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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 005113 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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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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Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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All media bannered the first day of the forced eviction 
of Gaza Strip settlers.  Yediot says that 6,000 
settlers have left their Gush Katif homes without 
violence.  The media reported that a prominent right- 
wing activist from the West Bank settlement of Kedumim 
was badly hurt Wednesday after setting herself on fire 
to protest the disengagement.  Ha'aretz quoted senior 
officers in the IDF's Southern Command as saying they 
expect all of the Gaza Strip settlements to be 
evacuated by next Tuesday, and perhaps even by Sunday. 
The media reported that Kfar Darom, Shirat Hayam, and 
the synagogue compound in Neve Dekalim, where between 
1,000 and 2,000 people are holed up, most of whom teens 
from outside the Gaza Strip, will be evacuated next. 
Yediot devotes its daily supplement, which -- akin to 
the other media -- is filled with photographic records 
of the evacuation, to a "day of tears."  This morning, 
the electronic media reported that a soldier refused 
orders and was arrested. 
 
All media reported that on Wednesday afternoon, Asher 
Weissgan, a resident of the West Bank settlement of 
Shvut Rahel, shot to death four Palestinians with whom 
he worked and wounded two others, one of them 
seriously, in the settlement of Shiloh.   Israel Radio 
reported that PM Sharon condemned the killings, calling 
them a "grave terrorist act."  Ha'aretz reported that 
top Sharon aide Dov Weisglass called PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas's senior advisor Rafiq 
Husseini to express Israel's regret over the incident. 
Leading media reported that Hamas and Islamic Jihad 
have vowed revenge.  Major media reported that Abbas 
issued a statement in which he called on "the 
Palestinian public not to respond to provocations and 
not to provide any pretexts or excuses to those wishing 
to halt the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza."  Leading 
media reported that U.S. State Department Spokesman 
Sean McCormack condemned the attack and called on the 
sides to show restraint. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 
as saying in an interview with The New York Times that 
"something very dramatic is changing in the Middle 
East," but that Israel must also take confidence- 
building steps.  Secretary Rice was also quoted as 
saying she expected the PA to take responsibility for 
disarming Hamas.  Jerusalem Post reported that the U.S. 
administration will not present any new demands to 
Israel and the Palestinians before the disengagement 
process is complete.  The newspaper quoted diplomatic 
sources in Washington as saying that the sole interest 
of the U.S. at this time is to see the withdrawal go 
through in a peaceful manner and that it will leave the 
"day after" issues to be dealt with when the process is 
over.  Jerusalem Post reported that Members of Congress 
have begun to circulate a letter to the administration 
demanding that the U.S. not supply arms to the PA 
forces in Gaza.  The letter, supported by Rep. Ileana 
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Elliot Engel (D-NY) calls on 
Secretary Rice not to provide the PA with weapons, 
 
SIPDIS 
because it has not yet proven its commitment to fight 
terrorism. 
 
Israel Radio reported that two mortar shells fell last 
night on the Gush Katif settlement of Gadid.  All media 
reported that security forces thwarted a terrorist 
attack by Islamic Jihad in Gush Katif.  The would-be 
suicide-bomber and his dispatcher were arrested. 
 
Citing AP, Ha'aretz quoted Israel's Ambassador to the 
U.S., Danny Ayalon, as saying Tuesday that Hamas is 
engaged in a massive buildup of manpower and weapons 
and that the PA must dismantle it.  Leading media 
quoted Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal as saying 
in Beirut Wednesday that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza 
is an important achievement, but that it will not lead 
to Hamas's disarmament.  Jerusalem Post highlighted 
Mashal's comment that the pullout is the beginning of 
the end for Israel. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Interior Ministry is 
preparing to evacuate hundreds of foreign workers 
employed by Gush Katif settlers, whose forced 
evacuation began on Wednesday. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Conference of Presidents of 
Major American Jewish Organizations issued a statement 
on Tuesday supporting the disengagement.  The newspaper 
notes that the stance comes amid a long and sometimes 
heated debate among U.S. Jewish organizations in the 
U.S. regarding taking a stance on GOI policy. 
Jerusalem Post reported that the International 
Committee of the Red Cross resumed its field activities 
in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, after security guarantees 
regarding its operations were issued by the PA and 
others. 
 
Maariv cited the results of a Teleseker poll: 
-"How will the disengagement affect the Israeli 
economy?"  Positively: 43.2 percent; negatively: 27.2 
percent; it will not affect the economy: 17.2 percent; 
12.4 percent were undecided. 
 
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Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement: 
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                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Liberal contributor Prof. Tanya Reinhart wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "If the U.S. 
continues to lose in Iraq, we might well leave the West 
Bank, too." 
 
Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in the lead 
editorial of Yediot Aharonot: "The greater force [of 
the army and police], and not unconditional love, is 
the explanation for the sudden humility of the 
Settlers' Council leaders and their rabbis." 
 
Columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "The UN, the EU, and the 
U.S. have all said openly in recent weeks that 
following the withdrawal, they expect Israel to move 
rapidly to realize the road map's plan.... None of the 
three has conditioned this demand on positive 
developments in Gaza following the pullout." 
 
Senior Editor Nehemia Strassler wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The disengagement should be 
exploited to send a message of conciliation, of civil 
behavior.  The British did not demolish, and neither 
did the Turks.  Sharon should therefore stop the 
bulldozer today." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: " We do 
not have the slightest doubt that the worst person on 
the Left would have acted this way with the evacuated 
Gush Katif residents." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "This Is How Israel Left Gaza " 
 
Liberal contributor Prof. Tanya Reinhart wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 18): 
"Bush won't give up Iraq so quickly.  But he doesn't 
need the headache called Palestine that much. Early 
this year, the U.S. started pressuring [Israel].  At 
first, it quietly neutralized Israel's all-powerful 
lobby in the United States.... It later froze military 
aid to Israel under the shadow of the crisis over 
weapons sales to China.... The declared date of the 
pullout from Gaza was approaching.  Following 
preparations in Israel for a military operation, the 
U.S. administration became increasingly concerned that 
Sharon wouldn't implement the settlements' evacuation. 
According to an August 7 item in the New York Times, 
the Bush administration acted to prevent the [military] 
operation and to impose on Sharon the implementation of 
the withdrawal from the settlements.... Over time, we 
got used to viewing 'American pressure' as toothless 
declarations.  But the phrase suddenly has a new 
meaning.  When the U.S. truly pressures, no Israeli 
leader can even dream to oppose it (not even 
Netanyahu).  This is how we left Gaza.  If the U.S. 
continues to lose in Iraq, we might well leave the West 
Bank, too." 
 
II.  "Disengagement -- Temporary End" 
 
Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in the lead 
editorial of Yediot Aharonot (August 18): "A ... 
dangerous error that could take root in the [Israeli] 
public consciousness is that from the outset, the 
Settlers' Council did not plan to forcibly thwart the 
decision of the elected institutions.  Due to the 
passion for national reconciliation and the admiration 
for the lack of bloodshed, many are inclined to adopt 
this interpretation of recent history.... The Settlers' 
Council [actually] called for an uprising against the 
government, and recruited all its organizational 
talents and all its troops for this purpose, but in the 
hour of truth it saw that the security forces were 
obedient to the government, and there was no point in 
persisting in the face of their overwhelming force. 
The greater force [of the army and police], and not 
unconditional love, is the explanation for the sudden 
humility of the Settlers' Council leaders and their 
rabbis.  Imagine what would happen if the government 
had been seized by panic by their demonstrations and 
incitement, and if the security forces had not acted 
with wondrous skill.  We have no doubt that in such a 
case, the rabbis and leaders of the uprising would have 
led to the collapse of the republic." 
 
III.  "From Beirut to Gush Katif" 
 
Columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (August 18): "If there is 
one thing that the Lebanese pullout conclusively 
proved, it is that no ... diplomatic benefits will be 
forthcoming.... The UN, the EU, and the U.S. have all 
said openly in recent weeks that following the 
withdrawal, they expect Israel to move rapidly to 
realize the road map's plan for a Palestinian state in 
all of the West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem.  None 
of the three has conditioned this demand on positive 
developments in Gaza following the pullout.  Moreover, 
pursuant to that goal, they have issued a series of 
specific concessions that they expect Israel to make 
immediately after the pullout. All of them potentially 
devastating to Israel's security.  Yet even the U.S., 
traditionally both the most sympathetic to Israel's 
security concerns and the toughest on Palestinian 
terror, has declared that Israel must make these 
concessions even if the Palestinian Authority has not 
yet started taking action against the terrorist 
organizations.... Far from showing greater 
understanding for Israel's security needs following 
disengagement, the international community's response 
has been to demand that Israel concede all the 
safeguards most essential to its post-pullout security. 
But given the Lebanon precedent, that is hardly 
surprising.  The only surprising part is that Sharon, 
or anyone lese, should ever have expected otherwise." 
 
IV.  "You Have to Read Sharon's Speech" 
 
Senior Editor Nehemia Strassler wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (August 18): "In his dry and 
declamatory way, Ariel Sharon turned the Israeli 
reality on its head this week.  In the speech that he 
delivered to the nation, he did not apologize to the 
settlers (the truth is that they should be apologizing 
to the citizens of Israel, who were forced to pay -- 
monetarily and in human terms -- for the expensive 
adventure in Gaza).  He spoke words of truth that no 
prime minister before him ever dared to say.  For the 
first time, we heard the reason for the shift in his 
position: demography.  It is demography that forced the 
evacuation of Gaza on anyone wishing to live in a state 
with a Jewish majority and who is not prepared to rely 
on the messiah.... Sharon's speech indicates that he 
has very belatedly reached the obvious conclusion that 
the immense gap between the villas and the tin shacks 
would end with a huge explosion, a bloodbath, and this 
is what he wishes to prevent.... He [also] opened the 
door to the continuation of the process [in the West 
Bank].... At this point, Sharon has the opportunity to 
stop the demolition of the 2,000 homes in the evacuated 
settlements.  Why destroy a means of production that 
can slightly reduce the poverty and suffering?.... The 
disengagement should be exploited to send a message of 
conciliation, of civil behavior.  The British did not 
demolish, and neither did the Turks.  Sharon should 
therefore stop the bulldozer today." 
 
¶V.  "Sickly Lack of Sensitivity" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (August 
18): "The Guinness Book of World Records will chronicle 
Sharon as a person and a Jew who demonstrated the 
greatest lack of sensitivity toward good and honest 
citizens who have been stricken by a terrible 
personal/family tragedy -- the Gush Katif residents.... 
We do not have the slightest doubt that the worst 
person on the Left would have acted this way with the 
evacuated Gush Katif residents.... Intoxicated by fate, 
people armed with pens are instilling poison against 
the salt of the earth.... Their gaping eyes and alcohol- 
impregnated brains haven't even started to count the 
'Oslo Accord' dead.  They are the false messiahs of 
illusory peace, who are about to bring upon us a 
terrible catastrophe." 
 
KURTZER