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

140956Z Sep 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 005641 
 
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.  Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media led with the disorder in the PA and along the 
Philadelphi route.  While some media, like Jerusalem 
Post (banner: "Egypt, PA Vow to Stop Gaza 
Infiltrators") and Ha'aretz (banner: "Abbas Plans to 
Dismantle Armed PA Factions, End Chaos"), cite Egyptian 
and PA efforts to establish law and order in the Gaza 
Strip, other media (like Maariv, Yediot, and Israel 
Radio) emphasize GOI demands that the PA and Egypt 
restore order along the Philadelphi route.  Israel 
Radio reported that Israeli security officials told PA 
Civilian Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan that if the 
PA does not act in the matter, this would have an 
influence on the implementation of agreements between 
Israel and the PA.  Leading media cited the IDF's 
concern that terrorists from Gaza could infiltrate 
Israel though the Sinai Peninsula.  Hatzofe reported 
that on Monday, Palestinians plundered greenhouses in 
the former settlement of Ganei Tal.  The hothouses were 
transferred to the Palestinians with funding from the 
World Bank. 
 
Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that Defense 
Minister Shaul Mofaz called on U.S. Ambassador to 
Israel Dan Kurtzer to apply his influence in order to 
restore order along the Philadelphi route.   Israel 
Radio reported that Mofaz also turned to U.S. security 
coordinator Lt. Gen. William Ward.  Speaking on Israel 
Radio from New York this morning, FM Silvan Shalom 
expressed his belief that the U.S. understands that PA 
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas apparently does not 
intend to abide by his commitments -- according to the 
road map and at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit -- to 
eliminate the terrorist infrastructure. 
 
Yediot and Israel Radio quoted Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice as saying Tuesday, at a meeting with 
editors of The New York Times, that the U.S. will act 
to preserve the momentum in Israeli-Palestinian 
relations and expects to press Israel and the 
Palestinians to make progress.  Under the headline, 
"Praise Is Over; After the Evacuation: American 
Pressure on Israel," Yediot quoted Secretary Rice as 
saying that the U.S. administration will press the 
sides to implement the Sharm el-Sheikh understandings, 
including an Israeli pullout from the West Bank cities 
and the release of Palestinian prisoners.  The media 
reported that Secretary Rice praised Israel-PA 
cooperation, which she said the sides do not recount 
for political reasons. 
 
The media reported that PM Sharon is expected to meet 
with U.S. President George W. Bush, Russian President 
Vladimir Putin, and Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan 
today, and with the PMs of Australia, Britain, and 
Canada on Thursday.  Maariv reported that, at his 
meeting with President Bush, Sharon will raise his 
demand that Hamas be dismantled.  Israel Radio reported 
that FM Shalom met with Algerian Minister of State for 
Foreign Affairs Mohamed Bedjaoui and with Indonesian FM 
Noer Hassan Wirajuda.  The radio, which cited denials 
by Shalom's supposed interlocutors, says that he is 
scheduled to meet with the FMs of Morocco, Egypt, 
Jordan, among others. 
 
Yediot reported that on Saturday night, under the 
motto: "We Have to Continue Toward Peace -- From Gaza 
to a Final-Status Agreement," the Israeli and 
Palestinian peace camps will hold two simultaneous 
demonstrations -- outside Sharon's Jerusalem residence, 
and in Ramallah.  Abbas will lead the Palestinian 
rally. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that U.S. Ambassador Dan 
Kurtzer and his wife Sheila bid farewell to President 
Moshe Katsav on Monday.  The newspaper cited Katsav's 
expression of high praise for the Kurtzers, who, he 
said, served U.S. interests in Israel during one of the 
most difficult and stormy periods in the nation's 
history.  Katsav was quoted as saying that the 
Ambassador had shown great responsibility, and 
professionalism.  Ambassador Kurtzer reportedly 
expressed appreciation for Katsav's wise counsel each 
time it was requested.  Jerusalem Post reported that 
next week Katsav is due to receive the credentials of 
Kurtzer's successor, Richard Jones. 
Ha'aretz reported that on Tuesday, Yuval Steinitz, 
chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense 
Committee, submitted a bill that would prohibit Israeli 
citizens from filing lawsuits and criminal complaints 
in foreign countries against members of Israel's 
security forces or anyone who was involved in anti- 
terror activities on behalf of Israel.  The move comes 
in the wake of complaints filed in Britain by the 
Israeli group Yesh Gvul against the current and former 
IDF chiefs of staff over their role in the targeted 
killing of senior Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh in July 
¶2002. 
 
Israel Radio reported that President Bush is trying to 
convince the Russian and Chinese leaders, with whom he 
is holding meetings in current days in Washington, to 
support steps that would ensure that Iran does not 
procure nuclear weapons.  The station quoted Bush as 
saying, after a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal 
Talabani, that Iran with a nuclear weapon would be 
destabilizing. 
 
Yediot quoted President Bush as saying that "all 
options are on the table" regarding possible U.S. 
action against Syria.  Jerusalem Post reported that on 
Tuesday, the President reiterated his goal to achieve 
international agreement to put pressure on President 
Bashar Assad's regime. 
 
Israel Radio reported that over 100 people were killed 
and dozens of others were wounded in bombings in 
central Iraq this morning. 
 
Israel Radio reported that at a meeting to be held 
today in Egypt, the tourism ministers of Israel, the 
PA, Jordan, and Egypt will discuss the state of tourism 
in the region. 
 
Angela Merkel, the candidate of the German opposition 
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the race for 
chancellor, was quoted as saying in an interview with 
Ha'aretz that if she wins, Germany would be more 
involved in the Middle East and fight anti-Semitism in 
her country.  Still, Merkel recognizes the role of the 
U.S. in the Middle East. 
 
Ha'aretz reported on a meeting held Tuesday in the 
Israeli Arab city of Umm el-Fahm between guests from 
the American Jewish Committee, and Mayor Sheikh Hashem 
Abd al-Rahman, who is identified with the northern 
branch of the Islamic Movement and known for boycotting 
Knesset elections.  The meeting was organized by 
Sikkuy, an Arab-Jewish non-profit organization working 
for equality for Israeli Arabs.  The newspaper reported 
that African-American Wisconsin State Senator Lena 
Taylor (D), a member of the delegation, "did not hide 
her identification with the Israeli Arabs' condition." 
The newspaper cited criticism of the meeting among 
American Jewish leaders. 
 
Ha'aretz details increasing threats of divestment of 
Israel by the Presbyterian Church and other American 
religious congregations, and writes that American 
Jewish leaders are divided over the gravity of those 
steps. 
 
Yediot reported that Likud MK Ayoob Kara has proposed 
to turn September 11 into a national day of mourning in 
Israel -- in memory of the burning of the Gaza Strip 
synagogues. 
 
Yediot reported that a directive the U.S. Homeland 
Security Department has recently conveyed to the U.S. 
Embassy in Tel Aviv stipulates that an Israeli child, 
one of whose parents is an AmCit, will not 
automatically acquire U.S. citizenship. 
 
Yediot reported that former New York City mayor Rudolph 
Giuliani will come to Israel next Wednesday for a one- 
day visit, during which he will explain his crime- 
fighting methods. 
 
All media reported that President Bush took 
responsibility on Tuesday for federal government 
failures in handling the aftermath of Hurricane 
Katrina.  Maariv reported that affluent residents of 
New Orleans have turned to Israeli guards for the 
protection of their property. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
Veteran op-ed writer and the late prime minister 
Yitzhak Rabin's assistant Eytan Haber opined in the 
lead editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "The successive Israeli cabinet ministers -- 
from Labor and Likud -- were those who made the 
historical mistake whose price was paid in blood." 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Besides purely selfish interests, democracies ought to 
consider the debt of gratitude they owe Israel as a 
bulwark against international terrorism." 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "An 
unbalanced and disproportionate use of universal 
authority to bring individuals to trial may sometimes 
be excessive and unjust, but the abrogation of the 
option to pursue war criminals wherever they may be 
could bring the wheels of justice grinding to a halt." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The March of Folly" 
 
Veteran op-ed writer and the late prime minister 
Yitzhak Rabin's assistant Eytan Haber opined in the 
lead editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (September 14): "The [Israeli cabinet's] 
decision regarding the [Gaza Strip's] synagogues and 
its immediate consequences are undoubtedly worthy of 
being cited ... in historian Barbara Tuchman's book, 
'The March of Folly'.... We wouldn't mention this, had 
Shimon Peres not honestly declared Monday that 
'settling Gush Katif was a historical mistake.'  A 
historical mistake?  This wasn't about an academic 
exercise.  Soldiers and civilians paid with their lives 
for that historical mistake; others became handicapped, 
to say nothing of the billions [of dollars] that went 
up in smoke.  A historical mistake?  Who erred?  The 
Holy Ghost?.... Absolutely not.  The successive Israeli 
cabinet ministers -- from Labor and Likud -- were those 
who made the historical mistake whose price was paid in 
blood." 
 
II.  "A Limit to Sedition" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(September 14): "The thought of an Israeli general 
unable to enter the capital of another democracy for 
fear of being detained on trumped-up 'war crimes' 
charges is insufferable enough. The realization that 
the screeching chorus of Arabs and Muslims out to get 
him was actually conducted by Israelis is maddening. 
Yet this is precisely what happened this week.... What 
Britain's courts were prepared to countenance against 
Israel could well come back to haunt Britons abroad. 
Israel's generals are harassed about a single bomb; the 
allies dumped untold tons of explosives, killing untold 
numbers of Iraqis and Afghans.... Besides purely 
selfish interests, democracies ought to consider the 
debt of gratitude they owe Israel as a bulwark against 
international terrorism.  Had other nations followed 
Israel's consistent example, the world would be a safer 
place to live in.  But whatever bones we have to pick 
with friends overseas, the danger of in-house sedition 
is far more alarming.... The pretext is [the Israeli 
group] Yesh Gvul's failure to get the local judiciary 
to take punitive action against the two.  Thus Israelis 
who can't win their day in Israel's courts, attempt to 
enlist outside help.... Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz's 
move to outlaw Yesh Gvul might in other circumstances 
be dismissed as excessive, especially considering the 
significant inroads the group has made into normative 
mainstream opinion and its undoubted popularity with 
left-wing opinion-molders.  But this time Yesh Gvul 
seems to have crossed all red lines.... As a society 
faced with existential threats, we cannot afford to 
have those who defend us become our fall guys." 
 
III.  "In the Dock" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(September 14): "The courts in Israel turned their 
heads when asked to address the demolition of hundreds 
of houses in Gaza, the expropriation of private lands 
for the use of the occupying country, and the expulsion 
of 25,000 Palestinians from their homes in Hebron to 
expand the Jewish quarter.  None of these constitutes 
valid means in the war on terror.  The vacuum created 
by judges in Israel in dealing with these issues is 
what led to the appeal to the legal authorities in 
Europe.  One can complain about the hypocrisy of legal 
authorities that are tough on Israel and easy on other 
countries.  One can ascribe political and anti-Semitic 
motives to plaintiffs and judges.  But it is hard to 
claim that our hands are clean.  Every officer who 
carries out an order involving serious human rights 
violations must take into consideration that he will 
find himself in the dock.  An unbalanced and 
disproportionate use of universal authority to bring 
individuals to trial may sometimes be excessive and 
unjust, but the abrogation of the option to pursue war 
criminals wherever they may be could bring the wheels 
of justice grinding to a halt." 
 
----------------------------------- 
¶2.  Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: 
----------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Columnist Tom Segev wrote in independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "There's no disputing Israel is defining its 
own place somewhere on the edges of the American 
empire.  That's why there's something so troubling 
about what now appear to be signs of the sinking of 
that empire." 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"What's Happening To You, America?" 
 
Columnist Tom Segev wrote in independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (September 14): "One can appreciate all the 
positive brought about by the Americanization [of 
Israel] without ignoring the negative, but there's no 
disputing Israel is defining its own place somewhere on 
the edges of the American empire.  That's why there's 
something so troubling about what now appear to be 
signs of the sinking of that empire -- the intelligence 
failures that preceded the attacks on the Twin Towers, 
the crash of the Columbia.  How could it happen, in a 
country like America?  The failed occupation of Iraq -- 
to find out just how easy it is to conquer a country 
and how difficult to end its occupation, the U.S. 
didn't even need National Geographic.  All they had to 
do was follow the news from the territories Israel 
occupied in the Six-Day War.  And now, the catastrophe 
in New Orleans.  It is impossible to avoid thinking 
that it reflects a very sick society.... What is 
happening to you, America?  Because what happens to you 
seems to happen to us as well." 
 
KURTZER