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 004791 
 
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.  Iran: Nuclear Program 
 
¶3.  Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that tens of thousands of right-wing 
activists participated in Tuesday's anti-disengagement 
rally in Sderot, after which they left the town and 
traveled south to Ofakim to continue their protests 
today.  The media say that a few hundred extremists 
could try to infiltrate Gush Katif.  Leading media 
(banner in Maariv) write that a rally to be held next 
to Jerusalem's Western (Wailing) Wall on Tish'a B'av -- 
August 14 -- the day commemorating the destruction of 
the two Temples, could turn into a serious disturbance. 
 
Ha'aretz (Zeev Schiff) quoted U.S. security envoy Lt. 
Gen. William Ward as saying that the PA's expected 
dispatching of forces to maintain order is only one of 
the steps the Palestinians are taking ahead of the 
disengagement.  Ward was quoted as saying that there is 
full military coordination between IDF officers and 
senior PA officials, and that the operation will 
succeed if everything works as planned.  Ha'aretz 
reported that IDF representatives met with PA security 
chiefs on Tuesday to coordinate the disengagement for 
the first time after a month-long hiatus.  Israel Radio 
reported that PM Sharon will meet with Defense Minister 
Shaul Mofaz and other officials today to discuss the 
issue of land borders with Egypt.  The radio says that 
the defense establishment favors a border crossing at 
Kerem Shalom, south of Rafah, and that Vice Premier 
Shimon Peres proposes that passage for persons be in 
Rafah, and for goods in Nitzana.  Maariv reported that 
the IDF proposes that Israel cancel its control over 
passage of persons and goods at the Rafah terminal, but 
that Israel would announce ahead of time that its 
reaction will be "unprecedented" in its vigor if the 
Palestinians abuse the arrangement by smuggling weapons 
and launching rockets into Israel.  Israel Radio 
reported that Mofaz will visit Jordan today to discuss 
the implementation of the disengagement and bilateral 
security cooperation issues with King Abdullah and 
senior Jordanian officials.  The station also reported 
that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas will meet 
with King Abdullah of Jordan today. 
 
Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that Peres 
will meet with Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn today. 
Jerusalem Post says that the two men will discuss some 
of the key outstanding issues that need to be resolved 
prior to disengagement -- the link between Gaza and the 
West Bank; air and sea ports in Gaza; the border 
transfer points and customs envelope; removal of 
roadblocks and improved movement within the West Bank; 
the future of the homes in the settlements; the Gaza 
greenhouses; and a U.S. agreement on a USD-2.2 billion 
aid package to Israel.  Israel Radio reported that the 
PA will create a company that will manage the assets 
left by Israel after the disengagement, and handle the 
affairs of foreign workers in the Strip. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted officials responsible for the 
construction of the separation fence in the "Jerusalem 
envelope" as saying that construction of the fence will 
not be completed before the end of the year. 
 
An Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank, Abdel Halim 
Izzedine, known as Abu Qassam, was quoted as saying in 
an interview with Ha'aretz that his organization 
supports the hudna (cease-fire) but is forced to 
respond to Israeli provocations.  Izzedine said his 
organization might recognize Israel. 
 
Maariv reported that a flyer and a video recording 
claiming that Al-Qaida has opened a branch in the Gaza 
Strip were distributed among Islamic extremists in the 
Strip on Tuesday.  The newspaper writes that 
Palestinian sources have expressed their doubts 
regarding the report's veracity. 
 
Leading media reported that a Palestinian attempt to 
target the demonstrators failed Tuesday when a Qassam 
rocket fired at Sderot landed by mistake in the 
Palestinian town of Beit Hanun, killing a three-year- 
old Palestinian boy and wounding nine other 
Palestinians.  Ha'aretz reported that, minutes before 
the rockets were launched, Palestinians fired an anti- 
tank rocket at an Israeli convoy traveling to the 
isolated settlement of Netzarim, causing no injuries. 
Islamic Jihad and the PFLP claimed responsibility for 
the attack on the convoy.   Jerusalem Post quoted a 
senior officer in the IDF's Southern Command as saying 
that the IDF asked the PA, during disengagement 
coordination talks on Monday, to curb terrorist 
organizations and prevent them from firing Qassam 
rockets at Sderot on Sunday.  This morning, Israel 
Radio reported that the military branch of Islamic 
Jihad told AFP that the organization instructed its 
militants three days ago to stop firing rockets at 
Israeli targets until after the disengagement.  Israel 
Radio reported that a Palestinian was killed in a blast 
in the southern Gaza Strip before dawn on Tuesday.  The 
radio quoted Palestinians as saying that the man was 
mishandling explosives. 
 
Maariv reported that Israel is seeking to remove UNIFIL 
from Lebanon and to force the Lebanese government to 
deploy its forces in the south of the country.  The 
newspaper also cited a report published by a Lebanese 
news agency, according to which the U.S. intends to 
press Israel to withdraw from the Sheba Farms area. 
Maariv says that American sources have denied the 
report. 
 
Leading media cited a U.S. intelligence report made 
public by Washington Post on Tuesday, according to 
which Iran may be up to 10 years away from making a 
nuclear bomb, double the previous assessment.  Ha'aretz 
writes that the report disproves the original U.S. 
estimate. 
 
Yediot reported that disengagement opponents paralyzed 
the activity of the Israeli Consulate-General in New 
York City on Tuesday by placing two fictitious 
announcements on New York Internet sites. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Qatar will donate at least USD 
10 million to the municipality of the Israeli-Arab city 
of Sakhnin in order to "help put the Galilee city 
firmly on the sports map in the Middle East."  Sakhnin, 
which has 25,000 residents, is a success story of 
Israeli-Arab soccer. 
 
----------------------- 
¶1.  Gaza Disengagement: 
----------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Sharon should not be frightened by 
external pressure and give up his strategic 'credo' -- 
even if he is compelled to enter a confrontation with 
his great friend in the White House." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"After the Disengagement Comes Annexation" 
 
Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (August 3): "Sharon keeps repeating 
these days that Israel adheres to the 'road map'.... 
How does the [map's] demand that Israel 'end the 
occupation' reconcile with annexing territories and 
Israel maintaining large settlement blocks in Judea and 
Samaria [i.e. the West Bank], about which Sharon claims 
he received a promise from President Bush.... It is 
commonly assumed that Sharon aspires to enter history 
as the person who reached peace and security.  But out- 
and-out concessions and surrender to external dictates 
won't lead him there.  Sharon had a strategic plan that 
talked about the necessity of keeping security areas in 
Judea and Samaria, which ought to be annexed to Israel. 
Sharon should not be frightened by external pressure 
and give up his strategic 'credo' -- even if he is 
compelled to enter a confrontation with his great 
friend in the White House.... [Following crises during 
the Nixon and Reagan presidencies] and upon other 
occasions, ways were eventually found to achieve an 
understanding between Washington and Jerusalem.  Those 
developments should inspire Israel 'on the day after' 
[disengagement].  This will be Sharon's greatest test." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "President Bush 
isn't the first leader in history who has tried to 
preserve his political power by intimidating citizens, 
but he has turned this approach into an art." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Bush's Knack" 
 
Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 3): "The 
day President Bush defined Iran as a leading 'axis of 
evil' country, he started putting together a series of 
allegations in order to justify a future military 
operation against it.  On Tuesday, it turned out that 
his claims ... don't hold water.  U.S. intelligence 
found that Iran doesn't represent a threat against 
world peace in the immediate term, but Bush doesn't 
like being confused with facts.... Since Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad was elected Iran's president, the American 
'spin' has turned into real brainwashing.  According to 
the White House, Satan resides in Tehran.  In two 
years, the ayatollahs would be a pushbutton away from 
annihilating the world.  Vice President Cheney has 
already declared that if the crisis wasn't solved 
through diplomatic ways, America had offensive military 
options.  But all the American intelligence branches 
have just spat in the President's face.... President 
Bush isn't the first leader in history who has tried to 
preserve his political power by intimidating citizens, 
but he has turned this approach into an art: in Iraq 
and Afghanistan first, and now in Iran.... For their 
part, the Iranians continue their policy of ambiguity. 
They know the truth, but they don't care whether the 
world fears them and continues to woo them.  Nuclear 
blackmail pays -- just ask North Korea." 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶3.  Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism: 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Silvan 
Shalom wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem 
Post: "If the growing determination Blair has shown 
were mirrored in the statements and actions of the 
entire international community, the battle against 
terror would, indeed, be well on the way to victory." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Tony Blair Gets It" 
 
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Silvan 
Shalom wrote in conservative, independent Jerusalem 
Post (August 3): "I was in London last week for 
meetings with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign 
Secretary Jack Straw.... For many years, many saw 
 
SIPDIS 
suicide terror as Israel's problem alone.  The world 
preferred to view it as a localized problem despite the 
Israeli people's understanding that if Palestinian 
grievances supposedly justified such terror, it would 
only be a matter of time before some other grievance 
was used to justify suicide terrorism elsewhere.  The 
impulse to remove from the equation the free choice of 
terrorists to explode themselves, along with as many 
innocent victims as possible, is one of the most 
dangerous trends in the public response to global 
terror.  In my meetings with Blair and Straw I was 
impressed by the determination of the British 
government to stand up to this drivel.... Tony Blair's 
unequivocal recent statements on terror should be 
compulsory reading for all leaders, journalists and 
anyone who shares our determination to stop the 
terrorists from taking away our democratic way of life 
and its hard-won freedoms.  They should be applied not 
only in the British context, but everywhere terrorists 
lurk.  Britain, which currently holds the rotating 
presidency of the European Union, has taken some 
welcome steps along this path.  We hope that this trend 
will continue and solidify.  If the growing 
determination Blair has shown were mirrored in the 
statements and actions of the entire international 
community, the battle against terror would, indeed, be 
well on the way to victory." 
 
KURTZER