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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 005002 
 
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: 
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¶1.  Gaza Disengagement 
 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Last night, Israel TV broadcast excerpts of an 
exclusive interview that President Bush granted the 
station's Washington correspondent Yaron Dekel in 
Crawford, Tex.  The entire interview will air tonight 
on the channel's weekly newsmagazine at 8:00 p.m. (1300 
EDT).  The President said: "Disengagement is I think a 
part of making Israel more secure and peaceful.  I 
believe that the decision the Prime Minister has made 
and will follow through on will be good for Israel." 
Bush also said that he understood that Israelis were 
concerned that disengagement would create a vacuum into 
which terrorism will flow.  However, he said, "I happen 
to disagree; I think this will create an opportunity 
for democracy to emerge, and democracies are peaceful." 
He noted that there has been a calm in attacks and that 
in the long run the ultimate solution for Israel's 
security was "two states living side by side in peace." 
In the meantime, he said, "we have to work to dismantle 
terrorist organizations, and that is precisely what the 
road map calls for."  Bush was also asked about the 
issue of Iran's nuclear program.  Jerusalem Post quoted 
a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office as 
saying "it was very important" for Bush to "reiterate 
his continuing support for the plan.  It sends a clear 
message to the Palestinians, and to those who oppose 
the plan, that the U.S. is squarely behind us on this." 
 
Israel Radio reported that on Thursday, a State 
Department spokesman praised the commitment of Israel 
and the PA to the withdrawal process, and their courage 
and determination.  He was quoted as saying that both 
sides have taken steps to ensure that the pullout take 
place without hitches, and that U.S. administration 
officials are summing up the final details of the 
withdrawal's coordination.  The station reported that 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with PA 
 
SIPDIS 
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas and Israel's Vice PM 
Ehud Olmert.  However, the radio quoted some U.S. 
administration officials as saying that there still are 
some problems, mainly on the matter of border crossings 
between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, and between the Strip 
and Israel. 
 
All media highlighted the mass anti-disengagement rally 
held last night in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, which was 
attended by 150,000 to 300,000 people, depending on the 
sources.  Maariv banners: "Orange Square."  The media 
highlighted a call by Tzviki Bar-Chai, head of the 
Hebron Hills Regional Council and head of operations 
for the fight against the pullout, on disengagement 
opponents to reach and block the access road to Gush 
Katif. 
 
PM Sharon was quoted as saying in an interview with 
Yediot that he is not begging forgiveness from the 
settlers, but that he is taking their pain into 
consideration.  Maariv and other media reported that 
the Likud's Central Committee will debate Sharon's 
deposition after disengagement.  Israel Radio reported 
that Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, the committee's chairman, 
has decided to convene it in October. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the IDF and the PA security 
organizations have increased their coordination ahead 
of the disengagement.  The newspaper cited the IDF as 
saying that there has been a sharp drop in Palestinian 
terrorism in the Gaza Strip, which the army chalks up 
to a concentrated effort to increase pressure by the 
PA, assisted by Egypt, on terror groups.  Ha'aretz 
reported that Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, IDF commander in 
Gaza, met on Thursday with his Palestinian counterpart, 
Brig. Gen. Suleiman Hils, and PA Deputy Interior 
Minister Jamal Abu Zayd.  Jerusalem Post reported that 
on Thursday Abbas strongly condemned Sharon's 
statements regarding the future of Jerusalem, the 
settlement blocs in the West Bank, and the right of 
Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. 
 
Yediot reported that 1,083 settler families have 
presented compensation requests. 
 
Maariv cited updated defense establishment statistics, 
according to which 5,000 to 7,000 people have 
infiltrated Gush Katif in recent months.  Ha'aretz and 
other media reported that on Thursday, the IDF ceased 
issuing permits to the Gaza Strip settlements, 
effectively admitting that it had failed to prevent the 
permits from being exploited to enable massive 
infiltration from outside Gaza.  Ha'aretz quoted a 
senior police source as saying that dealing with those 
infiltrators, using all necessary force, will be the 
evacuating forces' first assignment when the pullout 
begins next week.  Ha'aretz and other media say that 
about 42,000 troops and police officers (possibly 
53,000 if additional units are enlisted) will be 
deployed during the disengagement operation.  Ha'aretz 
reported that the security forces intend to conclude 
the operation within three weeks. 
 
Yediot (Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer) reported that 
Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn first tried to work with 
GOI ministers, but eventually preferred to act in 
conjunction with the defense establishment. The 
newspaper quoted top Sharon aide Dov Weisglass as 
saying that, following the terror years, every decision 
pertaining to the Palestinians passes through security. 
Israel Radio reported that an agreement has been 
reached regarding the handover of the Gaza Strip 
hothouses to the Palestinians.  According to the radio, 
Wolfensohn enlisted USD 15 million from private 
investors so that the U.S. administration not be 
formally involved in the transaction.  The station 
reported that no arrangement has yet been found with 
Egypt to remove the rubble of the settlers' houses. 
 
Yediot reported that an Israeli travel agency will soon 
market organized pilgrimages to the tombs of Jewish 
sages in northern Iraq. 
 
Leading media reported that the GOI has rescinded its 
travel warning for southern Turkey.  The media reported 
that on Thursday, a Turkish court arraigned Louai 
Sakra, an Al-Qaida activist of Syrian origin, for his 
alleged involvement in planning attacks against Israeli 
tourists in Turkey. 
 
Yediot and Maariv reported that the Jewish terrorist 
Eden Natan-Zada was part of a group that registered in 
the Likud one month before he carried out the Shafaram 
attack.  The newspapers quoted Likud sources as saying 
that his registration was not finalized.  Yediot 
reported that the residents of the West Bank settlement 
of Tapuah have asked members of the outlawed movement 
Kach to leave their community, saying that they harm 
the settlement's image. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Richard Hellman, head of the 
"small" Christians' Israeli Public Action Committee, as 
saying that a coalition of pro-Israel Evangelical 
groups is to meet in Washington in the near future to 
discuss whether to actively oppose U.S. financial aid 
for Israel tied to disengagement. 
 
Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday, 
a military court sentenced former IDF soldier Taysir 
Hayb to eight years in prison for manslaughter in the 
fatal shooting of British activist Tom Hurndall in 
April 2003. 
 
Yediot quoted Bush as saying that the U.S. will 
consider a military action against Iran. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that the Anti- 
Defamation League brought a group of 30 American 
Catholic schoolteachers to Israel this week to learn 
more about the Roman Catholic Church's role in anti- 
Semitism. 
 
Yediot cited statistics published on Thursday by the 
GOI, according to which immigration to Israel this year 
is at its lowest level since the 1980s, with the 
exception of French and Ethiopian Jews. 
 
Iton Tel-Aviv, Yediot's Tel Aviv supplement, features 
the Rabin Center, which is under construction in the 
city, and for which former secretary of state Madeleine 
Albright and former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin 
Indyk helped raise funds in the amount of USD 20 
million. 
 
A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll: 
-Following a "big bang" in Israeli politics, 
respondents would give 38 Knesset mandates to a new 
party led by Sharon, Shimon Peres, and Shinui party 
head Yosef (Tommy) Lapid; a revamped Likud led by 
Binyamin Netanyahu would garner 14 Knesset seats; the 
rest of the Labor Party 7 seats; Shas: 11 seats; Yahad- 
Meretz: 8 seats; Yisrael Beiteinu: 6 seats; National 
Union: 6 seats; United Torah Judaism: 6 seats; National 
Religious Party: 5 seats; and the Arab parties: 9 
seats. 
-In the case of a "small bang," in which the Likud 
would split, a Sharon-led Likud branch would get 29 
Knesset seats; the Labor Party would have 16 seats; and 
a Netanyahu-led Likud branch would get 14 seats. 
 
----------------------- 
¶1.  Gaza Disengagement: 
----------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
army is not preparing for war against the settlers, but 
the settlers are preparing and how.... This 
frighteningly empathetic approach has led to repeated 
failures against the settlers throughout the decades." 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Sharon won't join Peres and Lapid, 
because, during the [expected] election campaign, he'll 
stick to threatening, refusenik phraseology.  No more 
conceding of land." 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "This is the week to strengthen the hand of 
Sharon, the man with the vision and the courage to 
extricate us from the Gaza Strip and free us from the 
curse it has brought upon us." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "In every 
democratic country, the opinion of hundreds of 
thousands of demonstrators would have been taken into 
account." 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Sebastia Syndrome" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(August 12): "Most of the soldiers who will have to 
evacuate settlers from their houses next week do not 
remember Sebastia, but the evacuating forces' conduct 
toward both the evacuees and those who have infiltrated 
into Gush Katif is beginning to recall those dark days, 
the first days of the emotional manipulation of the 
government and the IDF by members of Gush Emunim.  The 
illegal settlement in Sebastia was evacuated six times, 
amid fierce clashes with the IDF, until in winter 1975, 
when the compromising, hypocrisy and understanding 
began, and continued until the state and the law were 
completely defeated by the campaign of thousands who 
came from all over the country to prevent the 
evacuation.... [Now], the army is not preparing for war 
against the settlers, but the settlers are preparing 
and how.... This frighteningly empathetic approach has 
led to repeated failures against the settlers 
throughout the decades since Sebastia, and it is liable 
to do so this time as well." 
 
II.  "False Predictions" 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (August 12): "On Thursday, Yediot 
Aharonot published a [public opinion] forecast 
according to which a joint list with Ariel Sharon, 
Shimon Peres and [Shinui party head] Yosef (Tommy) 
Lapid would be the big winner [in new elections], with 
38 Knesset members... But a fallacious forecast -- as 
far as timing is concerned -- is a common diversion in 
politics.... Sharon won't join Peres and Lapid, 
because, during the election campaign, he'll stick to 
threatening, refusenik phraseology.  No more conceding 
of land. Perhaps even some military aggressiveness. 
Anyway, his nationalistic credibility is in doubt -- 
certainly were Peres and Lapid to adorn his list.  Why 
is that forecast as weak as all the other ones? 
Because of Qassam and mortar shell statistics.  Sharon 
and Netanyahu still have something in common.  They 
both are hostages of Hamas." 
 
III.  "The Comeback Kid Skips Town" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
Ha'aretz (August 12): "After his dramatic resignation, 
with all the interviews and headlines he grabbed, 
Netanyahu has now decided it's time to fly to the 
United States.  That way he won't be caught leading the 
mass rally of Israelis in Orange and their rabbis at 
Rabin Square.  A typical Bibiyahu maneuver: skipping 
town.... In running away, the Comeback Kid is showing 
cowardice.  His actions are founded on the expectation, 
or maybe the macabre hope, that the disengagement will 
work out badly and develop into a bloody war between 
the settlers and those who are sent in to evacuate 
them.... But sources in the defense establishment are 
saying that the disengagement will be carried out 
quickly and without insurmountable problems.  When the 
withdrawal is complete, Israel will be the darling of 
the world.... This is the week to strengthen the hand 
of Sharon, the man with the vision and the courage to 
extricate us from the Gaza Strip and free us from the 
curse it has brought upon us." 
 
IV.  "Hundreds of Thousands Are Calling: Stop the 
Deportation" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (August 
12): "During the past two days, hundreds of thousands 
of people demonstrated next to the Western Wall and at 
Tel Aviv's Kings of Israel [Rabin] Square.  They 
expressed their protest against the deportation of the 
Jewish settlers from Gush Katif.... In every democratic 
country, the opinion of hundreds of thousands of 
demonstrators would have been taken into account.  Only 
a leader like Ariel Sharon can ignore the voices 
emanating from the nation, and instead enlist the army 
to impose his view on it.... The struggle is still 
ahead of us.  It isn't easy.  It isn't simple to 
confront tens of thousands of soldiers drafted by Ariel 
Sharon, but we're right." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Shinui party leader and Knesset Member Yosef (Tommy) 
Lapid wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv: "Some Jewish 
courage wouldn't hurt here.  American society is 
basically open and enlightened.  No senior official 
will want to be accused of either anti-Semitic motives 
or hatred of Israel." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"'Anti' in America" 
 
Shinui party leader and Knesset Member Yosef (Tommy) 
Lapid wrote in popular, pluralist Maariv (August 12): 
"American Jews employed in one of the key departments 
of the U.S. administration -- such as the State 
Department or the Pentagon -- won't be promoted to a 
sensitive position if he has relatives in Israel.  This 
isn't official; neither can it be written.   Had such a 
racist directive been given it would have caused a 
scandal and it would have cost the job of the person 
responsible for it.  The 'anti'[-Israel] people are 
doing their job quietly, and the Jews don't want to 
wake sleeping lions.... In order to measure the 
wickedness of the FBI's sting [in the alleged Pentagon 
mole affair], one has to ask why it fabricated a lure 
that no Jews could resist: refrain from warning Israel 
that Muslim terrorists are about to murder its 
representatives.  This is also very foolish.  Had there 
been any amount of truth in that information, the 
Pentagon would have hastened to pass it on to Israel 
through official channels.... I can recognize occasions 
when Jewish leaders in the Diaspora plunge their heads 
into a bowl of chicken soup.... [But] I differ with 
such as attitude, even if there is Jewish wisdom in 
it.... Some Jewish courage wouldn't hurt here. 
American society is basically open and enlightened.  No 
senior official will want to be accused of either anti- 
Semitic motives or hatred of Israel." 
 
KURTZER