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 003899 
 
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.  Democracy in Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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All media reported that PM Sharon hosted PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday at his Jerusalem 
residence for their first working visit since the Sharm 
el-Sheikh visit.  During the two-hour meeting, Sharon 
demanded that the PA act against terrorist 
organizations and prevent attacks.  Abbas demanded that 
Israel "strengthen his hand" so that he could act. 
Despite their differences, agreements were reached on a 
few issues, such as coordination of the disengagement. 
Sharon announced a number of goodwill gestures: 
Bethlehem and Qalqilya are to be handed over to PA 
control within two weeks; the number of Palestinian 
workers allowed in Israel will be increased; the 
checkpoints will be improved and some frail veteran 
prisoners -- with 'blood on their hands' -- will be 
released.  On the other hand, Sharon turned down 
several of Abbas's demands.   Sharon said that if the 
PA did not act against terror, Israel would be forced 
to act.  The media reported that senior Palestinian 
sources expressed deep disappointment about the 
meeting. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that, a few hours before the Sharon- 
Abbas meeting, Palestinian sources reported that the 
IAF had fired a number of missiles at a structure in 
Gaza in an assassination attempt, causing no injuries. 
Ha'aretz reported that Israeli security sources would 
not comment on the report, but quoted officials as 
confirming that targeted assassinations were being 
resumed.  Jerusalem Post also reported that the IAF had 
botched an assassination attempt.  Israel Radio cited 
threats made by five Palestinian groups to resume 
attacks inside the Green Line, should Israel continue 
its assassination policy. 
 
The collision of a passenger train with a truck in the 
northern Negev on Tuesday afternoon, in which eight 
people were killed and close to 200 others were 
injured, dominates the headlines.  The media reported 
that anti-disengagement groups announced that they were 
postponing for a week plans to block traffic at major 
junctions throughout the country in the wake of the 
collision in the Negev.  Leading media reported that on 
Monday or Tuesday (sources vary), police arrested 11 
residents of the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank 
after receiving information they were gathering road 
spikes and "ninja" throwing stars in preparation for 
the demonstration originally planned for today. 
Hatzofe reported that the Yesha Council of Jewish 
Settlements in the Territories plans to start its 
massive anti-disengagement campaign by mid-July. 
Israel Radio reported that several hundred reserve 
officers and soldiers took part in a meeting last night 
in Jerusalem to encourage disobeying orders in the 
evacuation of Gush Katif and the northern West Bank. 
Israel Radio reported that 11 Islamic Jihad militants 
have been arrested in the West Bank. 
 
Israel Radio cited claims by the international group 
Human Rights Watch that the IDF has whitewashed 
hundreds of cases of killings and injuries during the 
Intifada. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday, the Jerusalem 
Municipality proposed that Arab residents of the East 
Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan present the city with 
an alternative housing plan to scores of illegally 
constructed homes in the area slated for demolition. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that the Israel Navy has 
inaugurated a program to combine its elite Naval 
Academy with a degree from the University of Haifa. 
While the University has likened its program to the 
U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, the Navy sees it as a 
way to attract high-caliber youth to its professional 
service. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Even the Americans 
are wondering whether to continue assisting Abbas." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "The days of grace are over.  The 
days of reckoning have begun." 
 
Columnist Tovah Lazaroff wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "While Abbas's failure 
threatens to rock Sharon's own, it is Abbas's own 
future that was more imperiled as he walked out of the 
room." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "Egypt can prevent smuggling 
without changing the [Israeli-Egyptian peace] 
treaty.... The evacuation of Gaza should not be a 
hostage to the changing of the peace treaty." 
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach commented in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "In an attempt 
to assist Abu Mazen, the U.S. administration decided 
that the right thing to do was to demolish the 
houses.... When the Americans speak ... Jerusalem 
listens." 
 
Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized: "[Sharon] 
intends to evacuate the Gaza district without getting 
anything in exchange, and, if the U.S. pressures him, 
an increasing number of areas in the West Bank, too." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "No Surprises in Jerusalem" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (June 22): "In spite 
of the expressions of disappointment and disparagement 
on both sides, it seems the meeting expressed the exact 
state of the relationship between the two sides.  They 
are trapped in a chicken-or-egg conundrum: which comes 
first, the Palestinian war on terror or the 
strengthening of Abbas' government with goodwill 
gestures by Israel?.... Israeli officials are asking 
what the point is of strengthening a person who can't 
exert control, and whose weakness is immediately 
translated into a rise in terror.... The weakening of 
Abbas is very troubling to the U.S. administration. 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who came to the 
 
SIPDIS 
area last week, was impressed by the seriousness of a 
report she received from her security coordinator 
[Lieutenant] General William Ward, who described the 
crumbling of the PA, power struggles and infighting at 
senior levels of Fatah.  She asked her Israeli hosts to 
do all they could to help Abbas. Washington understands 
that Abbas's fall would be considered a failure of 
President George W. Bush's policy of democratization. 
But even the Americans are wondering whether to 
continue assisting Abbas or if the time has come to 
realize that nothing will help him, and even if he gets 
extra assistance, he won't be able to give anything in 
return." 
 
II.  "Atmosphere of Missed Opportunity" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (June 22): "Abu Mazen looked more lost 
than ever on Tuesday.... Abu Mazen is very good at 
talking.  Action is not his forte.  Sharon, who is in a 
difficult bind himself, is losing his patience.  On one 
hand, there are the Americans, who are demanding to 
strengthen Abu Mazen here and now.  On the other hand, 
there is the Israeli public.  On the third hand, the 
political situation -- the mounting terror -- the 
attempt to delay disengagement.... [On Tuesday,] a sour 
taste of failure hovered in the air.  An atmosphere of 
missed opportunity.... The days of grace are over.  The 
days of reckoning have begun.  The crucial hour is 
approaching, the way disengagement is implemented (if 
it does not hit a shoal along the way) will determine 
its continuation.  As weak as he is, Abu Mazen holds 
the keys to what will happen here at the end of the 
summer, and in several winters to come after that. 
That is how it looks, too." 
 
 
III.  "Abbas and Sharon Need Each Other" 
 
Columnist Tovah Lazaroff wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (June 22): "Unlike his 
predecessor, Yasser Arafat, who never understood the 
need to move from a terrorist state into a nation, 
Abbas apparently believes in a democratic state, not 
because of pressure from Israel or the international 
community but because he believes it holds the best 
promise for the Palestinian people.  A strong military 
strike is likely to put a more extreme leader in place, 
thus helping to ensure that disengagement becomes a 
last stand, rather than the first step toward a 
peaceful solution.  Sharon, therefore, is willing to go 
a long way to help Abbas, but his price tag is one that 
Abbas does not have the ability to pay: stop the 
violence.... The choice, Sharon seemed to be saying to 
Abbas, is yours.  While Abbas's failure threatens to 
rock Sharon's own, it is Abbas's own future that was 
more imperiled as he walked out of the room." 
 
IV.  "The Philadelphi Excuse" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (June 22): "The purpose of 
disengagement is to give the Palestinians full 
sovereignty over the area to be transferred to their 
control.  Without removing the Israel Defense Forces 
from the Philadelphi route that divides the two parts 
of Rafah, Israel cannot argue, politically or legally, 
that it has completed the withdrawal.  Since the 
disengagement is supposed to be unilateral, Israel has 
refrained from negotiating conditions or proposing 
reciprocal arrangements.... Therefore, Israel did not 
work toward an agreement with the Palestinians on the 
disposition of the Philadelphi route.  Leaving the 
route might increase the immediate security risk to 
Israel, caused by the smuggling of arms into Gaza and 
the threat of renewed firing.  Whether or not the 
Palestinians do their part to prevent smuggling from 
the eastern side of Rafah, the Egyptians have the 
capability to thwart these acts from the western side. 
This capability is contingent on reinforcing the 
Egyptian presence in Sinai.... Egypt can prevent 
smuggling without changing the treaty.... Egypt does 
not want to do so, for its own reasons. Talks being 
conducted with senior Egyptian officials in Jerusalem 
and Israeli officials in Cairo are for American eyes 
only.... The evacuation of Gaza should not be a hostage 
to the changing of the peace treaty." 
 
¶V.  "A City of Hope, an Army of Fear" 
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach commented in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (June 22): "The 
[IDF] officers didn't want to deal with the destruction 
of [settlers'] houses, mainly because of the will to 
leave the Gaza Strip as quickly as possible.  One of 
the officers told me about one month ago that the army 
is intent on destroying them, but that, on the other 
hand, Hamas is trailing the army.  The Israeli defense 
establishment's concerns overcome any idea of hope, and 
the government indeed adopted the army's position and 
decided not to destroy the houses.  Then, the Americans 
entered the picture.  In an attempt to assist Abu 
Mazen, the U.S. administration decided that the right 
thing to do was to demolish the houses.... When the 
Americans speak ... Jerusalem listens.  During her 
visit to the region this week, Secretary Rice announced 
that the houses would indeed be demolished, and that 
the Palestinians would deal with the removal of the 
ruins and the reconstruction.... [In such cases,] the 
only rescue may only come from Washington: if the U.S. 
insists on intervening and imposing reason on Israel, 
it is the only force that can overcome the IDF, too." 
 
VI.  "Unconditional Withdrawal" 
 
Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized (June 22): 
"[At the beginning of his term,] Sharon forcefully 
announced that there would be negotiations under fire, 
and that, before they receive anything from Israel, the 
Palestinians must disarm the terrorist groups.... 
Sharon's declarations aren't guaranteed at all.  He 
intends to evacuate the Gaza district without getting 
anything in exchange, and, if the U.S. pressures him, 
an increasing number of areas in the West Bank, too, 
even if Palestinian fire is fully resumed.... Only the 
cynical Sharon, who has no inhibitions, is capable of 
deluding the public, as if there were a connection 
between the Israeli withdrawal and the elimination of 
Palestinian terror." 
 
 
 
------------------------- 
¶2.  Democracy in Mideast: 
------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"It is clear that the U.S. is intent on adding fuel to 
the fire of democracy that Bush lit in this region." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
"Democracy's Voice" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(June 22): "On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice made what was perhaps the most 
powerful case for freedom and democracy since President 
George W. Bush's second inaugural address in January. 
Most importantly, she did so in Cairo, the heart not 
only of the Arab world, but of a country that has 
symbolized the gap between rhetoric and the nature of 
the friends America keeps.... With this speech, it is 
clear that the U.S. is intent on adding fuel to the 
fire of democracy that Bush lit in this region.  Never 
has America spoken so bluntly and with such specificity 
about so many nations throughout the Arab and Muslim 
world, whether 'friend' or foe.  We should recognize as 
a nation that our security and the prospects for peace 
depend not only on our own strength but on the success 
of this regional American project." 
 
KURTZER