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

061039Z Oct 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 005983 
 
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.  Syrian Track 
 
¶3.  Iraq 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that PM Sharon and PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas are slated to meet on 
Tuesday, October 11.  The meeting was organized under 
the auspices of Jordan's King Abdullah II.  Leading 
media reported that top Sharon aide Dov Weisglass and 
chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat will meet on 
Friday or Sunday to prepare for the encounter.  Yediot 
reported that upon this occasion, Israel is bound to 
introduce measures to ease the lives of the 
Palestinians -- roadblocks between Palestinian cities 
would be lifted; prisoners "with blood on their hands" 
would be released; Palestinians who were deported to 
Europe would be allowed to return to the territories. 
The newspaper quoted Sharon associates as saying that 
the gestures will strengthen Abbas.  However, Israel 
Radio notes that a prisoner release would depend on a 
decision by a governmental panel.  Speaking on Israel 
Radio this morning, Vice PM and Acting Finance Minister 
Ehud Olmert said that Abbas could not expect Israel to 
release prisoners who killed Jews. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Egypt is considering tendering a 
proposal to postpone the Palestinian elections 
scheduled for January 2006.  The newspaper, which noted 
that Egypt is concerned about Abbas's weakened status, 
cited the belief of Israeli sources that Egypt's 
proposal could succeed.  All media reported that on 
Monday, the Palestinian Legislative Council decided to 
dissolve the current government under Ahmed Qurei and 
to form a new cabinet within two weeks.  (Major media 
reported that Qurei was hospitalized in Jordan after 
undergoing a cardiac incident.)  Leading media cited 
anarchy prevailing in the Palestinian territories as 
the motive for the move.  Leading media reported that 
on Tuesday, the PA kidnapped two Hamas activists. 
Citing AP, Jerusalem Post reported that Hamas political 
leader Khaled Mashaal accused the U.S. and Israel of 
responsibility for Sunday's clashes between Hamas 
activists and Palestinian security forces in the Gaza 
Strip.  Maariv bannered an interview that Hamas leader 
Mahmoud Zahar granted to the Arabic-language web site 
Ilaf, in which he propounds what Maariv says is Hamas's 
plan to "turn Gaza into Tehran" -- an Islamic theocracy 
that would ban all contacts with Israel. 
 
Leading media reported that on Wednesday in Alexandria, 
Va., top Pentagon analyst Lawrence (Larry) Franklin 
pleaded guilty to giving classified information to 
Israeli Embassy official Naor Gilon and members of 
AIPAC.  U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III set 
sentencing for January 20.  Leading media note that 
Gilon and Israel were explicitly named for the first 
time. 
 
Israel Radio and leading Israeli news web sites 
reported that today, the High Court of Justice ruled it 
was illegal for the Israel Defense Forces to use 
Palestinian civilians as "human shields."  Chief 
Justice Aharon Barak, ruling in response to petitions 
from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the 
Adallah human rights organization, said the practice 
violates international law. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin 
Square to mark the 10th anniversary of the 
assassination of PM Yitzhak Rabin is expected to be 
moved from November 5 to November 12, in order to 
enable former U.S. president Bill Clinton to attend. 
Clinton allegedly asked for the date change after 
finding himself in the middle of infighting between the 
rally's organizers. 
 
All media reported that there were two knife attacks by 
Palestinians against IDF soldiers near Nablus over the 
Jewish New Year.  A female attacker was killed and a 
solider and bystander were lightly wounded in the 
incidents. 
 
Jerusalem Post printed an AP item that quoted 
Palestinian FM Nasser al-Kidwa as saying in Cairo 
Wednesday that the PA will respect the decision of Arab 
countries if they choose to have relations with Israel, 
even if those decisions are not in the Palestinians' 
interests. 
 
Maariv reported that during his visit to Damascus, 
Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad warned 
Israel against attacking his country's nuclear 
installations.  Maariv reported that Syrian President 
Bashar Assad expressed his support for the development 
of Iran's nuclear program.  The newspaper quoted Assad 
as saying that no one can separate Iran and Syria. 
 
Ha'aretz cited a recent study by the Jerusalem 
Institute for Israel Studies, according to which the 
separation wall, which cuts off tens of thousands of 
Palestinians, is not only having a negative effect on 
the lives of East Jerusalem's residents, but is also 
harming that city's Jewish inhabitants and its position 
as the nation's capital. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday, the English- 
language Indonesian newspaper Jakarta Post published an 
op-ed piece by FM Silvan Shalom, in which he wrote: 
"Israel does not see Islam as an enemy and has never 
seen it as such. On the contrary, history has shown us 
that Jews and Muslims lived in peace, harmony and 
friendship for many years in the past. This should be 
the aim in the future."  Jerusalem Post notes this is 
the first time an Israeli minister has had an op-ed 
article printed in an Indonesian newspaper. 
 
Citing AP, Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post reported that on 
Wednesday, the European Commission proposed doubling 
its annual aid to the Palestinians -- now totaling some 
250 million euros a year -- to help them build a 
credible government and develop trade with Israel and 
other neighbors. 
 
During the past few days, all media reported on the 
aftermath of last Thursday's maritime collision near 
Japan's Hokkaido Island, in which seven Japanese 
fishermen lost their lives, apparently after being hit 
by an Israeli cargo ship.  Yediot quoted a senior 
Foreign Ministry official as saying on Wednesday that 
Israel has managed to minimize the damage caused to 
diplomatic relations with Japan in the wake of the 
affair. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that last week, the Haifa 
District Court ruled against music-sharing web sites. 
The newspaper writes that the related lawsuit follows 
the U.S. Supreme Court's decision at the end of June 
regarding the on-line file-sharing services Grokster 
and Streamcast. 
 
Ha'aretz, Yediot, and Jerusalem Post reported on the 
nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
'enormous progress' that Sharon promises for this year 
must also include isolated settlements and not only 
illegal outposts." 
 
Veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin Eytan Haber opined in the lead 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "The key for the next [Jewish] year is in the 
hands of Khaled Mashaal of Hamas and Arik Sharon of the 
[Israeli] government.  Let's wish them wise and correct 
decisions." 
 
Conservative columnist Amos Gilboa wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "If one can certainly understand Abu 
Mazen and his friends, it is quite difficult to 
understand the Left and its leader Beilin." 
 
Columnist and former head of IDF Intelligence Shlomo 
Gazit wrote in Maariv: "Has anyone considered that we 
are running the risk of turning Hamas into the leading 
movement among the Palestinians, and is it indeed in 
our interest to reach this goal?" 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Progress Means Withdrawal" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(October 6): "On one hand, [Prime Minister Ariel 
Sharon] emphasizes that the ball is now in the 
Palestinians' court and until the Palestinians stop the 
terror and disarm the militant organizations, Israel 
does not need to take any additional steps.  On the 
other hand, Sharon promises, according to a Jewish New 
Year interview with Yediot Aharonot, that 'in the next 
year there will be enormous progress in the peace 
process and in the implementation of the road map.' 
'Enormous progress' can only be a reference to an 
enormous withdrawal.... The evacuation of the illegal 
outposts is a done deal between Israel and the United 
States, and only the timing is still undecided.  Thus 
the 'enormous progress' that Sharon promises for this 
year must also include isolated settlements and not 
only illegal outposts.... The end of the Qassam rocket 
attacks on Sderot created an opportunity to hold the 
planned meeting between Sharon and Palestinian 
Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the next several 
days.  This meeting, even if nothing significant is 
said there, will create a dynamic of joint action that 
has been lacking.  It will also raise expectations.... 
One can only express happiness over the fact that 
Sharon is not stopping at expecting change from the 
Palestinians and is not speaking about small and 
measured steps but rather about giant steps.  The 
occupation has been waiting too many years for a 
bulldozer to end it.  Political support for such steps 
is a function of determined leadership." 
 
 
 
II.  "Caution, Fragile!" 
 
Veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin Eytan Haber opined in the lead 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (October 6): "[In the mid-nineties] Arafat 
told [the Israelis]: 'I have opened the gate of the 
world to you.'  However loathsome he was, he was also 
right.  The first agreements with the PLO turned the 
world around.... [Today], politicians and journalists 
would be well advised to speak modestly.  They are the 
best placed to know how quickly the wheel turns.... 
Even if Sharon, Netanyahu, and others deserve praise 
for their achievements, they don't have the key.... 
What can't be denied is that today, like in the '90s, 
the world loves us and extends its hands to us, 
following the implementation of the disengagement plan. 
It turns out that the world wants this to continue.  In 
the future, residents of West Bank settlements will 
have to pay for every clap of Tony Blair's hands. 
Sharon himself not only wants to enter history books, 
but he wants them printed now.  Thus, the key for the 
next [Jewish] year is in the hands of Khaled Mashaal of 
Hamas and Arik Sharon of the [Israeli] government. 
Let's wish them wise and correct decisions." 
 
III.  "Return of the Illusions" 
 
Conservative columnist Amos Gilboa wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (October 6): "The Israeli left wing, 
primarily the Geneva initiative band, has recently been 
calling with great vigor to launch a political 
initiative with the Palestinians, based on holding 
negotiations over a final status arrangement with the 
Palestinian partner.  It has its reasons: there is a 
partner, in the person of Abu Mazen; the various stages 
of the road map, which is being used by Sharon to 
freeze the situation, should be skipped.... If one can 
certainly understand Abu Mazen and his friends, it is 
quite difficult to understand the Left and its leader 
Beilin.  They are like someone who advises people to 
come and live in a house that is going up in flames, in 
order to give hope to its unfortunate tenants.... Abu 
Mazen's strategy is clear, and its practical purpose is 
to do away with the road map.... From Israel's 
standpoint, the road map is not without problems, but 
at present this is the best route that Israel should 
stick to publicly, and in its declarations.   First of 
all, it is currently the recognized international main 
route to political progress towards an arrangement with 
the Palestinians.  Secondly, in sharp contrast to the 
Oslo Accords, it makes any progress contingent on 
eliminating terrorism and imposes the responsibility 
for this on the Palestinian Authority.  Thirdly, it 
faces the Palestinians with a clear political horizon, 
which ends in a state.  Their hope is in the road map, 
if they are only able to take responsibility, to take 
care of themselves and stop playing the underdog.  The 
heart of the problem is that the chances for this are 
very low, in the near future.... In future, the 
disengagement from Gaza will become a model for the 
Israeli strategy versus the Palestinians and the 
international community." 
IV.  "How to Strengthen Hamas" 
Columnist and former head of IDF Intelligence Shlomo 
Gazit wrote in Maariv (October 6): "In a lecture at the 
Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, [O/C Operations 
Directorate] Maj. Gen. Yisrael Ziv addressed the 
conclusions drawn by the IDF in the five years of the 
Intifada and reported the emergence of the 'operational 
concept.'  He did not expand on this concept, save to 
clarify that within this new concept the decision was 
also made to liquidate all members of the Hamas 
leadership.... My ... main reservation refers to the 
substance of the decision.  In the short term -- has 
anyone deluded himself that it will be possible to 
paralyze Hamas by liquidating the leadership of the 
organization?  Will a new and younger leadership not 
arise immediately, a leadership that will be more 
cautious, but also more militant and vengeful?  And in 
the longer term -- how will the assassinations affect 
the status of Hamas in Palestinian society, and the 
political balance of power between Hamas and the PA and 
Fatah?  Has anyone considered that we are running the 
risk of turning Hamas into the leading movement among 
the Palestinians, and is it indeed in our interest to 
reach this goal?" 
 
 
 
 
 
----------------- 
¶2.  Syrian Track: 
----------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "There appears to 
be no reason to feel pressured over the issue [of the 
Golan] and ... it is possible to put off a solution for 
a few years.  Nevertheless, while Assad's chair is 
shaky, it is worthwhile thinking about a creative 
response on the Syrian track." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Return of the Golan" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (October 6): "If the 
Americans succeed and Assad is replaced by some sort of 
Syrian Abu Mazen who will speak in moderate tones and 
represent the country's Sunni majority, the Golan will 
soon be back on the agenda. Assad's successors would 
demand of the Americans that they strengthen their 
regime by means of an Israeli territorial concession. 
This is apparently the reason why Israel prefers an 
Assad who is weak, isolated and under pressure to a 
change of government that would upset the 'northern 
system.'  An Assad in power means that the Golan 
remains in Israeli hands.... There are disadvantages to 
a unilateral withdrawal from the Golan Heights.  It 
would mean forgoing the agreement that has ensured 
quiet on the Syrian border for 31 years.  It would mean 
abandoning the demand for new security arrangements. 
Above all, there is no oppressive occupation of a 
hostile population on the Golan, there is no terror, 
and there is no demographic problem or international 
pressure as there is regarding the West Bank.  This is 
why there appears to be no reason to feel pressured 
over the issue and that it is possible to put off a 
solution for a few years.  Nevertheless, while Assad's 
chair is shaky, it is worthwhile thinking about a 
creative response on the Syrian track." 
 
--------- 
¶3.  Iraq: 
--------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "The U.S., with divine 
intentions and amazing recklessness, broke Iraq. It 
cannot walk away from this mess." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Fight, Not Flight" 
Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (October 6): "What the U.S. 
does in Iraq will affect the fate of the whole world. 
So whether the U.S. should have gone to war isn't 
relevant anymore.  All that matters is what should be 
done now, with an eye to the future.  Unfortunately, 
there is only one clear, understandable proposal -- 
unilateral withdrawal.  It holds that since everybody 
sees by now that the war is a disaster, that the 
killing keeps getting worse, America should cut its 
losses and save the lives of American soldiers by 
packing up and getting out of Iraq ASAP.  Agree with 
this or not, it's at least a cogent argument.... Well, 
I'm very sorry, but it's time for Americans to grow up, 
to stop being the spoiled, shallow adolescents they've 
become.  There is this thing in life called 
responsibility.  When you make a mess, you have to 
clean it up.  Or, as Colin Powell, the only grown-up 
ever to be employed by the Bush administration, put it 
in the case of Iraq, Pottery Barn rules apply: you 
break it, you own it.  The U.S., with divine intentions 
and amazing recklessness, broke Iraq. It cannot walk 
away from this mess.  If it does, there would be a 
bloodbath.... What's more, the worst killers on earth 
would win a colossal, historic victory. America's self- 
confidence would be crippled. Al-Qaida and its like 
would be supercharged on every continent where Muslims 
live.  The defeat of the U.S. by the insurgents in Iraq 
would have an electrifying effect across much of the 
world, and an intimidating effect across the rest of 
it.... I say bring back the draft and raise taxes.  To 
anyone who opposes bringing the troops home now -- what 
do you say?" 
 
JONES