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 001720 
 
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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¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Democracy in Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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All media reported, and most of them bannered, 
disengagement-related political moves.  In yet another 
apparent defeat for PM Sharon, the Likud faction Monday 
adopted a compromise that should allow both the 2005 
budget and legislation for a referendum on the 
disengagement to pass their respective Knesset 
committees this week.  Sharon was quoted as saying 
during the debate: "We [the Likud] are already two 
factions de facto.  In the next elections, we will run 
with two heads."  Israel Radio cited Sharon's 
satisfaction over the fact that the budget bill will 
pass at the Knesset's Finance Committee.  Yediot 
forecasts the following results in the key Knesset 
votes: 
-A projected majority for the budget bill (Yea vote: 58 
-- Likud (less the rebels), Labor Party, United Torah 
Judaism, MK Nudelman and Yahad); abstention: 6 -- MK 
Paritzky, MK David Tal, One Nation and United Arab 
List; nay vote: 56 -- Likud rebels, Shinui, National 
Union Party, NRP, NRP "mavericks" and the Arab 
factions. 
-A projected majority against the referendum bill: Yea 
vote: 40 -- Likud (26), National Union Party, NRP and 
Degel Hatorah mavericks; nay vote: 80 -- Likud (14), 
Labor Party, One Nation, Shinui, Paritzky, Yahad, Arab 
factions, MK Nudelman and MK Tal. 
 
Leading media reported that Israel handed over security 
responsibility for Tulkarm to the PA last night.  It 
was resolved that the villages in contention would 
remain under Israeli control and that the issue would 
be revisited in a month's time.  Jerusalem Post quoted 
security sources as saying that the transfer of 
Qalqilya, the next city to enjoy similar status, will 
only be implemented after the situation has been 
carefully monitored and the PA takes action on the 
ground to quell terror. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted diplomatic officials as saying 
that while they assume reports that the plans for the E- 
1 corridor linking Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim are 
moving through the approval process were sure to have 
caused irritation in Washington, the U.S. 
administration's response would likely be muted. 
However, Jerusalem Post says that Deputy National 
Security Advisor Elliott Abrams and David Welch, who 
will visit Israel and the PA on Wednesday, are expected 
to raise the issue.   Ha'aretz quoted a U.S. official 
as saying: "We expect Israel to abide by its 
commitments under the road map." 
 
Leading media expect the Arab League summit that opens 
today in Algiers to once again ratify the Saudi peace 
initiative of 2002.  The media reported that at pre- 
summit deliberations, a Jordanian proposal that 
attempted to soften conditions for normalizing 
relations with Israel was rejected. 
 
Leading media cited UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's 
speech at the UN Monday, in which he called for the 
adoption of his entire reform package for the 
international organization.  Jerusalem Post highlighted 
Annan's call for the adoption of a convention by 
September 2006 with terrorism defined as any act 
"intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to 
civilians or noncombatants with the purpose of 
intimidating a population or compelling a government or 
an international organization to do or abstain from 
doing any act."  The newspaper noted that Israeli 
officials welcomed that development, with Roni Leshno 
Yaar, the Foreign Ministry's deputy D-G for the UN and 
International Organizations, saying this is the 
"beginning of a change in the way the international 
community regards terror."  He stressed, however: "We 
are not there yet.  There is still a long way to go." 
 
Hatzofe reported that last week senior IDF officials 
told representatives of northern Negev communities that 
their area will be closed to civilian traffic after the 
Passover holiday [in early May] in order to prevent the 
arrival of disengagement opponents to the Gaza Strip. 
Jerusalem Post reported that under the investigation by 
the Interior Ministry regarding the funding of its 
campaign against the disengagement plan, the Council of 
Jewish Settlements in the Territories has changed its 
fund-raising tactics.  It has begun collecting only non- 
tax-deductible donations in the U.S. 
 
Maariv reported on the move of the U.S. Consulate- 
General in Jerusalem to its new premises in the Arnona 
neighborhood in the western part of the city, along the 
"seam line" with East Jerusalem.  The newspaper quoted 
Consulate-General sources as saying that the move, 
which will be completed by 2007, is devoid of political 
significance, and that the chosen site suits the 
institution's security needs and its desire to gain 
space.  Maariv cited the GOI's satisfaction over the 
move and its belief that it has political significance. 
 
Ha'aretz (Amir Oren) extensively reported on U.S.- 
Israel military cooperation, as reflected in the joint 
exercise Juniper Cobra, which began across the country 
on Sunday and will last for about three weeks. 
Ha'aretz emphasizes the role of EUCOM in the defense of 
Israel, should it be in danger. 
Jerusalem Post reported that the state declared on 
Monday that it no longer blocked in principle all 
requests by citizens of Arab countries married to 
Israelis to receive citizenship or residential status 
in Israel.  The statement, delivered to the High Court 
of Justice, was in response to a petition filed by the 
Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) last 
October on behalf of a Moroccan citizen. 
 
Yediot reported that on Sunday, IDF Radio and Voice of 
Palestine Radio will simultaneously broadcast a 
recording of the song "Belibi" (In my heart) performed 
in Hebrew by Israeli singer David Broza and in Arabic 
by Palestinian singer Wisam Murad, accompanied by 
choirs of Israeli and Palestinian children.  The song 
was written by Murad's brother, Said Murad. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz 
convened the heads of some 50 of the leading defense 
industry firms in the country Monday, warning them 
about the necessity of getting permission for business 
negotiations with China, even if they are selling 
civilian equipment that happens to be manufactured in 
an Israeli defense plant.  The CEOs were told ahead of 
time that the meeting would be about the crisis in 
relations with the U.S. in the wake of military sales 
to China. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday, the cabinet 
approved (19 in favor, as Labor's Haim Ramon and Matan 
Vilnai abstained) the nomination of Stanley Fischer as 
governor of the Bank of Israel.  Fischer's five-year 
term will begin in early May. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
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                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
Arab League is ... once again letting slip through its 
fingers the positive role it could play in creating a 
new regional atmosphere.  It is also contradicting its 
own statement that the conflict must be resolved 
through peaceful means." 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote 
in Ha'aretz: "Sharon is bound by his promise to 
President Bush to adhere to the timetable of a summer 
withdrawal.  Only Bush can release him from this 
promise, in exchange for Sharon's commitment to make 
additional progress toward the final-status agreement 
that Bush wants to achieve within three years." 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"If the U.S., Europe and Israel all agree that it is 
unacceptable to allow terrorist groups to hold any 
peace process hostage and threaten Israel and the new 
Palestinian government, that recognition should be 
reflected in tangible pressure on Abbas to fulfill his 
commitments now, not after the next [terrorist] 
attack." 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Frightened of Normalization" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (March 
22): "The Arab League summit that convenes today in 
Algeria will approve a document whose wording was 
agreed upon in advance.  In it, the leaders of the Arab 
states adopt what is termed the 'Arab Peace 
Initiative,' more or less as it was presented at the 
Arab League summit in Beirut in 2002.  Based on the 
draft resolution approved by the Arab foreign ministers 
two days ago, it seems that Arab leaders preferred not 
to deal with the changes that have occurred in the 
region, and especially not with the developments in the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.... The possibility that 
peaceful relations with Israel could actually advance 
the region's diplomatic moves is still viewed as giving 
Israel something for nothing.... The Arab League is 
thus once again letting slip through its fingers the 
positive role it could play in creating a new regional 
atmosphere.  It is also contradicting its own statement 
that the conflict must be resolved through peaceful 
means.  The sharp edges of the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict will not be blunted if Arab states establish 
relations with Israel even before it ends.  But a 
decision in principle on such a move could influence 
Israeli public opinion, and thereby the Israeli 
government as well.... It must therefore be hoped that 
additional Arab states and leaders will discern the 
diplomatic benefits that could flow from establishing 
relations with Israel, and that these states, along 
with Jordan and Egypt, will lead the region into a new 
era." 
 
II.  "Peace Doesn't Pay" 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote 
in Ha'aretz (March 22): "Sharon (and the legitimacy of 
the disengagement) requires elections before the 
withdrawal, not afterward, so that the public can be 
asked -- and will apparently agree -- to give him 
credit, rather than to pay a debt.  But Sharon is bound 
by his promise to President Bush to adhere to the 
timetable of a summer withdrawal.  Only Bush can 
release him from this promise, in exchange for Sharon's 
commitment to make additional progress toward the final- 
status agreement that Bush wants to achieve within 
three years.  That could make an interesting topic of 
conversation for the Bush-Sharon talks in Crawford, 
Texas -- either before or after they coordinate on the 
Iranian nuclear issue." 
 
III.  "Don't Wait For the Next Attack" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(March 22): "Those who believe that Abbas is weak and 
worthy should be the first to be concerned about the 
complacency and lower standards that are already 
setting in.  For all the talk of what Abbas hasn't done 
and must do, what is actually happening tells a 
different story.... A cease-fire would not be enough 
because it leaves the terrorists intact and fully 
armed.  A 'calming' is even worse, because it is 
explicitly no more than a pause to rearm, train and 
reload -- which, security officials report, is already 
happening.... If the U.S., Europe and Israel all agree 
that it is unacceptable to allow terrorist groups to 
hold any peace process hostage and threaten Israel and 
the new Palestinian government, that recognition should 
be reflected in tangible pressure on Abbas to fulfill 
his commitments now, not after the next attack.  If we 
wait, we are not strengthening Abbas but instead 
setting him up for failure, with all the preventable 
losses in Israeli and Palestinian lives that such 
failure would entail." 
 
------------------------- 
¶2.  Democracy in Mideast: 
------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global 
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist 
Barry Rubin, wrote in conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post: "While the intellectual advocates of 
democracy [in the Arab world] are individual liberals, 
the fruits [of liberalization] are likely to be reaped 
by large communal-based parties and Islamist movements, 
which have a much easier time organizing large groups 
of people." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Democracy With a Communal Face" 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global 
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist 
Barry Rubin, wrote in conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post (March 22): "The people most likely to 
support democracy in the Arab world are those convinced 
they would win fair elections.  And large groups 
holding such ideas are most likely to arise among 
already existing ethnic religious communities rather 
than out of diverse parties built up gradually from 
individuals' conversion to a liberal worldview. 
Lebanon is the only Arab state where such groups have 
always been legitimate political actors.... But in 
other Arab states there are three problems Lebanon does 
not share.  First, communal-based parties are arising 
with no precedent for such a system.  Arab nationalist 
regimes have been ruthlessly centralizing, stamping out 
expressions of communal interests or differences. 
Second, they have not yet had their ethnic civil war to 
teach the futility of such a struggle.  Third, unlike 
Lebanon, where there are too many communities for 
anyone to win, somebody just might emerge 
triumphant.... While the intellectual advocates of 
democracy are individual liberals, the fruits are 
likely to be reaped by large communal-based parties and 
Islamist movements, which have a much easier time 
organizing large groups of people.  The outcome will 
vary according to the specific situation.  In some 
places, like Lebanon and Iraq, the results may be good. 
In others, the existing regimes will have far more 
appeal as people fear the potential for civil war or an 
Islamist takeover." 
 
KURTZER