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101145Z Jan 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 000136 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD 
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL 
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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.  Iran: Nuclear Program 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media cited a statement issued Monday by 
Jerusalem's Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem, 
that PM Sharon, while still in serious but stable 
condition, began to breathe spontaneously and also move 
his right hand and right leg "slightly but 
significantly" in response to pain stimuli.  Sharon was 
also reportedly responding to voices and conversations. 
Maariv quoted senior physicians as saying that the left 
side of Sharon's body could be permanently paralyzed. 
In its lead story, Ha'aretz wrote that Sharon received 
anticoagulant drugs despite suffering from a disease of 
the blood vessels in the brain which, if diagnosed, 
would almost certainly have deterred doctors from 
prescribing those drugs, which are known to increase 
the risk of strokes and brain hemorrhages.  Ha'aretz 
reported that a doctor told the newspaper on Monday 
that the disease was diagnosed during Sharon's current 
hospitalization.  Ha'aretz reported that a group of 
Jewish lawmakers from around the world, including from 
the U.S., visited Hadassah Hospital on Monday to offer 
Sharon their best wishes.  Leading media quoted Iran's 
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as saying on Monday: "The 
Americans have been defeated in Palestine since the 
butcher of the Palestinians, who intended to destroy 
the Palestinian Intifada, has come to his end." 
Leading media quoted former U.S. President Bill 
Clinton, after meeting with French President Jacques 
Chirac in Paris on Monday, as saying that Sharon's 
stroke is a serious blow to Middle East peace efforts. 
 
Despite official denials, Maariv confirmed the 
existence of a signed agreement between Sharon and Vice 
Premier Shimon Peres, according to which Peres would 
receive a senior portfolio and have some "influence" on 
the diplomatic process.  The newspaper reported that 
Acting PM Ehud Olmert had committed himself to 
respecting all agreements signed by Sharon. 
 
Leading media quoted PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud 
Abbas as saying on Monday that he had received 
assurances from the U.S. that Palestinians would be 
permitted to vote in Jerusalem for the Palestinian 
legislative elections.  Leading media reported that 
U.S. diplomatic officials denied that the U.S. had 
given the PA any assurances and said that the issue was 
being discussed.  Israel Radio and Israel Radio quoted 
State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack as saying on 
Monday: "I haven't seen those comments from the Israeli 
Government, but I know that this [voting by 
Palestinians in Jerusalem] has been a continuing issue 
between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli 
Government.  We have talked about the fact that, in the 
past, they have been able to resolve differences 
concerning this issue. We would hope and expect that 
they could do so again."  Israel Radio reported that 
A/S David Welch and Deputy U.S. National Security 
Advisor Elliott Abrams will arrive in the region on 
Tuesday to oversee the Palestinian elections.  The 
station reported that Israel has clarified to U.S. 
administration representatives that Israel refuses to 
be the pretext for the cancellation of the Palestinian 
elections.  Israel Radio reported that today, at the 
conclusion of a diplomatic-security discussion, Defense 
Minister Shaul Mofaz hinted that Israel would approve 
voting in East Jerusalem. 
 
Israel Radio quoted State Department Spokesman Sean 
McCormack as saying on Monday that each permanent 
member of the UN Security Council has warned Iran that 
it must rescind its decision to resume its nuclear 
program.  The radio quoted McCormack as saying that the 
U.S. administration has been working closely with 
Russia, China, and the UK to convey a clear message to 
Tehran.  Yediot quoted International Atomic Energy DG 
Mohamed ElBaradei as saying that both he and the 
international community were "losing patience" with 
Iran's lack of transparency about its nuclear program. 
The Jerusalem Post quoted FM Silvan Shalom as telling a 
group of Jewish parliamentarians from around the world 
on Monday that the UN must urgently impose economic 
sanctions on Iran for continuing its nuclear program 
before the world wakes up to a nuclear nightmare. 
Leading media quoted IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan 
Halutz as saying Monday that Iran's attempts to achieve 
nuclear capability are not Israel's exclusive problem, 
but that of the entire world.  Leading media reported 
that on Monday, the Shin Bet dropped its request that 
Jirias Jirias, a former local council head of the 
Western Galilee Arab village of Fassuta, be indicted on 
charges of espionage on behalf of Iran.  The indictment 
writ presented against him to the Haifa District Court 
includes lesser charges. 
 
Nigel Roberts, departing World Bank Country Director 
for West Bank and Gaza, was quoted as saying in an 
interview with Ha'aretz that the Palestinians, the 
Israelis, and the members of the Quartet all share a 
part of blame for Hamas's takeover of the territories 
and the reign of chaos there. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the police and Internal Security 
Ministry are reportedly aware of their failure to 
eliminate the uprooting of Palestinian olive trees in 
the West Bank. 
 
Leading media cited a statement attributed to Abu Musab 
Al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaida's Iraq-based 
faction, as saying that Osama bin Laden ordered the 
Katyusha attack on the Galilee some two weeks ago.  The 
statement was aired on Sunday on a web site customarily 
used by Al-Zarqawi's group, the Organization of Al- 
Qaida in Mesopotamia. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Barack Obama, the 
freshman Democratic Senator from Illinois "already 
being touted as a possible presidential candidate in 
2008," arrived in Israel Monday night for his first 
visit to the region. 
 
Maariv reported that Jewish and Arab activists plan to 
establish a private company that will provide municipal 
services to the residents of East Jerusalem.  Should 
the city of Jerusalem be divided, the company would 
turn into the municipality of the Palestinian capital. 
The newspaper reported that IPCRI -- the 
Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information -- 
whose Co-CEOs are Dr. Gershon Baskin and Hana Siniora, 
is leading that initiative. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post printed an AP dispatch, 
according to which Hamas has launched a TV station in 
the Gaza Strip (Al-Aqsa Television), a first step 
toward setting up a satellite station like the one 
Hizbullah guerrillas run in Lebanon. 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli-Arab Attorney Hassan 
Jabarin, head of Adalah, the Legal Center For Arab 
Minority Rights in Israel, as saying on Monday that 
there could be bloodshed if the authorities go ahead 
with their plans to turn a century-old Beersheba mosque 
into a municipal museum. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that an ark (for holding Torah 
scrolls) was recently installed in the Pentagon's 
synagogue, whose ceiling was damaged in the 9/11 
attack.  The newspaper wrote that Israeli artist Moshe 
Gani designed the copper work symbolizing the 12 tribes 
of Israel that adorns the ark. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Without a strong 
international component, Olmert will find it difficult 
to carry out the withdrawal that in his opinion is 
essential for saving Israel." 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in Ha'aretz: 
"One can assume that what the Americans are running 
into [in Iraq] will soon reach this part of the world - 
- along the northern border, in the territories, or in 
Israel itself." 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "There is 
no room in the Acting Prime Minister's calendar for a 
meeting with the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority. 
He must first handle urgent affairs on Israel's 
agenda." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Getting Help From the Outside" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (January 10): 
"Unlike Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who hated to make 
decisions and covered his diplomatic policy plans in a 
fog of ambiguity, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has 
openly presented his views on the future borders.  Two 
years ago he had already spoken about a unilateral 
withdrawal from the West Bank to a demographic line 
that would maintain a ratio of 80:20 between Jews and 
Arabs inside Israel, and about an exit from the 
outermost Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.  Olmert said 
that Israel must determine its own fate and not wait 
for a Palestinian partner; otherwise it would find 
itself isolated internationally and in distress vis-a- 
vis an Arab majority between the Jordan and the sea. 
As we have not heard any change in his opinions, it is 
possible to predict that Olmert will try to advance 
this plan if he wins the elections.... If the 
Palestinians are incapable of seeing to their own 
affairs, and this seems to be the situation, Israel 
must not fall into a trap in the West Bank.  If the 
world wants it to withdraw and end the occupation, it 
should take upon itself some of the responsibility and 
station policing forces in the West Bank.  This will 
not be easy.  After the embroilment in Iraq, there are 
no volunteers to deploy in the Middle East. Israel, 
too, will need to weave a complicated understanding 
that the settlement blocs and the Old City of Jerusalem 
remain in its hands in the format of a border dispute, 
until a partner for negotiations arises.  But without a 
strong international component, Olmert will find it 
difficult to carry out the withdrawal that in his 
opinion is essential for saving Israel." 
 
II.  "It's a Matter of Time" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in Ha'aretz 
(January 10): "Presumably behind the headline of [the 
audiotape aired on Sunday, according to which Osama bin 
Laden ordered Katyusha rockets fired on the Galilee 
some two weeks ago and allegedly put out by] Al-Qaida 
is a minor Palestinian faction, and it is unlikely that 
it received direct instructions from the Afghanistan- 
Pakistan border.  Instead, it probably acted on the 
basis of contacts -- via the Internet or other means -- 
with one of the radical Islamic groups operating in 
Iraq.  Nevertheless, the general trend should worry 
Israel.... Herein lies another troubling aspect of the 
Iraqi-Lebanese connection: the widespread war that the 
various rebel groups are waging against the U.S. 
presence in Iraq is serving as an ideal seminar for 
testing weapons and innovative guerrilla tactics.  One 
can assume that what the Americans are running into 
over there will soon reach this part of the world -- 
along the northern border, in the territories, or in 
Israel itself." 
 
III.  "Abu Mazen Must First Rule in the Palestinian 
Authority" 
 
Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (January 
10): "A meeting between Olmert and Abu Mazen doesn't 
seem likely in the coming days.  There is no room on 
the Acting Prime Minister's calendar for a meeting with 
the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority.  He must 
first handle urgent affairs on Israel's agenda.... 
Neither is there interest in a meeting with Abu Mazen 
before the PA elections, which are supposed to take 
place in two weeks.  Only after the elections, when the 
new composition of the PA parliament becomes known, 
will it be possible to check Abu Mazen's offer to hold 
a meeting at the highest level -- between him and a 
senior Israeli diplomatic figure.... One can assume 
that Abu Mazen has seen the polls, according to which 
Hamas may get about half the votes in the large cities 
and about 40 percent of the total vote for the 
[Palestinian] Legislative Council.  Should this 
forecast come true, Abu Mazen's regime could be put out 
of balance; if so, the invitation he was prepared to 
hand to Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would become 
devoid of special significance." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "The world cannot build its security on 
the baseless hope that the mullahs are bluffing." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Iranian Threat" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (January 10): "In one of the more bizarre 
vignettes that diplomacy sometimes produces, Iran 
announced Sunday [that] UN inspectors had been summoned 
to remove the seals their agency placed on some Iranian 
nuclear facilities more than two years ago.  The seals 
were placed after Iran voluntarily committed to suspend 
nuclear research.... On Monday, Foreign Minister Silvan 
Shalom told the cabinet that Iran's latest brazen act 
indicates that the world is failing to stop Tehran's 
nuclear drive.  There should be no misunderstanding 
what the consequences of such a failure would be.... 
The world cannot build its security on the baseless 
hope that the mullahs are bluffing.  The unspoken 
European notion is that the Iranian regime would not 
use nuclear weapons, but like other nuclear powers, 
simply possess them as a form of deterrence.  This 
prospect, even if it could be relied upon, should not 
reassure anyone. Iranian nuclear weapons, even if never 
detonated or passed on to terrorist groups, would allow 
the regime to increase its support for terrorism with 
impunity.... If the E-3 -- the UK, France and Germany - 
- continue to appease Iran it will not avoid such 
attacks, but invite them once the Iranian regime has 
managed to protect itself with a nuclear umbrella.  As 
envisioned in the UN Charter, the full economic, 
diplomatic and -- if necessary -- military power of the 
West must be brought to bear on Iran in a classic case 
of collective self-defense." 
 
JONES