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

161031Z Mar 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 001059 
 
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. The Jericho Operation 
 
¶2. Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Jericho Operation: 
*Israel Radio this morning quoted Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice as saying that the US has never been 
responsible for the Jericho prison security.  She said 
that according to the agreement between the US, 
Britain, Israel and the Palestinians, the latter were 
the ones in charge.  The American and British guards 
were only supervisors. 
*The media reported that in the coming days Attorney- 
General Menachem Mazuz will hold consultations to 
determine whether to try the six Palestinian men taken 
from Jericho in a civil trial or a military trial. 
*Leading media reported that Jordan's King Abdullah 
said, regarding the Jericho raid, that it is an 
"unfortunate escalation." On the other hand, British 
Prime Minister Tony Blair was quoted as saying that one 
of the reasons that Britain decided to withdraw its 
monitors from the prison was Hamas's declaration that 
it intended to free Ze'evi's murderers. 
*PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called the raid an ugly 
crime. 
*Hatzofe reported that the Popular Front members that 
were captured in the Jericho operation tried to 
assassinate Ehud Olmert when he was the Jerusalem 
Mayor. 
 
Elections: 
*Maariv published Shimon Peres's vision on the Middle 
East. According to the paper, Peres has been working 
hard on his new initiative, an enormous economic- 
development zone that will spread out over hundreds of 
kilometers and will be a joint project between Jordan, 
the Palestinians and Israel.  Recently, the White House 
told Peres, through the Israeli ambassador in 
Washington, that the United States intends to give 
official support to the ambitious plan, which is 
estimated to cost approximately USD 8 billion. 
*All media reported that elections in Israeli embassies 
have began on Wednesday. 
*Maariv reported that senior Kadima members are saying 
that a unity government with the Likud is still 
possible if Sylvan Shalom will head the party after the 
election, assuming that if the Likud crashes in the 
elections, Netanyahu will be dismissed. 
 
POLLS: 
-Channel 10-TV and Ha'aretz published the results of a 
survey conducted this week by Prof. Camil Fuchs of the 
Amanet Group's Dialogue Institute: 
"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom 
would you vote?"  (Results in Knesset seats -- in 
brackets, results of poll conducted on March 9.) 
-Kadima 37 (37); Labor Party 20 (19); Likud 16 (17); 
Shas 10 (10); National Union-National Religious Party 8 
(10); Yisrael Beiteinu 10 (8); Arab parties 8 (8); 
United Torah Judaism 6 (5); Meretz 5 (4) 
-The poll found that the ratio of undecided voters 
("floating votes") corresponds to 28 (24) Knesset 
seats. 
 
- Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling 
Institute survey: 
-"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom 
would you vote?"  (Results in Knesset seats -- in 
brackets, results of last week's poll.) 
--Kadima 39 (38); Labor Party 20 (19); Likud 15 (17); 
Shas 9 (9); National Union-National Religious Party 9 
(9); Yisrael Beiteinu 8 (9); United Torah Judaism 5 
(5); Arab parties 9 (9); Meretz 5 (5). 
-"Did the IDF operation in Jericho affect the 
likelihood that you will vote for Kadima?" 
-The likelihood grew, 10 percent. 
-The likelihood dropped, 6 percent. 
-The likelihood did not change, 81 percent. 
 
-A Yediot/Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll held on 
Wednesday shows: 
-"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom 
would you vote?"  (Results in Knesset seats -- in 
brackets, results of last week's poll.) 
-Kadima 39 (37); Labor Party 19 (20); Likud 15 (14); 
Shas 11 (11); Yisrael Beiteinu 10 (10); Arab parties 8 
(8); National Union-National Religious Party 8 (8); 
United Torah Judaism 6 (6); Meretz 4 (6). 
 
Security related issues: 
*Israel Radio reported that an IDF soldier was killed 
in an IDF activity in Jenin where troops surrounded a 
house in which Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Brigades 
gunmen were hiding. 
*Israel Radio also reported that this morning two 
Israeli security guards were wounded in a West Bank 
shooting attack. 
*The IDF have launched an air strike targeting access 
roads in the Gaza Strip after a barrage of Qassam 
rockets was launched towards the Western Negev. 
*Leading media reported that Defense Minister Shaul 
Mofaz has extended the complete closure on the 
territories due to high terror warnings of Palestinian 
retaliation for the IDF raid on the Jericho prison on 
Tuesday. 
 
Ha'aretz's front page report says that American doctors 
have joined those who criticize the medical care given 
to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by physicians at 
Hadassah University Hospital. The paper notes that the 
negative assessment has been published in an American 
official medical journal. 
 
Both the Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz reported that 
special Quartet envoy, James Wolfenzon and US Security 
Coordinator, General Keith Dayton, have warned Congress 
against tough legislation regarding the PA.  According 
to the envoy, strict legislation could generate chaos 
and limit the role of the international community in 
dealing with moderate Palestinians. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a US congressional 
committee approved a new bill intended to toughen the 
sanctions against Iran. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the PA has begun paying overdue 
salaries to its workers. 
 
------------------------- 
¶1. The Jericho Operation: 
------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                      ---------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
key to the Palestinians' future is now in the hands of 
Hamas.  Once the Hamas government in the making frames 
its policy, it will be possible to determine the 
direction in which the Palestinians are headed 
regarding its relations with Israel and other states." 
 
Senior columnist Yaron London wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "From the 
Palestinians' point of view, Ze'evi's assassins are 
heroes.  The two contradictory narratives are one of 
the fundamental elements in the war in this land.  We 
will continue to kill and to be killed until the two 
peoples realize the justice is not the sole possession 
of either one." 
 
Columnist Yael Paz-Melamed wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "The question is not whether the murderers 
needed to be captured, but whether we need to cast them 
in such disgrace." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.   "On the edge of chaos" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (March 
16): "The military operation in Jericho marks the 
beginning of a new era.  The minimal cooperation among 
Israel, the Palestinian Authority and other states 
apparently will not continue along its current lines. 
New rules will be drawn up among these parties.... 
Abbas already had announced after the PA elections that 
he was unable to prevent the release of the Popular 
Front for the Liberation of Palestine commander and the 
five other wanted Palestinians, and that if they were 
released, then it could be assumed that the Israel 
Defense Forces would capture or kill them. After his 
premature return from Europe, Abbas said that Israel 
had carried out an 'unforgivable crime' by capturing 
the prisoners, but it is doubtful that Israel had an 
alternative. The departure of the British and American 
monitors left only one option.  During this interregnum 
in the PA, it is impossible to guess which of the 
agreements it signed will be honored and which will 
not.... The key to the Palestinians' future is now in 
the hands of Hamas.  Once the Hamas government in the 
making frames its policy, it will be possible to 
determine the direction in which the Palestinians are 
headed regarding its relations with Israel and other 
states." 
 
II. "Jericho" 
 
Senior columnist Yaron London wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (March 16): "A 
sovereign state cannot forsake the blood of one of its 
cabinet ministers.  Olmert was not guided by electoral 
motives.  Every Israeli leader would have acted the 
same, even knowing that the blow in Jericho was not 
going to change the way the Palestinians think and that 
they would take revenge on us for their humiliation. 
From the Palestinians' point of view, the Ze'evi 
assassination was no different at all from the acts 
that were committed by the Jews to break free of the 
yoke of British oppression.... From the Palestinians' 
point of view, Ze'evi's assassins are heroes.  The two 
contradictory narratives are one of the fundamental 
elements in the war in this land.  We will continue to 
kill and to be killed until the two peoples realize the 
justice is not the sole possession of either one." 
 
III. "The Euphoria of Force" 
 
Columnist Yael Paz-Melamed wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv (March 16): "We haven't seen this kind of 
euphoria and consensus in Israel for many years now.... 
Not just elation, but mainly pride.  Here, once again 
the IDF struck at our enemy swiftly and elegantly, 
humiliating them, making them appear ridiculous and 
pathetic.... And those words do not conceal any 
skepticism about the degree to which this operation was 
justified and crucial.  No government could have 
permitted the assassins of an Israeli cabinet minister 
to walk about freely.... The problem is with that same 
Israeli spirit that rises only when force is used.  We 
love seeing the Palestinians humiliated.... That was 
the real celebration for many of us, and we can only 
hope that the leaders of our country were not party to 
that enjoyment.  Because, after all, there is a gross 
and gratuitous danger in humiliating the 
Palestinians.... There can be no doubt that this evil 
cycle has been reopened with redoubled force.  A 
response to a response to a response.  The question is 
not whether the murderers needed to be captured, but 
whether we need to cast them in such disgrace." 
 
----------- 
¶2. Mideast: 
----------- 
 
Summary 
--------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Acting Prime 
Minister Ehud Olmert has declared his intention of 
eliminating all settlements beyond the separation fence 
in the West Bank within the next four years.... This is 
the time to tell the Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) 
settlers: You have failed." 
 
                     Block Quotes 
                    -------------- 
 
"Settlers, you have failed" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 16): "Acting 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has declared his intention 
of eliminating all settlements beyond the separation 
fence in the West Bank within the next four years.... 
This is the first time that an incumbent prime minister 
is declaring his intention of dismantling dozens of 
settlements, and nothing is happening.  No 
demonstrations and protests, no rebellion within the 
party, and no media uproar. Olmert's message sounds 
natural, understood, and not revolutionary.  This is 
the time to tell the Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) 
settlers: You have failed.  Your grandiose project, 
which is about to be dismantled, has registered a 
triple failure.  The first failure was in achieving the 
ultimate goal.... The second failure was in the 
settlers' disengagement from the public.... The third 
failure was security related. The settlements did not 
bring quiet, and when the war broke out, they proved to 
be irrelevant.... Olmert's declarations herald the end 
of the dream of populating the hilly areas and the 
Jordan Valley with Jews. His test will be in his 
ability to implement." 
JONES