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

141346Z Jul 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 004367 
 
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.  Gaza Disengagement 
 
¶2.  London Bombings 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
PM Sharon's decision to seal off the Gaza Strip to non- 
resident Israelis through the disengagement move 
dominates the media, some of which report on scuffles 
between security forces and anti-disengagement 
protesters at the Kissufim crossing to the Strip. 
Ha'aretz reports that six IDF soldiers refused to take 
part in the sealing operation.  Ha'aretz says that 
2,000 soldiers and police have been stationed around 
the Strip.  Maariv marks Wednesday as the starting date 
of the disengagement.  A Hatzofe headline reads: "No 
Entry to Jews."  Israel Radio reported that five 
Israelis in their twenties were arrested on suspicion 
of planning to block roads. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Israeli communities inside 
and outside the Gaza Strip were shelled last night. 
There were no casualties.  The radio also reported that 
the IDF killed an armed Palestinian in Nablus. 
Ha'aretz reported that during its raid in Tulkarm, the 
IDF found a laboratory for making explosives and some 
70 kg of gunpowder.  The lab was destroyed in a 
controlled explosion. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that, less than 24 hours after 
a senior PA security official announced that the PA was 
planning to crack down on Islamic Jihad for its role in 
Tuesday's suicide bombing in Netanya, Palestinian 
officials have made it clear that "only those directly 
linked to the attack would be punished." 
 
Ha'aretz quoted officials from international entities 
involved in talks to coordinate the disengagement as 
saying that demolishing homes in the Gaza Strip after 
evacuation will entail a logistically complicated 
operation to remove debris.  The sources are quoted as 
saying that the rubble will have to go to Sinai. 
Therefore, Egypt will determine the fate of the plan to 
demolish the homes and flatten the ground for 
rebuilding.  Ha'aretz also reported that Egyptian 
officers will arrive in Gaza on Sunday to prepare the 
Palestinians for the Israeli evacuation from the Strip. 
 
Maariv reported that over 660 members of the Likud's 
Central Committee have signed a petition requesting 
that the committee be convened to set a date for 
elections for the chairmanship of the party.  The 
newspaper says that the purpose of the move's 
initiators is to make Binyamin Netanyahu replace 
Sharon. 
Yediot New York correspondent Eitan Amit reports on 
what he says is the United States' indifference to the 
expansion process of the UN Security Council. 
 
Jerusalem Post cited a viewer poll aired on Monday by 
CNN, according to which 94 percent of respondents are 
opposed to U.S. taxpayers footing the bill for Israel's 
pullout from Gaza; 6 percent agree to the idea. 
 
----------------------- 
¶1.  Gaza Disengagement: 
----------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
decision to close the [Gaza] Strip earlier than planned 
was correct, and may even have saved lives." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It would not 
be an overstatement to say that the central 
significance [of Wednesday's closure of the Gaza Strip 
to non-resident Israelis] is that Israeli democracy is 
prepared to deal with those who want to rise up and 
force it to do what they want." 
 
Editor-in-Chief Amnon Dankner and senior columnist Dan 
Margalit wrote on page one of popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "The line must be drawn clearly and sharply: 
the line does not divide disengagement supporters from 
disengagement opponents, it divides between those who 
have national responsibility and those who have none." 
 
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote on page one of 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "Opponents of uprooting 
will have to recruit enormous forces to meet the 
difficult task whose definition is hard to actually 
utter: to defeat the IDF." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Evacuation Has Begun" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (July 
14): "The evacuation of the Gaza Strip actually began a 
few weeks ago, when the IDF began to evacuate military 
infrastructure.  But from a psychological standpoint, 
it seems that the Prime Minister's issuance on 
Wednesday of a closure order for the Strip was the 
definitive moment.... Had it not been for the active 
intervention of disengagement opponents and the bear 
hug they gave Gush Katif residents, things would 
presumably have been done differently.  The renewed 
attempts to block roads throughout the country, the 
fact that the ultra-Orthodox have joined the 
demonstrations, the enlistment of the Baba Baruch [a 
charismatic religious sage] in the struggle, the 
repeated seditious statements by some yeshiva heads -- 
all of these demonstrate that the decision to close the 
Strip earlier than planned was correct, and may even 
have saved lives." 
 
II.  "The Day Disengagement Began" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (July 14): "The 
decision to close the Gaza Strip has many shades of 
significance, some far reaching: it would not be an 
overstatement to say that the central significance is 
that Israeli democracy is prepared to deal with those 
who want to rise up and force it to do what they 
want.... The closure order issued on Wednesday by 
Sharon put an end to the planned parliamentary tricks 
to thwart the evacuation, could stop the denial process 
nurtured by the hard core of Gush Katif settlers. 
That's it, the die has been cast.  It is hard to 
imagine a scenario that can now prevent implementation 
of disengagement.  A day after the disengagement is 
completed, Israel will declare the removal of 
responsibility over the Gaza Strip and the cancellation 
of the Civil Administration in the area.  The practical 
significance: if the Palestinian Authority decides to 
implement its right of return and bring refugees into 
the Gaza Strip, it will be able to do so." 
 
III.  "Red Line for Rabbis" 
 
Editor-in-Chief Amnon Dankner and senior columnist Dan 
Margalit wrote on page one of popular, pluralist Maariv 
(July 14): "With criminal irresponsibility, with 
arrogance and a poisonous tongue, too many rabbis of 
the national-religious public speak evil.  Their talk 
is mainly disproportionate.  True, evacuation is a 
difficult matter, and true, it is right that they 
should warn of its possible security and political 
outcome.... However, in truth, when the harsh 
statements and hair-raising descriptions are heard, one 
would think that the settlers are being slaughtered.... 
One could also think ... that Zionism has died or been 
murdered by the government of Israel.... None of this 
talk has any basis.... Five weeks before disengagement 
begins, the line must be drawn clearly and sharply: the 
line does not divide disengagement supporters from 
disengagement opponents; it divides between those who 
have national responsibility and those who have 
none.... Each and every one of the citizens of Israel 
is obliged today to stand on the correct side of this 
line.  Those who prefer to stand on the other side must 
realize that they deserve neither understanding nor 
forgiveness, neither empathy and nor an embrace, only 
the harshest words of condemnation and a complete 
turning of our backs." 
 
IV.  "Sharon Has Turned the IDF Into the Enemy" 
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote on page one of 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (July 14): "The battle 
for Gush Katif began on Wednesday; there is no question 
about that.... We can win.  It will be a tough battle, 
not a simple one, against hostile forces, against an 
imperious and dictatorial government.  Opponents of 
uprooting will have to recruit enormous forces to meet 
the difficult task whose definition is hard to actually 
utter: to defeat the IDF -- to bring the Israel Defense 
Forces to its knees.  The IDF, temporarily, the echelon 
of the top command, has become, because of Sharon, the 
'enemy' in the service of the evil regime.  It will 
revert to being our army again on the day that the 
battle is decided, either way, and we believe that it 
will be decided in favor of keeping the settlements." 
 
-------------------- 
¶2.  London Bombings: 
-------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Editorial writer Avraham Tal observed in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "As someone who is now assuming 
the status of an international leader with designs on 
making peace in the Middle East, [Tony Blair] must not 
forget Islamic Jihad and Hamas, whose modus operandi 
was demonstrated last week to Britons on Bus No. 30 and 
the underground trains." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"A Worthy Mission For Blair" 
 
Editorial writer Avraham Tal observed in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (July 14):  "On the day it was 
Britain's turn to fall victim to Al-Qaida, and fears 
rose regarding incitement and retribution against its 
Muslim citizens, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said 
that the vast majority of Muslims were decent citizens 
who were appalled by terror just like other citizens. 
This is certainly true; nevertheless, it is difficult 
to ignore the fact that Britain, with close to 2 
million Muslim residents (around 800,000 in London 
itself), is a breeding ground for Al-Qaida terror, 
perhaps more so than any other European country.... 
What is truly needed to weaken Islamic terror, 
alongside an uncompromising war against it, is a 
decision by the sane majority among Muslims everywhere 
to denounce and rid themselves of the terrorists.  But 
beyond the condemnations of the terror, the Islamic 
establishment there, as in Israel, wasn't very moved by 
the attacks.... Over and above his praise for the 
British Muslims' reservations regarding terror, Blair 
must openly demand that their communal leaders stand at 
the forefront of the struggle against the Al-Qaida 
criminal organization.  And as someone who is now 
assuming the status of an international leader with 
designs on making peace in the Middle East, he must not 
forget Islamic Jihad and Hamas, whose modus operandi 
was demonstrated last week to Britons on Bus No. 30 and 
the underground trains." 
 
KURTZER