This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

201029Z Jun 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 003844 
 
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.  Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank June 18-19 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
¶3.  Lebanon: Elections 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that PM Sharon and PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas will meet at Sharon's 
Jerusalem residence on Tuesday morning. 
 
Jerusalem Post led with comments made by Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday also cited in other 
media, according to which Israel will raze settler 
homes slated for evacuation and take other steps to 
ensure an economically viable Palestinian state, 
including allowing for a flow of people and goods in 
and out of Gaza.  Ha'aretz quoted Secretary Rice as 
saying during her meeting with Sharon, "The most 
important thing right now is to ensure the pullout 
passes peacefully, without any harm to the withdrawing 
settlers and the Israel Defense Forces.  Israel and the 
Palestinian Authority share a commitment to ensure that 
disengagement happens smoothly, without violence." 
 
Maariv reported that, during her meetings with senior 
Israeli officials, Secretary Rice stressed that while 
Abbas is weak, the U.S. is aware of it, that there is 
no other Abbas, and that he must be helped before it is 
too late, and that this should be done now and 
immediately.  Ha'aretz reported that Secretary Rice 
asked the Palestinians not to "burden the withdrawal 
agenda with superfluous issues" (such as demands that 
they be allowed to control the Philadelphi Route, as 
well as the border crossings into Egypt, that Gaza 
airport be reopened, and that understandings be reached 
with Israel on a safe corridor between Gaza and the 
West Bank).  The newspaper reported that, during her 
talks with the PA leaders, Rice questioned the PA's 
ability to restore order to its security mechanisms in 
the Gaza Strip prior to the disengagement, and the PA's 
apparent inability to preserve the period of quiet and 
prevent Islamic Jihad and certain elements in Fatah 
from escalating the situation in the Strip ahead of the 
pullout.  Ha'aretz quoted Sharon as saying before his 
meeting with Rice, "Israel is a peace-seeking country. 
After so many years of terror and bloodshed, the 
achievement of security, peace, and tranquility is not 
an easy task."  Yediot quoted Rice as saying that 
Sharon is a close friend of the U.S., and that she and 
President Bush admire him.  Ha'aretz reported that 
Sharon told the cabinet after his meeting with 
Secretary Rice, "The Americans are aware of our 
 
SIPDIS 
position that the transition from the disengagement to 
the road map is dependent on the dismantlement of the 
terror groups, an end to the incitement, the rounding- 
up of arms and the implementation of reforms." 
 
A PA official was quoted as saying in an interview with 
Jerusalem Post: "Rice did not come up with anything 
new.  She only repeated the same statements, which 
President Abbas heard during his meeting with U.S. 
President George W. Bush in Washington."  Jerusalem 
Post quoted another Palestinian official as saying that 
Rice chose to focus mainly on the issue of 
disengagement, ignoring Israel's recurring violations 
of the unofficial truce declared earlier this year by 
the Palestinians. 
 
All media reported that an IDF soldier, Sgt. Maj. Avi 
Karuchi, was killed and two others were wounded Sunday 
in an assault by Palestinians along the Philadelphi 
Route.  Islamic Jihad and Fatah's Abu Rish Brigades 
claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in 
response to Israel's violation of the so-called truce. 
Ha'aretz writes that the incident, the first in which a 
soldier has been killed since the Palestinian factions 
declared a "period of calm" in January, is also putting 
to test the IDF's policy of restraint in the Gaza 
Strip, and could bring about the renewal of raids into 
PA territory.  Israel Radio reported that this morning, 
an Israeli was killed and another was wounded in an 
ambush in the West Bank.  Islamic Jihad claimed 
responsibility for the attack. 
 
Yediot published the draft of the first agreement 
reached between the GOI and Gush Katif settlers, who 
will reportedly be allocated one dunam of land (0.223 
acres) per family in the Nitzanim area. 
 
Leading media reported that on Sunday, police and IDF 
troops placed a roadblock near the entrance to the Maoz 
Hayam hotel in Gush Katif after some far-right 
extremists living there attacked and injured three 
Palestinians on Saturday. 
 
Speaking on Israel Radio Sunday, FM Shalom apologized 
to Secretary Rice over Israeli arms sales to China: "If 
things were done that were not acceptable to the 
Americans, then we are sorry but these things were done 
with the utmost innocence."  The media quoted Rice as 
saying, "I believe that the Israelis now understand our 
concerns."  Ha'aretz reported that Defense Minister 
Shaul Mofaz's bureau issued a clarification on Sunday 
following media reports (in Yediot on Sunday) that the 
U.S. had demanded the resignation of Defense Ministry D- 
G Amos Yaron and the ministry's head of security Yehiel 
Horev in connection with arms deals with China.  In an 
unrelated development, Ha'aretz and Yediot reported 
that on Sunday, visiting Chinese FM Li Zhaoxing 
promised FM Silvan Shalom that the scope of trade 
between China and Israel would double by the 2008 
Beijing Olympic Games. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Vice Premier Shimon Peres as 
saying it had been agreed in his talks with Secretary 
Rice that a joint American-Israeli team would be 
established to examine the issue of developing the 
Galilee and the Negev in line with the commitments made 
by President Bush to Sharon.  The newspaper notes that 
the issue was also raised in a subsequent meeting 
between Peres and James Wolfensohn, the Quartet's 
special envoy on economic issues. 
 
Ha'aretz, Maariv, and other leading media quoted 
Egyptian FM Ahmed Abu el-Gheit as saying on Sunday, 
during a meeting with Peres, that if the disengagement 
plan is not backed up by further Israeli concessions on 
the West Bank, the Gaza Strip will "explode."  Yediot 
and Israel Radio reported that Peres will meet with 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh 
today.  Maariv reported that the Egyptian censorship 
board has instructed Egyptian film producers not to 
refer to Israel negatively. 
 
Maariv reported that Secretary Rice expressed public 
support on Sunday for Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., 
Danny Ayalon, whose relations with FM Shalom are 
strained. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶1.  Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank June 18-19: 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Rice joined a 
long and illustrious list of American secretaries of 
state who tried unsuccessfully to bridge the 
differences, the hatreds and the profound gaps in the 
fundamental positions maintained by the parties in the 
ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "It is vital ... to ensure that 
Abbas comes across as a proud partner in talks with 
Sharon -- and not as a collaborator with Israel." 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"The problem is that, in Washington's own terms, the 
gap between the parties' actions is much wider than 
Rice made it out to be [during her visit to the 
region]." 
 
Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon asserted in 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "[Sharon and his 
friends] haven't been attentive to remarks made by 
Condoleezza Rice at the press conference, according to 
which the withdrawal from Gush Katif is just the 
beginning of the process." 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "No Discounts" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (June 20): "Just 
as Rice announced with satisfaction the agreement she 
secured with the Israelis and Palestinians to 
coordinate the evacuation of the Gaza Strip and to 
spare no effort to make the evacuation process happen 
quietly, news of the grave incident on Philadelphi Road 
broke.  Rice joined a long and illustrious list of 
American secretaries of state who tried unsuccessfully 
to bridge the differences, the hatreds and the profound 
gaps in the fundamental positions maintained by the 
parties in the ongoing conflict between Israelis and 
Palestinians.  Rice did not come only to 'maintain' the 
process and to ensure that Israel indeed withdraws from 
the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria [i.e. the 
northernmost part of the West Bank] in another two 
months.  Her principal task was to ensure that the 
American investment in Sharon's disengagement plan does 
not go down the drain.  The Bush administration is 
deeply invested in disengagement, since the Americans 
believe that the evacuation will produce an earthquake 
in the region and may even herald the beginning of the 
end of the conflict.  Against the backdrop of the 
standstill in Iraq, Rice hopes that at least in our 
arena a miracle will happen and a breakthrough on the 
way to a peace arrangement will be achieved.   Sharon, 
who has received warm words of praise from President 
Bush and Secretary Rice, did not make life any easier 
for his American guest yesterday.... He warned her that 
the Palestinians were liable to miss another 
opportunity to reach a state of their own if the chaos 
in the Palestinian Authority did not end." 
 
II.  "By the Ballot of the Bomb" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar opined in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (June 20): "If Sharon and Bush 
can accept Hamas entering the elected Palestinian body 
via the front door, without any preconditions and in 
violation of existing agreements, how can Abbas be 
expected to slam the door shut in Hamas's face?.... In 
order to weaken Hamas, its political rivals must be 
bolstered.  It is vital, therefore, to ensure that 
Abbas comes across as a proud partner in talks with 
Sharon -- and not as a collaborator with Israel.  If 
not as a partner for a final status agreement -- at 
least as the new landlord in the territories, someone 
who Israel can turn to, someone who controls who enters 
and who leaves his territory.  If not as the liberator 
of Al-Aqsa, then as the leader who freed prisoners, 
smashed barriers, lifted roadblocks and froze the 
settlements.  Without all of these achievements, the 
withdrawal from Gaza will turn into Hamas' victory 
parade, and then there will be no need for elections or 
for international recognition in order to launch the 
third Intifada." 
 
III.  "Mind the Gap" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(June 20): "The U.S. ... is in full diplomatic mode: 
praising where it deems praise is due, coaxing, 
cajoling, and generally trying to get 'both sides' to 
behave and get on with the program.  Nor can the 
administration be accused of blind evenhandedness, 
since it clearly recognizes that Sharon is acting 
boldly while Abbas is much further from advancing 
Washington's vision.   So what's the problem?  The 
problem is that, in Washington's own terms, the gap 
between the parties' actions is much wider than Rice 
made it out to be [during her visit to the region]. 
Israel is embarking on a reversal of the settlement 
project on a scale that Washington could not have 
dreamed of, let alone demanded, let alone expected to 
receive.  The Palestinians, by contrast, not only have 
failed to begin to fulfill America's most basic 
demands, but have even moved in the wrong direction, 
denying even the principle that weapons must be 
confiscated.  In this context, it makes no sense to 
apply roughly the same medicine in slightly different 
doses.... The U.S. needs to say bluntly to the 
Palestinians that they must accept the Jewish people's 
national rights in this land, just as Israel has 
accepted their national rights.... If the U.S. is 
unwilling to say such things in a straightforward 
manner, with the clarity of Bush's June 2002 call on 
the Palestinians to rid themselves of Yasser Arafat, 
than it should not be surprised to see its plans 
unravel." 
 
IV.  "Diplomatic Talks Under Rocket Attacks" 
 
Former editor-in-chief Moshe Ishon asserted in 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (June 20): "The Secretary 
of State, who took part in a press conference [during 
her visit to Israel], at first tried to evade a 
question she was asked about whether the evacuation of 
Gush Katif was part of a comprehensive plan to evacuate 
Jewish settlers from the West Bank as well. 
Eventually, after journalists repeated the question 
several times, she said, naturally, that there is a 
road map and that the U.S. would implement it some 
time.... The Prime Minister and his friends are unable 
to foresee the future.  They haven't been attentive to 
remarks made by Condoleezza Rice at the press 
conference, according to which the withdrawal from Gush 
Katif is just the beginning of the process, in the 
framework of a plan leading to a total pullout from the 
West Bank and Jerusalem, which is included in the road 
map." 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Einat Hurvitz, chairperson of Amnesty International - 
Israel Section, and Claudio Cordone, senior director of 
Regional Programs at Amnesty International - 
International Secretariat, wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "The AI [Amnesty 
International] annual report is an overall record of 
efforts made throughout the year to protect people's 
lives and dignity.  Hopefully, the lively debate that 
its publication triggered in Israel and elsewhere will 
provide momentum for positive change in the reality of 
people's lives." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Amnesty Is Not 'Out To Get' Israel" 
 
Einat Hurvitz, chairperson of Amnesty International - 
Israel Section, and Claudio Cordone, senior director of 
Regional Programs at Amnesty International - 
International Secretariat, wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (June 20): "Amnesty 
International investigates, documents and takes action 
on human rights violations around the globe using one 
standard -- that of international human rights and 
humanitarian law -- and strives to do so in an 
impartial way.  Nevertheless, the annual Amnesty 
International Report 2005 covering human rights 
violations around the globe in 2004 generated criticism 
in this newspaper from David Forman ... and Michael 
Ehrlich.... Forman accuses Amnesty International (AI) 
of being 'out to get' Israel while ignoring serious 
human rights violations elsewhere in the world.... As 
for suicide bombings and other deliberate killings of 
Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups, we have 
consistently condemned them as crimes against 
humanity.... There is plenty of evidence that far too 
many killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces were 
unlawful.  AI and Israeli human rights organizations 
have raised numerous cases over the years with the 
Israeli authorities, who [sic] have hardly ever 
provided evidence to disprove the allegations or shown 
that proper investigations were taking place and that 
perpetrators were brought to justice and held 
accountable.... The AI annual report is an overall 
record of efforts made throughout the year to protect 
people's lives and dignity.  Hopefully, the lively 
debate that its publication triggered in Israel and 
elsewhere will provide momentum for positive change in 
the reality of people's lives." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
----------------------- 
¶3.  Lebanon: Elections: 
----------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Syria will 
apparently be able to continue exerting its influence 
in Lebanon, since after its withdrawal, no one can 
demand that it disarm Hizbullah.  That's Lebanon's job 
now." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"New Parliament, Old Policy" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz  (June 20): "The 
strange coalitions revealed during elections between 
past and present supporters of Syria, between some 
Druze and some Christians, the Christian right and 
Sunni Muslims, and some Shi'ites and other Druze, 
attest more than anything else to the fact that 
Lebanon's politics, in spite of the tremendous 
achievement of Syria's removal, still suffers from 
chronic malaise.  The main question is to what extent 
the new government and parliament can withstand 
external pressure as it continues to implement UN 
Resolution 1559 to oust Syria from Lebanon.  With the 
Shi'ite bloc and Hizbullah holding 35 seats, both Aoun 
and Hariri will need extraordinary political virtuosity 
to convince Hizbullah to disarm.  And since whoever 
wins does not hold a convincing majority, any external 
pressure will push political rivals into each other's 
arms in order not to appear to have buckled under 
international pressure.  Under such conditions, Syria 
will apparently be able to continue exerting its 
influence in Lebanon, since after its withdrawal, no 
one can demand that it disarm Hizbullah.  That's 
Lebanon's job now." 
 
KURTZER