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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TEL AVIV 006946 
 
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 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz led with a report by Akiva Eldar that on 
Wednesday, Israel succumbed to international pressure 
and informed the U.S. that it plans to complete 
preparations on Friday for operating convoys between 
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, to begin next week. 
The newspaper says that Israel will issue a formal 
announcement on the matter on Friday.  According to The 
Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio, Israel will present 
its convoy plan today.  Ha'aretz and Yediot quoted 
officials in Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's office as 
saying that the use of convoys is dependent on the 
security situation and that it might be put on hold in 
the event of a terrorist attack.  Ha'aretz notes that 
this position differs from the one presented on Monday 
by IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, who said on Monday 
that convoys will not operate until rocket fire into 
Israel stops completely.  Israel Radio reported that 
Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim (Kadima) criticized 
the decision, and quoted him as saying that the PA has 
not done anything to fight terror and that Israel must 
withstand U.S. pressure.  Ha'aretz reported that A/S 
David Welch announced on Wednesday that bus convoys 
between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would begin as 
scheduled.  The newspaper quoted Welch as saying at a 
London conference of donors to the PA: "We fully expect 
Israel and the Palestinians to implement all aspects of 
the movement agreement on schedule and we will help 
them to do so."  Yediot headlined: "The Americans 
Pressured -- Israel Folded." 
 
All media (lead stories only in the religious 
newspapers) reported that at 16:00 on Wednesday, an IAF 
missile killed four militants on their way to carry out 
an attack at the Karni crossing on the Gaza-Israel 
border.  The media cited the IDF as saying that one of 
the militants worked at the crossing and had been 
planning to use the information he had gained from his 
job to carry out the attack.  The media said that the 
militants were members of two Fatah-linked groups: the 
Salah a-Din Brigades, which is the military wing of the 
Popular Resistance Committees, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs 
Brigades.  The media reported that, following the 
strike, the Popular Resistance Committees fired two 
Qassam rockets and a mortar shell at Sderot.  No 
injuries were reported.  The media also quoted 
Palestinian sources as saying that Khader Habib, an 
Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip, survived an 
Israeli air strike at 21:00.  The media cited the IDF 
as saying that the attack was aimed at Islamic Jihad 
members involved in launching Qassam rockets and mortar 
shells at Israel.  The media reported that Mofaz 
instructed the IDF on Wednesday to act immediately 
against rocket-launching cells in Gaza, in the wake of 
ongoing Qassam attacks.  Leading media reported that 
last night in Nablus, an IDF paratrooper unit uncovered 
a Hamas bomb factory, which contained 60 kg of 
explosives -- one of the largest quantities ever seized 
in the West Bank. 
 
Yediot bannered a threat by FM Silvan Shalom's 
supporters that, should Knesset Member Binyamin 
Netanyahu win in the Likud primaries, they would vote 
for PM Sharon's Kadima party.  The newspaper quoted 
Shalom's supporters as saying at a gathering Wednesday 
that Netanyahu has harmed Sephardic Israelis.  Yediot 
quoted Netanyahu as saying that he would free Israel 
from poverty. 
 
 
Leading media reported that leaders of the Fatah 
movement's young guard have registered a separate list 
for the PA's parliamentary elections next month. 
Ha'aretz reported that Marwan Barghouti, the Tanzim 
leader jailed in Israel, heads the list (according to 
Israel Radio, it is not sure whether Barghouti would be 
No. 1 on the Fatah list or establish a new party), 
followed by Civilian Affairs Minister Muhammad Dahlan, 
National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub, and a senior 
Fatah activist from the Gaza Strip, Samir Mesharawi. 
Ha'aretz wrote that the independent list, named Al- 
Mustaqbal (Arabic for "The Future"), was presented to 
the Central Elections Commission in Ramallah on 
Wednesday.  Israel Radio reported that Sharon's bureau 
authorized a phone conversation between Barghouti and 
PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas. 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli and international 
sources as saying at the conference of donors to the PA 
that the PA was denied extra funds at the conference 
because it failed to adhere to spending limitations. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday, FM Shalom called 
on all countries in the world to condemn comments by 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called the 
Holocaust a "myth."  The newspaper reported that on 
Wednesday, Meretz-Yahad chair Yossi Beilin called on 
all countries to recall their ambassadors to Iran. 
Leading media reported that on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad 
suggested that Israel should be moved to the U.S. -- in 
particular to Alaska -- or to Canada. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Sharon aides as saying on Wednesday 
that pollster Kalman Gayer is not a member of Sharon's 
inner circle and that he is therefore not privy to the 
PM's secret plans.  In an interview Gayer reportedly 
gave to Newsweek magazine, Gayer was quoted as saying 
that "theoretically" Sharon would be willing to pull 
out of most of the West Bank and divide Jerusalem for 
peace with the Palestinians.  Leading media reported 
that on Wednesday, Sharon again denied the comments at 
a gathering of a road-safety organization at Tel Aviv 
University.  He was quoted as saying: "There is no 
limit to the incitement and lie spreading these days. 
We have reached the peak of absurdity yesterday with 
slogans that I intend to divide Jerusalem."  However, 
Yaron Dekel, Israel TV's Washington correspondent, who 
first reported on the affair, said Wednesday that the 
conversation between the Newsweek reporter and Gayer 
was held face to face and was documented.  Dekel said 
that Gayer had not denied or protested the report, and 
that none of Sharon's advisers had asked to clarify the 
issue. 
 
Ha'aretz cited a report released by Physicians For 
Human Rights-Israel, according to which the section of 
the West Bank separation fence surrounding Jerusalem 
seriously impinges on the accessibility and quality of 
medical services received by tens of thousands of 
Palestinian East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza 
residents. 
 
Ha'aretz and Yediot reported that the security cabinet 
decided on Wednesday that responsibility for issuing 
security warnings to Israelis traveling or residing 
abroad will be transferred from Israel's National 
Security Council to the Foreign Ministry in three 
months' time, in the wake of quiet wrangling between 
the two entities. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on 
Wednesday, the chairman of the Knesset Subcommittee for 
Strategic Security, Knesset Member Ephraim Sneh 
(Labor), criticized the fact that there is no 
protection for Israeli passenger planes against 
shoulder-launched missiles, and called this a "grave 
security failure."  Ha'aretz quoted Sneh as saying that 
the reason for this failure is that the Rafael Armament 
Development Authority was forced to stop manufacturing 
the protective equipment, which costs USD 1 million for 
each plane.  The Jerusalem Post quoted Sneh as saying 
that Netanyahu was to blame for the budget cuts. 
Ha'aretz also quoted Sneh as saying that the cuts to 
the defense budget have hurt Israel's ability to 
protect itself against the Iranian threat. 
 
Yediot and The Jerusalem Post reported that on 
Wednesday, the UN decided to grant a special status to 
three Israeli NGOs: Shatil (an umbrella organization of 
groups advocating social change in Israel), the Israeli 
Women's Lobby, and Zaka, which works in rescue and 
recovery assignments following terrorist attacks. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the UN Security Council has 
agreed to extend by another six months the work of the 
investigation commission into the assassination of 
former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri. 
 
Jerusalem Post led with a story by its Washington 
correspondent Matthew Guttman, who covers the Iraqi 
legislative elections on the ground. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that two Israeli-Arab comics from 
Haifa, Ayman Nahas and Hanna Shammas, who criticize the 
state and the IDF, enjoy great popularity among Israeli- 
Arab audiences. 
 
Ha'aretz front-paged the results of a Ha'aretz/Channel 
10-TV poll carried out last night by the Amanet Group's 
Dialogue Institute, which indicate that after three 
weeks of an unfettered rise in the polls, Sharon's 
Kadima party is changing direction and beginning to 
slide backward.  The survey found that, were elections 
held now, Kadima would win 35 seats, four seats fewer 
than last week, and Labor would win two more seats, 
bringing to 24.  Likud stayed stable at 12 seats. 
Ha'aretz quoted Sharon associates as saying that the 
loss is a slightly belated result of the "Hanegbi-Mofaz 
effect," a reference to two Likud officials -- Tzachi 
Hanegbi and Mofaz -- who switched their allegiance to 
Kadima last week and apparently deterred some Labor 
voters who had been willing to support Sharon's party. 
The poll shows that Labor's gain seems came at Kadima's 
expense, but that some 20 percent of Likud voters who 
switched to Kadima shortly after founded it have left 
in the last few days. 
-The survey also asked respondents whether they 
believed in Gayer or Sharon.  While 47 percent believe 
in Gayer, 28 percent believe in Sharon, and 25 percent 
are undecided. 
-The survey asked who would better handle the Iranian 
threat.  Sharon: 43 percent; Netanyahu: 13 percent; 
Amir Peretz: 6 percent; and Silvan Shalom: 4 percent. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Dialogue Institute poll 
found that 40 percent of registered Likud members would 
vote for Netanyahu; 23 percent for Shalom; 9 percent 
for far-right contender Moshe Feiglin; and 2 percent 
for Yisrael Katz.  In the case of a runoff primary, 
Netanyahu would defeat Shalom, 46 to 29 percent. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "One 
could have expected that such a brave leader [Sharon] 
would respond to the new-old Likud slogan ['Sharon will 
divide Jerusalem'] by saying that Jerusalem will be 
divided -- because that is in Israel's interest." 
 
Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in the editorial 
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "There 
is no choice but to lead the election campaign towards 
a discussion of Sharon the man, and draw conclusions 
from his past regarding his future." 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It is time for 
Washington to realize that the renewed outburst of 
radicalism in the Middle East is being caused by it, in 
many ways." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Jerusalem Will Be Divided" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(December 15): "Jerusalem has never been united.  The 
fundamental key to the division was determined by Bill 
Clinton: what's Jewish goes to the Jews and what's Arab 
goes to the Arabs.... Election campaigns tend to hide 
controversial messages so as to win as many votes as 
possible.  For that reason, it is clear why Kadima 
officials were alarmed by comments on Jerusalem [made 
in an interview with Newsweek by Sharon's adviser on 
polling affairs, Kalman Gayer].  But when the sole 
justification for the existence of Kadima is those same 
'painful concessions' that Sharon was unable to 
implement under the Likud, this frenzy is a worrying 
sign that Sharon himself does not know what his 
political objectives are.  Perhaps he is planning to 
spend an entire term resting on the laurels of the 
disengagement from Gaza.  One could have expected that 
such a brave leader would respond to the new-old Likud 
slogan ['Sharon will divide Jerusalem'] by saying that 
Jerusalem will be divided -- because that is in 
Israel's interest." 
 
II.  "The Platform Is the Man, the Man Is the Platform" 
 
Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in the editorial 
of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot 
(November 13): "Kadima is Ariel Sharon, and it would 
appear that no one knows what this man wants.... 
Therefore, there is no choice but to lead the election 
campaign towards a discussion of Sharon the man, and 
draw conclusions from his past regarding his future. 
His actions are well known, but people have a short 
memory and are inclined to be impressed by the near 
past and to forget what took place in the many decades 
in which he filled important political positions. 
There is no doubt that one of his most important 
actions was his great contribution to the settlements 
in the occupied territories.... On this matter, one 
cannot avoid a dichotomous judgment: either Sharon is 
making a terrible mistake in aspiring to remove the 
settlements located in the heart of the Palestinian 
population, or else he made a terrible mistake by 
establishing them.... Rivers of ink and cascades of 
words have been spent on Sharon's role in the Lebanon 
War.  Many things, mainly the secrets of the grandiose 
plan that aimed to remove the Palestinian refugees 
living in Lebanon to the kingdom of Jordan, are still 
concealed, but what is known is enough to fear the 
thought that this charismatic and reckless person, who 
misled the members of the cabinet in which he served, 
will determine our future.... The war he initiated cost 
us over 1,000 fatalities, thousands of people injured, 
a sizeable fortune and a deep rift in Israeli society. 
A responsible citizen will not go to the polls before 
refreshing his memory with the aid of books [by Israeli 
journalists] about this [war], books whose reliability 
was tested in court." 
 
III.  "Returning From the Point of No Return" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Guy Bechor, a lecturer 
at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (December 15): 
"An unbelievable provocation, this is the logical 
meaning of the anti-Semitic challenge recently issued 
by Tehran -- statements the likes of which the world 
has not heard from such a senior echelon since World 
War II -- and Damascus's defiant actions.... Iran and 
Syria do so knowing that no harm will be done to them 
by the United States or the world.... Washington has 
only itself to blame: the zigzag in its policy has 
brought it to the regional crisis.  In President Bush's 
first term of office, Washington advocated the 'axis of 
evil' theory.... In the second term, however, 
Condoleezza Rice displayed a new, softened, European 
approach towards the Arab dictatorships.... It is time 
for Washington to realize that the renewed outburst of 
radicalism in the Middle East is being caused by it, in 
many ways, and that it should return to the old policy 
of deterrence accompanied by firm diplomatic action. 
Not only condemnations, which are currently being 
voiced with regard to the Iranian statements and the 
Syrian assassinations, but real action, including 
economic and diplomatic sanctions, as were imposed on 
Libya, until this country yielded to the international 
dictates.... This also means that the concept of the 
point of no return should be abandoned.... If ... steps 
are not taken immediately, there is a high probability 
that the old Middle East will soon return, along with 
terrorism, despair and lack of hope -- and above all 
these will hover an Iranian nuclear umbrella.  The 
entire world should understand clearly the significance 
of nuclear weapons over the world's reserves of fuel in 
the Persian Gulf." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Syria: 
--------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "The United States is practically alone 
in urging punishment for Syria." 
 
Nationalist writer Uri Dan commented in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "The current U.S. administration has 
drawn a clear separation line between democracy and 
dictatorship, good and evil, and the threat of 
sanctions is aimed at those who earned it by means of 
lies and murders." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Bullying the West" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (December 15): "Even after [Gibran] 
Tueni's car was blown up on Monday -- it was the third 
political assassination of a prominent Lebanese critic 
of Syria since the murder of former prime minister 
Rafiq Hariri in February -- the United Nations has so 
far only shaken its finger at Syria, opening an 
investigation of the Hariri murder but not yet 
considering imposing any sanctions.... The United 
States is practically alone in urging punishment for 
Syria.... Much of the international diplomatic 
community is resisting U.S. efforts to do so.... The 
Syria situation, though not as potentially catastrophic 
as the Iranian nuclear threat, is just as crucial a 
test for the UN.  For years, Israel's military presence 
in southern Lebanon served as Syria's excuse for 
brutalizing its neighbor.  But when the IDF withdrew 
from Lebanon, it removed that excuse and exposed the 
Assad regime as just an opportunistic bully of the 
Lebanese people.  Teheran and Damascus are, indeed, 
displaying all the hallmarks of the classic bully.... 
The bullying cycle of condemnation and escalation only 
ends when the bully's normally peaceable victims tire 
of living in fear and collectively stand up to their 
tormentors.  Sometimes this can be put off, but not 
indefinitely. Bullies do not just go away, they try to 
amass more power with which to intimidate.  To that 
end, the people of Lebanon showed more courage and 
conviction in Beirut on Wednesday than the leaders of 
the free world have shown." 
 
II.  "The Penny Has Dropped" 
 
Nationalist writer Uri Dan commented in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (December 15): "In December 1955, 
Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Abba Eban, dispatched 
urgent messages to [then prime minister] David Ben- 
Gurion, which stated that the U.S. and the [UN] 
Security Council threatened to impose sanctions on 
Israel over retaliatory actions it had carried out 
against Syrian outposts east of the Sea of Galilee. 
The goal of the operation had been to remove the threat 
of Syrian fire on Israeli fishermen in the Sea of 
Galilee.... Now, 50 years later, in December 2005, the 
current U.S. administration has drawn a clear 
separation line between democracy and dictatorship, 
good and evil, and the threat of sanctions is aimed at 
those who earned it by means of lies and murders. 
Neither Clinton's Democratic administration nor Ronald 
Reagan's Republican administration were able to 
perceive that distinction.... 'Haste is the work of 
Satan,' says an Arabic proverb.  Fifty years have gone 
by since the Sea of Galilee operation.  Only now -- 
perhaps -- are the bad ones being punished." 
 
CRETZ