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

280753Z Nov 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 006659 
 
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. Israel-Hizbullah Clashes 
¶3. Palestinian parliamentary elections 
 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media report that Shimon Peres is considering 
joining Ariel Sharon, who may offer Peres a future 
position as "special ambassador for peace affairs" if 
the Labor Party elder statesman agrees to support the 
prime minister's new Kadima faction.  Peres is expected 
to announce his decision whether to leave the Labor 
party when he returns from a visit to Barcelona on 
Wednesday.  Amir Peretz, realizing that Sharon's main 
goal in courting Peres is to undermine the new Labor 
chair, tried to mend matters Sunday, phoning Peres to 
offer him the post of party president, which would be 
created especially for him and would include 
representing the party overseas.  Peretz pledged that 
such a post would not prevent Peres from becoming a 
senior minister in a Peretz government.  However, like 
Sharon, he is unwilling to offer Peres a guaranteed 
spot on his party's list. 
 
Yediot Aharonot and Ma'ariv report that PM Sharon, 
waiting 8 December, when his cabinet will be declared a 
transitional government and will not require the 
Knesset approval for ministerial nominations, is 
currently holding 8 portfolios, including the Interior, 
Environment, and Infrastructures Ministries. 
 
Ha'aretz cites a senior legal source as saying this 
week that the criminal investigation of PM Ariel Sharon 
in the Cyril Kern affair is unlikely to be completed 
before the March elections.  This means suspicions 
against Sharon and his son Gilad will remain unresolved 
during the campaign.  However, it is increasingly 
likely that this affair will also end with the closing 
of the case against Sharon, unless a recent request for 
a judicial inquiry submitted to Austria reveals 
valuable evidence.  According to the senior source, 
"there is no realistic chance of a decision in the case 
before the elections." 
Ha'aretz and other media report that Russian oligarch 
Arkady Gaidamak "dropped a bombshell into the political 
arena" yesterday when he announced that he is forming a 
new party that will run in the upcoming elections. 
Gaidamak is president of the International Betar 
Movement, a right-wing movement founded in the pre- 
state era by Ze'ev Jabotinsky and affiliated with the 
forerunner of the Likud, Menachem Begin's Herut Party. 
His aide told Ha'aretz that the new party would reflect 
Betar's goals and values.  But in an interview with 
Ha'aretz last night, Gaidamak said that his party would 
take a free-market economic stance, while on security 
and diplomacy, it would call for better understanding 
between Jews and Arabs in Israel and between Israel and 
its Arab neighbors.  "Israeli-Arab relations have to be 
based on economic cooperation and development," he 
said.  In a related report, Ma'ariv says the police 
will question Gaidamak on suspicion of money laundering 
through Bank Hapoalim. 
Ma'ariv reports that "in a rare comment," Saudi King 
Abdallah said "the situation may improve now that Amir 
Peretz was elected Labor chairman."  Speaking to the 
Arabic language Al-Hayat, the Saudi king added that the 
Palestinian firing of mortars is "useless," calling on 
the Palestinians to unite.  He also condemned 
international terror.  Speaking to a Spanish newspaper, 
Egyptian President Mubarak congratulated Sharon on the 
successful disengagement, saying, "Sharon is serious in 
his efforts to make peace."  Ma'ariv added that the 
Sharon bureau reported that the Egyptian president 
called Sharon to congratulate him on his new chosen 
path. 
 
Yedi'ot Aharonot reports that in Barcelona yesterday, 
Finance Minister Olmert met newly-elected German 
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said she will visit 
Israel soon, reiterated Germany's pledge to prevent 
Iran from obtaining nuclear arms, expressed Germany's 
opposition to HAMAS participation in PA elections, and 
said she "admires Sharon's courage."  Olmert also met 
the PA's Abu-Mazen and the Egyptian foreign minister 
and prime minister. 
 
Yedi'ot Aharonot reports that the Foreign Ministry 
instructed Israeli representatives worldwide to ask 
foreign VIP's who intend to visit Israel in the near 
future "to reconsider," since their counterpart hosts 
may be busy with the elections and might not have the 
time for such visits. 
 
Yedi'ot Aharonot carries a report on a security 
briefing that the IDF chief of staff and chief of 
Intelligence gave the cabinet yesterday.  Major General 
Farkash said that if the Mehlis report "should stain 
Bashar Asad, we could witness an escalation on the 
entire (northern) front."  The chief intelligence 
officer added that despite international pressure, 
Syria and Hizbullah keep pursuing terror, and that 
"Syria is allowing terrorists to cross its border into 
Iraq to harm US troops there."  Speaking on the recent 
Hizbullah attack, Farkash said "an amazing number" of 
50 terrorists in 9 squads took part in the attack, 
whose failure will "prompt the organization to launch 
more terror attacks soon, to save face."  The report 
cites the deputy Shin Bet head as telling the cabinet 
"suicide bombers are being smuggled from Gaza into 
Israel via the Sinai and the Negev," and that there are 
presently some 10-15 terror attack warnings.  He added 
that the Shin Bet expects HAMAS to actually lose power 
in the elections after the Rafah crossing has opened 
and Gaza economy will improve. 
 
 
Ha'aretz reports that the IDF is set to modify its 
deployment along the border with Egypt in an effort to 
better contend with the smuggling of arms from Sinai 
into Israel and then on to the West Bank. 
 
IDF Radio reported this morning that a Border Policeman 
who was injured last night by stones that were thrown 
near the village Anata is in serious condition and may 
lose sight in one of his eyes. Another six policemen 
were injured by stones that were thrown by Palestinians 
at workers involved in the construction of the 
separation fence in the area. Border Police officials 
criticized the conditions under which the troops were 
forced to operate there. 
 
Israel Radio reported this morning on the U.S.-Israel 
strategic dialogue between Israel and the US will be 
renewed in Washington today. The Americans had 
suspended talks in the wake of the arms deal between 
Israel and China, and the US administration decided to 
renew them once this crisis in US-Israel relations was 
over. The Israeli delegation to the talks is headed by 
minister Tzahi Hanegbi. 
 
 
 
 
------------- 
¶1. Mideast 
------------- 
Columnist Akiva Eldar wrote in independent, left- 
leaning Ha'aretz that "Sharon's winning card does not 
even resemble the road map.  His fans do not believe 
for a second that he has any interest in a Palestinian 
partner for negotiations.  They flock to him because 
they do not believe his repeated pledges that the 
withdrawal from Gaza was the last unilateral 
withdrawal..  Sharon is dictating his Bantustan plan on 
the ground through fences and walls, through evacuating 
two outposts and expanding a dozen settlements...  The 
last dictate ended with 1,000 Israelis and more than 
3,000 Palestinians dead." 
 
Arab affairs commentator Dani Rubinstein wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz:  "Several days ago, 
Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad resigned. 
because Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who is 
responsible for the security services, added to the 
Gaza services another 2,500 youths. and plans to add 
another few thousand young Hamas and Islamic Jihad 
activists to the security services in the near future.. 
The Palestinian treasury cannot afford to pay so many 
salaries..  Fayad's resignation is a warning sign of 
the serious economic complications facing the PA, which 
are liable to also have political ramifications." 
 
                       Summary: 
                     ------------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
¶I.   "The Road Map, Sort Of" 
 
Political commentator Aqiva Eldar wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Ariel Sharon has a good chance 
of going down in history as the first leader who owes 
his election to voters who do not believe him.  At the 
press conference at which he announced his departure 
from the Likud, Sharon promised the continued 
implementation of the road map..  How many people who 
plan to vote for Kadima will do so because they believe 
Sharon plans to talk with Mahmoud Abbas about the 
division of Jerusalem, and to invite Bashar Assad to 
negotiate over the Golan Heights?  Does anybody 
seriously believe the claim that all this failed to 
happen during the three years that have elapsed since 
the road map was drafted solely because the Palestinian 
Authority did not "destroy the terrorist 
infrastructure.?  Sharon's winning card does not even 
resemble the road map.  His fans do not believe for a 
second that he has any interest in a Palestinian 
partner for negotiations.  They flock to him because 
they do not believe his repeated pledges that the 
withdrawal from Gaza was the last unilateral 
withdrawal.  The secret of his success lies in a post- 
modern approach to conflict resolution, which has 
gained currency here under slogans such as dividing the 
land in accordance with your desires, or unilateral 
consolidation into settlement blocs.  Behind this 
approach lies the assumption that what was good for 
Gaza cannot be bad for the West Bank..  Sharon . will 
not be caught leaning over maps at Camp David, between 
George Bush and Mahmoud Abbas.  He is dictating his 
Bantustan plan on the ground through fences and walls, 
through evacuating two outposts and expanding a dozen 
settlements.  The last dictate ended with 1,000 
Israelis and more than 3,000 Palestinians dead." 
 
II.  "A Resignation that Is a Warning Sign" 
 
Arab affairs commentator Dani Rubinstein wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz:  "Several days ago, 
Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad resigned. 
There were several different reasons given for this 
move.  The personal circumstances of Fayad, considered 
a top professional, are less interesting.  What is more 
important is whether his resignation is connected to 
what is going on among top Palestinian officials, from 
an economic and financial perspective..  According to 
some reports, he resigned from the government because 
he wants to get involved in politics and declare his 
candidacy in his hometown district of Tul Karm.. But 
other reports (such as in the Al-Hayat Al-Jadida PA 
daily, from the end of last week) say Fayad resigned 
because Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who is 
responsible for the security services, added to the 
Gaza services another 2,500 youths - almost all of them 
militants from Fatah and other movements.  Yousef did 
this with the approval of Palestinian Authority 
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), and plans to add 
another few thousand young Hamas and Islamic Jihad 
activists to the security services in the near future. 
Adding thousands of people to the security services 
would be a budgetary burden on the Palestinian 
treasury, and Fayad, according to these reports, would 
not have been able to stand for it..  Some 160,000 
people are serving in the Palestinian government, about 
a third of them in the security services.  The 
Palestinian treasury cannot afford to pay so many 
salaries..  Fayad's resignation is a warning sign of 
the serious economic complications facing the PA, which 
are liable to also have political ramifications. 
 
---------------------------- 
¶2. Israel-Hizbullah Clashes 
--------------------------- 
 
Columnist Amos Gilboa wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv:  "The IDF high command and the chief of staff 
deliberated how to react to the massive Hizbullah 
attack, recommending not to attack and settle for a 
local reaction for now, which the defense minister 
accepted.  This decision was severely criticized., but 
I believe it was right..  Still, how will it react in 
the future, when Hizbullah should succeed in kidnapping 
an Israeli?  And it will try, no doubt about it!" 
 
                        Summary 
                       --------- 
Columnist Amos Gilboa wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv:  "Last Monday, the IDF high command and the 
chief of staff deliberated how to react to the massive 
Hizbullah attack.  The IDF was pleased with the 
results: the Hizbullah kidnapping attempt failed, 
Israel had three Hizbullah bodies, the incident ended 
without Israeli fatalities, and was clearly an 
important intelligence achievement.  On the other hand, 
Hizbullah clearly violated the rules of the game.; in 
other words, it attacked the State of Israel.  The IDF 
recommendation was not to attack and settle for the 
local reaction for now, which the defense minister 
accepted.  This decision was severely criticized. but I 
believe the recommendation was right..  But beyond the 
immediate circumstances, Israel is facing a serious and 
problematic dilemma vis--vis Hizbullah.  Before the 
Syrian pullout, we could always blame it., but there 
are no more viable Syrian targets in Lebanon, while the 
new Lebanese Government is actually under US and French 
auspices. so attacking Lebanese targets. does not seem 
wise.  Stuck in Iraq, the Americans do not want another 
conflagration in the Middle East. and it would be wrong 
[for Israel] to attack deep inside Lebanon as a UN team 
investigates the Hariri murder and is about to question 
senior Syrian officials.  Why divert international 
pressure from Syria toward Israel?  Hizbullah is aware 
of Israel's limitations and political situation and. 
having the Syrian and Iranian blessing in advance. it 
was willing to take its chances and violate the rules 
of the game with Israel, but it failed tactically.  The 
current Israeli reaction was correct, but how will it 
react in the future, when Hizbullah should succeed 
kidnapping an Israeli?  And it will try, no doubt about 
it!" 
 
 
                     Block Quotes 
                    -------------- 
 
------------------------------------ 
¶3. Palestinian Parliamentary Election 
----------------------------------- 
                        Summary 
                       --------- 
Nationalist Hebrew daily, Hatzofe wrote Monday: "The 
murderous Tanzim secretary general, Marwan Barghouti, 
was sentenced by an Israeli court to five life-terms in 
prison. Not one, but five life-term sentences. Now, in 
the party primary in advance of the Palestinian 
parliamentary elections, Barghouti won 95% of the vote 
and, as a result, Israeli politicians have asked to 
release him. The reason offered: he will make the 
Palestinians more moderate, he is a moderate and Israel 
ought not squander an opportunity such as this." 
 
                     Block Quotes 
                    -------------- 
 
"Barghouti the Moderate" 
 
Nationalist Hatzofe editorialized: "The murderous 
Tanzim secretary general, Marwan Barghouti, was 
sentenced by an Israeli court to five life-terms in 
prison. Not one, but five life-term sentences. Now, in 
the party primary in advance of the Palestinian 
parliamentary elections, Barghouti won 95% of the vote 
and, as a result, Israeli politicians have asked to 
release him. The reason offered: he will make the 
Palestinians more moderate, he is a moderate and Israel 
ought not squander an opportunity such as this.... 
How is it that sane politicians want to release a 
murderer such as Barghouti, who was responsible for the 
death of many Israeli citizens and the injury of 
dozens?....   That question is asked because it is 
clear that the United States either is already 
pressuring or will soon begin to pressure Israel to 
release Barghouti because of his "moderation," and the 
government will acquiesce to that request with the 
knowledge that the Israeli people has already lost its 
healthy senses and is struggling for its financial 
survival more than anything else.  Wake up from your 
sleep, arise from your slumber." 
JONES