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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 005253 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Global War on Terror 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio quoted Vice PM and Finance Minister Ehud 
Olmert as saying, after his meeting with Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rice in Washington Wednesday, that 
the PA must disarm the Palestinian terror groups. 
Jerusalem Post quoted Olmert as saying that, though 
Rice expressed her interest in moving forward on the 
road map, they did not discuss any timetable, and that 
the U.S. did not set any date for beginning its 
implementation.  Israel Radio reported that Olmert 
discussed the issue of the separation fence with 
Secretary Rice, following A/S David Welch's criticism 
 
SIPDIS 
of Israel's announced plan to build in Area E-1, 
between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim.  Ha'aretz and 
Israel Radio reported that the Planning Council of the 
Civil Administration in the West Bank is expected to 
approve relocating the HQ of the Judea and Samaria 
police district from Jerusalem to Area E-1 in coming 
days.  Speaking on Israel Radio, Olmert said it would 
be "strange" if Israel did not receive special 
disengagement-related aid from the U.S.  Israel Radio 
reported that today, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni will 
meet with Secretary Rice.  The station notes that 
Olmert and Livni are both Sharon associates. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Olmert and his Egyptian 
counterpart, who is also visiting Washington, have 
asked the U.S. to expand their joint free-trade zones. 
 
All media (lead stories in many of them) reported that 
a British yeshiva student, who was a tourist in Israel, 
was stabbed to death last night, close to Jaffa Gate, 
in the Old City of Jerusalem, whereas his companion, an 
AmCit, was moderately wounded.  Leading media reported 
that last night in the Tulkarm refugee camp, Special 
Forces of the IDF killed five Palestinians, three of 
them senior wanted men from Islamic Jihad and Fatah. 
Israel Radio cited Palestinian claims that the IDF had 
killed teenagers and a denial by the IDF.  Leading 
media reported that Fatah and Islamic Jihad (or Hamas) 
vowed to take revenge on Israel. 
 
Israel Radio reported that late this morning, a mortar 
shell landed next to Margaliot, along the Lebanese 
border.  There were no casualties. 
 
Maariv reported that following a special security 
meeting convened by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on 
Wednesday, Egyptian forces defined as "border police" 
could deploy along the Philadelphi route in two weeks. 
For its part, Jerusalem Post reported that the defense 
officials decided that the IDF would withdraw from the 
corridor by the end of the year.  Leading media note 
that the cabinet is expected to vote on the Israeli- 
Egypt agreement on Sunday, and the Knesset during the 
course of next week. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that representatives of various 
Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip (the Popular 
Committee for Defending Palestinian Lands) accused 
Israel on Wednesday of burying "toxic materials" under 
the rubble of dismantled settlements to prevent 
Palestinians from exploiting the land. 
 
Leading media cited a statement issued on Wednesday by 
the UN Security Council, which says: "The members of 
the Security Council welcome the beginning of the 
Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the northern 
West Bank and they commend the ongoing implementation 
of this process." 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian sources in Gaza as saying 
it would be difficult for the PA police to guard the 
evacuated settlements and prevent the Palestinian 
public and armed groups from entering them. 
 
IDF Radio Wednesday cited the Popular Resistance 
Committees militant network as saying that it has 
developed a rocket capable of striking targets 15 km 
away from the Gaza Strip -- enough to strike Ashkelon. 
Maariv reported that the Shin Bet has fortified 
Sharon's Sycamore Farm against Qassam rockets. 
 
Israel Radio reported that elements in the Arab world 
are prodding Islamic Jihad to participate in the 
Palestinian Legislative Council elections. 
 
Maariv reported that senior IDF officers told residents 
of the northern West Bank settlements of Hermesh and 
Mevo Dotan this week that they are "next in line" for 
evacuation.  Hatzofe reported that the government and 
the settlers had reached an agreement postponing the 
evacuation, but that Sharon thwarted it because he 
wanted a tough image of Gush Katif residents to be 
engraved in the public eye. 
 
Leading media reported that the Likud leadership is 
preparing for early Knesset elections.  Citing 
conversations with aides of PM Sharon and other figures 
in Israeli politics, Ha'aretz reported that most of 
Sharon's close advisers believe that he should leave 
the Likud and set up a new party. 
 
Maariv bannered a TNS/Teleseker Polling Institute 
survey that found that Binyamin Netanyahu would 
overcome Sharon in internal Likud elections, but that 
the party would come out weakened from the contest: 
-Should Sharon retire from politics, a Netanyahu-led 
Likud would garner 32 Knesset seats; Peres-Led Labor 
would obtain 31 seats. 
-Should Sharon remain in politics, a Sharon-led Likud 
would garner 38 Knesset seats; Peres-Led Labor would 
obtain 22 seats. 
-Should the Likud split, "Sharon's Likud" would get 34 
seats; "Netanyahu's Likud" would get 20 seats. 
-Should the "big bang" in Israeli politics happen, a 
Sharon-Peres-Lapid party would reap 54 seats; 
"Netanyahu's Likud" would obtain 23 seats. 
 
Yediot and Jerusalem Post reported that the American 
computer chip giant Intel plans to base its next 
generation of processors on the models developed in its 
Israeli branch. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "After a stormy 
week of disengagement, Israel and the U.S. appear to 
see eye to eye on the next stage." 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach commented in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Like an 
experienced magician [Sharon] draws all of the public's 
attention to his one hand, assuming that their dull 
wits will prevent them from seeing what his other hand 
is doing." 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot: "The automatic hold on the Gaza Strip has 
become, for Israel, a conditioned reflex like that of 
Pavlov's dog.... Israel must let go of its hold since 
the situation has changed and we have left." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "Bush 
enjoys that achievement [the disengagement], which 
he'll certainly credit to himself -- as well as the one- 
on-one understandings he reached with Ariel Sharon." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Washington: It's the Palestinians' Move Now" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (August 25): 
"Official Washington was quite open this week about its 
expectations for a continuation of the diplomatic 
process in the Middle East.  The President himself said 
bluntly that what 'must happen now is the establishment 
of a working government in Gaza'.... In Israel, of 
course, people are happy with the remarks.  The ball is 
now in the other court.  Thus, after a stormy week of 
disengagement, Israel and the U.S. appear to see eye to 
eye on the next stage.  Israel has proven its 
determination in carrying out the pullout from Gaza, 
and now the Palestinians must implement the required 
reforms.  The message was clearly spelled out in 
telephone calls from Washington to Ramallah in the past 
days.... The diplomatic dialogue between Israel and the 
U.S. this week indicated mutual satisfaction.... In the 
background is the understanding of the political 
difficulties Sharon faces in his party.... Even the 
issue of settlements is now being mentioned by the 
administration in more hushed tones.... Therefore, one 
should not expect too much fuss about the building of 
the fence in the Ma'aleh Adumim area: the 
administration is not going to argue with Israel about 
its security needs and its right to defend itself, 
[Assistant Secretary of State David] Welch said.  The 
question is the fence's route, and this must first be 
studied.  Then if necessary, it can be discussed." 
 
II.  "What the Other Hand Is Doing" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach commented in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (August 25): 
"[The erection of a separation fence encompassing 
Ma'aleh Adumim] will create a state of physical 
separation that will render impossible most of the 
existing ideas for how to solve the question of 
Jerusalem and how to create a Palestinian state with 
territorial contiguity.  The next stage will be to 
present the construction plans that will build houses 
right up beside the fence and will create a situation 
that will be difficult to reverse.... Under the cover 
[of disengagement] and against the backdrop of the 
public's deep sleep, Sharon swapped ... Greater Israel 
for Greater Jerusalem.  On the very day when all eyes 
were turned to Kfar Darom and Sa-Nur, facts began to be 
established on the ground in Jerusalem -- the place 
where, if no solution is found, no political 
arrangement will ever be achieved between us and the 
Palestinians.  All this was done far from the eyes of 
the public, when a somniferous cabinet voted 'yea' 
without knowing for what, and in a way that is destined 
yet to cost Israel dearly in blood and money: either 
this initiative will be scuttled as a result of 
international and legal pressure, as was the case with 
the separation fence, or it will be completed and will 
create a reality that complicates the achievement of a 
political solution.  While the Left rose to cheer its 
new hero, Sharon took steps to complete the 
implementation of his plan, and established facts on 
the ground elsewhere.  Like an experienced magician he 
draws all of the public's attention to his one hand, 
assuming that their dull wits will prevent them from 
seeing what his other hand is doing." 
 
III.  "Israel and Pavlov's Dogs" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot (August 25): "The Palestinians claim today 
that Israel's decision to reserve responsibility for 
air, sea and land entry into the Gaza Strip rules out 
any such recognition by the UN regarding Gaza.  For 
this reason, it is not certain whether Israel will 
receive world legitimacy any time soon.  Worse than 
that, after the terrible sacrifice Israel made, it 
could be criticized in the world and this trend has 
already begun -- with the claim that the withdrawal 
only made the problem worse, since now Gaza is 
imprisoned in an Israeli cage and the occupation is 
being done by remote control.  In order to nip this 
claim in the bud, Israel must allow the Palestinians in 
Gaza full control over their border crossing with 
Egypt.... The automatic hold on the Gaza Strip has 
become, for Israel, a conditioned reflex like that of 
Pavlov's dog, which connected the sound of a bell 
ringing to the meal he was supposed to receive.  Israel 
must let go of its hold since the situation has changed 
and we have left.  That is the meaning of the word 
'disengagement' and the possibility of gaining 
international legitimacy.  As of now Israel is 
reserving to itself air and sea supervision of Gaza due 
to fear of terrorism, but in everything concerning life 
itself, the Gaza Strip should be connected with Egypt 
by land and with the entire Arab world in the most free 
and complete manner." 
 
 
IV.  "Bush Has Failed in Iraq -- the Compensation Is a 
Deportation of Jews" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (August 
25): "U.S. President George Bush 'applauds' Prime 
Minister Ariel Sharon for the completion of his work -- 
the deportation of the Gush Katif Jews.  So do [Bush's] 
partners in the military coalition that is rolling in 
its own blood in Iraq.  Bush enjoys that achievement 
[the disengagement], which he'll certainly credit to 
himself -- as well as the one-on-one understandings he 
reached with Ariel Sharon.  The U.S. is enduring 
countless blows in Iraq, which has turned into one big 
slaughterhouse.... Bush also experiences humiliations 
from the number one enemy of Christendom and the 
Western world -- Al-Qaida.... Israel is the heart of 
the nations; when it bleeds, the Western world, too, 
will have to take part in its torments." 
 
------------------------- 
¶2.  Global War on Terror: 
------------------------- 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"A vast gulf separates Amman and Cairo on the issue of 
border security.  That divide must be bridged as soon 
as possible." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"From Aqaba to Taba" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(August 25): "Only a few dozen kilometers, at most, 
separate the Red Sea resort cities of Aqaba in Jordan 
and Taba in Sinai.  Yet a vast gulf separates Amman and 
Cairo on the issue of border security.  That divide 
must be bridged as soon as possible.... No matter 
whether Palestinians or global jihadists are the source 
of [terror] threats, they pose serious risks to all 
three countries.... With that in mind, one would hope 
that all three countries could agree on the need to 
clamp down on terrorism at the borders.  Unfortunately, 
though, that is not always the case -- with Egypt 
lagging noticeably.... Egypt could take a lesson from 
Jordan, which has been far more reliable in keeping the 
peace along its border with Israel.... [And] Amman must 
remain vigilant, all the more so since Iraqi Al-Qaida 
leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is suspected of trying to 
take over his native Jordan....  The challenge of 
border security in our region, always acute, is 
becoming all the greater as Israel prepares to leave 
Gaza altogether. The Israel-Egypt peace treaty may be 
tested as never before.  Terrorism is a threat that no 
country can allow to cross its border." 
 
KURTZER