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 003001 
 
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.  Iran: Nuclear Program 
 
¶3.  Israeli Ambassador to U.S. Danny Ayalon 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
This morning, Israel Radio reported that FM Silvan Shalom has 
decided to cut short the term of Ambassador to the U.S. Danny 
Ayalon at the conclusion of a probe by a civil service 
investigator who has just arrived in Washington.  During the 
weekend, all media highlighted what Yediot referred to in its 
front-page headline Sunday as "the spat" between Ayalon and 
Shalom or, more correctly, the FM's wife, Judy Nir-Moses-Shalom. 
Ayalon, who is facing the prospect of a civil service 
investigation into allegations that his wife treated embassy 
staff abusively, alleged in a letter to A-G Menachem Mazuz that 
Shalom was meddling inappropriately with personnel affairs in the 
Washington embassy.  Ayalon claims that Shalom, at the urging of 
his wife, had the ambassador's personal aide dismissed because of 
Mrs. Shalom's displeasure with the way he handled Madonna's trip 
to Israel.  All media view the affair as an episode in the 
dispute between Shalom and PM Sharon.  Several media reported 
that Sunday Sharon's bureau declared its support for Ayalon. 
 
Leading media reported that the police are in a state of high 
alert today due to the possibility that right-wing activists 
could attempt to shut down major roads throughout the country at 
5 p.m. as a dress rehearsal for this summer's demonstrations 
against the disengagement.  Several media reported that on 
Sunday, police raided the offices of "Habayit Haleumi" (The 
National Home), a radical right-wing group that has adopted the 
civil disobedience tactics of Zu Artzeinu from the mid-1990s. 
Several media reported that the defense establishment has devised 
a plan to greatly increase the protection of the Temple Mount. 
 
On Sunday, Ha'aretz quoted senior Israeli defense officials as 
saying that Israel has given its approval for the deployment of 
hundreds of armed PA police in all West Bank cities to crack down 
on crime.  The officials were quoted as saying that the move is 
intended to strengthen the PA ahead of the transfer of additional 
cities to Palestinian control.  Today, Jerusalem Post quoted an 
Israeli security official as saying that if the PA has 
confiscated the weapons of fugitives in Tulkarm and Jericho, then 
Qalqilya could be transferred to Palestinian security control in 
the coming week.  Comparing formal bans on talks with Hamas with 
past curbs on talks with the PLO, a senior Israeli military 
official told Israel Radio Monday that prominent Hamas officials 
recently elected in PA municipal council elections are holding 
regular contacts with IDF liaison and coordination officers. 
 
Maariv reported that the construction of a fence encompassing 
Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim will start in a few weeks, despite 
the U.S. administration's firm opposition.  The newspaper 
reported that the timing of the move is not arbitrary and that it 
is meant to create facts on the ground before disengagement. 
Ha'aretz and Yediot quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying 
at Sunday's cabinet meeting that Hamas is growing stronger, 
becoming a power in its own right, parallel to the PA, and 
building a popular army under the PA's nose.  Yediot quoted 
incoming Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin as saying that Israel should 
prepare for a resumption of terror. 
 
On Sunday, leading media reported that the security situation on 
the Lebanese border heated up on Friday, as IDF planes, gunships 
and tanks destroyed Hizbullah posts in Lebanon, in response to 
Hizbullah shelling of IDF positions. 
 
All media reported that the cabinet voted Sunday 16-2 to approve 
an emergency amendment to the Citizenship and Entry to Israel 
Family Law that limits family unification for Palestinians from 
the territories married to Israeli Arabs, such that only some 200 
to 250 Palestinians a year will be able to get Palestinian 
citizenship.  Hatzofe bannered: "First Loophole Into 'Right of 
Return."  Israel Radio reported that the police are barring 
64,000 Palestinians who have committed criminal offenses from 
entering Israel, but have not notified them of the decision and 
have not explained it. 
 
Israel Radio reported that this morning, at a checkpoint near 
Tulkarm, a Palestinian who tried to stab a soldier was shot dead. 
 
On Sunday, Yediot reported that for the first time, Israel will 
open a discreet diplomatic representation in Dubai. 
 
Yediot quoted Vice Premier Shimon Peres as saying on Sunday in an 
interview with the Israeli-Arab newspaper Panorama that he has 
recently met with senior Iraqi leaders who told him they want to 
make peace with Israel. 
 
All media reported on an escalating disagreement between Finance 
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Vice PM Ehud Olmert. 
 
Yediot quoted Sharon as saying in an interview with Time Magazine 
that the Oslo Accords were the worst mistake that any Israeli 
government has made. 
 
On Sunday, Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian sources as saying that the 
purpose of PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas's trip to the 
U.S. at the end of the month is to present the PA's achievements 
and to convince the U.S. about the progress of security and 
administrative reforms in the PA.  The newspaper reported that at 
recent disengagement coordination talks, the PA has demanded that 
Israel operate the "safe passage" procedure between the Gaza 
Strip and the West Bank. 
 
All media reported that on Sunday, Palestinians commemorated the 
anniversary of what they call the "Nakba" (catastrophe) -- the 
uprooting of hundreds of thousands of their people with the 
creation of Israel.  Maariv's headline: "Abu Mazen, Too, in 
Mourning Over the Establishment of the State of Israel." 
Ha'aretz cited New York Times as saying that the FBI has begun 
questioning reporters who had contact with Pentagon official 
Larry Franklin, who has been charged with disclosing classified 
information to AIPAC officials. 
 
On Sunday, Maariv devoted a double page to pleasure trips to the 
U.S. by Israelis this summer -- including tips about five popular 
sites. 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                            Summary: 
                            -------- 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman opined in independent, left- 
leaning Ha'aretz: "In reality, Sharon's initiative might crush 
once and for all the chance to settle the dispute on the basis of 
establishing a Palestinian state beside Israel." 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in Ha'aretz: "If 
Abbas sticks to his determination to hold the elections on time, 
he will succeed.  Israel should not intervene in the matter, 
because nothing good can come of these elections, whether they 
are held on time or postponed." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "Fifty-seven years of independence, and the State of 
Israel still does not have two things that a proper state cannot 
do without: permanent borders and an immigration policy.... From 
now on, clear rules must be put in place." 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Gewirtz opined in an editorial of mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: 
 
                          Block Quotes: 
                          ------------- 
 
¶I.  "What Does Condoleezza Know?" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman opined in independent, left- 
leaning Ha'aretz (May 15): "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice lavished praise on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in an 
interview she gave Larry King on the eve of Independence Day. 
Rice said Sharon was admirable for the leadership he is 
displaying in his willingness to divide the land of Israel.... 
[Will] he indeed?  It is hard to find any person with authority 
in the Israeli government who knows for sure where the 
disengagement initiative is going.  This historic move appears 
increasingly like a chain of improvisations rather than a 
calculated, well-considered outline that is being carried out 
judiciously.... [The disengagement move] implies that Israel will 
renounce (at least) part of the territories and hand them over to 
the Palestinians.  But in reality, Sharon's initiative might 
crush once and for all the chance to settle the dispute on the 
basis of establishing a Palestinian state beside Israel.  After 
all, if Sharon intends to make do with pulling out of the Gaza 
Strip and four settlements in northern Samaria, then entrench 
himself behind a wall and sever the economic ties between the PA 
and Israel, he will be condemning the Palestinians to conditions 
that would not enable them to build a viable state.  By this 
seeming renunciation, Sharon is storing the fuel for reigniting 
the conflict on the day after the disengagement.  Does 
Condoleezza Rice know something that we don't?" 
 
II.  "Nothing Good Will Come of These Elections" 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in Ha'aretz (May 
16): "Nothing good for Israel can come out of the upcoming 
elections in the Palestinian Authority.... If the vote is held as 
scheduled in another two months, there is a good chance the Hamas 
will register some real achievements.  It might not win, but it 
will come out of the elections as a key political force that will 
have an important influence -- and not a positive one -- on the 
negotiations with Israel.  If, on the other hand, if the 
elections are postponed, it might destabilize the current 
relative security calm.... Abbas, attending an Arab-Latin 
American summit in Brasilia, issued an announcement that he has 
no intention of postponing the elections.  He feels confident 
ahead of his upcoming meeting in Washington with President George 
¶W. Bush next week.  His confidence is derived from the broad 
international sympathy he is enjoying and polls showing that he 
is a popular leader among the Palestinians.  He apparently is not 
bothered by the criticism being leveled at him by Israel, nor by 
the vehement criticism of him by Fatah veteran Farouk Kaddoumi, 
who has accused him of surrendering to Israeli-American dictates. 
If Abbas sticks to his determination to hold the elections on 
time, he will succeed.  Israel should not intervene in the 
matter, because nothing good can come of these elections, whether 
they are held on time or postponed." 
 
III.  "Setting Limits" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv (May 15): "Fifty-seven years of independence, and the 
State of Israel still does not have two things that a proper 
state cannot do without: permanent borders and an immigration 
policy.... Well, it is time to put things in order a little bit. 
The Prime Minister is trying, in his way, to start to get us a 
border.  Today his cabinet will hold the first discussion of its 
kind, an historical one, about 'immigration policy.'  Better late 
than never.... From now on, clear rules must be put in place. 
Who is an Israeli?  Will all ten children of an Israeli Arab man 
and a Palestinian woman who married and have been living in 
Nablus for ten years receive an Israeli identity card?  Will 
anyone who wants to marry a woman (or a man) from anywhere in the 
world be able to force the state to accept his or her new spouse 
as an ordinary citizen?.... A series of restrictions will be 
imposed on those who wish to acquire Israeli citizenship.  The 
fence will be made higher.  The Jewish state will defend itself. 
Nothing more than what is being done currently in Europe in the 
face of the Islamic invasion, but also nothing less -- mostly in 
light of the fact that the Jews have no other country.  The Prime 
Minister and the director of the National Security Council [Giora 
Eiland] have only one goal: to preserve the current proportion in 
which Jews make up three-quarters of the population of the state, 
not to let it dissipate, not to lose it." 
 
IV.  "Back to the Return" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Gewirtz opined in an editorial of mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (May 16): "With the sound 
of sirens that opened the Palestinian Nakba day, the yearning for 
Jerusalem and the speeches about the right of return, the strong 
resemblance between Israelis and Palestinians once again turns 
out as a tragic joke.... The validity of the [Palestinian] 
insistence on 'return' is identical to 'not one inch' 
declarations by the dreamers of Greater Israel.  If one infers 
from shared and historical facts, one may assume that the 
gathering of the Palestinian Diaspora will be very similar to 
what the pioneering Jewish minority that created the State of 
Israel for the Jewish people found out -- millions [of Jews] did 
not stream into the country, and most Jews (including many 
Israelis) have chosen to live in other countries." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
 
                            Summary: 
                            -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Unless it is 
stopped, a nuclear Iran would overshadow the entire region.... 
The Iranian clock may be running faster than the world clock." 
 
 
                          Block Quotes: 
                          ------------- 
 
"The World Versus a Nuclear Iran" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (May 15): 
"International acquiescence to Iran's conduct would shatter the 
framework for the nonproliferation campaign.  Additional 
countries would be quick to conclude that they wouldn't suffer 
should they follow in its footsteps.  In the Middle East, the 
effect would be even more immediate and severe.  Israel wouldn't 
be the only one to find it difficult to do nothing.  Egypt, Saudi 
Arabia and Turkey would identify an Iranian threat, at least in 
terms of regional supremacy.... Unless it is stopped, a nuclear 
Iran would overshadow the entire region.  The three leading 
countries in the European Union -- Britain, Germany and France -- 
are close to despairing of Iran's antics.  The next stage is a 
report to the Security Council, which would consider sanctions. 
Only after these have been exhausted would it be time to use 
force, American or otherwise.  This is essentially the correct 
course of action, whose weakness lies in the fact that, 
meanwhile, time is passing -- and the Iranian clock may be 
running faster than the world clock." 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶3.  Israeli Ambassador to U.S. Danny Ayalon: 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
                            Summary: 
                            -------- 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "If there 
is anyone who should be interested in ensuring that we have the 
best representation in the most important capitals around the 
world, it is the foreign minister." 
 
                          Block Quotes: 
                          ------------- 
 
"Shalom's Scandal" 
 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (May 16): 
"It seems that Silvan Shalom has nothing better to busy himself 
with than trying to fire one of our most successful ambassadors, 
Danny Ayalon in Washington.  Ayalon seemed a lackluster 
appointment almost three years ago, a relatively unknown foreign 
service official whose chief virtue was that he was acceptable to 
both Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and then foreign minister Shimon 
Peres.  By now, however, Ayalon has by all accounts accomplished 
a rare triple-play to which all Washington ambassadors should 
aspire: he is well-respected in the U.S. administration, and in 
Congress, and has established himself as an effective spokesman 
in the American media.  He has done this, in part, by maintaining 
close ties to the Prime Minister's Office, where he served as 
Sharon's national security adviser, without shunning his 
minister, to the extent that is possible given Shalom's own 
conflicts with Sharon....  [But] Shalom is reportedly upset that 
Ayalon has been unable to reverse or mitigate the foreign 
minister's poor reputation in Washington, where he is not taken 
seriously.... Shalom has shown he does know how to work hard, 
such as when he campaigned to convince Europe to label Hizbullah 
as a terrorist organization, or his efforts to improve ties with 
moderate Arab states.  Yet there is so much more that could be 
done.  If there is anyone who should be interested in ensuring 
that we have the best representation in the most important 
capitals around the world, it is the foreign minister.  That he 
seems more concerned about having his and his wife's picture 
snapped with Madonna is an embarrassment and a scandal, and 
certainly no boon to his political future." 
KURTZER