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

221127Z Jul 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 004603 
 
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 
 
¶2.  July 21 London Bombings 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that at mid-day today, following 
her meeting with PM Sharon at his Sycamore Ranch, 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated that the 
 
SIPDIS 
U.S. views the disengagement move as an important step, 
and that she repeated President Bush's commitment to 
provide financial assistance for the Galilee and the 
Negev.  Ha'aretz's web site cited the satisfaction of 
Sharon's bureau over the Rice-Sharon talks.  The radio 
also cited a report from Beirut that Secretary Rice 
will make an impromptu visit to Lebanon today. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted sources close to Sharon as saying 
that his talks with Secretary Rice would center on both 
the run-up to disengagement, as well as "the day 
after."  The leading Internet news service Ynet quoted 
GOI sources as saying, on the eve of Rice's visit, that 
American criticism should be directed at the 
Palestinians, who continue not to act against terror. 
Yediot reported that Secretary Rice told Shalom upon 
her arrival in Israel that coordinating the 
disengagement is critical and that it must be 
continued, because some people will try to disrupt it. 
Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post and other leading media 
reported that Secretary Rice told FM Silvan Shalom that 
the road map must be next on the agenda after the 
disengagement.  She was also quoted as saying that the 
first step is a Palestinian commitment to dismantle the 
terrorist infrastructure.  Leading media quoted 
Secretary Rice as saying that the U.S. hopes to convene 
 
SIPDIS 
a regional conference after disengagement to promote 
the establishment of relations between Israel and North 
African and Persian Gulf Countries.  Jerusalem Post 
writes that the planned conference would be under the 
patronage of both the U.S. and Russia, and would also 
deal with various regional projects 
 
Ha'aretz and other media quoted sources in Sharon's 
bureau as saying that they rejected Thursday a proposal 
by Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Vice PM Ehud Olmert 
that the disengagement be moved up.  Maariv reported 
that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas recently 
conveyed a secret message to Israel, which says that it 
is obvious that only some refugees will be able to 
return to Israel.  Maariv reported that Abbas's adviser 
Jibril Rajoub has promised that there will be no 
terrorist attacks until and during the disengagement. 
 
The media (lead story in Ha'aretz) quoted military 
sources as saying on Thursday that security forces were 
unable to hermetically seal off the Gaza Strip.  The 
IDF believes that approximately 600 non-residents have 
entered the area to join anti-pullout force since the 
closure on the Strip was imposed on July 13.  Maariv 
cited settlers' claims that 2,000 Israelis have 
infiltrated the Strip. 
All media quoted PM Sharon as saying Thursday, during a 
visit to the West Bank settlement city of Ariel, that 
the Ariel bloc will "forever be an integral part of the 
state of Israel, and will have a contiguous territorial 
link to Israel.  As will the other blocs."  Jerusalem 
Post quoted a senior official in Sharon's office as 
saying he doubted that Sharon's tour to Ariel and the 
comments he made there would be viewed in Washington as 
"provocative."  The source was quoted as saying that 
one of the issues to be discussed would be Israel's 
request for USD 2.2 billion in US aid over the next 
four years to pay for development in the Negev and 
Galilee and for moving the IDF bases out of Gaza. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio quoted the UN's Middle East 
envoy Alvaro de Soto as saying that the disengagement 
plan could help jump-start the peace process.  The 
radio and Maariv's web site reported that The UN 
Security Council rejected a request Thursday by 
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa to debate 
the West Bank security fence, saying the Gaza 
disengagement plan trumps all other issues in the 
region at the moment. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that the Yesha Council of 
Jewish Settlements in the Territories plans to renew 
its attempt to march to Gush Katif next week. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that IDF soldiers from the 
infantry's noncommissioned officers course participated 
in a recent NATO exercise in Ukraine, the first time 
field troops have ever trained with the force. 
 
Maariv reported in its lead story that the IDF's 
Intelligence branch has recently presented an 
operational plan against Al-Qaida.  However, the 
newspaper quoted IDF Intelligence head Maj. Gen. Aharon 
Zeevi-Farkash as saying in closed meetings that his 
organization does not believe that Israel is in the 
sights of Al-Qaida. 
 
All media reported on the acts of terrorism carried out 
in London on Thursday. 
 
French President Jacques Chirac was quoted as saying in 
an interview with Ha'aretz that if European negotiators 
with Iran fail to eliminate the threat of nuclear 
proliferation, then the issue will have to be moved to 
the UN Security Council. 
Yediot and Maariv reported that 110,000 people 
worldwide won "green cards" in the 2005 lottery, 
including 116 Israelis. 
 
Yediot bannered a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll 
conducted this week, with emphasis on the views of 
young Israelis aged 15-18: 
-55 percent of young Israelis are opposed to the 
disengagement; 44 percent support it. 
-64 percent of young Israelis support soldiers' refusal 
to evacuate settlements; 29 percent believe it is not 
legitimate. 
-58 percent of the adult public support the 
disengagement plan (unchanged from last week's poll); 
35 percent are opposed (unchanged from last week's 
poll); 7 percent are undecided (12 percent in last 
week's poll). 
 
---------------------------------------- 
¶1.  Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank: 
---------------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: 
"Rice's visit at this time illustrates the increasing 
recognition by the international community that the 
success of the plan, conceived as unilateral, will 
create a diplomatic horizon of hope for the future." 
 
Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "Ugly protests will push 
mainstream [Israeli public] sympathy away from the anti- 
pullout camp." 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and extreme right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in Jerusalem Post: "The time 
has come for the people of Israel to freely and 
democratically decide which side they are on." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Success in the First Test" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (July 
22): "At the same time that the settlers' march was 
being stopped [on the way to the Gaza Strip], the 
Knesset rejected by a large majority a delay in 
disengagement.  The Qassam rockets, which threatened a 
renewal of fighting with the Palestinians on the eve of 
the evacuation, was defused by successful military and 
diplomatic pressure on the Palestinian Authority's 
leadership, without the IDF having to make good on its 
threat to open a ground offensive.  All these elements 
provide a convenient backdrop for the arrival of U.S. 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.... In the time 
 
SIPDIS 
left before disengagement, the U.S. must bridge the 
gaps between Israel and the PA regarding the gaps 
between Israel and the PA regarding control of the land 
crossings, and the opening of an air and sea port.  The 
U.S. must also encourage PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to 
continue his struggle against Hamas and to ensure quiet 
in Gaza during the evacuation.... Rice's visit at this 
time illustrates the increasing recognition by the 
international community that the success of the plan, 
conceived as unilateral, will create a diplomatic 
horizon of hope for the future." 
 
II.  "Marching on 'Disengagement II'" 
 
Editor-in-Chief David Horovitz wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (July 22): "As things stand, 
if civil disobedience is disciplined from now on, it 
will be a thick-skinned prime minister, and only one 
who has won explicit public support for his campaign, 
who will order further unilateral pullbacks in the West 
Bank.... Whether or not Sharon would want to oversee a 
significant 'Disengagement II,' it is near impossible 
to conceive of him attempting to do so from within the 
Likud.... Meanwhile Labor, whose leaders are certainly 
capable of ordering a major unilateral pullout from the 
West Bank, is plain unelectable.... Opinion-poll 
fluctuations in recent weeks ... underline the 
volatility of the mainstream Israeli public mood.  Ugly 
protests will push mainstream sympathy away from the 
anti-pullout camp.... A sufficient swing of support 
might even prompt the oft-anticipated 'Big Bang' in 
Israeli politics -- the realignment of our parties 
along lines that more effectively represent the new 
electoral segments." 
 
II.  "The Settlers Show Their True Colors" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and extreme right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in Jerusalem Post (July 22): 
"When a democratic government adopts an immoral policy, 
it is the duty of its loyal citizens, through acts of 
protest and civil disobedience, to hold up a mirror to 
their leaders and fellow citizens to force them to 
contend with the implications of their policies.  At 
Netivot and Kfar Maimon this week, the protesters did 
just that.  What we saw on the one side was the 
dignified, humble, and stubborn Zionism of the citizens 
set up to be expelled and of their supporters.  On the 
other side, we saw the anti-democratic and 
discriminatory face of the government that stands 
against them.  The time has come for the people of 
Israel to freely and democratically decide which side 
they are on." 
---------------------------- 
¶2.  July 21 London Bombings: 
---------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Judging from Britain's responses to 
the lethal bombings two weeks ago, the British are 
going to harvest much more experience, because it is 
not certain that they have grasped what hit them." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Jenin-on-Thames" 
 
Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (July 22): "This time, London paid a 
cheap price.  But reports from Her Majesty's capital 
are starting to smell the foulness of the Middle East, 
perhaps fitting a city whose Mayor feels such empathy 
for suicide bombers.... Judging from Britain's 
responses to the lethal bombings two weeks ago, the 
British are going to harvest much more experience, 
because it is not certain that they have grasped what 
hit them.... Even before Britain was able to bury all 
the casualties of the series of attacks, after a few 
days of national unity, its politicians started to 
argue over who among them was responsible for the 
terror.  They are beating one another up, while talking 
in unison, extremely tactfully, about peace-seeking 
Islam, in which the West's great cleverness and 
irresponsible policy succeeds in planting seeds of 
terror.  Everybody is guilty, except the sheikhs who 
are welcomed in the West with pampering hugs, while 
they preach the enormity of its rot to their faithful." 
 
KURTZER