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

191117Z Aug 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 005139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR NEA STAFF 
 
SECDEF WASHDC FOR USDP/ASD-PA/ASD-ISA 
HQ USAF FOR XOXX 
DA WASHDC FOR SASA 
JOINT STAFF WASHDC FOR PA 
USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR 
COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD 
COMSIXTHFLT FOR 019 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio and leading Israeli news web sites 
reported that this morning, at the same time as a 
Katyusha rocket landed in Aqaba's harbor, next a 
facility used by a U.S. military ship, another rocket 
landed next to Eilat Airport.  There were no casualties 
in Israel.  The media quoted the police as saying that 
the rockets were probably fired from Jordanian 
territory.  Israel Radio reported that the security 
forces of Israel are cooperating, and that one person 
was killed on the Jordanian side.  Ha'aretz's web site 
quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying that the 
Eilat attack appeared to be intentional.  The web site 
quoted a security official as saying it was not clear 
whether Eilat or two U.S. Navy vessels anchoring in 
Jordan were the true target of the rocket attack. 
 
Israel Radio quoted a White House spokeswoman as saying 
that President Bush expressed confidence in PM Sharon's 
ability to complete the disengagement, and that he 
understands the pain of the people who had to leave 
their houses.  The spokeswoman reportedly mentioned the 
President's belief that the disengagement will make 
Israel stronger; she was quoted as saying that it will 
bolster the U.S.-Israel connection.  Leading media 
reported that the American media extensively reported 
on the disengagement.  Israel Radio notes that, 
contrary to the Israeli media, they did not show 
empathy for the evacuated settlers.  The media note 
that European media seem more interested in the 
Palestinians' fate than in the disengagement. 
 
All media reported that on Thursday, the IDF completed 
the evacuation of Neve Dekalim and Kfar Darom, the two 
settlements with the highest number of disengagement 
opponents.  Many police officers were injured in the 
clashes.  The final stage of withdrawing the two 
settlements came down to evacuating their synagogues, 
which took several hours. In Kfar Darom, dozens of 
youngsters barricaded themselves on the synagogue 
rooftop, and assaulted soldiers and police officers. 
Many police officers were injured in the clashes. 
Leading media quoted Sharon as saying that the 
disturbance at Kfar Darom was "criminal."  At Neve 
Dekalim, nearly 1,000 people who had barricaded 
themselves in the synagogue emerged after lengthy talks 
with the security forces.  The media note that 16 of 
the 21 Gaza Strip settlements were evacuated. 
Hatzofe's banner compares the evacuation with the 
destruction of the two Temples.  This morning, the 
electronic media are reporting that the security forces 
are continuing the operation -- at first in the 
settlement of Gadid, where they are facing some 
resistance.  Israel Radio reported that the cabinet 
will vote Sunday on the evacuation of northern West 
Bank settlements. 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted FM Silvan Shalom as saying in an 
interview held with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam 
on Wednesday that Gaza would serve as a "model," and 
that if the PA dismantled the terrorist infrastructure 
and "peace and quiet reign in the region, we will be 
able to move forward and return to the road map." 
Shalom warned that Israel would not "take a new risk" 
if the Palestinians resume their attacks from Gaza and 
that Israel was now expecting Palestinian "actions," 
not excuses. 
 
Israel Radio reported that there still is no 
arrangement with Egypt regarding the transfer of rubble 
from settlers' houses slated for demolition.  The 
station says that The Palestinians have made the 
transfer of the rubble to Sinai conditional on the 
attainment of an agreement regarding the operation of 
the border crossing in Rafah.  Israel Radio reported 
that officials in Jerusalem have decided that if an 
agreement is not reached in the coming days, Israel 
will leave the building debris in place. 
 
Yediot reported that Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz 
(Likud) demanded on Thursday that Sharon convene an 
urgent cabinet debate about Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice's remarks to The New York Times this 
week regarding the continuation of the peace process. 
Katz was quoted as saying: "Rice's declaration proves 
that there is no basis for the Prime Minister's 
statement that there will be no further disengagement." 
 
Ha'aretz, Yediot, and Jerusalem Post cited The New York 
Times as saying Thursday that David Satterfield, a 
former State Department official who is deputy to the 
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, is mentioned 
-- but not by name -- in the indictment against former 
AIPAC official Steve Rosen as one of the senior U.S. 
officials who discussed classified material with the 
defendant.  Yediot's headline reads: "Another Israeli 
'Mole' in U.S. Administration." 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Thursday, a group of Israeli 
youths vandalized the gas station at the entrance of 
the northern West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur.  The 
station is owned by a native of the adjacent village of 
Jebaa who is a Canadian citizen.  This morning, Israel 
Radio reported that Sa-Nur expelled two young extremist 
outsiders seen as responsible for the criminal act. 
 
A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll: 
-59 percent of Israelis support the disengagement: 37 
percent are opposed; 4 percent are undecided. 
-"How would you grade the police and IDF's performance 
during the evacuation?"  Very good: 62 percent; good: 
27 percent; not good: 7 percent; very bad: 4 percent. 
-"What is your evaluation of the PM's leadership 
regarding disengagement?"  Very good: 28 percent; good: 
33 percent; not good: 14 percent; not good at all: 22 
percent; 3 percent are undecided. 
 
 
 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement: 
------------------------------------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "[Sharon] wanted to dodge the 
implementation of the 'road map' and was afraid to 
deceive George W. Bush.  Therefore, he was compelled to 
offer him an alternative plan." 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"There are two faces to the disengagement from the Gaza 
Strip that, in fact, may be mutually contradictory." 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "Now it's the Palestinian Authority's turn 
not to miss an opportunity that has fallen straight 
into its hands like a gift from heaven.... Only Sharon 
could evacuate Gaza, and only he can take the next step 
toward peace.  Don't pass him by." 
 
Political parties correspondent Sima Kadmon wrote in 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Sharon 
finds it hard to find a political direction at this 
time." 
 
Editorial Page Editor Saul Singer wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "In [The New 
York] Times's eyes, the night during which soldiers 
gathered to evict settlers was the night of the living 
dead, when the ghost of Greater Israel returned to 
haunt the region, a ghost so powerful that its exorcism 
must be Bush's top peacemaking priority." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "Prime 
Minister Sharon ... turned a blind eye to the fact that 
Jews have resided in the Gaza Strip for six centuries." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Plan Wasn't Born of Terror or Corruption" 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (August 19): "The question regarding 
the reason why Ariel Sharon broke his promise to the 
Likud voters and adopted the unilateral disengagement 
plan is significant at this time and charged with 
meaning for the future.... Disengagement was born in 
the Prime Minister's entourage.  The idea wasn't even 
new.  [Then-Likud cabinet minister] Roni Milo proposed 
it to Yitzhak Shamir during the 1992 elections.  It was 
rejected and the Likud lost.  Amram Mitzna presented it 
on a smaller scale during the 2003 elections, and lost 
too.  It was later revived [among Sharon advisers]. 
This was neither because Palestinian terrorism 
succeeded, nor because Sharon became entangled in a 
corruption quagmire, but because he wanted to dodge the 
implementation of the 'road map' and was afraid to 
deceive George W. Bush.  Therefore, he was compelled to 
offer him an alternative plan." 
 
II.  "The Two Faces of Disengagement" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(August 19): "There are two faces to the disengagement 
from the Gaza Strip that, in fact, may be mutually 
contradictory.  The positive aspect is reflected in 
Israel's success in shortening the military lines 
logically and ceding territory that effectively is of 
no strategic importance to the country.... The negative 
aspect of the disengagement is reflected, above all, in 
the uncertainty of who will rule in the Gaza Strip 
after the evacuation and whether a new round of 
violence will erupt. This situation is compounded by 
the fact that the Palestinians feel, and to a large 
extent justifiably, that the Israeli withdrawal from 
Gaza is their victory.... The Palestinians do not 
accept the fact that Israel took an important, risk- 
fraught move via the disengagement and now it's their 
turn to play their part.... [If terrorist activity is 
resumed], Sharon and the Israeli government will be 
unwilling to go ahead with implementing the road map. 
This will certainly be the case if it turns out that 
lifting the siege of the Gaza Strip is bringing about 
large-scale arms smuggling and the entry of 
international Islamic terrorists.  The Palestinians' 
political aspirations will again be halted and the 
prospect of another disengagement will vanish." 
 
III.  "This Is Just the Beginning" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
Ha'aretz (August 19): "Hamas is already boasting that 
Israel has left Gaza with its tail between its legs. 
My answer to these guys is that humiliation, if you 
want to call it that, is better than stupidity.  What 
do they want to do?  Bring back terrorism and catapult 
Israel's fanatics and rebels into power?  And an aside 
for those loudmouths in Hamas: quit the heroics. 
Nowadays you can't even go out without your masks on 
for fear of being identified.  Now it's the Palestinian 
Authority's turn not to miss an opportunity that has 
fallen straight into its hands like a gift from heaven. 
Tone down the hostile rhetoric, disarm the terror 
organizations, stop pelting Israel with rockets and 
mortars, and muster the seriousness and courage to 
negotiate a settlement with Israel.  Only Sharon could 
evacuate Gaza, and only he can take the next step 
toward peace.  Don't pass him by." 
 
IV.  "Alone" 
 
Political parties correspondent Sima Kadmon wrote in 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 
19): "Sharon finds it hard to find a political 
direction at this time.  Reason makes him turn 
rightwards; however, he would then lose the camp he has 
recently acquired -- this being conditional support, 
anyway.  Sharon has no illusion: that Left/Center camp 
didn't really discover a new Sharon.  He just found 
temporary partners who would implement his worldview. 
Should Sharon turn leftwards, he would deepen his 
preexisting problem, despite the fact that he refuses 
to recognize its might: his relations with the Left and 
his cradle -- the Likud." 
 
¶V.  "Lesser Israel, Greater Palestine" 
 
Editorial Page Editor Saul Singer wrote in 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (August 19): 
"Greater Israel is dead; long live Greater Israel, said 
[Ethan Bronner in] The New York Times [Tuesday].... 
Reading the Times ... one might think there was nothing 
more alive and menacing that the 'threat' of Greater 
Israel.  After briefly praising Israel for 'finally' 
taking such an obvious step, the paper frets that 
'Sharon seems to think that withdrawing from Gaza will 
buy Israel time to consolidate in the West Bank'.... In 
the Times's eyes, the night during which soldiers 
gathered to evict settlers was the night of the living 
dead, when the ghost of Greater Israel returned to 
haunt the region, a ghost so powerful that its exorcism 
must be Bush's top peacemaking priority.  Could we 
return to earth for a moment, please?  Settlements and 
Greater Israel are no longer the principal obstacle to 
peace, if they ever were.  Another dream is: Greater 
Palestine.... Even the most moderate Palestinian 
asserts that Israel in its entirety sits on 'stolen' 
Palestinian land, and that while Israel must be 
recognized de facto, a Jewish state has no moral or 
legal right to exist." 
VI.  "Sharon Is Putting Out Gush Katif's Candle" 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (August 
19): "Prime Minister Sharon and his cabinet members 
turned a blind eye to the fact that Jews have resided 
in the Gaza Strip for six centuries.  The Strip is an 
integral part of the Land of Israel.  For some reason, 
they decided that Gaza wasn't a part of the Land of 
Israel.  Moreover, Sharon also ignored the fact that 
Kfar Darom was established ... in 1946, before Israel's 
independence, on land purchased by the Jewish National 
Fund.... Gush Katif used to exalt Israel; the Sharon 
government is blowing out that candle." 
 
KURTZER