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 004420 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
On Sunday, Ha'aretz and other media quoted a State 
Department spokesman as saying that Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice will cut short her trip to Africa and 
visit the area at the end of the week in response to 
the escalation of violence in the territories. 
 
During the weekend, all media highlighted both 
escalation between Israel and the Palestinians in and 
around the Gaza Strip, and the march toward Gush Katif 
planned for this afternoon by the Yesha Council of 
Jewish Settlements in the Territories.  It is slated to 
start from the Negev town of Netivot. 
 
All media reported that on Sunday, PM Sharon reiterated 
his instructions to the security forces at the cabinet 
meeting Sunday to take "all measures, without 
restrictions, to halt terrorism."  At the same time, 
the media said that the government agreed to give PA 
Chairman [President] "one more chance" to clamp down on 
terror on its own.  On Sunday, all media emphasized 
that the IDF was poised for a massive sweep into Gaza. 
However, Yediot stressed on Sunday that Sharon's 
instructions to the IDF to apply force without limits 
were a declaration of intentions meant to pressure 
Abbas.  The media reported that six Israelis were hurt, 
two moderately and four lightly, by mortar fire on Gush 
Katif on Sunday.  Ha'aretz and Maariv reported that on 
Sunday, Israeli snipers shot to death senior Hamas 
operative Said Siyam on the roof of his home in Khan 
Yunis.  Ha'aretz reported that an Islamic Jihad 
militant was killed Sunday in clashes with the IDF near 
Netzarim (Gaza Strip).  Leading media reported that 
three Hamas militants were assassinated on Friday in 
the West Bank.  The media reported that the IDF 
arrested 21 wanted men from Hamas and Islamic Jihad in 
operations in the West Bank on Sunday and last night. 
 
All media reported that, despite a police ban, many 
demonstrators intend to participate in the pro-settler 
march towards Gush Katif (most banners on Monday).  All 
media cited IDF and police's fears of violent clashes 
between demonstrators and 10,000 to 20,000 security 
personnel -- figures varied depending on the media. 
The media reported that late on Sunday night, hundreds 
of anti-disengagement protesters attempted to block the 
Kissufim crossing into Gaza and that they were pushed 
aside by police and troops.  The media reported that 
nine IDF soldiers -- all of whom are students in hesder 
yeshivas (in which students combine military service 
with religious studies) -- refused on Saturday night to 
follow orders and participate in an operation to 
prevent Israeli citizens from entering the Gaza Strip. 
Two of them, who are hiding in Gush Katif, are 
considered AWOL. 
 
Leading media quoted Abbas as saying on Sunday that the 
PA is determined to stop the rocket launching. 
Ha'aretz reported that an Egyptian security delegation 
arrived in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a bid to forge a 
reconciliation between the PA and Hamas's leadership. 
 
Ha'aretz (Aluf Benn) cited reports transmitted to 
Jerusalem in recent weeks by the Israeli Embassy in 
Washington as saying that Ambassador Richard (Dick) 
Jones, a professional diplomat from the State 
Department, is the leading candidate to replace Dan 
Kurtzer as U.S. ambassador to Israel. 
 
Leading media quoted Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of 
Israel's Islamic Movement (northern branch), as saying 
on his release from prison on Sunday that he would not 
be deterred from violating the terms of his parole, 
which bars him from coming to Jerusalem during the next 
four months without special police permission. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that members of Iraq's National 
Assembly have told the newspaper that, one month before 
the deadline for the creation of the new Iraqi 
constitution, a debate on whether to include Jews as an 
official minority has broken out in the assembly. 
 
On Sunday, Maariv reported that Mohammed Sadique Khan, 
one of London's suicide bombers, visited Israel in 
2003, before the bombing of the Mike's Place pub in Tel 
Aviv. 
 
On Sunday, Yediot reported that this week, the FBI 
warned the Israeli Consulate-General in Los Angeles 
that Islamic extremists planned to attack Israeli and 
Jewish targets in the city. 
 
On Sunday, Yediot quoted Iran's Intelligence Minister 
Ali Yunesi as saying on Saturday that the U.S. and 
Israel are trying to recruit spies in Iran. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The fear of a 
foiled evacuation of the settlers ... joining the 
Americans' resounding failure to stabilize Iraq is the 
principal motivating element behind Rice's lightning- 
quick visit to the region." 
 
Chief economic editor Sever Plotker opined in the lead 
editorial of Yediot Aharonot: "The concept of 
unilateral action, which has recently seeped into the 
road map ... will not stand up to the test of Middle 
East reality." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "It is not clear what more Rice 
can say to Abbas, to clarify to him how serious his 
weakness is." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one 
of popular, pluralist Maariv: "A heavy shadow hovers 
over the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.  It is the 
shadow of the withdrawal from Lebanon.... [But] the 
Lebanese model will not recur." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "The Yesha Council is not 
waging a campaign for Gush Katif, but a campaign 
against the State of Israel." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "The U.S. 
Secretary of State is coming to the region and Sharon 
 
SIPDIS 
will be required to make a gesture in her honor, and to 
pull out the IDF forces." 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Whatever the rationale for putting new [Palestinian] 
territorial grievances on the agenda, it would do well 
if our government didn't sweep these under the rug." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Threatening and Calming" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (July 17): "The 
Israelis aren't impressed any more with Abu Mazen's 
cries of woe and his claims of weakness.... In talks 
that were held by Shaul Mofaz and aides to Prime 
Minister Sharon with Condoleezza Rice and her close 
aides, the Israelis demanded that intense pressure be 
applied on Abu Mazen, whose refusal to clash forcibly 
with Islamic Jihad and Hamas could severely impede the 
evacuation of the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria [i.e. 
the northernmost part of the West Bank].  Without 
doubt, Rice's decision to come urgently to the region 
... stems from the sense of urgency the Israelis and 
the Secretary of State's man in the field, General 
Ward, managed to impress upon Ms. Rice.  The Americans 
are invested in Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, and 
this bears upon the Bush administration's prestige. 
The fear of a foiled evacuation of the settlers from 
Gaza and northern Samaria joining the Americans' 
resounding failure to stabilize Iraq is the principal 
motivating element behind Rice's lightning-quick visit 
to the region." 
 
II.  "No Unilateral Withdrawal" 
 
Chief economic editor Sever Plotker opined in the lead 
editorial of Yediot Aharonot (July 18): "Apparently, 
there is no such thing as unilateral withdrawal: just 
as Israel did not succeed in imposing the occupation on 
the Palestinians, it will also not succeed in imposing 
the end of occupation on them under conditions that are 
convenient for it and for it alone.  For if the 
withdrawal from Gaza is being served to the 
Palestinians on a 'unilateral' platter and stands to be 
carried out under any conditions, then what card can 
Abu Mazen's administration use to subdue Hamas?  And 
what incentive does Hamas have to yield, even 
temporarily?  When two nations are in a state of open 
bloody conflict, one side cannot extricate itself from 
the conflict unilaterally.  The concept of unilateral 
action, which has recently seeped into the road map, in 
which each side will make its moves separately without 
taking into account what the other side is doing -- 
Israel will withdraw from the territories, and the 
Palestinians will eradicate terrorism -- will not stand 
up to the test of Middle East reality.  We must return 
to the formula of negotiations with the Palestinians 
that Binyamin Netanyahu proposed in the past when 
serving as Israel's prime minister: 'If they give, they 
will receive; if they don't give, they won't receive.' 
This formula is all the more valid today: after all, 
Netanyahu only gave an outspoken verbal phrasing of the 
principle of 'land for peace,' which has been a guiding 
principle of Israeli policy since 1967." 
 
III.  "Fire Before the Evacuation" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (July 17): "The calm period in 
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, since the end of the 
Yasser Arafat era and the beginning of Mahmoud Abbas' 
regime, may soon be over.... Busy with the complex 
problem of evacuating thousands of citizens and 
blocking tens of thousands of evacuation opponents, 
Israel hoped that pressure from the U.S., Egypt, and 
others would curb the Palestinian urge to exploit the 
evacuation to attack Israeli citizens and soldiers.... 
The Israeli support for restraint was replaced by a 
recommendation for immediate action, in view of the 
rigid evacuation deadline.... The Palestinians are 
insisting on proving to Israel that Hamas and Islamic 
Jihad not only drove it out of Gaza with fire, but will 
continue to fire at the Negev and coastal plain from 
the liberated territory and send suicide bombers into 
Israel.  This could weaken the support for the 
evacuation before it begins, or as it progresses. 
Abbas failed in his efforts to persuade the Hamas and 
Jihad leaders to preserve the cease-fire.... The sudden 
escalation is bringing U.S. Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice flying to Jerusalem and Ramallah, for 
the second time in a month.  It is not clear what more 
Rice can say to Abbas, to clarify to him how serious 
his weakness is.  If he doesn't come to his senses 
within days, he will be risking not only his rule but 
the precedent-setting evacuation of the Gaza Strip 
settlements." 
 
IV.  "A Heavy Shadow" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one 
of popular, pluralist Maariv (July 17): "A heavy shadow 
hovers over the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.  It is 
the shadow of the withdrawal from Lebanon, which the 
IDF left overnight a little over five years ago.... 
Just like we entered Lebanon to seek revenge for the 
spectacles of the Yom Kippur War, so we will leave Gaza 
to fix the impression left by Lebanon.... [But] the way 
things look now, the chances of the disengagement 
process from Gaza going quietly and in coordination 
with the Palestinians are slim.... Everything will be 
ready for an immediate, forceful incursion that could 
result in the occupation of parts of the Gaza Strip for 
the duration of the disengagement process.  As noted, 
the Lebanese model will not recur." 
 
¶V.  "A Campaign Against the State" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (July 18): "The Yesha Council of 
Settlements in the West Bank and Gaza is supposed to 
launch its march on Gush Katif today -- a march that is 
meant to thwart the decision to disengage from the Gaza 
Strip that was made by the state's authorized 
institutions.... According to Yesha Council members, 
the march is not supposed to involve clashes with 
soldiers and policemen or violence of any sort.  But 
this is a hollow and, in fact, deceptive promise.  The 
Yesha leaders know very well, from their experience 
with similar demonstrations, that violence is implicit 
in their plans.... The Yesha Council is not waging a 
campaign for Gush Katif, but a campaign against the 
State of Israel.... The danger to the state reflected 
in the march on Gush Katif is no smaller, and in 
practice is even greater, than the danger posed by 
other demonstrations that the security forces have been 
forced to handle." 
 
VI.  "The Writing Was on the Wall" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (July 18): 
"Even if the IDF takes steps against the terrorist 
organizations in a land operation, this action will be 
very limited.  Anyway, the terrorists are already 
expecting it, and its effect will be marginal, since 
the U.S. Secretary of State is coming to the region and 
Sharon will be required to make a gesture in her honor, 
and to pull out the IDF forces." 
VII.  "Dahlan's Deadly Claims" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(July 17): "The fact that the rocket attack on Netiv 
Ha'asara last week came a short time after PA Minister 
Muhammad Dahlan took Israeli disengagement coordinators 
by surprise when he seemingly casually raised demands 
for that village's land cannot be written off as a mere 
unfortunate coincidence.... Though Dahlan later 
declared that the PA isn't filing claims for lands 
within Israel proper, he and fellow PA higher-ups may 
simply disagree on the definition of what constitutes 
'Israel proper'.... Though government spokesmen branded 
this a non-starter, the very possibility that the strip 
north of the Erez Crossing could now conceivably become 
disputed is potentially explosive.... Whatever the 
rationale for putting new territorial grievances on the 
agenda, it would do well if our government didn't sweep 
these under the rug, politically embarrassing as 
additional pretexts for Palestinian belligerence may be 
at this specific turbulent juncture.  Letting even 
artificially concocted complaints take hold and fester 
can only make matters worse.  Even a hint of a new 
casus belli must be faced head on now.  Israel must 
explain its case articulately and unhesitatingly both 
at home and abroad, before a new issue is conjured and 
gets out of hand." 
 
CRETZ