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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 TEL AVIV 001535 
 
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: 
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Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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Ha'aretz reported that Israel has still not kept a 
promise that it made the U.S. last April to demarcate 
the built-up areas of every West Bank settlement, for 
the purpose of setting limits on the settlements' 
growth. The newspaper says that as a result, the U.S. 
has halted the work of the Israeli-American task force 
that was supposed to deal with this issue. 
 
Leading media reported that Defense Minister Shaul 
Mofaz met with PA Interior Minister Nasser Yousef in 
Herzliya last night, and that they agreed that Jericho 
be handed over to PA security control on Wednesday. 
Security responsibility of Tulkarm will be transferred 
next week, and that of Qalqilya later.  The radio 
quoted senior Palestinian sources as saying that the 
agreement on the handover of Palestinian cities is a 
retreat from the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings. 
Israel Radio quoted PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as saying 
that Israel has agreed to the release of Ahmed Sa'adat, 
the PFLP leader who was behind the 2001 assassination 
of cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi, and of Arafat 
associate Fuad Shubaki, whom Israel found guilty of 
weapons smuggling.  The station, which said that this 
is probably a trial balloon by the Palestinians, cited 
denials by Israeli military and government officials. 
 
Hatzofe quoted senior Israeli military officials in the 
Gaza Strip as saying that PA officials are not blocking 
the continued arming by terror organizations, that the 
production of Qassam rockets has continued in recent 
weeks, and that the Palestinian security organizations 
have made no attempts to prevent this. 
 
All media reported on, and Yediot and Maariv led with, 
last night's demonstration on the Ayalon Highway, Tel 
Aviv's main artery, during which disengagement 
protesters blocked rush-hour traffic with burning tires 
for an hour.  Eighteen demonstrators were arrested. 
Jerusalem Post reported that the settler leadership 
denounced the demonstration and stressed that it was 
not connected to the event.  Maariv reported that 
thousands of right-wing activists plan to storm the 
Temple Mount during the evacuation of the Gaza Strip 
settlements, producing bloody riots. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that PM Sharon reiterated 
during a meeting Monday with Dutch PM Jan Peter 
Balkenende that in Israel's eyes, an intra-Palestinian 
declaration of truce is not enough.  Sharon demanded 
that the PA dismantle the terrorist organizations, not 
make agreements with them.  All media cited London- 
based Asharq Al-Awsat's report that Abbas is expected 
to tell Palestinian factions at a meeting in Cairo 
today that the refugees' right of return should be 
viewed "realistically," and that not all Palestinian 
exiles will return to former homes in Israel and the 
territories.  The media say that Abbas will present 
"painful concessions" to the factions.  Israel Radio 
reported that Muhammad Nazal, one of Hamas's leaders, 
told the PA newspaper Al-Ayyam that his organization 
will not join a Palestinian government even after the 
elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council, and 
that it will not take part in negotiations with Israel. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Israel has doubled its 
efforts in recent weeks to neutralize American Jewish 
opposition to the Gaza Strip disengagement plan, 
calling on organizations to butt out of its domestic 
affairs and respect its decisions.  The newspaper 
quoted Consul-General in New York Arye Mekel as saying 
Monday that he holds almost daily meetings with 
American Jewish leaders in an effort to create "one 
voice in the U.S., which supports Israel and its 
policies without second guessing."  Jerusalem Post 
reported that settler leaders will be in the New York 
area this week to do the exact opposite and enlist 
support in the fight against the plan.  All media 
reported that on Monday, American Jews who came on a 
solidarity trip with Katif Bloc settlers were briefly 
detained at Ben Gurion Airport. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan 
as saying in Ramallah Monday that the UN is 
establishing a register of property damage caused by 
the West Bank security fence. 
 
Leading media reported that despite pressure from 
Algerian, Syrian, and Libyan delegates, the speaker of 
Egypt's parliament, Ahmed Fathy Sorour, decided Monday 
to allow Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin to deliver the 
opening address at a convention of parliamentary 
leaders from Mediterranean and European nations taking 
place in Cairo.  Rivlin cited the lack of warmth toward 
Israel among Egyptians, and the "dark forces of 
fundamentalism and terror" that he said "are now the 
biggest challenge facing us all as free nations." 
Rivlin added that Israel had its hand stretched out in 
peace toward its neighbors -- Egypt, Jordan, the 
Palestinians, and Syria. 
 
All media reported that 800,000 to 1 million supporters 
of the Lebanese opposition, depending on the sources, 
demonstrated in Beirut on Monday. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday, 200 tons of 
apples produced by Golan Druze crossed the border to 
Syria.  Altogether, 7,000 tons of apples will be 
exported to Syria.  Yediot writes that Israeli apple 
growers will indirectly benefit from the deal. 
 
Leading media reported that Interior Minister Ophir 
Pines-Paz announced Monday that that he intends to ask 
the government to approve the appointment of Oskar Abu 
Razek as director general of his ministry. This is the 
first time an Israeli Arab would serve as a ministerial 
director general. 
 
All media reported on the inauguration of Yad Vashem's 
new museum, the largest Holocaust museum in the world, 
which will be attended by an unprecedented number of 
foreign dignitaries today.  Yediot reported that the 
Foreign Ministry decided not to invite a Japanese 
representative to the ceremony, fearing that he would 
compare the dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima to the 
Holocaust. 
 
 
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Mideast: 
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                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Veteran print and TV journalist Dan Margalit wrote on 
page one of popular, pluralist Maariv: "The settlers 
will lose.  [But] it may take the national rift caused 
by disengagement a long time to heal." 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The report [on 
illegal settler outposts] submitted by Talia Sasson 
proves that Ariel Sharon has a more solid, long-term 
plan than anyone imagined." 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "The revolutionary change in Hamas's position 
signifies a degree of acceptance of the peace 
process.... Having decided to participate in the 
municipal elections, Hamas now has no choice but to go 
all the way and become a political party." 
 
¶M. J. Rosenberg, director of policy analysis for the 
progressive U.S.-based Israeli Policy Forum, wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Taking 
actions like the House [Appropriations] Committee did 
last Tuesday profoundly damages Israel. Israel wants a 
strong PA that can and will liquidate the suicide 
bombers and build a democracy that will live in peace 
with Israel.  That is what Bush wants." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
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¶I.  "Bonfire of Despair" 
 
Veteran print and TV journalist Dan Margalit wrote on 
page one of popular, pluralist Maariv (March 15): 
"'Love will prevail' [the original slogan adopted by 
the anti-disengagement movement] lost last night big 
time. The settlers' borrowed slogan went up in smoke 
yesterday on the [major] Ayalon freeway.  It was 
neither an accident nor the act of a crazed fringe 
group.  Everything ran like clockwork.  It was a clear 
statement of profound significance: the settlers have 
given up on their effort to win the public's heart.... 
More than anything else, this attests to the despair 
that is beginning to sink in among the settlers.  It 
attests to the absence of a means of persuasion, to the 
end of dialogue.  They can't beat Ariel Sharon. 
Neither polemics nor Knesset votes will work.  Now they 
are trying their hand at force.... The Palestinians and 
their press vociferously protest the IDF roadblocks in 
the territories and demand that they be removed because 
they restrict the population's freedom of movement and 
encumber it. What the settlers did last night was to 
create a burning roadblock for half the people of 
Israel.  The Palestinians hate the slow crossing at 
roadblocks.  So do Israelis.  The settlers will lose. 
It may take the national rift caused by disengagement a 
long time to heal.  That is a shame because, despite 
everything and in spite of everything, they are beloved 
brethren, and I am terrified by the possibility that 
the fire might burn the connective sinews." 
 
II.  "A Dream Pulled Off the Shelves" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 15): "Years 
of terror, two Intifadas, global pressure and American 
arm-twisting in particular had to happen for this 
unpredictable man [Ariel Sharon], the father of the 
settlements, to change azimuth.  At first people 
thought that disengagement from Gaza was a trick.  Then 
they said it was the first and last step in withdrawal 
from the territories.  Now the picture has changed. 
The report submitted by Talia Sasson proves that Ariel 
Sharon has a more solid, long-term plan than anyone 
imagined.  Like a court lawyer who never asks a 
question to which he doesn't know the answer, Sharon 
knew exactly what Sasson's findings would be.  Now he 
has put these 105 unauthorized outposts on the national 
agenda, as the next stage in the pullout from Gaza.  In 
so doing, Sharon has made it clear that in a two-state 
solution to the conflict, Israel will be gone from 
Gaza.  That dream has been pulled from the shelves." 
 
 
 
III.  "Hamas Has No Choice" 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in 
Ha'aretz (March 15): "This evening, under Egyptian 
auspices, and presumably in the presence of Syrian 
representatives, the various Palestinian factions will 
meet in Cairo for what may well be remembered as one of 
the most important gatherings in the history of the 
Palestinian national movement.  The gathering will 
center on a dialogue between the Palestinian Authority 
-- or more precisely, the Palestinian ruling party, 
Fatah -- and the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas.... 
The revolutionary change in Hamas's position signifies 
a degree of acceptance of the peace process.  One can 
certainly point to international and regional 
developments that have led to this change, but there is 
also a direct cause: Hamas made a very strong showing 
in the local elections that took place in the West Bank 
and Gaza Strip a few weeks ago.  After these elections, 
one of its representatives said: 'We now have a 
responsibility toward the masses who voted for us, and 
we cannot uphold this responsibility if we don't play a 
part in all the governmental institutions in the 
territories.'  In other words, having decided to 
participate in the municipal elections, Hamas now has 
no choice but to go all the way and become a political 
party." 
 
IV.  "Congress Won't Let Arafat Die" 
 
¶M. J. Rosenberg, director of policy analysis for the 
progressive U.S.-based Israeli Policy Forum, wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (March 15): 
"With Arafat gone and Mahmoud Abbas in Arafat's old 
job, Bush feels that at last he has a Palestinian 
leader he can work with.... To demonstrate his 
commitment -- and his view that it is a new day -- Bush 
has asked Congress to immediately provide USD 200 
million in aid to the Palestinian Authority.  For Bush 
that aid would constitute a U.S. down payment toward 
implementation of his vision of 'two states, Israel and 
Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.' 
Too late in the fiscal year for a regular congressional 
appropriation, he 'requested' what is known as a 
'supplemental.'  He said it was a top priority.  And 
what has been the congressional response to that 
request?  We found out on Tuesday.  The answer was 
'yes, but.'  There were so many 'buts' that they 
rendered the 'yes' almost meaningless.... At the 
Appropriations Committee session in which the aid was 
decided upon, one member of Congress after another got 
up and talked about Arafat.  The late PLO chairman 
would be pleased.  Most people do not continue to be 
major players on the Washington stage after their 
death, but Arafat is.... Taking actions like the House 
Committee did last Tuesday profoundly damages Israel. 
Israel wants a strong PA that can and will liquidate 
the suicide bombers and build a democracy that will 
live in peace with Israel.  That is what Bush wants. 
It is what Sharon wants.  What, in heaven's name, does 
Congress want?" 
 
KURTZER