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 004877 
 
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.  Netanyahu Resignation 
 
¶2.  Israeli Arabs 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that on Sunday, immediately before 
the cabinet voted the final approval for the evacuation 
of the Gaza Strip settlements of Kfar Darom, Netzarim, 
and Morag, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tended 
his resignation.  (The decision was approved 16-5. 
Likud ministers Netanyahu, Limor Livnat, Danny Naveh, 
Yisrael Katz, and Tzachi Hanegbi opposed the move.)  At 
a subsequent press conference, Netanyahu said he no 
longer wanted to be part of a policy that he said was 
leading the country "blindly" to the establishment of 
an extremist Islamic base in Gaza that could threaten 
Israel's existence.  Both Yediot and Maariv banner that 
Netanyahu is "disengaging."  Pro-settler Hatzofe 
banners: "A New Hope."  PM Sharon named Vice PM Ehud 
Olmert Acting Finance Minister. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Defense Ministry Director General 
Amos Yaron as saying at a press conference today that 
the solution found for razing the houses in the 
settlements was satisfactory: Israel will raze the 
houses and will remove any hazardous waste material; 
the Palestinians will remove the rubble.  Some of the 
rubble that is not used may be buried in Sinai.  The 
cost of removing the rubble is projected to run between 
USD 25 and 30 million.  Israel will turn this sum over 
to a World Bank organization that will supervise the 
work by means of subcontractors.  Yaron was quoted as 
saying that the overall cost of the disengagement plan 
is expected to come to 1.9 billion shekels (approx. USD 
424.6 million). 
 
Leading media reported that a reconstruction of the 
lynching of the Jewish terrorist Eden Natan-Zada shows 
that he was killed after some policemen stepped off the 
bus in which he had carried out his attack.  Leading 
media reported that the Israeli-Arab leadership warned 
the police on Saturday not to investigate the killing 
of Natan-Zada, stating that Shfaram residents "are 
themselves victims of racist terror."  All media 
reported that, as acting religious affairs minister, 
Sharon authorized Natan-Zada's burial in the civilian 
cemetery of Rishon Letzion, after several cemeteries 
announced they would not accept his body.  On Sunday, 
leading media highlighted a series of major failures -- 
including lack of dialogue between the IDF and the Shin 
Bet -- as the defense establishment did not identify in 
time the danger posed by Natan Zada.  Yediot and Israel 
Radio reported that on Sunday, Defense Minister Shaul 
Mofaz placed three activists of the outlawed far-right 
movement Kach under administrative detention. 
 
On Sunday, Yediot reported that Hamas announced during 
the weekend that it would retaliate for the Shfaram 
killings, but that Israel's Islamic Movement 
subsequently released a statement urging Hamas not to 
do so. 
 
All media reported that a 10-year-old Israeli boy was 
seriously wounded Sunday in a drive-by shooting near 
Ramallah.  Maariv reported that Fatah claimed 
responsibility for the attack, saying it was in 
retaliation for the Shfaram bus killings. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that IDF officers have dismissed as 
inflated settlers' estimates, according to which 4,000 
Israelis are currently in the Gaza Strip illegally. 
 
Hatzofe cited the Qatari newspaper Al-Watan as saying 
Sunday that the Lebanese army will deploy along the 
Lebanon-Israel border by the end of the year.  Al-Watan 
reportedly quoted diplomatic sources in Damascus. 
 
Citing Reuters and the Iranian news agency IRNA, 
Ha'aretz reported that Iran's new president Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad told Syrian President Bashar Assad during 
his visit to Iran Sunday that the two countries must 
cooperate against the U.S. 
 
On Sunday, Ha'aretz published an interview it conducted 
with Chinese Information Minister Zhao Qizheng last 
week.  He reportedly cited his country's anger over the 
U.S. interference in Israeli arms sales to China, 
saying this was "another example of American hegemony." 
 
During the weekend, the media reported that four cruise 
ships transporting 3,500 passengers were rerouted on 
Friday from Turkish ports of call to Cyprus harbors, 
because of an alert about a possible Al-Qaida attack. 
 
On Sunday, citing Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jerusalem 
Post reported that former AIPAC staff members Steve 
Rosen and Keith Weissman, who were involved in the 
affair of Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin face up to 10 
years in prison. 
 
On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that a Presbyterian 
committee on Friday accused four companies of 
contributing to the "ongoing violence that plagues 
Israel and Palestine."  The Church named Caterpillar, 
Motorola, United Technologies, and ITT, which all 
supply the IDF, and the banking conglomerate Citigroup, 
which has reportedly channeled funds to Palestinian 
terrorist groups. 
A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll conducted 
Sunday night: 
-"Following Netanyahu's resignation, should the 
disengagement be carried out?"  Yes: 55 percent (58 
percent in a previous poll); no: 39 percent (35 percent 
in a previous poll); 6 percent are undecided (7 percent 
in a previous poll). 
-"Did the Finance Minister act properly when he 
announced his resignation?"  Netanyahu was wrong: 48 
percent; he was right: 46 percent. 
-"Why do you believe Netanyahu resigned?"  He wanted to 
prepare for a contest with Sharon over Likud chairman 
chairmanship: 47 percent; he did not want to be a 
partner in the evacuation of settlements: 29 percent; 
he reached the conclusion that he failed as finance 
minister: 10 percent. 
-"If the Likud wins the next elections, who should be 
PM?"  Sharon: 38 percent; Netanyahu: 30 percent; 
neither of the two: 30 percent; either of them: 2 
percent. 
 
A Maariv/Teleseker poll conducted Sunday night: 
"Should Netanyahu have resigned?"  Yes: 52 percent; no: 
36 percent. 
 
Ha'aretz published the results of Tel Aviv University's 
Peace Index poll, conducted August 2-4: 
-60 percent of Israelis (57 percent of Israeli Jews) 
are in favor of disengagement; 34 percent are opposed. 
-73 percent believe that the disengagement plan 
represents only the first step toward an expanded 
evacuation of West Bank settlements; 20 percent believe 
there will be no further evacuations. 
 
-------------------------- 
¶1.  Netanyahu Resignation: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "His 
resignation, which a year ago could have turned the 
[disengagement] decision around, will make no 
difference.  He knows this." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one 
of popular, pluralist Maariv: "There were also 
political considerations [in Netanyahu's 
resignation].... He is closely watching the growing 
popularity of [chief Likud 'rebel'] Uzi Landau." 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: 
"Binyamin Netanyahu's resignation ... places him ... as 
the leader of the extreme right in Israel." 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"We hope and expect that Netanyahu will use his new 
position at the head of the anti-disengagement camp to 
set bright red lines against attempting to thwart 
disengagement by refusal and by force, even in a 
supposedly non-violent manner." 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Free Is All Alone" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 8): "The 
question was how and when to resign.  Netanyahu, a 
chronic latecomer, was politically late by several 
months.  In the meantime, disengagement had become a 
fact.  His resignation, which a year ago could have 
turned the decision around, will make no difference. 
He knows this.  A few weeks ago, when I quoted sources 
on the Right who asserted that 'it all depends on 
Netanyahu,' he hurried to explain that nothing depends 
on him.  The evacuation is going to be approved by the 
automatic majority in the cabinet and the Knesset. 
There is nothing that can be done about that.... It is 
very possible that Netanyahu is right when he warns 
against the establishment of an Islamic terrorist state 
in Gaza that will drown Israel in blood.  Perhaps he is 
also right when he anticipates that disengagement will 
only heighten the diplomatic pressure on Israel.  If 
his prophecies of doom come true, all eyes will be on 
him.  His key word yesterday was 'blindness': the 
government is going into disengagement blindly, like 
another government went to Oslo.  It doesn't matter 
that he accepted Oslo out of electoral constraints, 
just as he accepted disengagement out of ministerial 
constraints.  'Blindness' is a catchphrase that will 
recur over the coming weeks and months." 
 
II.  "Not Only Ideology" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one 
of popular, pluralist Maariv (August 8): "At Thursday's 
[anti-disengagement] demonstration in [Tel Aviv's] 
Rabin Square, Netanyahu will undoubtedly deliver a 
speech and everybody will shout very loud to [Likud 
ministers] Danny Naveh, Limor Livnat and Yisrael Katz 
to follow Bibi's example.  The flagging hopes of the 
demonstrators have been revived. Sharon will endeavor 
this morning to nip them in the bud while they are 
still in manageable proportions.  His spokespeople will 
tell every available forum that the disengagement plan 
will be executed on the appointed date.... He has grown 
wings by virtue of this resignation.... The diplomatic 
developments, the supply of ammunition to the 
Palestinians, the decision to permit construction of 
the seaport in Gaza, and the withdrawal from 
Philadelphi Road, influenced Netanyahu's decision to 
resign.  But it was not only due to ideology.  There 
were also political considerations.  Netanyahu is 
constantly commissioning, reading and analyzing polls. 
He is closely watching the growing popularity of [chief 
Likud 'rebel'] Uzi Landau." 
 
III.  "Leader of the Extreme Right" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(August 8): "Binyamin Netanyahu's resignation from the 
government right before the disengagement places him, 
finally, in the spot that suits him -- as the leader of 
the extreme right in Israel.... In resigning, Netanyahu 
contributed support and momentum to the camp of the 
lawbreakers, which is threatening to thwart the 
implementation of the Knesset decision on the 
evacuation of the settlements in Gaza and the northern 
West Bank that passed by a wide majority.  Netanyahu 
decided to resign now to garner momentary credit, 
precisely when the country desperately needs 
responsible leadership.... If the evacuation of Gaza 
takes place on time and is completed as planned, 
Netanyahu's resignation, which now looks dramatic, will 
be recorded as ephemeral.  Perhaps it will also signal 
the beginning of a reform of the political system and 
the reorganization of political parties, based on their 
genuine, updated platforms.  On one side will be the 
camp of the supporters of Greater Israel and the 
occupation, and on the other side will be the parties 
that support democracy in an Israel with redrawn 
borders." 
 
IV.  "Exit Netanyahu" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(August 8): "If a situation in which disengagement 
opponents had no significant political representation 
was an unhealthy anomaly, then Netanyahu's resignation 
has restored a degree of coherence to the system as a 
whole.... Netanyahu has begun a battle for the heart of 
the Likud.  Just as Netanyahu did not reverse, and in 
fact reluctantly advanced, the Oslo agreement that he 
opposed and inherited, it is hard to imagine him 
reversing disengagement; indeed, he made clear again on 
Sunday that he did not believe it could now be 
reversed.  At the same time, the paths forward that 
Netanyahu and Sharon represent seem, at this moment, to 
be irreconcilable.... With the race that is emerging 
between them, the voter will be given a choice between 
something akin to the old Likud and the new path Sharon 
represents.  In the meantime, we hope and expect that 
Netanyahu will use his new position at the head of the 
anti-disengagement camp to set bright red lines against 
attempting to thwart disengagement by refusal and by 
force, even in a supposedly non-violent manner. In this 
crucial role at this critical moment, ironically, 
Netanyahu could have much greater influence than he had 
in his cabinet post." 
 
 
------------------ 
¶2.  Israeli Arabs: 
------------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Zuheir Andrawus, Editor-in-Chief of the Israeli-Arab 
newspaper Kul Al-Arab, wrote in mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "There is no other option 
for [Israeli Arabs] ... than to resort to the 
international organizations." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"An Explosive Situation" 
 
Zuheir Andrawus, Editor-in-Chief of the Israeli-Arab 
newspaper Kul Al-Arab, wrote in mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 8): "The terrorist 
attack in Shfaram was the result of wild incitement 
against us [Israeli Arabs].... Israel's leaders must 
internalize the fact that for the first time since the 
foundation of the states, [Israeli] Arabs have turned 
into a preferred and easy target of Jewish terror.... 
The terrorist attack proved conclusively that Israel is 
incapable of protecting its Arab 'citizens.'  Thus, 
there is no other option for a national minority that 
is discriminated against in all domains, than to resort 
to the international organizations, so that they 
convince the Western countries to provide it protection 
or tutelage.  The internationalization of the situation 
will be useful if we can take advantage of the 
momentum." 
 
KURTZER