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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 000506 
 
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.  Iran: Nuclear Program 
 
¶3.  Muhammad Cartoon Controversy 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that early next week, FM Tzipi 
Livni will leave for a visit to the U.S. 
 
In its lead story, Maariv reported that on Thursday, 
senior Israeli defense officials maintained in internal 
discussions that the establishment of a Hamas state 
should not be allowed.   Maariv cited the officials' 
belief that moderate statements by Hamas leaders are a 
deception and that Hamas is interested in turning the 
PA into part of the Iran-Hizbullah axis.  The officials 
were quoted as saying that the Palestinians must be 
made to understand that they erred in their vote. 
Ha'aretz (banner in English Ed.) reported that the 
defense establishment is expected to advise Acting PM 
Ehud Olmert to transfer to the PA 250 million shekels 
(around USD 53 million) in tax revenues, which he froze 
following Hamas's victory in the elections to the 
Palestinian Legislative Council.  Israel Radio reported 
that Olmert will convene a meeting on the matter 
immediately after Sunday's cabinet meeting.  Leading 
Kadima minister Abraham Hirchson was quoted as saying 
in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that he has 
been hearing comments from within Hamas that offer some 
hope the terrorist group may now chart a more moderate 
course. 
 
Israel Radio quoted U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem 
Jacob Walles as saying that the U.S. is concerned about 
the possibility that the PA might request funds from 
Iran.  However, Walles was quoted as saying that he 
doubts whether Tehran would be able to substantially 
fund a Hamas-led PA.  Walles was also quoted as saying 
that since Hamas's victory, the U.S. has suspended new 
projects in the PA.  Israel Radio reported that dozens 
of U.S. Congress members have submitted a bill aiming 
at stopping U.S. aid to the PA and cutting off 
diplomatic links with it until Hamas recognizes 
Israel's right to exist.  The radio quoted the bill's 
initiators as saying that it will enjoy broad support. 
 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was quoted as saying 
in an interview with Yediot's Smadar Perry that he does 
not understand why the Hamas win causes Israel to panic 
and that Hamas must recognize Israel.  He was quoted as 
saying that he advises the GOI to help PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas and to arm itself with 
patience. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli diplomatic officials 
as saying Thursday that Russian President Vladimir 
Putin's refusal to characterize Hamas as a terrorist 
organization does not mean there is a diplomatic crisis 
between Jerusalem and Moscow, although Israel has made 
its displeasure clear to the Kremlin. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Hamas leader Khaled Mashal as 
saying in an article in the Palestinian daily Al-Hayat 
Al-Jadida that his movement will never recognize 
Israel's exist, but that it could enter a long-term 
truce with it. 
 
All media reported (banner in Ha'aretz (Hebrew Ed.)) 
that today, the Board of Governors of the International 
Atomic Energy Commission is scheduled to discuss 
referral of the Iranian nuclear program issue to the UN 
Security Council.  Israel Radio and Hatzofe quoted 
Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte as 
saying Thursday in a testimony before the Senate Select 
Committee on Intelligence that Iran's nuclear 
development program is an "immediate concern," although 
Tehran probably does not yet have a nuclear device. 
The radio also quoted Negroponte as saying that Al 
Qaida terrorism remains the most serious threat to U.S. 
national security.  The Jerusalem Post printed an AP 
dispatch about Negroponte's testimony. 
 
Major media reported that on Thursday, Hizbullah's Al 
Manar-TV broadcast interviews with South Lebanon 
residents, in which they call for avenging the killing 
of a Lebanese citizen along the Lebanon-Israeli border. 
The media cited similar remarks made by Hizbullah 
leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.  The media cited 
Hizbullah allegations that the IDF had killed an 
innocent shepherd, and quoted IDF soldiers as saying 
that they shot an armed man who was firing in their 
direction.  Israel Radio reported that the IDF, which 
fear that Hizbullah will try to target Israeli 
soldiers, is on high alert along the border. 
 
Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra was quoted as 
saying Thursday in an interview with The Jerusalem Post 
that the government will continue dismantling settler 
outposts in the West Bank, with three in the Yitzhar 
region next in line.  Yediot quoted a senior GOI 
official as saying Thursday that the government is not 
keen to evacuate additional outposts at this time -- 
before the Knesset elections and after the Amona 
clashes.  Yediot reported that following Tuesday's 
violent incidents in the settler outpost of Amona, the 
police's internal affairs unit will investigate 
policemen over their violent behavior and that rioters 
will be brought to trial.  Ha'aretz reported that right- 
and left-wing politicians demand that an official 
investigative commission into the police's behavior be 
established. 
 
All media reported that on Thursday, the IDF decided to 
pull out the troops providing security for Yitzhar, 
after the residents of the West Bank settlement 
attacked soldiers on multiple occasions.  Maariv 
reported that on Thursday, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni 
started talks with settler leaders in order to reach an 
arrangement on the matter of settler outposts. 
 
The media reported and commented on ongoing protests 
and threats of retaliation in the Arab world, in 
particular in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, over 
caricatures in some European newspapers of the Prophet 
Muhammad. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a leading U.S. 
evangelist, Pastor John C. Hagee of San Antonio, is 
forming an umbrella organization -- Christians United 
For Israel (CUFI) -- under which all pro-Israel 
Christians in America can speak as one in support of 
Israel. 
 
Prominent American Mideast expert Prof. Bernard Lewis 
was quoted as saying in an interview with Yediot that a 
hudna (truce) with Hamas could last for years, but that 
violence will return and that the end of conflict is 
not possible from Islam's point of view. 
Major media reported that Likud Chairman MK Binyamin 
Netanyahu is considering forming a joint list for the 
Knesset elections with the National Religious Party and 
Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu.  The media cited 
the belief of senior Likud officials that the party's 
central committee will not endorse Netanyahu's 
initiative.  Some media quoted Likud officials as 
saying that they will not let Netanyahu turn Likud into 
an extreme right-wing party. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that Palestinian 
Americans living in the Ramallah area expressed 
cautious optimism this week after Hamas's landslide 
victory in last month's PLC elections, despite the 
ascendance of an Islamic party denounced as a terror 
organization by the U.S.  The newspaper wrote that none 
of the highly educated and successful Palestinian- 
Americans who spoke with the newspaper were even 
considering a move back to America, and that all voiced 
a commitment in building civil society in Palestine. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that El Al has reduced 
its baggage allowance on flights to North America, 
effective since the beginning of 2006. 
 
A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll held late 
this week shows a slight decrease in support for Kadima 
following the Amona events: 
-"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom 
would you vote?"  (Results in Knesset seats -- in 
brackets, results of previous poll.) 
-Kadima 42 (40); Labor Party 21 (21); Likud 15 (13); 
Shas 10 (9); Arab parties 8 (8); Yisrael Beiteinu 6 
(5); United Torah Judaism 5 (6); Meretz 5 (4); National 
Union 5 (5); National Religious Party 3 (3). 
-"Is Israel to blame for the Hamas win?"  No: 52 
percent; yes: 42 percent. 
-"Should Israel transfer to the Palestinians tax 
revenues that it raises on their behalf?  The transfer 
should be delayed for the moment: 43 percent; it should 
be stopped: 28 percent; it should be continued: 27 
percent. 
 
A Maariv/TNS/Teleseker Polling Institute survey taken 
before the Amona confrontation shows similar results 
regarding voting intentions: 
-Kadima 42 (42); Labor Party 19 (19); Likud 16 (13); 
Shas 10 (10); Arab parties 8 (8); Yisrael Beiteinu 6 
(6); National Union 6 (6); United Torah Judaism 6 (6); 
Meretz 5 (5); National Religious Party 2 (3). 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "[Olmert] will 
focus on establishing permanent borders for a state 
with a Jewish majority -- even if it means a head-on 
collision with the extremists." 
 
Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The [U.S.] 
administration would not be keen to lose one of its few 
points of leverage over the PA." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "A Leader Is Born" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (February 3): 
"Olmert believes that the evacuation [of the Amona 
settler outpost] gives him the power to be stubborn on 
other issues when presenting Israel's case to the 
world.  The German Chancellor, who was just here, and 
now the leaders of Europe and even Mubarak, have 
adopted Olmert's ABCs for resuming dialogue: A) Hamas' 
total disarmament; B) Hamas' renunciation of its 
charter and recognition of Israel; and C) Hamas' 
acceptance of all existing agreements between Israel 
and the Palestinian Authority.... Olmert's resolve ... 
may be a hint that Sharon's stand-in and successor is 
sending an independent message, in preparation for the 
day when he puts together a government of his own. 
Without hugs and kisses, without sly winks at the 
settlers, he will focus on establishing permanent 
borders for a state with a Jewish majority -- even if 
it means a head-on collision with the extremists." 
 
II.  "The United States' PA Problem" 
 
Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (February 3): 
"Though the [U.S.] administration presented an 
unwavering position [regarding the rise of Hamas in the 
PA], it is clear that tough words from the President 
and Secretary of State will not be sufficient when 
maintaining a clear policy for the region is concerned. 
First, there is the issue of financial aid.... If the 
U.S. does decide to cut its aid, it might find Iran, 
Saudi Arabia, or other Arab countries lining up to fill 
the financial gap.  And though it has been claiming for 
a long time that the Arab countries do not give enough 
to their Palestinian brethren, the administration would 
not be keen to lose one of its few points of leverage 
over the PA.... Second, there is the question of 
demands made on Hamas.... Though, at the moment, all 
parties agree with the U.S. that Hamas has to recognize 
Israel's right to exist, it is not clear what will 
happen when discussion really begin... The third point 
of potential tension is Congress... The time will come 
when [the administration] comes in -- as it has in the 
past -- and demand that Congress not restrict its 
ability to conduct Middle East diplomacy.  Finally, 
there is the legal issue.... Whom are the Americans 
allowed to talk to [in Hamas]?" 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Bush still 
believes in the possibility of stopping the Iranians 
from getting what they want.  But if that is so, why is 
it necessary to 'defend' Israel?'" 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Defend Israel? -- Against What?" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (February 3): "In a 
Reuters interview aboard Air Force 1, President Bush 
conveyed the good news -- or is it really good?.... 'We 
will rise to Israel's defense if need be,' he 
promised.... Now, what does 'rise to Israel's defense' 
mean?  Does it refer to the period before Iran acquires 
nuclear weapons -- or after?  In the press gaggle 
aboard Air Force 1 reporters were told that 'the 
President spoke with President Putin' of Russia on 
Wednesday.  They discussed the Iranian nuclear issue 
and they both agreed it was important to stay in close 
contact as we move forward to address this issue.'  The 
conclusion here ought to be: Bush still believes in the 
possibility of stopping the Iranians from getting what 
they want.  But if that is so, why is it necessary to 
'defend' Israel?'" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
¶3.  Muhammad Cartoon Controversy: 
--------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Additional newspapers have ... 
decided that all due or undue respect, Muslim 
sensitivity has already exceeded what too many people 
in the world can bear." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Europeans Are Fed Up With Extremist Islam" 
 
Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (February 3): "History is replete with 
examples of small events that begat tremendous 
processes.... It remains to see whether a European 
dwarf [Denmark] fired the opening shot in the European 
counteroffensive against Islamic madness.... It 
actually is the free press in Europe that is showing 
signs of a counter-reaction.  While Muslims all over 
the world face Denmark with frightening grimaces and 
boycott its products, additional newspapers have 
climbed up barricades and decided that all due or undue 
respect, Muslim sensitivity has already exceeded what 
too many people in the world can bear.  The problem is 
that sensitivity in Islam is ... low.... The real 
problem of Europe facing Islam is not the extremism 
from the east, but the West's indifference, in the best 
case, or its arrogance when it believes this is about a 
somewhat childish culture that should be hassled until 
it grows up.  Perhaps it actually is the little Denmark 
that will clarify to the big [European] continent that 
the phenomenon will not stop unless it is aided." 
 
JONES