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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 000407 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
PA Elections: Hamas Victory 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
During the weekend, leading media reported that 
international bodies, including the U.S., are 
threatening to cut their financial aid to the PA. 
Ha'aretz's web site reported that French Ambassador to 
Israel Gerard Araud told the newspaper that the EU is 
considering transferring financial aid to the 
Palestinians through mediators, such as NGOs.  The 
Jerusalem Post, which cited Western diplomatic sources, 
reported that Saudi Arabia could bail the PA out of an 
impending fiscal crisis following the landslide victory 
of Hamas if it transfers the USD 100 million it pledged 
to PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas when he 
visited there in late December.  The newspaper wrote 
that in addition to bailing out the PA, the money would 
also give Israel and the world more time to ponder how 
to deal with the PA following Hamas's victory.  On 
Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that Arab-League Secretary- 
General Amr Moussa told the newspaper during the 
weekend in Davos, Switzerland, that the Arab League 
will move as quickly as possible to help raise funds 
for the PA.  The media reported that during a press 
conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela 
Merkel on Sunday, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert 
announced that he has decided to postpone the monthly 
transfer of tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf 
of the PA, because of Hamas's victory.  All media 
quoted Merkel as saying that Berlin would have no 
contact with Hamas until it disavowed terrorism and 
recognized Israel and all agreements signed with it. 
 
On Sunday, leading media quoted Defense Minister Shaul 
Mofaz as saying over the weekend that if Hamas 
perpetrates terrorism against Israel, Israel will 
return to the policy of targeted killing.  On Sunday, 
Yediot quoted former prime minister Shimon Peres, who 
holds the second slot on Kadima's Knesset list, as 
saying in Davos during the weekend that he believes 
that the Israeli government should hold negotiations 
with the Palestinian government led by Hamas, on 
condition that Hamas "not come to the negotiations with 
guns." 
 
Israel Radio quoted Mahmoud Zahar, the top Hamas 
representative in Gaza, as saying in an interview with 
CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Sunday that if Israel "is ready 
to give us the national demand to withdraw from the 
occupied area [in] '67; to release our detainees; to 
stop their aggression; to make geographic link between 
Gaza Strip and West Bank, at that time, with assurance 
from other sides, we are going to accept to establish 
our independent state at that time, and give us one or 
two, 10, 15 years time in order to see what is the real 
intention of Israel after that."  Zahar also said: "We 
can accept to establish our independent state on the 
area occupied [in] '67."  Ha'aretz quoted the deputy 
head of Hamas's political bureau, Musa Abu-Marzouk as 
saying in an interview with Fatah-affiliated Al-Haqayiq 
that Hamas will not oppose Abbas if the latter decides 
to negotiate with Israel.  On Sunday, Maariv chose to 
highlight remarks by Hamas's political leader Khaled 
Mashal that Palestine extends from the Mediterranean 
Sea to the Jordan River, while Ha'aretz cited Mashal's 
comment that Hamas will the existing agreements 
practically. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Likud Chairman MK Binyamin 
Netanyahu as saying that Hamas's victory is akin to the 
Nazis' in 1933.  Yediot reported that the Likud intends 
to launch a campaign linking Olmert with Hamas. 
 
On Sunday, Yediot reported that the Palestinians sent a 
small group of economists and businessmen from the 
private and business sectors, led by PA Economic 
Affairs Minister Mazen Senokrot to the World Economic 
Forum in Davos, the "clear goal" to show the conference 
participants what they saw as Palestinian economic 
achievements and to convince as many of them as 
possible to come to the business and investors' 
conference that the PA has been planning to hold in 
Bethlehem in April.  Yediot reported that James 
Wolfensohn, the former president of the World Bank and 
now the Quartet special envoy, told the newspaper: "The 
PA desperately needs a hundred million dollars at the 
beginning of the month. Without it, there is no way to 
pay the salaries of its more than 150,000 employees. It 
is completely bankrupt.  The people who do not receive 
their salaries will go out into the streets.  On the 
other hand, I don't expect that the donor countries or 
any international economic body will be willing to give 
aid funds to the government assembled and led by a 
terrorist organization that rules out Israel's very 
right to exist.  Hamas will have to make a decision 
over the next several days, and at most, weeks." 
 
Today's major Hebrew-language newspapers led with the 
issues of Hebron's wholesale market and the illegal 
settler outpost of Amona.  The media reported that a 
compromise has been reached between the state and the 
Hebron settlers, according to which those who invaded 
the market's shops will leave them voluntarily and that 
other families will legally replace them in the future. 
The media, which reported that on Sunday, the High 
Court of Justice approved the evacuation of Amona, 
expect violent clashes there. 
 
During the weekend, Ha'aretz reported that U.S. Jewish 
leaders are considering providing financial support to 
Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former American 
Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) employees on 
trial for their entanglement in a high-profile affair 
over which former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin was 
sentenced to 12 years in prison for providing 
classified information to AIPAC -- via Rosen and 
Weissman -- and to Israel via senior Israeli Embassy 
official Naor Gilon. 
 
All media reported on the death of the famed cabbalist 
Rabbi Kaduri on Saturday, and of his funeral in 
Jerusalem on Sunday, which was attended by 250,000 
people. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that three 
NASA astronauts -- Steve Robinson, Eileen Collins, and 
Andrew Thomas -- arrived in Israel on Sunday to 
commemorate the third anniversary of the Columbia space 
shuttle disaster, in which Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon 
and the rest of the crew lost their lives. 
 
Google's co-founder Sergey Brin was quoted as saying in 
an interview with Ha'aretz in Davos that his company 
"is in the process of establishing an R&D center in 
Israel." 
 
Yediot cited a claim by the defenders of underworld 
kingpin Zeev Rosenstein that the state prosecution has 
let the expiry date set for his extradition to the U.S. 
go by.  Rosenstein is supposed to be put on trial in 
the U.S. for drug-smuggling offenses. 
 
Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling 
Institute survey, which show that Likud is gaining 
points, while the Labor Party is weakening: Kadima 
would get 42 Knesset seats (41 in the newspaper's 
previous poll); the Labor Party would win 19 seats 
(22); the Likud would get 16 seats (13). 
 
---------------------------- 
PA Elections: Hamas Victory: 
---------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote on page one of independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "The results [of the Palestinian Legislative 
Council elections] will force the American leaders to 
shift their emphasis and take more interest in the 
possible results of democratic elections in Arab states 
that lack a real democratic heritage, and where radical 
religious circles wield crucial influence." 
 
Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The spirit of 
Hamas is the inner truth of the Palestinian people.... 
Placing the burden of blame on Israel's policies is an 
act of arrogance." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "It would be best if Israel 
ultimately decided to give the Palestinian Authority 
the [tax monies] that it collects on behalf of the 
PA.... But ... Hamas leaders must not be allowed to 
evade responsibility." 
 
Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "There was no [Israeli] 
policy and no concept, and if there were they were 
confused and contradictory.  In the meantime Hamas is 
in power and Israel continues with its simulations." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in Ha'aretz: 
"Putting an end to the occupation is still the order of 
the day, even after the Palestinian Authority 
elections." 
 
Hebrew University Communications and Political Science 
Professor Eytan Gilboa, currently on sabbatical at the 
University of Southern California, wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot: "Elections should be the last -- and not the 
first -- step in the establishment of a democracy." 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global 
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist 
Barry Rubin, wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post: "If the relatively secular Fatah 
generally followed this pattern and rejected 
moderation, why should Hamas be any different?" 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "U.S. Taken By Surprise -- Israel Less So" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote on page one of independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (January 29): "Before the Palestinian 
parliamentary elections the United States and Israel 
had an argument about their outcome.  While American 
intelligence predicted Fatah would win and the new 
Palestinian government would be able to disarm Hamas, 
Israeli intelligence argued that there was no chance of 
a significant Fatah triumph, that Hamas would increase 
its strength considerably and that Hamas would win up 
to 50 percent of the votes.... In any case, it figured, 
Fatah would not be able to disarm Hamas.... The 
Americans, certain of Fatah's victory, said it was 
better to hold elections on schedule.  In retrospect it 
is clear that the Americans put more emphasis on the 
democratic process itself, rather than its outcome. 
The results will force the American leaders to shift 
their emphasis and take more interest in the possible 
results of democratic elections in Arab states that 
lack a real democratic heritage, and where radical 
religious circles wield crucial influence." 
 
II.  "It Is Not Our Fault" 
 
Veteran columnist Yaron London wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (January 29): 
"One explanation posits that Hamas gained in strength 
because our disengagement from the Gaza Strip taught 
the Palestinians that Israel can be defeated by the 
power of the sword and, therefore, the sword-bearers 
are worthy of leading them.  Another explanation posits 
that Hamas won because we weakened the Palestinian 
Authority until it lacked sufficient strength to meet 
the Palestinian population's needs and to enforce its 
authority over the armed organizations.  Both those 
arguments place full blame on us and contradict one 
another: the former pins Hamas's success on our 
concessions while the latter on our intractability. 
Both are shaky....  The truth was otherwise: the spirit 
of Hamas is the inner truth of the Palestinian people. 
It has been exposed now not because it did not exist in 
the past but because the free elections allowed it to 
come out into the light of day.... Placing the burden 
of blame on Israel's policies is an act of arrogance. 
We tend to think that our actions and failings are the 
principal agent that shapes the spirit of Palestinian 
society, but that is not the case.  What has a greater 
impact are trends that are pervasive throughout the 
Arab world, where Islam has been winning out over 
nationalism, a product that the Arabs imported from the 
West and only served to disappoint them.... In the 
years ahead we have a single task: to hunker down and 
to fortify ourselves behind borders that we will 
determine in keeping with the criteria that a majority 
of Israelis have already made peace with." 
 
III.  "Full Government Responsibility" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (January 30): "It would be best 
if Israel ultimately decided to give the Palestinian 
Authority the value-added taxes and customs duties that 
it collects on behalf of the PA.  This money belongs to 
the Palestinians, not to Israel, and it will help the 
PA only slightly, as its financial situation is 
disastrous.... But ... Hamas leaders must not be 
allowed to evade responsibility.  Whatever government 
is formed in the PA today, it will be under Hamas's 
direct and absolute control.  In any case, cabinet 
members will need the approval of the parliament, where 
Hamas has an absolute majority, for any decision they 
make.  Therefore, there is complete justification for 
demanding that Hamas's leadership state its positions 
publicly and clearly: does it intend to continue terror 
attacks under the guise of resistance to the 
occupation?  Will it negotiate with Israel based on the 
formula of mutual recognition and the principle of two 
states for two peoples, which was laid down in the Oslo 
Accord?" 
 
IV.  "We Knew, But We Did Nothing" 
 
Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv (January 30): "Anyone who 
claims that Israel did not know that Hamas was about to 
win the Palestinian Authority elections, does not know 
what he is talking about.  In mid-November I talked to 
a very senior security official who already believed 
Hamas would receive at least 45 percent of the vote and 
the chances that it would win the election were high. 
Palestinian journalists who are close to the grass 
roots dismissed this prediction, which means that 
Israel knew better than many Palestinians what was 
going to happen.... The government was totally 
negligent in the face of an event that it perceived as 
dangerous, and did nothing about the new neighbors who 
were moving in on the other side of the door... The 
Israeli policy towards the elections was ambivalent and 
triple-intentioned, which means in effect that there 
was no policy.... Should Israel have intervened in the 
elections, to deflect the expected result and thwart 
the Hamas threat?  The answer of the top security brass 
was, predictably, yes and no.  Our main interest, they 
said, was to grant the Palestinians the responsibility 
for their fate and for determining their future, even 
if they should elect Hamas.... In short, there was no 
policy and no concept, and if there were they were 
confused and contradictory.  In the meantime Hamas is 
in power and Israel continues with its simulations." 
 
 
¶V.  "Guide For the Dumbstruck Dove" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in Ha'aretz 
(January 29): "At first glance, the results of the 
elections in the Palestinian Authority were the death 
knell for the left's way of looking at the world: when 
the majority of the Palestinian people votes for a 
party that, for religious reasons, rejects the right of 
the Jewish people to have a state on part of the Land 
of Israel, it affirms the Israeli right's understanding 
of the essence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.... 
[But] putting an end to the occupation is still the 
order of the day, even after the Palestinian Authority 
elections.  It is difficult to calculate the 
contribution of the occupation to the success of Hamas, 
to determine the extent to which its victory reflects 
the heartfelt desire of the Palestinian people (and the 
Arabs in general, in light of the nature of the Arab 
regimes and the status of Islam within them) versus the 
extent it is a product of their suffering under Israeli 
rule." 
 
VI.  "Good News" 
 
Hebrew University Communications and Political Science 
Professor Eytan Gilboa, currently on sabbatical at the 
University of Southern California, wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot (January 30): "The West relates to free 
elections as a first and key test of the existence of 
democracy.  The Bush administration in particular is 
seized with an obsession to hold as many quick 
elections in the Middle East and use them in order to 
present supposed progress in the war on terror. 
However, free elections are an important yet 
insufficient component in a democracy.... Elections 
should be the last -- and not the first -- step in the 
establishment of a democracy." 
 
VII.  "Hamas: What the Nationalist Sowed, the Islamist 
Reaped" 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global 
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist 
Barry Rubin, wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post (January 30): "The landslide victory of 
the Islamist Hamas in the January 25 Palestinian 
elections marks the collapse of the Palestinian 
national movement.... Fatah, and the PLO of which it 
was a part, never made gaining a Palestinian state its 
priority.  On the contrary, the goal was one of total 
victory in which Israel would be wiped off the map. 
Anything short of that outcome, including achieving a 
smaller Palestinian state, was not only a distraction 
from that goal, it was outright treason.... If Fatah is 
incapable of achieving anything material, why should 
Palestinians support it?.... Whenever Fatah had to 
decide between sacrificing its ideology or its people's 
well-being, the nationalists always chose to sacrifice 
the latter.  If the relatively secular Fatah generally 
followed this pattern and rejected moderation, why 
should Hamas be any different?" 
 
JONES