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 003189 
 
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.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  U.S. Nuclear Policy 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Yediot reported that over 1,000 families (60 percent of 
the settlers) from the Katif Bloc (Gush Katif) have 
signed a letter that will be sent to the High Court of 
Justice today.  The settlers state that they will 
continue their fight against evacuation but that they 
will leave if compelled to.  Maariv and other media 
reported on foot-dragging and bureaucratic 
entanglements foiling settlement relocation efforts. 
Ha'aretz's editorial is devoted to the issue.  Ha'aretz 
reported that the IDF plans to call up close to 8,000 
reservists during the implementation of the 
disengagement plan, from mid-August until approximately 
mid-September.  Only a small number of officers and 
reservists are expected to take an active part in the 
actual pullout, however. 
 
Ha'aretz writes that the Bush administration will not 
be demanding that the PA disarm the armed groups in the 
territories, including Hamas, at least until after the 
Palestinian legislative elections.  The newspaper says 
that President Bush may even try to bypass Congress and 
announce tens of millions of dollars in direct aid to 
the PA during his meeting with PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas today.  Ha'aretz quoted sources in 
Abbas's entourage as saying that an understanding has 
been reached that the U.S. will make do with a 
Palestinian commitment to take action against arms 
smuggling into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that senior officers 
in the Central Command have suggested that security 
control of Jenin be handed over to the Palestinians 
even before the withdrawal from the northernmost part 
of the West Bank.  The media quoted Defense Minister 
Shaul Mofaz as saying that he favors handing over 
additional cities, but only if the PA begins meeting 
its commitments. 
 
All media reported that anti-disengagement protestors 
burned tires and briefly blocked traffic on the Ayalon 
Freeway, Tel Aviv's main thoroughfare, on Wednesday 
afternoon.  Yediot cited concerns among the IDF and 
police that the hard core of West Bank settlers has 
moved into the Katif Bloc. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the British Association of 
University Teachers (AUT) could rescind its boycott of 
Bar-Ilan and Haifa Universities today.  Israel Radio 
cited the London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi as 
saying that the Palestinian leadership could dismiss 
Prof. Sari Nusseibeh from his post of president of Al- 
Quds University following his condemnation of the AUT 
boycott, and the cooperation agreement he signed with 
the Hebrew University.  Jerusalem Post reported that 
several Palestinian groups issued statements strongly 
condemning Nusseibeh, accusing him of normalizing ties 
with Israel and acting against the interests of the 
Palestinian people. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Fatah legislator Abdel 
Fattah Hamayel told the Palestinian Legislative Council 
Wednesday that Israel has informed the PA that it is 
prepared to discuss the possibility of releasing the 
murderers of cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi.  The 
newspaper reported that Israeli security officials 
denied Hamayel's statement and said that if the 
murderers were released, they would be arrested and 
brought to trial in Israel. 
 
All media reported that Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan 
Nasrallah vowed Wednesday in the southern Lebanese town 
of Bint Jbail to fight anyone who tries to take away 
the group's weapons, which include over 12,000 rockets 
capable of hitting northern Israel. 
 
Maariv and Israel Radio reported that last week the 
Spanish police arrested a Spanish aeronautical engineer 
of Palestinian origin who helped design an improved 
model of Qassam rockets for Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that in Damascus on Wednesday, 
Marc Gopin, an Orthodox rabbinical student from New 
York, spoke about the value of religion in building a 
tolerant and caring society along with the Mufti of 
Aleppo, Ahmad Hasoun, and the Bishop of the Orthodox 
Church of Syria, Ghattas Hazim.  The event was attended 
by dozens of people and filmed by Syrian television. 
 
Maariv quoted visiting Peruvian President Alejandro 
Toledo as saying Wednesday that the disengagement is a 
"window of opportunity." 
 
The media reported that on Wednesday, the Knesset 
decided to establish a parliamentary investigative 
committee that will probe the state of corruption in 
Israel.  All media reported that on Wednesday the 
Knesset approved the nomination of Judge Michael 
Lindenstrauss as the next state comptroller. 
 
Yediot quoted a source at Israel's Embassy in 
Washington that the outcome of the investigation of 
Ambassador Danny Ayalon and his wife will "astonish the 
Israeli public." 
Leading media reported that in an interview with the 
Canadian newspaper Canada Gazette, the famous Israeli 
choreographer Ohad Neharin, who received the Israel 
Prize this year, dubbed Israel a "war criminal." 
Yediot cited the Foreign Ministry as saying that this 
was a "grave utterance." 
 
The media cited, and Ha'aretz and Hatzofe led with 
Central Bureau of Statistics data released Wednesday, 
according to which first-quarter unemployment fell 
sharply to 9.1 percent, compared to 9.8 percent in the 
previous quarter, and is now at its lowest level since 
¶2002. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Veteran journalist Yaron London wrote in the lead 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "Mahmoud Abbas comes to the U.S. capital to 
receive some sort of reward from Mr. Bush for good 
behavior.  He has an advocate: on the desk of the 
President and of the Secretary of State lies a positive 
opinion from General William Ward." 
 
Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "From Abbas's 
standpoint ... it [is becoming] clear that the U.S. 
won't back Israeli demands to dismantle the [terrorist] 
organizations immediately and won't consider that 
grounds for halting progress on the road map." 
 
Columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "The reasons that made a 
blanket rejection of the 'right of return' essential 57 
years ago no longer exist, and Israel should update its 
negotiating position accordingly.  Only thus will it be 
able to protect its vital interests in other areas of 
the negotiations." 
 
Editor-in-Chief Lutfi Mashour wrote in independent 
pluralist Arabic Language weekly Assennara: "The Hebrew 
media might be most accountable for nourishing the 
'sacred cows' of security, topped by the settlements, 
jeopardizing society and the country." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Upon the Completion of the Prime Minister's Trip" 
 
Veteran journalist Yaron London wrote in the lead 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (May 26): "Many countries in the world -- such 
as Turkey, which abhors Israel's treatment of the 
Palestinians -- strengthen their ties with us also 
because of how they perceive our influence in the 
corridors of the American regime.  This power, both the 
real and the imaginary, is also the reason for concern 
of losing it.... The lobby's display of power is 
tantamount to a reminder to the President on the eve of 
the visit of the PA Chairman [President] to Washington. 
Mahmoud Abbas comes to the U.S. capital to receive some 
sort of reward from Mr. Bush for good behavior.  He has 
an advocate: on the desk of the President and of the 
Secretary of State lies a positive opinion from General 
 
SIPDIS 
William Ward, the U.S. envoy on security matters in the 
Palestinian Authority.  He believes that Abu Mazen is 
moving in the right direction and that he has taken 
real steps to reorganize the security organizations. 
The Palestinians hope that in light of their good 
report card signed by the general, the President will 
declare openly his loyalty to the promise that the 
Palestinian state will be established and that those 
who draw its borders will not take into account the 
ambition of the Sharon government to include the Etzion 
Bloc, the Ariel bloc and Ma'aleh Adumim." 
 
II.  "Abu Mazen's Hard Time" 
 
Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (May 26): "[At the 
annual AIPAC convention that ended Tuesday] the speech 
most sympathetic to the Palestinian cause came from 
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who showed more 
consideration for Abbas than either Condoleezza Rice or 
Hillary Clinton.  With such a state of affairs, it's 
obvious Abbas won't be able to leave Washington with 
much.  President Bush's associates were quick to 
announce yesterday the possibility of a direct American 
grant to the Palestinian Authority of 'several dozens 
of millions of dollars.'  Such a grant would certainly 
improve the atmosphere and enable Abbas to return to 
Ramallah with something in hand, but he is still very 
far from aid that could bring about real change.... In 
an interview with Agence France Presse, Secretary of 
State Rice explained on Wednesday that Bush's words on 
[the United States' current Middle East policy] are 
clear and known, so a letter isn't necessary.  The 
Americans don't intend to ignite debate on Hamas' 
future or dismantling the armed organizations at this 
time.  Rice stressed Wednesday that 'not everything can 
happen overnight.'  From Abbas's standpoint, that 
stance is important because it makes clear that the 
U.S. won't back Israeli demands to dismantle the 
organizations immediately and won't consider that 
grounds for halting progress on the road map." 
 
III.  "Why Not Say Yes to the 'Right of Return'" 
Columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (May 26):  As long as Israel 
continues its knee-jerk rejection of the refugees' 
return, the Palestinians will have no problem parlaying 
this rejection into international pressure for Israeli 
concessions on other issues.  And that is precisely why 
even Palestinians who genuinely favor a two-state 
solution cling to this demand: they know perfectly well 
that Israel will never accept it, but it positions them 
favorably for getting what they want in other areas. 
It is therefore high time for Israel to stop playing 
this game. The reasons that made a blanket rejection of 
the 'right of return' essential 57 years ago no longer 
exist, and Israel should update its negotiating 
position accordingly.  Only thus will it be able to 
protect its vital interests in other areas of the 
negotiations." 
 
IV.  "Security and the Media" 
 
Editor-in-Chief Lutfi Mashour wrote in independent 
pluralist Arabic Language weekly Assennara (May 20): 
"Recently, we've started to hear criticism about the 
Hebrew media, coming from its senior editors and 
reporters, that it has not fulfilled -- and isn't 
fulfilling -- its obligation, which is related to the 
indulgent coverage of, and the opportunity and stages 
granted to the settlers.  They have finally awoken ... 
especially as they know that the loyal patriotic Hebrew 
media has been and will probably continue to be a slave 
to security.... The Hebrew media might be most 
accountable for nourishing the 'sacred cows' of 
security, topped by the settlements, jeopardizing 
society and the country.... Although they [the Hebrew 
media] have now assumed responsibility, it is unlikely 
that this will be translated into true and accurate 
media action." 
 
 
 
 
------------------------ 
¶2.  U.S. Nuclear Policy: 
------------------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
Defense commentator Reuven Pedhazur opined in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Under the cloak of 
secrecy imparted by use of military code names, the 
U.S. administration has been taking a big -- and 
dangerous -- step that will lead to the transformation 
of the nuclear bomb into a legitimate weapon for waging 
war." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The U.S. Removes the Nuclear Brakes" 
 
Defense commentator Reuven Pedhazur opined in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (May 26): "Under the 
cloak of secrecy imparted by use of military code 
names, the U.S. administration has been taking a big -- 
and dangerous -- step that will lead to the 
transformation of the nuclear bomb into a legitimate 
weapon for waging war.... CONPLAN 8022 is a series of 
operational plans prepared by Startcom, the U.S. Army's 
Strategic Command, which calls for preemptive nuclear 
strikes against Iran and North Korea.... Obviously, the 
U.S. would not use less than five to ten 'small bombs' 
were it to attack Iran or North Korea... None of this 
takes into account the political and psychological 
repercussions of using nuclear weapons for the first 
time in more than 60 years.  The Bush administration 
regards all this as 'limited collateral damage.'  The 
nuclear policy that the Bush administration continues 
to formulate, including plans for a preemptive nuclear 
strike against states that do not possess such weapons 
and the development of new nuclear weapons -- is a 
recipe for disaster.  It is a policy that blurs the 
line between conventional and nuclear war.  This 
blurring could undermine the relative strategic 
stability that has set in since the Cold War.  In 
addition, the Bush administration's approach contains a 
message that is liable to encourage Iran and North 
Korea to reassess the contribution such a weapon would 
make to their own nuclear policies, possibly providing 
the incentive that would accelerate such development. 
Herein lies an inherent contradiction in the American 
approach that on the one hand acts with commendable 
determination to prevent the proliferation of nuclear 
arms, but on the other hand, contributes toward it by 
adopting an irresponsible nuclear policy." 
 
KURTZER