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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 006413 
 
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 
 
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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
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¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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This morning, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar was quoted as 
saying in an interview with Israel Radio that he does 
not rule out holding negotiations with Israel if this 
serves Palestinian interests -- "to liberate our land, 
to liberate our people from Israeli jails, [and] to 
reconstruct what [was] destroyed by the Israeli 
longstanding occupation."  Zahar was quoted as saying 
that this development depended on the Israeli 
government, and that his group will not disarm. 
Speaking on the radio, Amos Gilad, head of the Defense 
Ministry's political bureau, said that Zahar's comments 
did not represent anything new. 
 
Ha'aretz cited a report recently sent to the PA, 
according to which the World Bank technical team 
examining the provision of a 'safe crossing' between 
the Gaza Strip and the areas of the West Bank 
controlled by the PA has recommended that convoys 
carrying passengers and cargo operate on three routes 
connecting the Strip to the southern, central and 
northern West Bank several times a day.  The report is 
expected to come up in discussions between Quartet 
special envoy James Wolfensohn and Israeli and 
Palestinian security officials. Ha'aretz writes that 
both Israel and the PA accept, in principle, the major 
points raised in the report, according to which three 
routes are needed because of the restrictions Israel 
imposes on movement within the West Bank. 
 
All media (banner in Yediot) reported on today's 
primaries for chairmanship of the Labor Party.  The 
media say that Vice Premier Shimon Peres is expected to 
win. 
 
Last night, Israel TV reported that PM Sharon will 
leave the Likud and create a new party.  The TV station 
quoted Sharon associates as saying that the new party's 
name will be "Eyn Li Eretz Aheret" ("I Have No Other 
Country").  The Jerusalem Post reported that Sharon 
advisers told the newspaper on Tuesday that Sharon 
wants to advance the election so he can return to power 
and decide where Israel's final borders are going to 
be.  The newspaper further quoted them as saying that 
although Sharon was currently saying that, after 
disengagement, the Roadmap was the only diplomatic plan 
on the table, he had not ruled out a unilateral 
withdrawal from the West Bank in the long run.   Maariv 
led with internal Likud polls that indicate that 
Knesset Member Binyamin Netanyahu is getting stronger 
in the party.  Yediot reported that 10 Likud MKs and 
local council heads have started a campaign to oust 
"rebel" Likud MKs from the party's central committee. 
 
Israel Radio reported that top Sharon aide Dov 
Weisglass will leave for Washington today to prepare 
for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to 
Israel next week.  The radio quoted a senior U.S. 
source as saying that it is important for the U.S. that 
Israel grant incentives to the Palestinians in the Gaza 
Strip and open passages along Gaza's borders. 
 
Leading media quoted IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan 
Halutz as saying on Tuesday before the Knesset's 
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel will 
continue with its targeted killings of Palestinian 
militants, because the policy has proven itself to be 
extremely effective in curbing terror activity.  Halutz 
was quoted as saying that the targeted strikes will 
focus on Islamic Jihad members.  Ha'aretz reported that 
Al-Rul, an Islamic Jihad activist was killed in an 
exchange of fire with IDF troops on Tuesday morning 
south of Jenin.  Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported 
that on Tuesday, IDF troops shot dead Muhammad Abu 
Salha, 16, near Nablus.  The media cited the army as 
saying that he was trying to place a bomb, which 
Palestinian sources confirmed to the radio.  Maariv 
reported that Palestinians continue to dig tunnels from 
the Gaza Strip toward Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Minister-Without-Portfolio 
Haim Ramon as saying Tuesday that the EU has accepted, 
in principle, Israel's demand that the third party 
stationed at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and 
Egypt have enforceable authority. 
 
Citing AP, The Jerusalem Post reported that in its 
annual report on international religious freedom, the 
State Department criticized Israel for institutional 
discrimination against Israeli Arabs. 
 
The new Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., Prince Turki Al- 
Faysal, was quoted as saying in an interview with The 
Jerusalem Post that Saudi Arabia would be willing to 
normalize relations with Israel only after the Israelis 
adopt the Arab League peace initiative, which calls for 
full withdrawal to the 1967 lines. 
 
Yediot reported that Jordan's King Abdullah II has 
confirmed that he will attend the Rabin Center's 
inaugural ceremony in Tel Aviv next week. 
 
Ha'aretz printed an AP report, according to which Syria 
accused Israel on Tuesday of seeking to exploit U.S.- 
led pressure on Damascus to reject calls for peace 
talks over the occupied Golan Heights. 
 
Yediot cited the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi as 
saying that "sensational information" will soon be 
published about the fate of Israeli MIA Ron Arad, who 
disappeared in Lebanon in 1986.  Yediot and Israel 
Radio also cited Al-Quds Al-Arabi as saying that Israel- 
Hizbullah negotiations have resumed. 
 
Yediot reported on "yet another embarrassing defense 
incident between Israel and the U.S." The newspaper 
says that the U.S. administration is demanding that 
Israel explain how five IDF helicopters, which were 
sold by the U.S. to Israel in the 1970s, are being used 
by the Colombian drug cartels.  The newspaper cited the 
concern of diplomatic sources in Jerusalem that the 
affair will once again cause tension in defense 
relations between the Israel and the U.S., and that it 
could cast a shadow over their strategic dialogue, 
which is scheduled to be resumed this month after a 
year and a half of deadlock. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Muslim Brotherhood could 
become the largest opposition bloc in the Egyptian 
Parliament following the three-stage parliamentary 
elections that begin today.  The newspaper cited rumors 
of unclear provenance, according to which the U.S. 
supported the outlawed Islamist movement, as part of 
its campaign to nurture democracy in the Middle East 
and Egypt, in particular.  Ha'aretz says that according 
to those rumors, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 
demanded that the Muslim Brotherhood be permitted to 
run unrestricted in these elections. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that a committee headed by PA 
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas and veteran members 
of his Fatah movement will determine the list of Fatah 
candidates for the Palestinian Legislative Council 
elections set for January 25. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that two Israeli Arabic-language 
journalists -- a correspondent of the Lebanese daily Al- 
Mustaqbal and a newsman employed by the far-Left 
Israeli newspaper Al-Ittihad -- have recently been 
summoned to the Shin Bet, which warned them against 
holding contacts with journalists from the Arab world 
who are suspected of being terrorists. 
 
Veteran British TV interviewer David Frost, whom Al 
Jazeera-TV has enlisted to serve in its new English- 
language satellite station, was quoted as saying in an 
interview with Ha'aretz that the Qatar-based network 
has promised him full editorial independence, without 
any censorship.  Nevertheless, Ha'aretz writes that it 
is difficult to ignore the anticipated dilemmas that 
will face Frost at his new place of employment. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Foreign Ministry official 
Amos Nadai as saying on Tuesday that a crisis in 
relations with India has been averted by Israel putting 
a stop to all efforts to convert about 7,000 Indian 
citizens, known as Bnei Menashe. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Jewish leaders raised the plight 
of small Jewish communities in South America at a 
meeting with President Bush in Brasilia on Monday. 
 
Maariv reported that an unnamed Israeli who was caught 
in Maryland in possession of 70,000 pills of the drug 
Ecstasy, managed to escape from the U.S. to the Far 
East. 
 
Leading media note the USD's record representative rate 
on Monday -- 4.691 shekels.  Maariv says that 
electrical appliances have subsequently become more 
expensive. 
 
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¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker opined in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Israel wishes 
there to be poverty, hardship and unemployment in Gaza. 
Not just Israel: the Palestinian leadership is not 
lifting a finger to move forward an economic 
rehabilitation process." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "[Sharon] 
concludes -- under American pressure, of course -- that 
Israel should allow Hamas to participate in the 
elections.  Sharon is leading us to the edge of the 
abyss." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Economic Prison in Gaza" 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker opined in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (November 9): 
"Judging by the results [of grandiose economic plans to 
reconstruct the Gaza Strip], it is clear that Israel 
wished, and still wishes, that the residents of Gaza 
not develop an independent economy.  Judging by the 
results, there is no choice but to conclude that Israel 
wishes there to be poverty, hardship and unemployment 
in Gaza.  Not just Israel: the Palestinian leadership 
is not lifting a finger to move forward an economic 
rehabilitation process.  It is not only Hamas, but also 
the Palestinian Authority that finds the situation of 
an 'economic prison' in Gaza convenient, since in a 
prison there is no need to take responsibility.  In 
prison it is always someone else -- the occupier, the 
jailer -- who is to blame for the unfortunate situation 
of the prisoners.  The economic atrophy in the Gaza 
Strip will continue, because it serves many interests, 
besides those of the Gaza Strip residents.  But who 
takes them into account?" 
 
II.  "The Value of Promises" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (November 
9): "Hatzofe has predicted a number of times in this 
column that Ariel Sharon and Shaul Mofaz would not keep 
their promise to prevent Hamas from running in the 
Palestinian elections.  And lo and behold -- on 
Tuesday, in the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense 
Committee, the Prime Minister said that even if Hamas 
runs in the elections, Israel will not disrupt them. 
Sharon's excuses are not impressive and are devoid of 
logic.  The real reason for Israel's capitulation to 
Hamas is American pressure, particularly from 
Condoleezza Rice.  That political crook Abu Mazen 
explained to the Americans that if Hamas is allowed to 
take part in the elections it will become more 
moderate, and therefore the United States should insist 
that Israel refrain from impeding its participation. 
By the same token one should allow Islamic Jihad, 
Hizbullah and Al Qaida to participate too, to make them 
more moderate.... What did Sharon himself say?  'Hamas 
is a terrorist organization which talks about 
destruction of Israel and the Jewish people,' he said. 
'It has not given up its weapons nor handed them in, 
nor has it been asked to do so.'  And what conclusion 
does Sharon draw from his own statements?  He concludes 
-- under American pressure, of course -- that Israel 
should allow Hamas to participate in the elections. 
Sharon is leading us to the edge of the abyss.  Why is 
the Knesset not supervising him?" 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach opined in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Why do we need 
100 [Joint Strike Fighter] planes, and how is such a 
decision made without having the public, which will pay 
a heavy price for it, ask questions and be given 
explanations?" 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Billion Dollar Sonic Boom" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach opined in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (November 9): 
"The report on the conclusion of the crisis with the 
United States regarding security export matters, and 
Israel's return to the group of countries developing 
the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is a joyous and 
important piece of news.  Beyond the vital security 
relations with the U.S., there is economic and 
scientific importance to the very participation of 
Israeli companies in a project that is at the forefront 
of global technology.... [But] why do we need 100 of 
these planes, and how is such a decision made without 
having the public, which will pay a heavy price for it, 
ask questions and be given explanations?.... Just as 
the [Israeli] public does not ask what is good about 
the sonic booms [over the Gaza Strip], it also does not 
ask why exactly we need 100 JSF planes, today or in ten 
years." 
 
JONES