which 
comes first, freedom or peace?  In Brussels, he came 
very, almost disturbingly, far in Europe's direction." 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Sharon has not 
become a dove.  He has remained what he always was: a 
pragmatic hawk.  But now he is flying high." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Sunday was Sharon's defining day in 
the history of the State of Israel.  From now on, no 
longer Sharon-Lebanon, no more Sharon-disaster." 
 
Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever 
Plotker wrote in an editorial of Yediot Aharonot: "The 
dovish Left rejects the idea of a [national] referendum 
[on the disengagement plan] with gusto.  But the Left 
is wrong." 
 
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote on page one of 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "A state that stands 
atop foundations of lies and cheating has no right to 
exist." 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "There's a desire 
for some peace and quiet in the West Bank and the Gaza 
Strip.... But there are limits to this weariness, and 
the seeds of trouble can be seen in the field." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
¶I.  "Bush's Olive Branch" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(February 22): "Bush's running argument with Europe is 
over which comes first, freedom or peace?  In Brussels, 
he came very, almost disturbingly, far in Europe's 
direction.  Bush began his description of the 'new era 
of trans-Atlantic unity' with this: 'Our greatest 
opportunity and immediate goal is peace in the Middle 
East a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and 
Palestinians is now within reach.'  He laid out, in 
some detail, the two-state goal and the 
responsibilities of all the parties.  Arab states must 
stop incitement, 'cut off public and private funding 
for terrorism' and 'establish normal relations with 
Israel.'  Palestinians must not just 'confront and 
dismantle' terrorist groups, but build a true 
democracy.  And Israel must 'freeze settlements' and 
ensure 'contiguous territory' for the new Palestinian 
state.  Bush even signed on to the very European notion 
that such peacemaking is a 'strategic interest' because 
it will 'remove an unsettled grievance that is used to 
stir hatred and violence across the Middle East.'  This 
is close to heresy for a president who continues to 
insist that it is Arab tyranny, not any 'grievance,' 
that is the font of regional aggression.... We can but 
hope that Europe realizes that it has nothing to gain 
from spurning Bush's olive branch.  The revolution in 
Bush's own foreign policy is only deepening." 
 
II.  "Rook for a Queen" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (February 21): 
"If the country were a chessboard, one could say that 
Sharon sacrificed a rook on Sunday to protect the 
queen.... All of Israel's prime ministers in the past 
30 years have been willing to give up territories in 
exchange for something -- a peace agreement, time, 
quiet, U.S. support.  Sharon is following in their 
footsteps.  In several ways he is the first: he is the 
first to agree to evacuate settlements within the Land 
of Israel; he is the first to give up territories 
without an agreement; but also the first to receive 
U.S. support for establishing facts over the Green 
Line.  This is the main point: Sharon believes that by 
his initiative he is delaying for years, perhaps 
permanently, the withdrawal from all of the 
territories.  His tactics have changed, but the plan 
has remained the same plan: to reach a stable 
arrangement that will leave a large portion, up to 40 
percent of the area of the West Bank, in Israel's 
hands.... Sharon has not become a dove.  He has 
remained what he always was: a pragmatic hawk.  But now 
he is flying high.... When Sharon announced his plan, 
Marwan Barghouti was the only Palestinian who viewed it 
favorably.   He understood what a crisis it would 
generate in the Israeli right wing.  Today he is not 
the only one.  Abu Mazen views it as a means of 
strengthening the Palestinian Authority.  He does not 
believe in an agreement with Sharon.  He believes in an 
agreement with his successors." 
 
 
 
 
III.  "Grand Dream is Over" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (February 21): "Then it was Golda Meir 
and [the late hawkish Labor Party minister] Yisrael 
Galili who made the decision to bring Jews to settle in 
the Gaza Strip.  On Sunday it was Shimon Peres and 
[Labor Party Minister] Haim Ramon who were partners to 
the decision to evacuate them.  The connecting link 
between then and now is Ariel Sharon.  Then he was O/C 
Southern Command, the person who led the tour for Golda 
and Galili in the field, a tour following which the 
decision was made.  Today he is the prime minister 
himself, and has made a dramatic, corrective, 
supplementary U-turn.  No longer Jews in Gaza.  No 
longer the greater Israel.... Sunday was Ariel Sharon's 
most important day as prime minister, and this is said 
by his own people.  Sunday was Sharon's defining day in 
the history of the State of Israel.  From now on, no 
longer Sharon-Lebanon, no more Sharon-disaster.  Sharon 
is the man who is re-dividing the map of the Land of 
Israel, who is giving up the dream, returning the 
empire to its border." 
 
IV.  "The Left and the Referendum" 
 
Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever 
Plotker wrote in an editorial of Yediot Aharonot 
(February 22): "The dovish Left rejects the idea of a 
[national] referendum [on the disengagement plan] with 
gusto.  But the Left is wrong.  The top echelon of the 
Likud would stand behind the referendum: Ariel Sharon, 
Silvan Shalom, Shaul Mofaz and Ehud Olmert, who are at 
the forefront of support for withdrawal from the 
territories and for evacuating the settlements there. 
This is an amazing situation, without precedent, one 
that the dovish camp must seize as a great treasure. 
Especially since the 'doves' have nothing to fear from 
the results of a referendum -- a fear that would have 
had some basis before Arafat's death.  In the latest 
public opinion polls, the disengagement plan receives 
the support of two thirds of the Israeli adult 
population.... The Left should have enthusiastically 
embraced a referendum now.  But it opposes it 
furiously; this is political blindness, and its price 
is liable to be very high." 
 
¶V.  "Countdown Begins to End of Zionism and State of 
Israel" 
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote on page one of 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (February 21): "The ill 
feelings felt by the opponents of withdrawal stem 
mainly from the route that was taken to reach the 
decision: a route of swindling and lies, fraud and 
deception along the entire way.  A state that stands 
atop foundations of lies and cheating has no right to 
exist.... The destruction of one of the most 
significant components of the Zionist ethos could 
become an important milestone on the way to the 
destruction of the entire State of Israel.  On Sunday, 
the government effectively decided to okay a civil war, 
thus perhaps granting, God forbid, a green light to 
Israel's destruction." 
 
VI.  "The Calm Before the Storm" 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (February 21): "The 
reason for the few-and-far-between terror attacks in 
recent weeks is not only the efforts of the new 
government of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his deals 
with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but primarily the public 
mood in the territories, where people are weary of the 
hardships of the Intifada.  There's a desire for some 
peace and quiet in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.... 
But there are limits to this weariness, and the seeds 
of trouble can be seen in the field.  The first is the 
prisoners' affair.  The publication of the list of 500 
prisoners whom Israel is about to release (and it 
doesn't include prisoners from East Jerusalem) was met 
with protest rallies in the West Bank and Gaza, as well 
as threats of hunger strikes.... A second seed of 
trouble is the separation fence, the construction of 
which is continuing, and the reinforcement and 
expansion of settlement blocs in the West Bank.... 
[Abbas] wants a final settlement, and without delay. 
In other words, he is insisting, already now, on 
discussing issues over which it is impossible to reach 
an agreement -- Jerusalem, the settlement blocs, 
borders and refugees.  Abu Mazen is also saying that 
the current cease-fire is not the end of the Intifada 
and that the nonviolent resistance will continue.... 
Marwan Barghouti estimated (in an interview from prison 
with Maariv) that Abu Mazen has six months.  He knows 
what he's talking about." 
 
KURTZER