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 003080 
 
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.  Global War on Terrorism 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz quoted sources in Jerusalem as saying that 
First Lady Laura Bush has included Israel in her visit 
to the region only because President Bush asked her to 
do so. 
 
Israel Radio quoted State Department Richard Boucher as 
saying Thursday, "I would note that the Palestinians 
have a particular responsibility at this time to end 
the mortar attacks from Gaza, as we proceed to make 
Israeli withdrawal from Gaza a positive development for 
both sides. So we're working with them and urging the 
parties to avoid actions that can escalate tensions.... 
The goal is to make sure that the Palestinians are in a 
position to control this area to ensure it's not used 
to inflame the situation, to make sure that the Israeli 
withdrawal from Gaza and portions of the West Bank 
contributes to the accelerated progress on the roadmap 
and contributes to a better life for both Israelis and 
Palestinians.  To do that, we need to end the 
violence."  The radio surmises that the U.S. reminder 
was the main reason for Israel not responding to the 
attacks, which have continued through the night.  The 
radio reported on heavy exchanges of fire in the Gaza 
Strip this morning and on the killing of a terrorist 
during a combined attack against the settlement of Kfar 
Darom.  The station also said that three Palestinians, 
one of whom was captured, were wounded in an incident 
in Nablus.  Ha'aretz cited claims by Palestinian 
eyewitnesses that two Palestinian boys from Beit Lakia 
who were killed two weeks ago were caught in a 
deliberate IDF ambush.  The army investigation has 
concluded that the adolescents' death resulted from 
mistakes. 
 
Ha'aretz and Maariv reported that on Thursday, PM 
Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz approved a 
series of gestures to the Palestinians over the 
objections of the Shin Bet and despite the continued 
barrage of mortar shells in the Gaza Strip -- freeing 
the next tranche of prisoners, allowing the return of 
wanted Palestinians deported to Europe following the 
standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity in 2002, 
and allowing the return of Palestinians deported form 
the West Bank and Gaza.  Israel had originally promised 
to take those steps at the Sharm-el-Sheikh in February. 
Ha'aretz reported that the U.S. security coordinator, 
Gen. William Ward, had pressured Israel to take these 
steps in recent days, which the newspaper says are also 
related to PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas's 
planned visit to Washington Thursday. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted PA officials as saying Thursday 
that a new Muslim terrorist group linked to al-Qaida 
has started operating in the Gaza Strip -- Jundallah, 
or "Allah's Brigades," which reportedly consists mostly 
of scores of former Hamas and Islamic Jihad members. 
The newspaper quoted Abu Abdallah al-Khattab, who 
identifies himself as the spokesman for Jundallah in 
Thursday, as denying that his group was part of al- 
Qaida or any other international terror group. 
Jerusalem Post reported that al-Khattab hinted that his 
group was also planning to target U.S. interests in the 
region. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the Construction and Housing 
Ministry has officially registered the plan for 
relocation of settlers in the Nitzanim area. 
 
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton was quoted as saying 
in an interview with Yediot that Sharon and Abbas are 
"doing a good job."  The interview took place at the 
Nobel laureates' reunion in Jordan. 
 
Ha'aretz cited an AP dispatch reporting that the PA has 
decided to ban incendiary sermons from official TV. 
Jerusalem Post and Hatzofe reported that the PA has 
removed the anti-Semitic pamphlet "Protocols of the 
Learned Elders of Zion" from one of its official web 
sites. 
 
Former PM Ehud Barak was quoted as saying in an 
interview with Ha'aretz that contrary to Sharon's 
assertions, the U.S. never actually agreed to any 
agreement according to which Israel's pullout from Gaza 
would guarantee the future of the large settlement 
blocs in the West Bank.  Barak asserts that Sharon's 
lies are bound to lead to another round of horrific 
bloodshed.  Leading media reported that Minister- 
without-Portfolio Matan Vilnai and MK Amir Peretz (who 
is also the Histadrut Labor Federation's Secretary- 
General), who are competing for the post of Labor Party 
chairman, will gang up on Barak next week.  Vice 
Premier Shimon Peres and Infrastructure Minister 
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer are also running for Labor 
chairmanship.  Maariv reported that the police will 
investigate the registration of new Labor Party 
members, which was found to be tainted by "huge fraud." 
 
Former Shin Bet head Carmi Gillon, who served in that 
position at the time of the late PM Yitzhak Rabin's 
assassination, said during a Q&A session on Ha'aretz's 
web site Thursday, "The consequences [of a far-right 
attack against the mosques on Jerusalem's Temple Mount] 
can be a disaster for Israel's existence, and can bring 
a total war between the Muslim world, Israel, and maybe 
against Jewish targets abroad." 
 
Ha'aretz quoted EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, 
who is currently visiting the region, as saying 
Thursday that the EU believes Israel's trade agreement 
with the Palestinians must remain in effect in Gaza 
even after the disengagement, because any change in the 
deal would worsen the Palestinians' economic 
conditions.  Jerusalem Post quoted Deputy PM Ehud 
Olmert as saying that the EU, Jordan and Israel will 
sign a joint declaration towards the establishment of a 
trilateral trade accord today during the World Economic 
Forum in Jordan. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Israel Export Institute (IEI) D-G 
Yehiel Assia as saying Thursday that World Bank 
President James Wolfensohn agreed last week in 
Washington to open a contact bureau in Israel, to be 
operated by the IEI. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Hebrew University 
President Prof. Menachem Meridor and Al-Quds University 
President Sari Nusseibeh singed a joint statement in 
London calling for academic cooperation on Thursday. 
According to Hebrew University, the document's aim was 
to affirm the continued academic cooperation between 
the institutions and was a reaction to the academic 
boycott of Israeli academic institutions by the British 
Association of University Teachers. 
 
In The Jerusalem Post, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, 
who was publisher and editor of the Bangladeshi 
magazine Weekly Blitz, tells of 17 months he spent in 
prison for advocating peace and dialogue with Israel. 
 
Brig. Gil Regev, former chief of the IDF's human 
resources branch, was quoted as saying in an interview 
with Yediot that the three MIAs from the Lebanon War's 
Sultan Yaqub battle, as well as missing IAF navigator 
Ron Arad, are no longer alive. 
 
All media quoted Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as 
saying Thursday that he and Sharon agree on the need to 
lower taxes "to meet growth objectives."  On the other 
hand, taxes on stock exchange earnings will be raised. 
During the past few days, the media pointed out 
differences on economic and social goals between the 
two officials. 
 
Maariv reported that the late U.S. secretary of state 
Cordell Hull reached a deal with Nazi Germany in 1939 
to help Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the 
Lubavitcher Rebbe) escape occupied Poland. 
 
A current Maariv/Teleseker poll found that 59 percent 
of Israelis support Sharon's disengagement plan.  (The 
figure two weeks ago was 54 percent.) 
 
In a bi-weekly poll conducted in conjunction with Tzav 
Piyus, an organization advocating domestic peace 
between secular and religious Israelis, Maariv found 
that 38 percent of Israelis believe that the chances of 
people being killed in clashes between disengagement 
opponents and the security forces are low; 33 percent 
believe that they are high; 23 percent believe that 
they are moderate. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "It may be assumed 
that strengthening ties with the 'support bases' among 
Jews and Evangelical Christians is especially important 
to [Sharon] in view of possible disagreements with the 
U.S. administration regarding 'the day after' the 
withdrawal." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "At this 
stage, Israel is refraining from properly responding to 
repeated attacks by Hamas and its factotums." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Rafi Mann opined in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "It should only be hoped that Sharon 
indeed valiantly follows the path that David Ben-Gurion 
and Menachem Begin ... took before him in similarly 
difficult hours." 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz: "Before his 
delayed visit to Washington, the United States must 
confront Abu Mazen with a clear choice: a state or a 
dream; peace or return." 
 
Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Israel, like 
every sovereign state, has a right, and indeed a duty 
to its citizens, to engage in selective immigration 
policies.... Sadly, in voting to reinstate Palestinian 
immigration to Israel, our government ministers ... 
failed to take any of these issues into account." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "With Us, in the U.S." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (May 20): "On 
Saturday night, Sharon will leave for an unusual trip 
to the United States that will be devoted to the Jewish 
community.  He will not meet with President George 
Bush, and after some hesitation, no meeting has been 
set up for him with Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice.  The only 'non-Jewish' event on his schedule will 
be a meeting with Evangelist Christian leaders who 
support Israel.... Sharon has two goals in the current 
visit -- to garner support from the American Jewish 
leadership for the disengagement plan and to speak 
about strengthening the ties to Israel.  It may be 
assumed that strengthening ties with the 'support 
bases' among Jews and Evangelical Christians is 
especially important to him in view of possible 
disagreements with the U.S. administration regarding 
'the day after' the withdrawal.  Someone in Washington 
might yet urge Israel to rush ahead on the diplomatic 
track." 
 
II.  "Mortars and Qassam Rockets Against the Katif 
Bloc" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (May 20): 
"At this stage, Israel is refraining from properly 
responding to repeated attacks by Hamas and its 
factotums.  It has only responded by air strikes, in a 
very limited way.... As is well known, Hamas does not 
recognize the evacuation move of the Katif Bloc 'by 
peaceful means'.... Thus, it is hard to understand the 
Prime Minister's policy... He even plans to present 
easing measures for the Palestinians." 
 
III.  "Burning Tires and Flying Stones" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Rafi Mann opined in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (May 20): "Unlike what some of the 
supporters of disturbances of public order, in the name 
of the struggle against government and Knesset 
decisions, are trying to present, last week's events 
along Israel's roads and junctions are no 'celebration 
of democracy,'.  It is amazing and ridiculous to see 
law-breakers suddenly dressing up as defenders of 
democracy.... No one should be surprised by the way in 
which the far Right is now trying to thwart a legal and 
legitimate decision of the government.  It should only 
be hoped that Sharon indeed valiantly follows the path 
that David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin ... took 
before him in similarly difficult hours, in order to 
endure the survival of the democratic regime." 
 
IV.  "Return of the Return" 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz (May 20): "Abu 
Mazen reached an agreement with Hamas in Cairo in mid- 
March.  The Cairo Declaration included the following 
dramatic paragraph: 'The participants emphasized their 
adherence to the Palestinian principles without any 
concession, as well as the right of the Palestinian 
nation to resist in order to end the occupation and 
establish a Palestinian state ... and to guarantee the 
right of the refugees to return to their homes and 
their lands.'  Why is it dramatic?  For two reasons. 
First, because the declaration states that the 
Palestinians have a right to exercise violence against 
Israel until the implementation of the right of return. 
Second, because the declaration states that the right 
of return means a return to the actual homes.  Not to 
the Palestinian state.... Since the 1980s, the 
Palestine Liberation Organization has not used such 
language.... There is only one way to achieve an 
Israeli-Palestinian peace: 1948 in exchange for 1967. 
The right of self-definition in return for a surrender 
of the right of return.  Therefore, before his delayed 
visit to Washington, the United States must confront 
Abu Mazen with a clear choice: a state or a dream; 
peace or return." 
 
¶V.  "Israel's Immigration Idiocy" 
 
Extreme right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (May 20): 
"This past Sunday the government approved a change in 
immigration regulations governing the conferral of 
Israeli citizenship on Palestinians from Judea, 
Samaria, and Gaza [i.e. the territories].  From 1993- 
2003, some 130,000 Palestinians received Israeli 
citizenship by marrying Israeli Arab citizens.  In 
2003, after a number of these new citizens were 
actively involved in terrorism against Israel, the 
Knesset approved the government's ban of all 'family 
reunification.'  Under the new regulation adopted on 
Sunday, Palestinian men over the age of 35 and 
Palestinian women over the age of 25 who marry Israeli 
citizens can apply again for Israeli citizenship and 
receive residency rights in Israel.... Israel, like 
every sovereign state, has a right, and indeed a duty 
to its citizens, to engage in selective immigration 
policies based on economic status, political loyalties, 
security implications, and national origins of 
prospective immigrants before conferring them with the 
privilege of Israeli citizenship.  Sadly, in voting to 
reinstate Palestinian immigration to Israel, our 
government ministers, unlike some of their wiser 
European counterparts, failed to take any of these 
issues into account." 
 
---------------------------- 
¶2.  Global War on Terrorism: 
---------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
Editorial Page Editor Saul Singer wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The theory 
that the U.S. can more or less passively reap what it 
has courageously sown implies that the other side 
remains static." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Toppling Business" 
 
Editorial Page Editor Saul Singer wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (May 20): "The 
U.S. ... cannot afford to bypass Iran even if it were 
to push democracy more aggressively in place like Saudi 
Arabia, Egypt and Syria.  Iran poses the most important 
test for George Bush's foreign policy revolution in 
another sense: is invasion America's only means to 
topple rogue regimes?  Is America still in the toppling 
business at all?.... The impression given is that a 
little patience, the dominoes will continue to fall. 
This may well be the case.  But the theory that the 
U.S. can more or less passively reap what it has 
courageously sown implies that the other side remains 
static.  This is hardly the case, given that each 
regime will always be more motivated to survive than 
the U.S. is to topple it.... Bush said, 'When you stand 
for your liberty, we will stand for you.'  In Iran, 
perhaps soon, we will find out whether he meant in the 
future and in theory, or now and in practice." 
 
KURTZER