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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 004564 
 
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 
 
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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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Leading media reported that Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice is due here this evening for a two-day 
visit to Israel and the PA.  Ha'aretz says that the 
visit is aimed at demonstrating America's involvement 
on the eve of disengagement and strengthening efforts 
at coordination between Israel and the PA.  The media 
reported that for the first time, Secretary Rice will 
visit PM Sharon at his Sycamore Ranch home tomorrow. 
She will confer with FM Silvan Shalom tonight, with 
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Friday, and with Vice 
Premier Shimon Peres on Sunday morning.  Ha'aretz 
reported that on Wednesday, Deputy National Security 
Advisor Elliott Abrams and A/S David Welch arrived in 
Jerusalem to prepare for the visit.  Ha'aretz writes 
that officials in Washington had raised the possibility 
that Rice would try to arrange a meeting between Sharon 
and PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, but that the 
idea was coolly received in Jerusalem.  The newspaper 
says that Sharon made it clear he would meet Abbas only 
after the pullout was completed, and that the Americans 
have now dropped the subject. 
 
All media reported that thousands of anti-disengagement 
activists reluctantly headed home last night after 
being prevented from marching toward Gush Katif. 
Israel Radio cited a police assessment that this 
morning, 1,500 people were staying behind in Kfar 
Maimon, where the march stopped.  Ha'aretz quoted IDF 
sources as saying that right-wing activists are 
slipping into Gush Katif while the army's attention is 
focused on Kfar Maimon. 
 
A spokeswoman for USAID was quoted as saying Wednesday, 
in an interview with Jerusalem Post, that the USG is 
willing to pay some USD 8 to 10 million to buy the Gaza 
settlers' hothouses and give them to the Palestinians 
to save the jobs of some 4,000 Palestinians who work 
there.  Jerusalem Post quoted Sharon spokesman Raanan 
Gissin as saying that Sharon supports the pending sale, 
which is being brokered by Peres.  The newspaper writes 
that Peres has been working on the sale in advance of 
Secretary Rice's arrival to the country.  According to 
 
SIPDIS 
Jerusalem Post, Gissin added that no formal government 
approval was needed.  Hamodi'a reported that on 
Wednesday, Peres mentioned the understanding to a 
Sharon-headed ministerial committee dealing with 
disengagement.  Speaking on Israel Radio this morning, 
Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) attacked 
Peres for defending the Palestinians' interests, rather 
than Israel's. 
 
All media reported that the opponents of the 
disengagement plan sustained what Ha'aretz dubs a 
"bitter defeat" on Wednesday, when three attempts to 
delay the disengagement from Gaza by several months 
failed by a large majority.  Those bill proposals were 
all rejected, 69-43, 69-41, and 69-40.  Ha'aretz 
reported that Sharon declined to comment on Finance 
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's absence from the votes. 
Jerusalem Post reported that Sharon decided not to fire 
Netanyahu over the issue. 
 
All media reported that IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz 
approved a series of steps this week to harshen 
disciplinary measures against refuseniks ahead of the 
disengagement plan.  Halutz said that a soldier 
convicted of refusing an order would no longer be 
allowed to serve as a combat soldier, and that 
refuseniks would be sentenced to prison. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Palestinian government has 
allocated USD 10 million for connecting the settlements 
that are due to be evacuated in the Gaza Strip and the 
West Bank, and the areas surrounding them, to the PA's 
energy and transportation infrastructures. 
 
PA Civil Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan was quoted as 
saying this week, in an interview with Ha'aretz, that 
Hamas is trying to carry out a military coup against 
the PA.  He was also quoted as saying that Sharon and 
Hamas have the same goal: destroying the PA.  Maariv 
reported that a popular army comprised of thousands of 
Hamas activists ("Murabitun") is poised to conquer the 
Gaza Strip and to overthrow the PA after the 
disengagement.  Leading media reported that Fatah and 
Hamas clashed on Wednesday, despite the agreement 
reached between the groups on Tuesday. 
 
Leading media reported that two settlers are suspected 
of having stabbed to death a 13-year-old Palestinian 
boy near the settlement of Shilo Wednesday.  However, 
the Ha'aretz web site and other media later reported 
that senior Palestinian figures told IDF officials that 
the boy was likely murdered within the context of a 
clan feud. 
 
Jerusalem Post cited the results of a Tel Aviv 
University poll conducted earlier this week: 
-75 percent of Israelis surveyed said they believed the 
disengagement would take place. 
-57 percent of the public thought that "in retrospect" 
Israel should not have established any settlements in 
Gaza, while only 37 percent agreed that it was 
necessary to do so. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
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                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "[The pro-disengagement] camp must give the 
disengagement valid significance.... [The anti- 
disengagement] camp must overcome its sense of mourning 
and realize that the die is cast." 
 
Veteran journalist Yaron London wrote in the editorial 
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The 
process is familiar from other countries that 
established colonies.  The clearest example is 'French 
Algeria,' which tried to bring about the collapse of 
the republic." 
 
Editor-in-Chief Gonen Ginat wrote on page one of 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "Nothing can be expected 
from a corrupt dictator who sold his country in order 
to dodge an indictment." 
 
Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized: "The White 
House, which views itself, and justly so, as the 
sponsor of the diplomatic processes in the region, is 
incapable of helping either Sharon or Abu Mazen in this 
situation." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Blue and Orange at the Red Line" 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (July 21): "The Prime Minister has not yet 
bothered to explain which profound insight lies at the 
basis of the disengagement plan.... There are a mere 
few weeks left.  The [pro-disengagement] blue camp must 
come to its senses.  It must grant a humane and moral 
dimension to the historic move; it must give the 
disengagement valid significance.  It must look in the 
eye those whose world it is about to destroy and speak 
to them.  The [anti-disengagement] orange camp too must 
come to its senses.  It must overcome its sense of 
mourning and realize that the die is cast.  There will 
indeed be disengagement.  The orange camp must now curb 
the rebellion, revolt, and refusal spreading among its 
grieving members.  It must ensure that the inevitable 
division of the Land of Israel [Israel, including the 
territories] will not tear asunder the people of Israel 
and will not shake the State of Israel.  Under no 
circumstances must the orange camp cross the red line." 
 
II.  "The State of Judea, Samaria and Gaza" 
 
Veteran journalist Yaron London wrote in the editorial 
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (July 
21): "The settler leaders in the territories speak to 
the authorities as though they were the representatives 
of a foreign state.  In their rogue state live a people 
that has developed its own laws and separated from the 
hegemonic state in its ways of life and beliefs.... 
Before our eyes, the old warning of the opponents of 
occupation is coming true, i.e. that the settlers' 
state would gain strength and when put to the test 
would rebel against the State of Israel.  This was to 
be expected, since the process is familiar from other 
countries that established colonies.  The clearest 
example is 'French Algeria,' which tried to bring about 
the collapse of the republic.  All the warnings against 
rash comparisons between what happened in France 50 
years ago and what is happening in our home are 
shattering in the face of the sights in southern 
Israel.... Like [the colonists in Algeria], the 
settlers say that instead of compromising with the 
Muslims, we should 'let the army win,' and like them, 
'extremists' in the rebel camp plot to attack Muslims 
so that all of the national energy will be dedicated to 
defense against an all-out attack.... And as in France 
in the mid-20th century, here too: The excited calls 
for national unity and national responsibility should 
be accompanied by a demonstration of the state's 
power." 
 
III.  "The Dictator Who Quashed Democracy Is to Blame 
For the Violence" 
 
Editor-in-Chief Gonen Ginat wrote on page one of 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (July 21): "Should, God 
forbid, violent clashes occur [among Israelis], someone 
would be responsible for them.  It is a reckless 
dictator who spat on the voters.  Ariel Sharon is the 
culprit -- not the only one, but the main one.  If 
there is violence, it will be the direct consequence of 
that spit on democracy.  It is inevitable to recall the 
following: there were democratic elections in Israel; 
in those elections, the public clearly and 
unequivocally decided against the current direction.... 
A person who quashes democracy begets violence.  Had 
Sharon been a responsible human being -- and he is 
neither a human being nor someone responsible -- he 
would have said that he changed his mind: let's try 
elections or a referendum.... Nothing can be expected 
from a corrupt dictator who sold his country in order 
to dodge an indictment." 
 
IV.  "The Threshold of Washington's Mediating Ability" 
 
Ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized (July 21): 
"The situation [in this region] isn't totally under 
control -- on either of the sides.  While Sharon is 
acting under the increasing sense of an internal rift, 
the Palestinian Authority is finding it hard to control 
Hamas and Islamic Jihad.  The White House, which views 
itself, and justly so, as the sponsor of the diplomatic 
processes in the region, is incapable of helping either 
Sharon or Abu Mazen in this situation.  The tension in 
the air and the feeling of uncertainty, which have 
turned into key features of the Middle East, no longer 
are only the consequence of conflicts between 
neighboring nations, but also of discords within 
regimes.  Washington now feels that even a regional 
peace conference would be considered a plan that could 
be easier to implement than an intra-Israeli mediation 
between Sharon and the Yesha Council of Jewish 
Settlements in the Territories and his opponents with 
in the Likud, or, in a totally different context, 
between the warring factions in the PA." 
 
KURTZER