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 000895 
 
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 
 
 
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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Assassination of Former Lebanese PM Hariri 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The newspapers -- except Ha'aretz (English Ed.) -- 
banner either threats against PM Sharon or the 
assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri in 
Beirut Monday. 
 
Maariv banners a call by Sharon's secretary, Mirit 
Danon: "Wake Up."  Danon, who has been in the employ of 
Israeli PMs since Yitzhak Shamir, warns that the 
threats against Sharon's life are exactly like those 
against Yitzhak Rabin before his assassination.  All 
media reported that PM Sharon told the Likud's Knesset 
faction Monday that he has hired guards to protect his 
late wife's grave, on the grounds of his Sycamore 
Ranch.  Sharon also accused the Likud "rebels" of 
encouraging the threats, but rebel leader Uzi Landau 
rejected the charge.  Leading media quoted Shin Bet 
sources as saying that the Temple Mount is far more 
likely to be the target of Jewish extremist attacks 
than is Sharon.  All media reported on demonstrations 
by 600 settlers, who blocked important junctions in 
central Israel and around Jerusalem Monday.  Ten to 
thirty thousand demonstrators (reportss vary) protested 
in the Gaza Strip's Katif Bloc. 
 
Although they do not rule out other possibilities, most 
media point an accusing finger at Syria for the blast 
that killed Hariri.  The media reported that Syria 
blamed Israel for the murder.  Leading media cited 
President Bush's condemnation of the killing. 
 
Ha'aretz (banner in English Ed.) says that two 
decisions -- the evacuation of settlers in the Gaza 
Strip and the northern West Bank, and the route of the 
separation fence around the Etzion Bloc and the South 
Hebron hills -- will be brought for cabinet approval at 
the same time on Sunday, in an effort to neutralize 
international criticism of the route of the separation 
fence by coupling it with the decision to evacuate 
settlements. 
 
All media reported that a disagreement between Israel 
and the PA is delaying the handover of security 
responsibility to the Palestinians in Jericho. 
 
Leading media reported that the GOI is considering 
plans to relocate settlers from Gaza in the Halutza 
dunes, south of the Strip.  Israel Radio also says that 
the government could build a town ("Gvaot") in the 
Etzion Bloc.  Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak 
Herzog (Labor) told the radio this morning that 
although the government will not prevent evacuees from 
moving to the places of their choice, it does not 
intend to build housing beyond the Green Line. 
Jerusalem Post quoted Yonatan Bassi, head of 
Disengagement Authority, as saying Monday before the 
Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that 
most settlers have realized that they are "running out 
of time," and in the past month have had a "significant 
change" in attitude about making advance arrangements 
for compensation and alternative residency. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Palestinian ministries are busy 
preparing for the post-disengagement era in Gush Katif 
and the northwest corner of Gaza, planning among other 
things for the construction of thousands of apartments 
in the areas evacuated in Gush Katif, to resettle 
refugees now living in camps in Gaza.  The newspaper 
also quoted Sharon as saying before the Knesset's 
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the 
government has still not decided whether the houses of 
settlers evacuated under the disengagement plan will be 
razed or turned over to the Palestinians. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted U/S of Treasury Stuart Levey, who heads 
the office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, as 
saying Monday during a visit to the region that the 
U.S. hopes that the PA will cooperate with Israel in an 
effort to halt the flow of money to halt the flow of 
money to terrorist organizations.  Jerusalem Post 
quoted Levey as saying that Washington is "greatly 
disappointed" with Syria for failing to take adequate 
steps to stop the flow of money to terrorist and 
insurgent organizations. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted sources in Gaza City as saying 
that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has agreed 
to unfreeze Hamas funds held in a number of Palestinian 
banks.  The sources said that the decision follows a 
meeting between Abbas and Hamas leaders last Saturday. 
 
Ha'aretz and Maariv quoted Abbas as saying in an 
interview with New York Times that he believes the 
region faces a new era, and that the sides should move 
to permanent-status talks. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday Tourism Minister 
Avraham Hirchson joined American Jewish and Evangelical 
Christian leaders in calling on President Bush to 
cancel a travel advisory which encourages Americans to 
"defer travel" to Israel. 
 
Maariv quoted sources in Amman as saying that Israel 
has approved the positioning of 1,000 men from the Badr 
Brigade -- the Jordanian branch of the Palestinian 
Liberation Army -- in the West Bank after the 
implementation of the disengagement plan. 
 
Leading media reported that French President Jacques 
Chirac has turned down a request from FM Silvan Shalom 
to support placing Hizbullah on the EU's list of 
terrorist organizations, telling Shalom that the timing 
was not right for such a move.  Ha'aretz quoted Israeli 
sources as saying that France does not want to strain 
relations with the group, which is running as a 
political party in the upcoming Lebanese elections. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the leaders of the Catholic 
community in Israel, headed by Latin Patriarch Michel 
Sabbah, wrote President Moshe Katsav on Sunday, laying 
responsibility for the safety of the community on 
Israel.  The appeal comes in the wake on the attacks on 
Christians in the Galilee village of Maghar. 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "It 
seems that the opponents [of settler evacuation] are 
better prepared for it than its supporters.  The 
cabinet and Knesset should treat the upcoming period as 
a state of emergency, for which the necessary legal and 
operational tools must be prepared." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "The 
rampaging right-wing extremists are not demonstrating 
only against the cabinet ministers, they also chant 
slogans against the Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria 
and Gaza [i.e. the territories]." 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"A policy of support for Israeli-Palestinian peace and 
for the new PA government cannot be taken seriously 
when there is a refusal to even recognize, let alone 
confront, a terrorist group [Hizbullah] that is openly 
committed to destroying both." 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global 
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist 
Barry Rubin, wrote in Jerusalem Post: "The Saudi regime 
is spreading a view of terrorism which extols attacks 
not only on Israel and America, but also on itself." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
¶I.  "Ready For a State of Emergency" 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(February 15): "The cabinet is slated to convene this 
Sunday for one of its most important, and perhaps even 
decisive, meetings since the founding of the state.  On 
the agenda will be Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan 
to evacuate all the settlements in the Gaza Strip plus 
four settlements in the northern West Bank.... These 
are not normal times.  Opponents of the evacuation are 
determined to sabotage it. For this purpose, they 
intend to flood the Katif Bloc with their people and 
spark riots, both there and in many other places 
throughout the country.  They are being helped by the 
weakness that the authorities have displayed thus 
far.... The evacuation will be too drawn out, 12 weeks, 
and too late, by five months.  It seems that its 
opponents are better prepared for it than its 
supporters.  The cabinet and Knesset should treat the 
upcoming period as a state of emergency, for which the 
necessary legal and operational tools must be 
prepared." 
 
II.  "Against the Extreme Right Wing" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (February 
15): "The unbridled rampage of an unruly group from the 
extreme right wing that was aimed against cabinet 
ministers received a great deal of attention in the 
government compound in Jerusalem.... The rampaging 
right-wing extremists are not demonstrating only 
against the cabinet ministers, they also chant slogans 
against the Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza 
[i.e. the territories].... They refuse to accept the 
policy of restraint that the residents of the Katif 
Bloc have adopted.... It would be a grave mistake were 
the government to deal with the extreme right wing and, 
while so doing, also try to hurt the Jewish residents 
of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. As noted, a clear 
distinction needs to be drawn between those two groups. 
With that having been said, Israel should refrain from 
taking steps that are in violation of the law, since 
they could damage the democratic portrait of the State 
of Israel.... Democracy needs to be protected by 
democratic means, within the boundaries of the written 
law.  That is a rule that must not be broken!" 
 
III.  "Europe and Hizbullah" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(February 15): "If Europe cannot recognize that 
Hizbullah is a terrorist organization, it is hard to 
take its diplomacy in the nuclear arena seriously 
either.  Europe has been pressing the U.S. to join in 
this process, but what reason would the U.S. have to 
join such a feckless policy? Why, for that matter, is 
Europe not joining in the U.S. approach?.... In any 
case, a policy of support for Israeli-Palestinian peace 
and for the new PA government cannot be taken seriously 
when there is a refusal to even recognize, let alone 
confront, a terrorist group that is openly committed to 
destroying both." 
 
IV.  "How Saudi Arabia Threatens Itself" 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global 
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist 
Barry Rubin, wrote in Jerusalem Post (February 15): 
"It's a really strange thing.  America is supposed to 
be the land of public relations; yet it is in the Arab 
world that this art has been most perfectly developed 
in political terms.  Consider, for example, the Saudi 
government's international conference on 
counterterrorism held in early February.  Saudi Arabia 
is in an extremely peculiar position on this issue.  On 
the one hand, Riyadh has been a major financier of 
terrorism and propagandist for the main ideology 
motivating such behavior.  Most of the September 11 
hijackers were Saudis.  The Saudis have never accepted 
responsibility for these acts -- which its leaders 
often claim were a Zionist or American plot -- and it 
has not taken very effective action to change the 
situation.... In other words, the Saudi regime is 
spreading a view of terrorism which extols attacks not 
only on Israel and America, but also on itself.  This 
type of manipulation fools some people abroad but may 
ultimately be fatal to a Saudi regime which is 
inspiring its own would-be gravediggers at home." 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶2.  Assassination of Former Lebanese PM Hariri: 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote on page 
one of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: 
"Those who cooperate with the American CIA or the 
Israeli Mossad will receive a car bomb.  Bashar Assad's 
crocodile tears won't help." 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot: "The U.S. must consider using force to deter 
the Syrian regime.  Perhaps that way it will be 
possible to achieve stability in three bleeding spots 
in the region: in Iraq, in the Palestinian Authority 
and in Lebanon." 
 
Syrian and Lebanese affairs expert, Prof. Eyal Zisser, 
wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv: "Hariri's 
elimination pulled the rug from under the [Syrians'] 
key claim justifying the continuation of their presence 
in Lebanon -- a presence supposed to guarantee 
continued stability and the upholding of security in 
that country." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Bashar Assad's Crocodile Tears" 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote on page 
one of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot 
(February 15): "Damascus intelligence refuses to change 
the operating disk from 20 and 30 years ago, and 
indeed, this disk bears a simple and catchy message: 
all those who try and oppose the palace's policy, just 
as in the days of the late Hafez Assad, will either 
vanish or be assassinated.  Those who cooperate with 
the American CIA or the Israeli Mossad will receive a 
car bomb.  Bashar Assad's crocodile tears won't help. 
While he did indeed get ride of his main rival, from 
all perspectives he is both the main culprit and loser. 
If the Lebanese economy is damaged, the deep economic 
crisis in Syria will only worsen.  If the internal 
cease-fire in Lebanon is done away with, then the 
administration of President Bush and his new allies in 
the Elysee Palace will not let Bashar continue to run 
amok in Lebanon.... [Hariri's] assassination is liable 
to drag Lebanon into a vortex of blood and terror. The 
question is who will win in the battle for Lebanon's 
independence: Bashar Assad or the opposition in Beirut. 
The legacy that Hariri left behind is meant to lead 
Lebanon to split from Syria and hold separate 
negotiations with Israel, on condition that this will 
be within the power of its leaders, and on condition 
that they survive the brutality of Damascus.  In any 
event, the return of non-quiet to our neighbor in the 
north will also put Israel on the alert." 
 
II.  "Assad Must Be Dealt With" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot (February 15): "The Americans have so far 
taken a soft position toward the Syrians.  While they 
did send a number of top envoys who passed on the 
'absolutely last warning' to Assad, mainly that he get 
his hands out of Iraq, in practice, Syria's involvement 
there continues.  The efforts of the UN as well, which 
passed a resolution obligating Syria to remove its army 
from Lebanon, have not born fruit to this day.  The 
brutal murder of Hariri and Syria's refusal to all 
international demands do not leave the world many 
diplomatic choices.  The U.S. must consider using force 
to deter the Syrian regime.  Perhaps that way it will 
be possible to achieve stability in three bleeding 
spots in the region: in Iraq, in the Palestinian 
Authority and in Lebanon." 
III.  "Syria Will Pay the Price" 
 
Syrian and Lebanese affairs expert, Prof. Eyal Zisser, 
wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (February 15): "In 
the past, Syria used to strike at those who dared raise 
their hands or their voices against it in Lebanon.  But 
these aren't ordinary working days for Damascus.  Syria 
is now under unprecedented international -- mostly 
American and French -- globally backed pressure.... 
Whatever the case may be, the Syrians will pay for 
[Hariri's] assassination even if they weren't actually 
behind it.  Hariri's elimination pulled the rug from 
under the [Syrians'] key claim justifying the 
continuation of their presence in Lebanon -- a presence 
supposed to guarantee continued stability and the 
upholding of security in that country." 
 
KURTZER