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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TEL AVIV 006010 
 
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.  President Bush's Address to the National Endowment 
for Democracy 
 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
¶3.  Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Major media (lead story in Hatzofe) reported that, 
addressing the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) 
on Thursday, President Bush dubbed Syria and Iran 
"helpers and enablers" of Islamic radicalism.  The 
media noted that the President cited Israel twice: when 
he said that one of the terrorists' goals is "to 
destroy Israel" and when he asserted that the "Israeli 
presence on the West Bank" is one of the extremists' 
"excuses for violence."  Jerusalem Post quoted an 
official in the Prime Minister's Office as saying: 
"These words shouldn't come as any surprise.  Since 
September 11 Bush has carried the fight against Islamic 
terrorism."  The newspaper further quoted the official 
as saying that after this speech it was unlikely that 
Bush would show any "leniency or flexibility" to Hamas, 
Islamic Jihad, or Hizbullah as "legitimate partners for 
peace." 
 
Ha'aretz expects next week's Sharon-Abbas talks to 
focus on: the resumption of talks on passages via 
Israel and passage from Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula; 
the pullout of IDF forces from additional West Bank 
cities; the release of Palestinian prisoners; and 
Israel's demand that the PA fight terror and oppose 
Hamas's participation in the PLC elections. 
 
Yediot reported that the defense establishment will 
recommend that the GOI hand guns to the PA in order to 
help it rein in the anarchy in the Gaza Strip.  The 
newspaper reported that the U.S. administration 
recently relayed messages to Israel saying that it must 
stop its open activity against having Hamas take part 
in elections, since this activity is liable to 
strengthen Hamas and weaken PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas.  According to Yediot, the U.S. sent 
these messages through a number of channels, among 
others by means of the new U.S. Ambassador to Israel 
Richard Jones.  These messages are in wake of the 
international PR campaign Israel has been waging 
against Hamas participating in the elections.  Yediot 
quoted top American officials as saying in talks with 
Israeli officials that the U.S. is concerned that with 
its public activity against Hamas, Israel is in fact 
liable to strengthen it and weaken Abbas. The newspaper 
cited the belief of the U.S. administration that Israel 
must work to weaken Hamas by other means, including the 
"divide and rule" method and creating a clear 
distinction between Hamas and the PA by means of relief 
measures for the Palestinian population, which can be 
chalked up to Abbas's credit.  Yediot quoted a top 
American official as saying that Hamas activists in 
fact want to pull Israel back in to the Gaza Strip, by 
means of provocations.  Ha'aretz reported that an 
investigative committee appointed by the Palestinian 
Legislative Council (PLC) has found that the 
Palestinian cabinet has never once discussed the 
security chaos in the territories, and that Palestinian 
PM Ahmed Qurei never asked it to do so. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported: "Although it has been added to 
the U.S. State Department's official list of foreign 
terrorist groups, Fatah's armed wing, the Al-Aqsa 
Martyrs Brigades, is planning to run in the next 
elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council." 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the World Bank supports building 
a transit passage between the Gaza Strip and the West 
Bank in the form of a sunken road, but that PM Sharon 
favors a rail link because managing security would be 
easier.  The newspaper also reported that the U.S. will 
finance a study examining options for linking the Gaza 
Strip and the West Bank via Israel.  Ha'aretz quoted a 
diplomatic source as saying on Thursday that the 
Israeli response to the study, which is due to be 
completed in January, "will indicate its future 
intentions regarding a Palestinian state that would 
maintain contact between the West Bank and the Gaza 
Strip."  The newspaper writes that the study was 
initiated by the World Bank, which asked for American 
sponsorship to moderate Israel's anticipated objection 
to its conclusions.  According to Ha'aretz, Israel 
approved the study initiative at a meeting last week 
between Nigel Roberts, World Bank director for the West 
Bank and Gaza, and Baruch Spiegel, an adviser to 
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.  The U.S. administration 
conditioned the project funding on the agreement of 
both parties.  The study will examine transit options 
such as a multilane road crossing Israel in a deep 
trench, an elevated road and a rail link between the 
Erez checkpoint with northern Gaza and the Tarqumiya 
checkpoint near Hebron.  The PA would be responsible 
for the passage, according to the plans. 
 
Ha'aretz further reported: a passage between the two 
parts of the PA was at the center of the disengagement 
talks held among Israel, the PA and the U.S.  The 
Palestinians were concerned that the pullout from the 
Gaza Strip would be the end of the process and that 
Israel planned to separate the Strip and the West Bank, 
which is why they demanded a transit passage between 
them, even a temporary one.  Defense Minister Shaul 
Mofaz and the Middle East Quartet's envoy to the 
region, James Wolfensohn, have discussed opening an 
experimental passage from Gaza to the West Bank, using 
bus and later truck convoys accompanied by Israeli 
vehicles.  Ha'aretz reported that Wolfensohn returned 
to the region Thursday and will hold individual 
meetings with Mofaz, Sharon adviser Dov Weisglass and 
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday.  He is to meet 
with Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Palestinian PM Ahmed 
Qurei in the next few days.  Wolfensohn will work an 
agreement to operate the border crossing between Egypt 
and the PA at Rafah and talks to operate the crossings 
between the PA and Israel.  Thursday, Israeli and 
Palestinian officials met to discuss Egypt's offer to 
have Egypt and the PA operate the Rafah crossing under 
the supervision of a third party. Israel would be able 
to monitor the movement of people entering the PA using 
cameras and other technology to transfer the 
information to the Shin Bet security service.  Under 
the proposal, goods would be moved via the crossing 
being built by Israel at Kerem Shalom, to keep Gaza 
within the customs arrangement Israel has with the West 
Bank.  Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that Sharon, 
Peres, and Mofaz will discuss the Gaza Strip-West Bank 
link on Sunday. 
 
All media cited criticism among the IDF of the High 
Court of Justice's ruling that it is illegal for the 
IDF to use Palestinian civilians as "human shields." 
Leading media reported that on Thursday, IDF Chief of 
Staff Dan Halutz ordered the immediate cessation of the 
"human shield" procedure.  However, the media quoted 
senior IDF officers as saying that the new directive 
could endanger soldiers and Palestinian civilians. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted a senior official in Jerusalem as 
saying on Thursday that Israel did not operate Lawrence 
¶A. (Larry) Franklin, a U.S. Defense Department employee 
who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for 
passing on classified information to Israeli officials. 
Leading media reported that Naor Gilon, the former 
political officer in the Israeli Embassy in Washington, 
had no idea that the information he got from Franklin 
was classified. 
 
Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres was quoted as saying 
in an interview with Ha'aretz that he is rejecting 
calls from within his party for Labor to quit the 
government now that the disengagement has ended, 
arguing instead that the party should remain until the 
next scheduled elections, as long as Sharon accepts 
four conditions -- resolving the outstanding issues 
connected with the Gaza pullout, primarily the dispute 
over border crossings and economic cooperation, by the 
end of 2005; beginning diplomatic negotiations with the 
PA on the basis of the Roadmap; devoting funds to a war 
on poverty; and continuing to develop the Negev and 
Galilee.  Regarding the illegal settlement outposts, 
Peres was quoted as saying that he intended to demand 
that Sharon dismantle them but would not issue an 
ultimatum on this issue.  All media reported that on 
Thursday, Sharon met with Shinui party head Yosef 
(Tommy) Lapid and suggested that Shinui join the 
government.  Jerusalem Post quoted sources close to 
Sharon as saying Thursday that Sharon would like to see 
the National Religious Party and not Shinui join the 
coalition. 
 
Yediot reported that most of the Mossad's senior 
officials are resigning from the service.  The 
newspaper quoted Mossad sources as saying that they are 
expressing their lack of confidence in the intelligence 
service's head, Meir Dagan. 
 
Maariv reported on moral stock-taking among the Council 
of Jewish Settlement in the Territories regarding some 
actions, suck as the blockage of roads and the 
embracing of soldiers, it took during the disengagement 
period. 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that Nigel Parsons, managing 
director of Al Jazeera International, the 24-hour 
English-language service that Al Jazeera-TV is set to 
launch next spring, is due in Israel in the next few 
days for talks with Israeli cable and satellite bosses 
on adding the new channel to their rosters.  Parsons 
was quoted as saying in an interview with Jerusalem 
Post that he is "very excited by the prospect of his 
network being available in Israel, and that its 
coverage would "take everyone's view and perspective 
into consideration." 
 
Citing news agencies, Yediot quoted senior Palestinian 
official Nabil Shaath as saying, in a new BBC-TV 
series, "Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs," that 
President Bush told him and Mahmoud Abbas at their 
first meeting in 2003: "God told me: 'George, give the 
Palestinians a state.'" 
 
Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday, Foreign 
Ministry DG Ron Prosor told a EU delegation that Israel 
expects consistency in the EU's stand on terrorism if 
it wants to increase its involvement here.  Prosor was 
protesting against a meeting of EU ambassadors to 
Lebanon with a Hizbullah minister.  The newspaper also 
quoted diplomatic officials in Jerusalem as saying that 
in recent days the U.S. has signaled Israel that it 
will have no contact with representatives of Hizbullah. 
The diplomatic officials also reportedly told Jerusalem 
Post that the U.S., because of its own interests, is 
not willing to pressure France and other EU countries 
to include Hizbullah on the terror list. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that during the past weeks, Kuwait 
has eased its attitude toward Israel, and that it is 
slated to joint the list of countries that have lifted 
their economic embargo of Israel.  The newspaper cited 
various statements made by senior Kuwaiti journalists 
and intellectuals, which bear out this trend. 
 
All media reported that Israel Standard Time will take 
effect on Sunday at 02:00.  The clocks will be turned 
back one hour and will be six hours ahead of EDT. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶1.  President Bush's Address to the National Endowment 
for Democracy: 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"What is incredible is how alone [President Bush] 
seems, both among the nations and in his own country, 
in seeing the world this way." 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Talk about terror, 
when there's a problem with your candidates for the 
Supreme Court." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Bush's Lonely Voice" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(October 7): "The world has been quietly watching U.S. 
President George Bush lately to see if he has lost his 
nerve.... Friends and foes alike have been on the 
lookout for signs of recovery or its alternatives -- 
muddling and collapse.  If recovery is in the offing, 
months from now its seeds will likely be traced back to 
a remarkable speech Bush gave yesterday to the National 
Endowment for Democracy.  In one of the most coherent 
and determined outlines of his foreign policy given in 
the last four years, Bush laid out the goals, means, 
scope and enemies in the current war.... Though Bush is 
rightly at pains not to declare Islam or Muslims as the 
enemy, he is also right to more bluntly state what is 
as blindingly obvious as it is assiduously avoided: 
that the enemy is wholly concentrated in, and a subset 
of, the Muslim world.  Equally important, Bush spelled 
out the goals of the global jihad: to evict the West 
from the Middle East and to take over countries like 
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan.... Bush's 
description of the war, its stakes, and what is needed 
to win it is cogent and undeniable. What is incredible 
is how alone he seems, both among the nations and in 
his own country, in seeing the world this way.  Yet at 
least Bush himself has returned to saying what must be 
said. What remains to be seen is whether he can take 
what is now seen as a voice in the wilderness and 
transform it into an effective blueprint for action." 
 
II.  "Gaining Time Through Diversion" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (October 7): "The 
world is full of ways to divert.  For instance, talk 
about terror, when there's a problem with your 
candidates for the Supreme Court.  Talk about war, for 
example, when there's a problem about a hurricane.... 
All the rest are diversions.  The problem isn't just 
Bush's, but also his detractors'.  It's easy to 
criticize the administration over a war that hasn't 
been managed properly, but it's hard to offer a 
solution to the mess." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: 
"Without anybody wishing it, and perhaps due to 
neglect, lack of caution and lack of alertness, the 
ground between Israel and the United States has become 
strewn with unnecessary mines." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Between Friendly Countries" 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(October 7): "Without anybody wishing it, and perhaps 
due to neglect, lack of caution and lack of alertness, 
the ground between Israel and the United States has 
become strewn with unnecessary mines.  These include 
the spare parts for an Israeli assault drone that were 
sold to China, the classified information that was 
leaked from the Pentagon to AIPAC employees and the 
information that Franklin passed to a senior Israeli 
diplomat.  These mines must be disarmed, and no 
additional booby traps must be added to them." 
 
------------ 
¶3.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Very liberal columnist B. Michael wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "[The Roadmap] 
is void of any practical contents.... Is it surprising 
that Sharon is in love with it?" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "If 
the war continues, as Hamas desires, the donor states 
will have to leave the area, as has happened 
elsewhere.... The choice lies with the Palestinian 
public and the Palestinian Authority." 
 
Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in Ha'aretz: "The 
doubts about Sharon?  Don't allow them to doze off." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Map Without a Road" 
 
Very liberal columnist B. Michael wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (October 7): "If 
you bother to review the archaic document called 'the 
Roadmap,' you'll find that since it was presented to 
Israel on April 30, 2003, none of the commas in it have 
even been accomplished.... No one in the U.S. 
administration seriously intended to have it 
implemented.  In its present form, it isn't 
achievable.... [Former U.S. diplomat Flynt] Leverett 
has described how the administration took care that it 
remained a dead letter -- heaven forbid, not because of 
sheer evil, but out of fear of the extreme Christian 
right, and bending to the neo-conservative bunch that 
controls the White House.... [The Roadmap] is void of 
any practical contents.  Therefore, as one of its 
architects has stated, this is what it was meant to be 
at birth.  Is it surprising that Sharon is in love with 
it?" 
 
II.  "After the First Round" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(October 7): "If the Palestinian public wants funds, 
factories and other aid from donors -- including Israel 
-- it has to pressure Hamas and the other extremist 
groups to stop the war.  The Palestinian public cannot 
have it both ways: war and attacks against Israel, and 
at the same time donations, new factories and easy 
access to work in Israel.  If the war continues, as 
Hamas desires, the donor states will have to leave the 
area, as has happened elsewhere.  The Israeli fire will 
make them leave, just as the murder of three U.S. 
diplomats in the Gaza Strip drove out American 
contractors.  The choice lies with the Palestinian 
public and the Palestinian Authority.  They must 
choose." 
 
III.  "Believe Him or Not" 
 
Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in Ha'aretz 
(October 7): "Those on the left who cast doubts when 
new admirers sang [Sharon's] praises for what seemed to 
be a deep personal turnabout, owe an accounting.... 
[Still], the road map talks about a Palestinian state 
at a date that has long since passed; but it provides 
Sharon with almost unlimited time because of the 
condition of ending terrorism.... He created what is 
known as a dynamic, and for that he is to be 
congratulated.  But politics, like physics, does not 
know a dynamic motion without a force to propel it. 
The only propulsion that will permit progress of the 
kind that Sharon is promising is for him to leave the 
party he established and to reshuffle a stuck political 
alignment, which is stuck.  This is apparently not what 
we can expect if he captures the security zone in the 
Likud.  Then, there will be no dismantlement of more 
settlements and no serious negotiations with the 
Palestinian leadership.  The doubts about Sharon? 
Don't allow them to doze off." 
 
JONES