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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 006197 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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All media lead with the terror attack in the town 
Hadera on Wednesday, where a suicide bomber from the 
West Bank town of Kabatiya blew himself up in the 
marketplace, claiming the lives of five Israelis, 
leaving 30 people wounded. All media lead with the 
expected IDF reaction. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reports that Islamic Jihad claimed 
responsibility for the attack, saying it was in 
retaliation for the killing by IDF troops of the 
organization's top military commander, Luay Sa'adi, and 
one of his aides in Tulkarm on Monday."  In response to 
the suicide bombing, Israel has decided on a series of 
measures to be taken against terrorist infrastructure, 
specifically Islamic Jihad, the Post said. 
Ha'aretz added that at a meeting of the IDF General 
Staff on Wednesday, officers said the Palestinian 
public must be made to understand that Israeli measures 
to ease Palestinian life, such as reopening border 
crossings, do not mesh with suicide bombings inside 
Israel.  Ma'ariv reports that the defense minister last 
night gave a green light to a large scale operation in 
northern Samaria, which will include seizing large 
territories, wide-scale detentions, and targeted 
killings of HAMAS and Islamic Jihad leaders in the West 
Bank and Gaza.  The Israeli defense establishment again 
held Syria responsible and will ask the US 
Administration to increase pressure on Syria, Ma'ariv 
reported.  The paper cited "prime minister's bureau 
sources" as blaming Abu-Mazin for PA inaction, and that 
"lengthy deliberations" were held last night between 
Sharon's bureau and the State Department, mainly in the 
wake of HAMAS leaders' threats to kidnap Israelis." 
The article says, "the Americans got the message." 
Also in the wake of the attack, the Karni crossing of 
the Gaza Strip, which opened yesterday morning after 
being closed for several days due to the Qassam 
shelling of Sderot, closed again yesterday afternoon, 
Ha'aretz said.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
Communications Minister Dalia Itzik canceled a meeting 
with her PA counterpart Sabri Saidam in the wake of the 
attack. 
Radio and leading media quoted White House Press 
Secretary McClellan condeming the suicide boming "in 
 
SIPDIS 
the strongest ossible terms," sending condolences to 
the families of victims, urging the PA to do more to 
end violence and prevent terrorist attacks from eing 
carried out. 
 
Israel Radio reports that the Israeli National Police 
is deploying large numbers in the wake of the terror 
attack and warning of other possible terror attacks. 
Deployments include roadblocks, increased partrols in 
crowded places and the public transport system. 
 
Israel Radio reported that before dawn this morning, 
the Israeli Air Force attacked an open area used for 
launching Kassam rockets in Gaza, including a road 
leading to the town of Beit Hanoun. 
 
Yediot and Israel Radio quote a senior IDF officer as 
saying that the separation fence does not have complete 
security value because the crossings have become weak 
points, that there is no effective supervision of the 
crossings,that soldiers are not trained, and that 
monitoring equipment is missing. 
 
Vice Premier Shimon Peres will use a meeting Thursday 
with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to 
seek information on a new Iranian satellite, Israel 
Radio reported.  According to the report, Iran plans to 
send up a Russian-manufactured satellite in the near 
future, which it says is for research purposes, but 
which Israel suspects will be used for espionage. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Lavrov on Wednesday "brushed 
off" Israel's call for quick international action 
against Iran over its nuclear program, saying the 
matter is "too serious to be guided by politics." 
Lavrov also suggested that Russia will not pursue UN 
sanctions against Syria.  At a joint news conference 
with Lavrov, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Israel 
believes Iran is "very close" to obtaining the 
knowledge to produce a nuclear bomb. "That is why all 
of us should be very determined to move the Iranian 
(issue) to the Security Council," he said.  Lavrov said 
that Russia will follow the lead of the International 
Atomic Energy Agency, which is investigating the 
Iranian nuclear program, and believes that talk of 
sanctions is premature. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that in the wake of a meeting in 
Cairo yesterday between Defense Minister Mofaz and 
President Mubarak, the parties agreed that there will 
be no Israeli presence at the Rafah crossing into 
Egypt, that a yet unnamed international force will 
supervise it, and that Israelis will supervise the 
Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel.  The parties also 
agreed to start a dialogue on the global terror threat. 
 
Yediot reported on hilltop youth resumed yesterday four 
new settlement outposts in Judea and Samaria. The 
outposts that were established yesterday simultaneously 
are in Hebron, the Etzion Bloc, Kedumim and Elon Moreh. 
The decision to establish the settlement outposts was 
not made by the Settlers Council, but rather by 
teenagers who received the encouragement of adults such 
as Daniela Weiss and Nadia Matar.  Kol Israel reported 
this morning that last night the police removed three 
sukkas built by these teenagers. Three settlers who 
resisted were arrested. 
 
The media also extensively covered reactions to remarks 
by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called 
for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map" and "a 
world without Zionism."  Ha'aretz cited Vice Premier 
Shimon Peres as saying that Iran should be expelled 
from the United Nations.  "I don't see such a crazy 
declaration being done by a head of state, a member of 
the United Nations; it is unbearable.  He cannot remain 
a member," Peres said.  The report added that the 
United States, Britain, France, Spain, and Canada 
condemned the Iranian president's remarks. 
 
Ha'aretz and other media reported that Foreign Minister 
Silvan Shalom yesterday announced the reopening of the 
Israeli Embassy in Wellington and invited his New 
Zealand counterpart to visit Israel.  Shalom met in 
Jerusalem on Wednesday with New Zealand Ambassador to 
Israel Jan Henderson for the first time since the 
crisis in diplomatic relations between the two states. 
Henderson is based in Ankara rather than in Israel.  A 
government statement noted that the meeting would be 
the first of its kind "since the incident with the 
Mossad." 
------------- 
Mideast 
------------- 
                       Summary: 
                     ------------- 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yedi'ot Aharonot on the expected 
IDF operation in northern Samaria, saying:  "In the 
short range, the volume of terror attacks is liable to 
rise" in acts of revenge; "in the medium range, the 
volume of terror attacks is likely to drop," as Israel 
eliminates terrorists; but "in the long run, the 
assassination operations won't change much" because 
"terrorists who are killed will be replaced by a new 
generation of terrorists, not less murderous than their 
predecessors." 
Mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot carries a 
commentary by military correspondent Alex Fishman in 
the wake of the Hadera terror attack, saying: "Israel 
built a spectacular fence, invested millions, but built 
into it no fewer than 30 crossings...A day will come 
when someone is going to go to jail for that fiasco." 
 
Pluralist Ma'ariv carries a front page article by 
diplomatic correspondent Ben Kaspit saying, "We have to 
get used to it: this will happen occasionally.  One 
organization or another (almost always Islamic Jihad) 
will manage to carry out a terror attack inside Israel, 
hitting it in its soft underbelly, reminding us from 
where we've come and where, apparently, we're headed." 
The maximum we can expect, in this situation, is to 
maintain a tolerable rate of terror attacks, one every 
few months instead of a few every month. and the time 
has come to realize that the separation fence is not a 
magic solution." 
Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post carries an 
article by former cabinet member Natan Sharansky saying 
that "The central feature of Bush's policy in our 
region is his passionate belief in the possibility of a 
democratic Middle East.  but in Israel this policy is 
viewed with deep skepticism."  By Israel's silence on 
Syria and by "withholding our support for the American 
policy of democratization in our region and by adhering 
to a shortsighted policy aimed at propping up strong 
and friendly dictatorships, or weak and antagonistic 
ones, we are committing a grave strategic error.  Again 
we are missing a historic opportunity to bring peace 
and security to the region." 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                    --------------- 
 
¶I.   "The Lessons of Hadera" 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot: "In the short range, the 
volume of terror attacks is liable to rise: as we 
learned yesterday in the Hadera market, Islamic Jihad 
knows how to exact revenge; in the medium range, the 
volume of terror attacks is likely to drop: the 
handlers will either be killed or arrested.  In the 
long range, the assassination operations won't change 
much, and that is what is so very frustrating.  The 
terrorists who are killed will be replaced by a new 
generation of terrorists, no less murderous than their 
predecessors .... No one promised the citizens of 
Israel that tranquility would reign the day after the 
withdrawal from Gaza.  If there was anyone who harbored 
hopes of that kind, those hopes were in vain.  The 
Israeli withdrawal from Gaza rectified a distortion. 
It did not make peace.   The problems remain as they 
were.  One, terrorism that is maintained by external 
sponsors, first and foremost Iran.  Iran is gradually 
becoming Israel's number one problem.  Regretfully, 
Iran is a problem that Israel cannot solve on its own. 
We need America's strong arm, but America's arms are 
tied down in Iraq.  The American administration 
resolved to go on the offensive in the Middle East. 
What a shame that it lost its way and attacked the 
wrong country....The second problem is the Palestinian 
Authority, which is gradually disintegrating.  The 
catastrophe of the matter is that it is disintegrating 
on us....  The third problem is [that] the fence. is 
permeable.   But that isn't the fence's fault: it was 
built to be deliberately porous.  Officials in the 
security establishment prefer to suppress that scandal, 
for political reasons.   Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, 
continue to cross back and forth across the fence 
without any real form of inspection ....'We built a 
concrete wall,' one high-ranking officer said to me, 
'but fitted it with paper doors.'  That is not a 
tragedy; it's stupidity." 
 
II.   "The Great Fiasco" 
 
Mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot carries a 
front-page commentary by military correspondent Alex 
Fishman:  "Yesterday, after the terror attack in 
Hadera, we found ourselves back at square one, back in 
the same place we were in 2004. the army is going back 
at full force and without a time limit to northern 
Samaria, from which it withdrew just two months 
ago....To combat terrorism successfully. one needs to 
be, physically, in the place where the infrastructure 
is formed and to dismantle it before it sets in motion 
a 'ticking bomb,' and that is what is going to happen 
from now on. but that all is contingent upon the 
political echelon being strong enough to withstand the 
international pressure that is certain to follow...This 
escalation of Israel's offensive tactics is being 
launched, actually, to cover up for the ongoing fiasco 
of the separation fence.  Instead of being a buffer, it 
is more like Swiss cheese..   Israel built a 
spectacular fence, invested millions-but built into it 
no fewer than 30 crossings.  The Palestinians have 
already learned that the security inspection at the 
crossings for Israelis is abysmal, unprofessional, 
turning them into a highway for terrorists and illegal 
aliens into Israel.  Why look for a hole in the fence 
when you can take the king's road?  A day will come 
when someone is going to go to jail for that fiasco. 
Someone is going to pay the price for the stupid 
decision that produced a situation in which after four 
and a half years of enormous investment-the citizens of 
Israel still do not have adequate protection against 
terrorism." 
 
 
III.   "Start Getting Used to It" 
 
Pluralist Ma'ariv carries a front page article by 
diplomatic correspondent Ben Kaspit:  "We have to get 
used to it: this will happen occasionally.  One 
organization or another (almost always Islamic Jihad) 
will manage to carry out a terror attack inside Israel, 
hitting it in its soft underbelly, reminding us from 
where we've come and where, apparently, we're headed.. 
And still, after all these justifications, the sterling 
logic, and the war against the Islamic Jihad 
infrastructure in Tulkarm. it's hard not to remember 
one man, Fathi Shakaki, who was the head of Islamic 
Jihad when it was still a small, odd organization, and 
who was assassinated, so foreign sources say, ten years 
ago yesterday by the Mosad in Malta.   His 
assassination made us all happy. and made Islamic Jihad 
wane. but from all of this waning we got the most 
lethal terror organization around..   Islamic Jihad 
today is the most dangerous organization, because it 
has no God.   It does not take part in the elections, 
it cares not for Palestinian public opinion, it has no 
rules or constraints, and the only thing motivating it 
is to kill as many Jews in as short a time possible. 
So long as comrade Ramadan Shalah, who lives in 
Damascus, is satisfied.   What can we understand from 
all this? Nothing in particular, except that this is a 
constant headache for the security establishment 
leaders on the one hand, and those in charge of it 
(Sharon and Mofaz) on the other..   The maximum we can 
expect, in this situation, is to maintain a tolerable 
rate of terror attacks, one every few months instead of 
a few every month. and the time has come to realize 
that the separation fence is not a magic solution." 
 
IV.   "Silence on Syria" 
 
Cpmservatove. independent Jerusalem Post carries an 
article by former cabinet member Natan Sharansky who 
says:  "It is axiomatic that the bond between the 
United States and Israel is built not merely on common 
interests, but also on the shared values of our 
citizens, in particular our mutual love of freedom and 
democracy.   Because of this strong bond, our alliance 
can weather many disagreements between our governments 
- whether over issues such as the potential 
construction of the E1 corridor between Ma'aleh Adumim 
and Jerusalem, or divergent interpretations of 
President George W.  Bush's April 2004 letter to the 
Israeli prime minister....Unfortunately, upon closer 
scrutiny, the axiom of shared values has an exception 
when it comes to promoting democracy among our 
neighbors.   The central feature of Bush's policy in 
our region is his passionate belief in the possibility 
of a democratic Middle East, a belief buttressed by his 
conviction that democratization is the only sure path 
to peace in the region.  In Israel this policy is 
viewed with deep skepticism, with most policymakers in 
Jerusalem considering it at best naive, at worst 
dangerously misguided.  Our government's rejection of 
Bush's democratic vision for the region has already had 
profound consequences.  The road map is a case in 
point.  When on June 24, 2002, Bush delivered his 
revolutionary speech about the democratization of the 
Palestinian Authority being the critical condition for 
advancing the peace process, the Israeli government did 
absolutely nothing.  We produced no initiative.  We 
formulated no plans.  We didn't even hold a meeting. 
With our government silent, the State Department 
shifted into high gear....That is how an Israeli 
leadership which thought it was gaining time by doing 
nothing was actually forced to accept the road map. 
And what is Israel's position on this issue? Does it 
support changes that could replace a dictatorial, 
hostile and aggressive regime with one that is more 
peaceful and democratic? Hardly.  In fact, anonymous 
voices coming from the highest government quarters 
express strong reservations concerning the idea.   Why? 
Because these officials fear that change in Syria would 
bring "chaos" to the region or, what they see as even 
worse should Syrian democracy take root, Israel's being 
forced to negotiate the future of the Golan Heights.... 
By withholding our support for the American policy of 
democratization in our region and by adhering to a 
shortsighted policy aimed at propping up strong and 
friendly dictatorships, or weak and antagonistic ones, 
we are committing a grave strategic error.  Again we 
are missing a historic opportunity to bring peace and 
security to the region." 
JONES