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

210820Z Oct 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 006166 
 
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.  Syria Governance 
 
¶3.  Germany: New Government 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media (lead stories in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post) 
reported on President Bush's meeting with PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on 
Thursday.  The media reported Bush's demand that Abbas 
disarm the terrorist organizations and that the 
President did not address the issue of Hamas's 
participation in the Palestinian Legislative Council 
elections.  However, Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian 
officials as saying, following the meeting, that the 
U.S. will not actively oppose Hamas's participation in 
the elections.  Jerusalem Post reported that President 
Bush publicly supported Abbas and praised his 
leadership.  However, the newspaper writes that in 
private, the differences between the U.S. and the PA 
over the question of Hamas's participation in the 
elections still remain.  The media note that Bush only 
referred to "armed gangs," and did not mention Hamas by 
name.  Major media reported that Bush hinted that a 
Palestinian state might not be established during his 
term.  The media also note that the President urged 
Israel to halt settlement construction. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that PM Sharon's bureau insisted that 
there is no real disagreement with Washington over 
Hamas's participation in the PA elections, although 
other officials disputed this claim.  The newspaper 
says that Sharon's position continues to be that Israel 
will not facilitate the elections if Hamas runs. 
Ha'aretz also cited Sharon's bureau as saying that 
Bush's demands and criticism of Israel are not new, 
that "the pressure continues to be on the Palestinians 
to fight terror as a first step," and that the fact 
that Bush voiced no criticism of Israel's military 
responses to terror since the disengagement was also an 
achievement.  Ha'aretz also quoted Israeli officials 
who are not part of Sharon's inner circle as saying 
that Sharon's bureau is not listening to increasingly 
unhappy messages from the U.S. administration. 
Leading media (banners in Maariv and Yediot) reported 
that last night, UN investigator Detlev Mehlis 
presented his interim report about the assassination of 
former Lebanese FM Rafiq Hariri to UN Secretary-General 
Kofi Annan.  Without establishing a direct connection 
with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Mehlis's report 
indicates that the order to kill Hariri came from 
Damascus and that the Syrian regime tried to obstruct 
the investigation.  Leading media reported that the 
U.S. and France are preparing an ultimatum to Assad, 
according to which severe sanctions could be imposed on 
Syria at the UN Security Council.  Israel Radio 
reported that Syria and Lebanese President Emile Lahud 
rejected the accusations in the report. 
 
Leading media quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as 
saying in London Thursday that Israel does not intend 
to permanently ban Palestinian vehicle traffic on the 
West Bank's main roads, and that Israel's latest action 
was temporary.  Mofaz was quoted as saying that it does 
not make sense to separate Israeli and Palestinian 
traffic. 
 
Echoed by major media, Israel TV Washington 
correspondent Yaron Dekel revealed last night that a 
USD 100-million deal between Israel Aircraft Industries 
and the Venezuelan Air Force to upgrade 42 F-16 fighter 
planes has been suspended following U.S. pressure on 
Israel.   The media say that the U.S. is concerned 
about Venezuela's growing strength and about Venezuelan 
President Hugo Chavez's growing ties with Cuban 
President Fidel Castro.  Maariv cited a Defense 
Ministry statement, according to which the U.S. and 
Israel are clarifying the issue.  Jerusalem Post quoted 
Israeli sources as saying that it is not clear yet if 
the deal was only delayed on a temporary basis or if it 
would be canceled altogether.  Yediot quoted senior GOI 
officials as saying Thursday that the move was the 
result of U.S.-Israel consultations.  Ha'aretz quoted 
Israeli defense sources as saying that the U.S. is 
trying to transfer the deal to the American aircraft 
manufacturer Lockheed Martin. 
 
Maariv reported that Knesset Member Binyamin Netanyahu 
is considering retiring from political life. 
 
Maariv quoted right-wing activists as saying that for 
the first time in decades, they prayed on the Temple 
Mount on Wednesday.  The newspaper cited the police's 
denial of their claim. 
 
Leading media reported that a Palestinian teen 
suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli cars 
was shot dead by IDF troops on Thursday evening near 
the town of Hussan, west of Bethlehem.  Israel Radio 
reported that subsequently, Palestinians threw stones 
last night at Israeli vehicles traveling on the road 
bypassing Hussan, near the neighboring settlement of 
Betar Illit, wounding five Israelis. 
 
Yediot, Maariv, and Ha'aretz quoted Maj. Gen. Rick 
Lynch, a senior U.S. commander, as saying on Thursday 
that an Israeli is among the more than 300 foreign 
fighters who have been captured in Iraq by U.S.-led 
troops and Iraqi security forces since April.  Yediot 
and the Israeli-Arab newspaper Kul Al-Arab conducted a 
joint extensive interview with Attorney Khalil Dulaimi, 
one of Saddam Hussein's defenders.  Dulaimi reportedly 
said that Saddam is convinced that Israel poisoned 
Yasser Arafat. 
 
Leading media reported on Thursday's Israeli-Jordanian 
meeting regarding ways to combat avian influenza. 
Ha'aretz reported that it was decided that Jordanian 
veterinarians would attend study sessions about the 
disease in Israeli labs.  Jerusalem Post reported that 
the two countries have set up a hotline on the issue. 
 
Former O/C Southern Command Maj. Gen Dan Harel was 
quoted as saying in an interview with Jerusalem Post 
("A Reluctant General Goes To America") that he is 
looking forward to serving as Israel's military attache 
in Washington. 
 
Yediot reported that former U.S. president Bill Clinton 
will be the keynote speaker at the November 14 event 
marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination of 
the late PM Yitzhak Rabin, which will be attended by 
dozens of world leaders. 
 
Leading media reported that Microsoft founder and 
Chairman Bill Gates will arrive in Israel for the first 
time Tuesday evening as part of his annual European 
tour, presenting this year his vision for the "new 
world of work." 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "[The 
Palestinians] did not advance a millimeter Thursday 
toward their national goal of establishing a 
Palestinian state.... [But Israel's] sense of victory 
... is liable to turn into a Pyrrhic victory, because 
becoming aware of the reality in the territories will 
exact a heavy price in Israeli lives." 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "It is not certain whether more 
Palestinian voters will now feel that their man has 
conquered the Israeli Bastille on the Potomac River." 
 
Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot: "On Thursday in the Rose Garden, it looked as 
though the Middle East had never been farther away from 
President Bush.  The accomplishment that will succeed 
in creating a turnabout will not come from there." 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in left- 
leaning, independent Ha'aretz: "The main reason for 
[the Palestinian leadership's] satisfaction was Bush's 
hint that Washington would not object to Hamas's 
participation in the PA's parliamentary elections." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Abu Mazen Got Nothing" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (October 21): 
"The Palestinians have no reason to feel optimistic 
over President Bush's remarks on Thursday.  They did 
not advance a millimeter Thursday toward their national 
goal of establishing a Palestinian state.... Bush 
adopted Sharon's conception, which talks about progress 
in small steps while being strict about completing each 
step on the Roadmap, and refused to promise that a 
Palestinian state would be established by the end of 
his term in 2009.... The demands that Bush made of the 
Israeli side are worn out with their familiarity: ease 
restrictions for the Palestinians, stop building in the 
settlements and remove the illegal outposts. As for the 
issue of Hamas and the elections, Abu Mazen did not 
blink and did not concede to the Americans, saying: all 
the organizations will take part in the democratic 
process, only after elections will we deal with the 
issue of disarming them.  What could be learned from 
the meeting last night is that Sharon will have to 
continue to deal in the future with the Palestinian 
entity alongside Israel with complications of economic 
dependency and security problems.  In other words: the 
sense of victory over what didn't happen on Thursday in 
Washington is liable to turn into a Pyrrhic victory, 
because becoming aware of the reality in the 
territories will exact a heavy price in Israeli lives." 
 
II.  "A Presidential Embrace For the Rais" 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (October 21): "The United States 
received Abu Mazen with regal honors.... [But] it is 
not certain whether more Palestinian voters will now 
feel that their man has conquered the Israeli Bastille 
on the Potomac River, or whether they view Abu Mazen as 
someone who went to Canossa this week.... Sharon has 
built a steady friendship with Bush and a verbal U.S.- 
Israeli understanding that matches the war on terror." 
 
III.  "Bush Has Problems of His Own" 
 
Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot (October 21): "On Thursday, President Bush 
looked like someone stuck at a party to which he had 
been dragged, without any desire to go at all.  He did 
not really listen to the words of Mahmoud Abbas.  His 
glance went from place to place, as though he were 
looking at the reporters in order to see from which 
side the blow would come.  He spoke of the need for 
peace between Israel and the Palestinians and of the 
vision of two states, but his voice was apathetic and 
at times he sounded like a worn-out record.... The 
first question asked of Bush on Thursday, precisely as 
he had feared, was about the leaks from the White 
House.... Bush wants to work on his place in history, 
as second-term American presidents do.  On Thursday in 
the Rose Garden, it looked as though the Middle East 
had never been farther away from President Bush.  The 
accomplishment that will succeed in creating a 
turnabout will not come from there." 
 
IV.  "Palestinian Satisfaction" 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in left- 
leaning, independent Ha'aretz (October 21): "The 
Palestinian leadership was pleased with the results of 
Thursday's meeting between Palestinian Authority 
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. President George W. 
Bush. The main reason for their satisfaction was Bush's 
hint that Washington would not object to Hamas's 
participation in the PA's parliamentary elections.... 
Israel's demand that Hamas not be allowed to run in the 
elections and its threat to disrupt the elections in 
the West Bank frightened the Palestinian leadership.... 
Senior Palestinian officials therefore expressed the 
hope Thursday night that America's position would not 
change, and that Washington would ultimately accept 
Abbas's plan for dealing with Hamas, a plan that would 
enable the diplomatic process to resume following the 
Palestinian elections." 
 
--------------------- 
¶2.  Syria Governance: 
--------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "For 
now, it must be hoped that the diplomatic approach [vis- 
a-vis Syria] led by [Secretary of State Condoleezza] 
Rice, who is more moderate than other voices in the 
Bush administration, will achieve the desired results 
without any military entanglements." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
"Bashar in the Eye of the Storm" 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(October 21): "The establishment of an international 
front against Syria regarding Lebanon is a welcome 
development from Israel's standpoint. From the U.S. 
standpoint, however, Iraq is the burning issue.... If 
it becomes clear today that Assad was responsible in 
any way for Hariri's murder, this suspicion will be 
linked with his role as an abettor of terror in Iraq, 
as well as with his efforts to continue to tie Lebanon 
to his coattails.  As a result, he will be labeled, 
almost officially, as a 'superfluous leader,' whose 
country would be 'appropriate' for American military 
action.  But if this is the operative conclusion 
derived from the investigative report, it is liable to 
be hasty and simplistic.... The regime's opponents 
represent extremist ideologies, both religious and 
nonreligious.  An American invasion of Syria -- even if 
it had British and French support along with UN 
approval -- would be liable to create a second Iraq, 
this time on Israel's border.  In the aftermath of a 
western invasion, the terror trickling from Syria into 
Iraq might also start trickling south and east, into 
Israel.  U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted 
this week that the military option is always on the 
President's desk.  But for now, it must be hoped that 
the diplomatic approach led by Rice, who is more 
moderate than other voices in the Bush administration, 
will achieve the desired results without any military 
entanglements." 
 
---------------------------- 
¶3.  Germany: New Government: 
---------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
" We congratulate [Angela] Merkel as she prepares to 
assume the chancellorship and hope that under her 
leadership Germany will help tip Europe toward becoming 
more of a partner in confronting the Islamist jihad 
that threatens us all." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
"Merkel's Challenge" 
 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized 
(October 21): "Germany's reluctance to adopt America's 
view, that the Middle East's main problem is its 
totalitarianism, has been particularly disappointing 
considering its own past.   Germany should not only 
back, but indeed lead the effort to confront the 
current totalitarian threat to the West, this time from 
militant Islam.  This means openly and more robustly 
backing Israel inside the EU and the UN.  Berlin must 
lead the way in demanding that the Palestinian 
leadership disarms terrorist groups or face a loss of 
financial aid.  It also means forcing Iran to abandon 
its nuclear program and support for terrorism.  We 
congratulate [Angela] Merkel as she prepares to assume 
the chancellorship and hope that under her leadership 
Germany will help tip Europe toward becoming more of a 
partner in confronting the Islamist jihad that 
threatens us all." 
 
JONES