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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 000934 
 
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.  Lebanon Bombing 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that State Department Spokesman 
Richard Boucher announced Tuesday, a day after the 
assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri, that 
the U.S. recalled its ambassador to Syria, Margaret 
Scobey, for "urgent consultations."  Leading media 
quoted White House Secretary Scott McClellan as saying 
Tuesday: "Yesterday's attack was a disturbing 
development, and we have made it clear to Syria that we 
expect Syria to act in accordance with the UN Security 
Council resolution calling for the withdrawal of all 
foreign troops and the disbanding of militias." 
Ha'aretz reported that political sources in Jerusalem 
expressed satisfaction Tuesday at the U.S. decision. 
The sources were quoted as saying: "This step 
underscores our argument that Syria's intentions for 
peace must be treated with caution."  Israel Radio 
reported that its New York correspondent heard from 
U.S. diplomats that this was only the beginning of U.S. 
moves against Syria.  Jerusalem Post web site reported 
that Minister Mofaz told soldiers on Tuesday that the 
bombing was launched by a pro-Syrian "terror 
organization which from what we know is apparently 
supported by the Syrians." 
 
All media reported on PM Sharon's annual conference 
with the Foreign Press Association Tuesday.  Sharon 
said that Israel is standing at the crossroads of peace 
after last week's summit meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh. 
Sharon was also quoted as saying that despite Israeli 
and American protests, Russia is going ahead with plans 
to sell SA-18 antiaircraft missiles to Syria. 
 
All media reported that the Knesset started debating 
the evacuation-compensation bill Tuesday, and that it 
will vote on it today.  The media expect around 70 
Knesset members to support it, and around 40 to vote 
against it -- including 13 Likud lawmakers.  Ha'aretz 
says articles of the bill stipulate that compensation 
to residents and businesses to be evacuated from the 
Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank will cost 4.3 
billion shekels (close to USD 1 billion), as opposed to 
the government's original estimate of 3 billion 
shekels. 
 
Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post quoted Chief of Staff 
Ayalon as saying before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs 
and Defense Committee Tuesday that the situation in the 
PA is "fragile," and that Israel has made clear to 
Abbas that it would not be satisfied with police 
deployment and PA talks to persuade the heads of terror 
groups, but that it expects Abbas to disarm Hamas and 
Islamic Jihad.  Israel Radio quoted a senior 
Palestinian source as saying that Israel is delaying 
the implementation of agreements and understandings 
with the PA.  Jerusalem Post reported that about 350 
Palestinian gunmen will be incorporated into the PA 
security forces soon as part of a deal reached between 
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of all the 
Palestinian factions.  Jailed Tanzim leader Marwan 
Barghouti was quoted as saying in an interview with 
Maariv that the Intifada is not over, and that Israel 
is ridiculing and weakening Abbas. 
 
Leading media reported that IDF troops killed two armed 
Tanzim militants near Nablus.  Ha'aretz quoted 
Palestinian sources as saying that settlers killed a 15- 
year-old Palestinian who had stoned Israeli vehicles in 
Bitunya near Ramallah.  Israel Radio reported that this 
morning, Palestinians fired five mortar shells at 
Israeli targets in the Gaza Strip -- an IDF base and 
two settlements.  There were no casualties. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Construction and Housing 
Minister Yitzhak Herzog (Labor) plans to expand the 
East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, near 
Bethlehem, eastward, to create continuity with Ma'aleh 
Adumim. 
 
All media highlighted the fact that Defense Minister 
Shaul Mofaz announced his decision Tuesday not to 
extend the term of IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon for 
a fourth year, as is customary.  The move, which was 
coordinated with PM Sharon, is seen as a sign of the 
friction between Sharon and Ya'alon, particularly 
regarding what Sharon perceived as independent 
positions Ya'alon took on various issues during the 
last three years.  Numerous political and military 
sources (according to Israel Radio, "almost across the 
board") as well as many media, criticized the decision 
as an "overthrow" and even a "scandal."  Yediot sees 
Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Dan Halutz as the 
leading contender for Ya'alon's succession.  The other 
candidate for the post is former deputy Chief of Staff 
Gaby Ashkenazi. 
 
Yediot reported that on Tuesday, dozens of writers, 
poets, and publishers from Israel and the Arab world 
attended a meeting at the Sheikh Hussein Bridge along 
the Israel-Jordan border.  The newspaper underscored 
the participation in the gathering of "national" 
Lebanese poet Samir al-Youssef, who collaborated with 
Israeli author Etgar Keret on "Gaza Blues," a 
collection of short stories.  In contrast, Jerusalem 
Post reported that only Jewish and Arab Israeli writers 
met at the border crossing. 
As the 141-nation Kyoto Protocol is formally taking 
effect today, Ha'aretz headlines: "Entire World to Call 
Today to Save the World -- Except the U.S." 
 
-------------------- 
¶1.  Lebanon Bombing: 
-------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The Washington 
administration is preparing a sweet revenge: either 
Syria will lose Lebanon, or Bashar will lose his 
throne." 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Lebanon represents another early test of President 
George W. Bush's second term inaugural commitment to 
stand with people who are struggling for their 
freedom." 
 
Former ambassador to the U.S. Prof. Itamar Rabinovich 
wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv: "The recall of the 
U.S. Ambassador in Damascus for consultations in 
Washington [is] ... the first expression of a change in 
style at the State Department following the changeover 
from Colin Powell to Condoleezza Rice." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "A Warning to Assad" 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (February 16): 
"It isn't democracy that Bush is seeking in Damascus, 
but war on the dictator who resides in the People's 
Palace and begs Israel for peace each time the American 
boot bears down on him.  It turned out on Tuesday that 
the late Hariri warned the Americans two weeks before 
his elimination that 'it will be I, or Walid Jumblatt,' 
pointing an [accusing] finger eastward toward Damascus. 
Assad is very fortunate to have chosen such a dangerous 
ally as Iran.  He is lucky that the Americans are badly 
entangled in Iraq.  He won't be lucky if Syria's 
fingerprints are found in Hariri's elimination.  The 
Washington administration is preparing a sweet revenge: 
either Syria will lose Lebanon, or Bashar will lose his 
throne." 
 
II.  "The Hariri Hit" 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(February 16): "Just when things appeared to be looking 
up for the cause of democracy in this region, the 'old' 
Middle East reared its violent head in Beirut and 
assassinated Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon's former prime 
minister of 14 years.  He resigned recently to press 
demands for the end of Syrian occupation of his 
country, thereby also enabling it to make its peace 
with Israel.  Hariri was due to run on an anti-Syrian 
platform in the upcoming election this spring.  That 
made him dangerous to Damascus.  By openly disobeying 
Lebanon's Syrian masters, Hariri took the gravest of 
risks according to the notorious codes of the old 
Middle East, where no dissent is brooked.... Lebanon 
represents another early test of President George W. 
Bush's second term inaugural commitment to stand with 
people who are struggling for their freedom.  The 
Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty 
Restoration Act of 2003 was laudable but has so far 
accomplished little more than somewhat discomfiting 
President Bashar Assad and eliciting from him feeble 
gestures of goodwill in order to ease the pressure. 
The law contains a menu of sanctions, some of which 
have not been imposed.  One wonders if Syria has really 
gotten the message from this gentle U.S. approach, not 
to mention Europe's kid gloves treatment..... [Hariri] 
symbolized Lebanon's potential for future progress. 
Perhaps it was that which the huge car bomb that 
ravaged the Lebanese capital's seafront was designed to 
destroy.  It is fully within the power of the West, 
with America in the lead, to make sure that this bleak 
and vicious scheme backfires on those who have hatched 
it." 
 
III.  "Condoleezza's Line" 
 
Former ambassador to the U.S. Prof. Itamar Rabinovich 
wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (February 16): "The 
recall of the U.S. Ambassador in Damascus for 
consultations in Washington has a four-fold 
significance: an immediate response to the murder of 
Rafiq Hariri; venting off accumulated anger over Syrian 
assistance to the Iraqi insurgents; a threat to further 
diplomatic sanctions and possible punitive military 
actions at a later stage; and the first expression of a 
change in style at the State Department following the 
changeover from Colin Powell to Condoleezza Rice. 
During the eight years of president Clinton's term, the 
United States' relations with Syria were shaped by an 
attempt to reach a peace treaty between Israel and 
Syria.  The Clinton administration viewed such an 
arrangement as the proper basis for the Israeli-Arab 
peace process, as well as a way to push Iran from the 
center of the Middle East to its sidelines.  The Bush 
administration has fundamentally reversed that 
attitude.  Its more limited interest in Israeli-Arab 
relations has focused on the Israeli-Palestinian 
crisis.  It views Syria first and foremost as a terror- 
sponsoring state allied with Iran, and a partner in the 
'axis of evil.'" 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Prof. Uzi Arad, who was a senior strategic advisor to 
former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Territorial 
exchange is relatively simple, if only because it does 
not require uprooting any population and moving it." 
 
Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized: "The 
decision makers appear to be paying insufficient 
attention to fears of a domestic war, whose outcome 
cannot be foreseen." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Demographic Key" 
 
Prof. Uzi Arad, who was a senior strategic advisor to 
former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (February 16): "The 
issue [of territorial exchange] is not more complex 
than the disengagement, for example.  On the contrary, 
compared to various moves that Israel has considered to 
maintain the Jewish-democratic character of the state, 
territorial exchange is relatively simple, if only 
because it does not require uprooting any population 
and moving it.  Fulfillment of the populated 
territorial exchange plan will allow Israel to hold 
onto unpopulated areas in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan 
Valley [the West Bank] as needed for its security as 
well as areas populated by Jews, while preserving its 
Jewish democratic character.  Therefore, it would be 
proper for Israel to put the territorial exchange plan 
onto the agenda, now, as an inseparable part of the 
future final agreement if it wants defensible borders 
for a Jewish and democratic state." 
 
 
II.  "Unilateral Formula" 
 
Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized (February 
16): "In no way will the process of evacuation [of 
settlers] be easy.  The idea of 'evacuation by hugging' 
sounds like a winning slogan, but it isn't clear 
whether the settlers will agree to be partners in the 
Chief of Staff's unilateral formula.  The decision 
makers appear to be paying insufficient attention to 
fears of a domestic war, whose outcome cannot be 
foreseen.  It should be remembered that peace is meant 
to prevent bloodshed, and not to produce an new channel 
for it." 
 
KURTZER