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

241358Z Aug 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 005227 
 
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STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
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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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Following the evacuation of the West Bank settlements 
of Homesh and Sa-Nur, which took place Tuesday without 
serious violence, all media summed up the 
implementation of the disengagement move: 25 
settlements and 15,000 settlers were evacuated in six 
days.  Globes reported that unexpected expenditures 
have raised the cost of the disengagement to USD 10 
billion. 
 
Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, and Israel Radio cited 
comments made by President Bush, who talked with 
reporters in Idaho on Tuesday.   The media quoted 
President Bush as saying Tuesday: "I want to 
congratulate Prime Minister Sharon for having made a 
very tough decision."  The President was also quoted as 
saying: "President Abbas has made a commitment to fight 
off the violence, because he understands a democracy 
can't exist with terrorist groups trying to take the 
law into their own hands."  Bush added: "I understand 
that in order for [the road map] to go forward there 
must be confidence -- confidence that the Palestinian 
people will have in their own government to perform, 
confidence with the Israelis that they'll see a 
peaceful state emerging. And therefore it's very 
important for the world to stay focused on Gaza, and 
helping Gaza -- helping the Gaza economy get going, 
helping rebuild the settlements for Gaza -- for the 
people of Gaza."  Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio 
reported that today, Vice PM and Finance Minister Ehud 
Olmert will discuss with Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice the Israeli withdrawal, the continuation of the 
road map, and post-disengagement U.S. aid to Israel. 
Ha'aretz says that high-level U.S.-Israel talks on the 
assistance request are expected to last several months, 
as it can only be sent to Congress as part of a 
supplemental budget, which would be submitted in 
February at the earliest.  Israel Radio reported that 
today, the U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem will hand 
USD 50 million to PA Finance Minister Salam Fayed. 
 
Leading media reported that on Tuesday, PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas called President Moshe Katsav 
to express his gratitude to Israel for withdrawing from 
the Gaza Strip.  Abbas referred to the "brave steps" 
represented by the disengagement, and said the PA is 
trying to change the way that Palestinians think about 
the peace process with Israel.  "Only through 
negotiations can we reach a reconciliation," Abbas 
reportedly told Katsav.  Ha'aretz reported that Katsav 
called the recent developments "a historic opportunity 
for peace and reconciliation."  This morning, Israel 
Radio quoted Abbas as saying that Israel has pledged to 
pull the IDF from the Gaza Strip by October 4.  Leading 
media cited Palestinian dissatisfaction over the IDF's 
maintained presence in the northern West Bank.  Leading 
media reported that many Palestinians derided 
"artificial" scenes of settler anguish.  However, 
Jerusalem Post cited praise of Sharon by a minority of 
Palestinians for "standing up to extremists." 
 
Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli officials as saying 
Tuesday that disarming the Palestinian groups is a 
prerequisite to a diplomatic process. 
 
Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that, as part 
of the expected agreement on the positioning of 
Egyptian policemen along the Philadelphi route, Egypt 
has agreed not to provide weapons to the PA.  Speaking 
on the station, Vice Premier Shimon Peres stated that 
the agreement does not contradict provisions in the 
1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty.  Israel Radio reported 
that Abbas is in Cairo to discuss with President Hosni 
Mubarak the Israeli disengagement and the upcoming 
visit to Israel and the PA of Egypt's intelligence 
chief Omar Suleiman. 
 
Yediot reported that the Quartet is considering 
arranging a Sharon-Abbas meeting during the UN General 
Assembly's meeting next month.  The two leaders would 
discuss the "day after" disengagement. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the IDF and the Civil 
Administration in the territories began issuing land 
expropriation orders this weekend for construction of 
the separation fence around Ma'aleh Adumim, after A-G 
Menachem Mazuz gave the bulk of the route a legal seal 
of approval.  The newspaper quoted diplomatic sources 
in Jerusalem as saying that those expropriation orders 
"are being carefully examined by the most senior 
officials in the U.S. administration" and that the 
issue is likely to be raised at today's Olmert-Rice 
meeting. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that PalTrade, the Palestinian 
company in charge of running the greenhouses that the 
Palestinians will inherit from Gaza evacuees, recently 
signed its first export agreement for the produce 
slated to be grown there.  The produce will be marketed 
via the Israeli firm Agrexco, which handles most of 
Israel's agricultural exports. 
 
Yediot reported that the Iranian TV station Al-Aalam 
broadcast an interview with the Israeli Bedouin 
diplomat Ismail Khaldi, who explained Israel's demand 
that the PA dismantle the terrorist infrastructure. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Republican and Democratic 
U.S. Members of Congress are demanding an investigation 
of the use of UN funds for pro-Palestinian propaganda 
on UNDP-sponsored banners in the Gaza Strip. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Tuesday, Peres dismissed talk 
of his joining Sharon and Shinui party chairman Yosef 
(Tommy) Lapid in the next Knesset election. 
 
Yediot reported that Amnesty International is demanding 
that Israel release five right-wing administrative 
detainees. 
 
Maariv reported that the U.S. Embassy to Israel 
announced Tuesday that indefinite visas, whose validity 
had been reduced to ten years, are no longer valid. 
The newspaper also reported that, starting in January, 
new visas will be obtainable through the Embassy's 
Internet site.  Maariv reported that Yossi Fattal, the 
head of the Israeli Travel Agents Association, met 
Tuesday with U.S. Consul-General in Tel Aviv Richard 
Beer.  The two men reportedly agreed on a series of 
measures meant to accelerate the issuance of visas to 
travelers slated to leave for the U.S. in coming days. 
 
Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling 
Institute survey conducted last night: 
-"Now that the implementation of the disengagement plan 
is nearly over, do you support the disengagement plan 
or are you opposed?"  Support: 56 percent; opposed: 35 
percent. 
Ha'aretz front-paged a Dialogue Institute poll 
conducted among Likud members over the past two days, 
which again illustrates that a deep rift has opened 
between Sharon and his voters: 
-In a face-off between Sharon and Binyamin Netanyahu, 
the latter gains the upper hand -- 47 percent versus 
30.5 percent.  Sharon versus Knesset Member Uzi Landau 
produces a 45 percent to 37 percent result in the 
latter's favor. 
-In a three-way race, Netanyahu wins the support of 26 
percent of the Likud members; Landau gets the thumbs up 
from 24 percent; and Sharon remains around the 30 
percent mark. 
 
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Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement: 
------------------------------------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
cumulative accounting shows that this was only the 
first evacuation, which will be followed by more." 
 
Editor-in-Chief Amnon Dankner and senior columnist Dan 
Margalit wrote on page one of popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "It is too early to assess the magnitude of the 
change that Israeli society has undergone in the eight 
days of the evacuation, but it is already clear that it 
has changed beyond recognition." 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote from the evacuated 
settlement of Sa-Nur on page one of mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Israeli governments have 
refrained in the past from evacuating illegal 
settlement outposts.... This ... was rendered invalid 
on Tuesday." 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one 
of Yediot Aharonot: "The intelligence failure of the 
army in assessing the opposition of the barricaders in 
Homesh and Sa-Nur Tuesday was a great success for 
Israeli democracy." 
 
Yahad-Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Beilin wrote in 
Yediot Aharonot: "The withdrawal from Gaza opens up a 
substantial opportunity to continue towards a much more 
dramatic move." 
Uzi Arad, who was a senior advisor to former prime 
minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote in Yediot Aharonot: 
"Israel must put a stop to the present erosion in its 
positions; it must fulfill and leverage every component 
of the road map that serves its interests and must 
implement the understandings that it has reached over 
the years with the United States." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Post-Evacuation Balance Sheet" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(August 24): "The IDF will maintain a presence in the 
northern West Bank and will continue to fight terror, 
especially the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.  But Israel 
must also work to improve the lives of the Palestinian 
population in the area between Nablus and Jenin.  The 
Palestinians must feel a change following the 
evacuation of Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sa-Nur -- more 
freedom of movement between Palestinian communities and 
use of the evacuated area, even if Israel continues to 
have full responsibility for the area under its 
definition as Area C.  The focus now moves to 
diplomatic and security relations between Israel, the 
Palestinian Authority and international parties, such 
as the U.S. and Egypt, and to attempts by the PA to 
govern evacuated Gaza and to jump-start its economy.... 
The cumulative accounting shows that this was only the 
first evacuation, which will be followed by more." 
 
II.  "The Eight Days That Changed Israel" 
 
Editor-in-Chief Amnon Dankner and senior columnist Dan 
Margalit wrote on page one of popular, pluralist Maariv 
(August 24): "It is too early to assess the magnitude 
of the change that Israeli society has undergone in the 
eight days of the evacuation, but it is already clear 
that it has changed beyond recognition.  The myth that 
settlements cannot be evacuated without a bloody civil 
war has been shattered.  The myth that Israelis are not 
capable of meticulous planning has been shattered.  The 
keys were not inadvertently taken away by the absent- 
minded red-head [as in the story by the late Israeli 
satirist Ephraim Kishon].  They were in capable, wise 
and efficient hands. Israel proved to itself as a 
society that it is rock-solid.  We got through a 
gigantic crisis with nothing more than a few scratches 
and bruises, and we can allow ourselves to heave an 
enormous sigh of relief.  For, in spite of everything, 
we got through it unharmed and together." 
 
III.  "We Got Out Safely" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote from the evacuated 
settlement of Sa-Nur on page one of mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 24): "[The completion 
of the evacuation under the disengagement plan] was a 
very sad moment for anyone who holds sacred the 
settlements in the territories.  For all others, it was 
a moment of relief.... Israeli governments have 
refrained in the past from evacuating illegal 
settlement outposts on the grounds that the army and 
the police do not have the ability to complete the 
evacuation without bloodshed.  This excuse was rendered 
invalid on Tuesday.  Whatever [the government] wishes 
to evacuate can be evacuated.  The question is whether 
Sharon wants to, and whether he is politically capable 
of it.  The determination he displayed during 
disengagement had a profound effect on his image in the 
world and in Israel as well.  Some see him as an 
intrepid leader, a winner, and others view him as a 
dictator without inhibitions.  Sharon has won his place 
in Israeli history." 
 
IV.  "Failure of Intelligence -- Victory of Democracy" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one 
of Yediot Aharonot (August 24): "The intelligence 
failure of the army in assessing the opposition of the 
barricaders in Homesh and Sa-Nur Tuesday was a great 
success for Israeli democracy.... The IDF did not have 
intelligence dossiers about the evacuation opponents. 
This is a mark of honor for our security establishment. 
It proves, once again, that we live in a reasonable 
democracy.... Sa-Nur and Homesh, with the exception of 
a few isolated cases, were evacuated within half a day, 
after displaying reasonable resistance.  In retrospect 
it can be said that the rabbis' activity for lowering 
the flames fell on fertile ground.  In the day or two 
preceding the evacuation, there was a gloomy atmosphere 
among the barricaders.  They were certain that they 
were the vanguard, and on the evacuation day there 
would be 20,000 people in Sa-Nur.  This did not happen. 
The reinforcements did not arrive.  This disappointment 
contributed to the inaction, the acceptance of the 
verdict, in the face of the courteous columns of 
soldiers and police officers who flooded every corner 
and every path in the settlements." 
 
¶V.  "Elections Now" 
 
Yahad-Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Beilin wrote in 
Yediot Aharonot (August 24): "The withdrawal from Gaza 
opens up a substantial opportunity to continue towards 
a much more dramatic move -- a peace agreement with the 
Palestinians on the basis of the 1967 borders, while 
annexing settlements close to the Green Line in return 
for a land swap....  It has been made clear that there 
is a Palestinian partner.  [This partner is] 
problematic, difficult, weak, but interested in quiet 
and an agreement.  The obvious step is to sit down with 
Abu Mazen and try to reach a final status arrangement 
with him.  This will not happen.  The election campaign 
has begun.... The Palestinians [also] stand before 
elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council in 
January.... The elections should be moved up in order 
to shorten the period of political stalemate as much as 
possible.... In [the Israeli] elections, the peace camp 
will have to present its real alternative ... 
negotiations aimed at peace and ending the conflict.... 
It will be faced by the Right, which has split into two 
camps: one camp that will speak about perpetuating the 
current situation.... The other camp will offer small 
unilateral withdrawals.... The people will be called 
upon to choose, and the sooner the better." 
 
VI.  "Leverage the Road Map" 
 
Uzi Arad, who was a senior advisor to former prime 
minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote in Yediot Aharonot 
(August 24): "Israel must put a stop to the present 
erosion in its positions; it must fulfill and leverage 
every component of the road map that serves its 
interests and must implement the understandings that it 
has reached over the years with the United States.  In 
any case, the consecutive stages of the road map must 
not be watered down, and certainly not skipped over, 
particularly an immediate Palestinian frontal 
confrontation with the terror organizations, as they 
have undertaken to do.  The Quartet members must also 
adhere to the road map and the necessity to dismantle 
the terror organizations.  Only then will Israel be 
able to negotiate with the Palestinians without being 
under violence and fire.  Waiving this will lead to a 
Palestinian escalation and ultimately an armed and 
hostile Palestinian state will arise.  The Palestinians 
do not wish for a state within provisional borders, as 
enabled by the second stage of the road map.  This does 
not mean that Israel will give up what it is entitled 
to -- normalization on the part of the Arab states and 
regional cooperation initiatives.  Only within the 
framework of demanding negotiations, based on Binyamin 
Netanyahu's policy of reciprocity, will Israel be able 
to reach arrangements that will meet our security 
interests.  But for this purpose a reversal is 
required: no more should leniency and appeasement be 
practiced outwardly and determination be shown 
inwardly; Israel should demonstrate firmness and 
determination outwardly and reconciliation at home." 
 
KURTZER