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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 001101 
 
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.  National Security Strategy of the United States 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
¶3.  Bird Flu 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media (banners in Maariv and The Jerusalem Post) 
reported that on Sunday, Palestinian PM-designate 
Ismail Haniyeh presented the new Hamas cabinet, which 
includes only the Hamas faction, to PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas.  Haniyeh confirmed that 
Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar would serve as foreign 
minister, while Said Siam, a top leader of the Islamic 
movement, would be in charge of the Interior Ministry. 
On Sunday, Yediot reported that the US is pressuring 
Abbas to delay the announcement about the new 
Palestinian government until after the Israeli 
elections. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as 
saying that Abbas's moment of truth has arrived and 
that the entire world is watching to see whether Abbas 
will endorse the Hamas government and its guidelines -- 
the adherence to the right of resistance and the right 
of return.  Israel Radio quoted Saeb Erekat, who heads 
the PLO's negotiating team with Hamas, as saying that 
Abbas will give Hamas a chance and that he will not 
object to it forming the government.  However, the 
radio quoted Erekat as saying that should a crisis 
arise and international assistance to the PA be frozen, 
Abbas would exercise his right to fire Haniyeh.  The 
station cited Erekat's belief that Abbas will convene 
the parliament for a confidence motion in the 
government before the Arab League Summit scheduled for 
the end of this month.  Ghazi Hamed, the editor of 
Hamas's periodical in Rafah, was quoted as saying in an 
interview with Israel Radio this morning that Fatah 
members are trying to hamper the Abbas-Hamas 
connection.  Hamed was quoted as saying that Hamas is 
not opposed to Abbas holding negotiations with Israel, 
but that previous agreements with Israel are not 
binding on Hamas because the PLO had signed them.  On 
Sunday, Hatzofe quoted anonymous Palestinian sources 
close to Abbas's bureau as saying on Saturday Abbas has 
promised to consider the proposal to resign his 
position and announce the disbanding of the Palestinian 
Authority and the handing over of responsibility for 
the Palestinian territories to Israel.  Hatzofe quoted 
its sources as saying that A-Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a high- 
level deputy of Abbas, raised the proposal last 
Thursday in a meeting of Fatah's Central Committee. 
Hatzofe cited Israel's concern that Arab leaders might 
try, at the Arab League Summit, to erode the conditions 
set by the international community regarding a Hamas 
government. 
 
All media continued to report extensively on the 
repercussions of the discovery of avian flu in Israel. 
Ha'aretz reported that the Agriculture Ministry 
announced Sunday that the virus that hit Israel is of 
the lethal H5N1 strain.  The newspaper reported that 
the authorities will cull one million birds. 
 
The Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported 
that on Sunday afternoon, Israeli, PA, US, EU, and 
Egyptian officials met at US Ambassador Richard Jones's 
residence in Herzliya to look for a compromise over the 
crucial issue of crossing points with the Gaza Strip. 
The Jerusalem Post and Maariv reported that the PA 
agreed to open the Kerem Shalom crossing -- but only to 
goods coming from Egypt, not from Israel.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted Western diplomatic officials as 
saying that Israel's refusal to open up the Karni 
crossing, and its insistence in opening up Kerem Shalom 
instead, had less to do with security needs and more to 
do with an interest in getting out of the customs 
envelope agreement with the PA.  Israel Radio reported 
that at the meeting at Ambassador Jones's, Israel 
agreed to transfer food to Gaza through Egypt today. 
Other major media reported on the Herzliya meeting. 
 
Israel Radio reported that today, the EU will sign an 
agreement in Gaza to provide 64 million euros in aid to 
the Palestinians -- half the aid approved last month. 
On Sunday, Maariv reported that James Wolfensohn, the 
Quartet's Mideast Envoy who is about to end his 
service, cautioned in a strongly-worded letter that he 
sent to the leaders of the Quartet about the state of 
the PA, warning against a "humanitarian crisis" that he 
envisions will include a lack of basic supplies within 
two weeks."  According to Maariv, Wolfensohn lays the 
blame for the above on Israel and the United States. 
The newspaper wrote that Wolfensohn's letter raises to 
new heights the crisis in relations between Wolfensohn 
and the US, which at this point is not interested in 
extending the former's service, and has exacerbated the 
chaos and uncertainty with regard to the PA's condition 
and its chances of survival. Israel Radio reported on 
two meetings that took place this morning on the matter 
of the reopening of the Karni crossing -- the first one 
between senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad and 
with Palestinian representatives; the second one 
between Acting PM Ehud Olmert and Shimon Peres, number 
two in Kadima, allowing the crossing to open today for 
several hours so that milk products and other goods can 
be brought into the Gaza Strip. 
 
On Sunday, Maariv reported that dozens of American and 
Canadian security personnel, including high-ranking 
officials from the Department of Homeland Security and 
officers of the police force, would be arriving in 
Israel that day in order to participate in the first 
counterterrorism training of its kind provided by 
Israel. 
 
Major media reported that border policemen accidentally 
killed a 10-year-old Palestinian girl north of Jenin on 
Friday. 
 
Over the weekend, The Jerusalem Post and Yediot cited 
newly published research by Professors Stephen Walt of 
Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and 
John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, 
according to which pressure by Israel and AIPAC was the 
critical element in the decision that led to the US war 
against Iraq. 
 
On Friday, the Arabic-language Assennara published the 
text of an exclusive interview with former Syrian Vice 
President Abdul Halim Khaddam, who was quoted as saying 
that an opposition front would soon be set up in Syria, 
and that Israeli Intelligence appointed Israeli Knesset 
Member Azmi Bishara to mediate with Syria. 
 
Leading media reported that a Palestinian man and his 
Israeli wife have petitioned the High Court of Justice 
to let them live together in Jerusalem or Ramallah. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
¶1.  National Security Strategy of the United States: 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Is the new path of 
the battered administration going to involve sailing 
along on a cascade of words until its tenure ends, when 
it no longer has the willpower to act with the 
determination -- often rash, but at times necessary 
nevertheless -- that characterized it until not long 
ago?" 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Commander or Ally" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 20): 
"According to the new National Security Strategy (NSS) 
document that was issued last week, President George 
Bush is making an effort to be seen as a more 
environmentally friendly ally.  Both with respect to 
the more distant, global environment and the immediate 
environment -- the American public.  Because strategy 
and politics are always intertwined, particularly in 
election years.  And Bush now has to try to enhance his 
image, if not by actions, then at least by words.  The 
NSS document is mandated by U.S. law, and should not be 
taken lightly.... The document thus reveals that the 
hardships that hinder the Bush administration have 
nothing to do with any loss of a strategic compass.  It 
is a tactical and political difficulty.  The question 
is whether Bush will exploit the narrow opening he left 
himself in the document:  Will he be deterred from 
intervening once more, even when he knows he might 
again emerge bruised and battered?  Is this document a 
compilation of sophisticated phraseology that merely 
conceals a big stick -- or is the new path of the 
battered administration going to involve sailing along 
on a cascade of words until its tenure ends, when it no 
longer has the willpower to act with the determination 
-- often rash, but at times necessary nevertheless -- 
that characterized it until not long ago?" 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Liberal columnist Dr. Gadi Taub wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "If there is something that really 
frightens Israelis, it is the thought that the US will 
stop supporting us." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "If Israel wants to 
unilaterally disengage from territories in the West 
Bank, it must take into account that this is liable to 
cause disengagement from the international community, 
as well." 
 
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote in the editorial 
of nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "The border of the 
Gaza Strip ... has become a border of war in every 
way.... This is what will happen in the center of the 
country should Olmert's government carry out its 
political plan." 
 
Columnist Bradley Burston wrote in Ha'aretz: "Right 
now, somewhere in the West Bank, there's an eight-year- 
old whose life could be saved next week, if we've 
managed to learn the lesson [of the death of American 
peace activist Rachel Corrie three years ago] and are 
resourceful enough to know how to apply it." 
 
Prominent liberal author Amos Oz wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "We ought to 
bear in mind that the Arab countries have urgent and 
strong reasons to fear Hamas's rise to power, and to 
seek -- along with us -- a path of peace that will push 
the Hamas genie back into its bottle." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Danger from the Direction of the United States" 
 
Liberal columnist Dr. Gadi Taub wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (March 20): "If there is something 
that really frightens Israelis, it is the thought that 
the US will stop supporting us.  Most of the time, 
fortunately enough, we do not think that this could 
really happen.  But we should think again.  A position 
paper was recently published, written by John 
Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen 
Walt of Harvard University, about the pro-Israel lobby 
in Washington.... According to the authors, the US has 
been conducting its foreign policy in the Middle East 
for many years on the basis of one solitary principle: 
unreserved support for Israel.... Despite the slightly 
hysterical tone of the document, and despite the fact 
that it occasionally slips into images that are 
reminiscent of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (the 
'stranglehold' of the lobby on US politics), it should 
not be disregarded.  Because one of its premises is 
correct: there is no assured identity of interests 
between the US and Israel.... The pro-Israel lobby is 
not an eternal and all-encompassing Jewish power.   It 
belongs to a particular generation.... There is, then, 
a dangerous combination here.  On one hand, a 
rethinking of the support for Israel; on the other 
hand, a weakening of the pro-Israel forces in the US. 
But these are not processes over which no one has 
control, because it is not Israel that is standing in 
the way of the United States in the Middle East, but 
rather the occupation that is creating the conflict. 
Ending the occupation is necessary in order to stop the 
erosion of Jewish support for Israel, and it is also 
necessary to keep Israel from being a constant obstacle 
to the US foreign policy in the region.  We have a 
limited window of opportunity to leave the territories. 
Not just because the occupation is corrupting us.  But 
because within a few years a new map of US interests in 
the region will be drawn up, and we had better find 
ourselves on the right side of this map." 
 
II.  "We Are Fed Up" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 20): "If 
Israel wants to unilaterally disengage from territories 
in the West Bank, it must take into account that this 
is liable to cause disengagement from the international 
community, as well.  The day is not far off when the 
world will tell us: If you want to turn the Gaza Strip 
into a state of the Muslim Brotherhood -- have a nice 
time.  If you want to starve Palestinian children -- 
then you pay the price for the humanitarian disaster. 
You've decided to disengage unilaterally from the West 
Bank?  Don't come to us when Al Qaida opens a branch in 
Ramallah.  To put it concisely: 'We are fed up with 
you.'" 
 
III.  "The Results of Disengagement and the Knesset 
Elections" 
 
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote in the editorial 
of nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (March 19): "Starting 
this coming week, the Palestinian Authority is now a 
Hamas Authority by any reckoning.  The solution of 
Olmert and Kadima for the new situation is one of 
withdrawal and flight, or 'convergence,' according to 
the new term invented and laundered by the left wing. 
We have all seen and endured for ourselves the results 
of the previous withdrawal: it led to the Hamas 
government's takeover of the Palestinian Authority. 
The border of the Gaza Strip ... has become a border of 
war in every way.... This is what will happen in the 
center of the country should Olmert's government carry 
out its political plan after the elections, God forbid. 
This reality should be foremost in the awareness of 
every Israeli voter, including those same members of 
the religious Zionist camp who have expressed their 
support for Kadima with no logical explanation for what 
they are doing." 
 
IV.  "We Have with Whom to Talk" 
 
Prominent liberal author Amos Oz wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (March 19): "We 
would do well were we to remind ourselves today as well 
that Hamas won the support of only 41 percent of the 
Palestinians who actually turned out to vote.  It was 
only a distorted electoral system that gave Hamas a 
majority of the seats in the Palestinian parliament. 
Instead of humiliating Abu Mazen and the moderate 
Palestinian camp repeatedly, Israel ought to announce 
that it does not recognize the Hamas government, but 
only the government of the Presidency (Abu Mazen was 
elected to his post by an overwhelming majority of 62 
percent).  Negotiations with the Palestinian 
Presidency, should they end with a draft agreement, 
might produce a 'Hamas bypass route' and result in 
victory for the moderate Palestinian camp. On this 
issue, Meretz's position is the only alternative to the 
'there's no one to talk to' point of view subscribed to 
by Olmert and Netanyahu.   Israel has one more way of 
bypassing Hamas, and it is to engage in negotiations 
with the Arab governments over a comprehensive solution 
to each one of the fundamental components of the 
conflict on the basis of the Arab League's proposal in 
2003 (the Saudi proposal).... No one expects Israel to 
sign on the whole offer....   [But] we ought to bear in 
mind that the Arab countries have urgent and strong 
reasons to fear Hamas's rise to power, and to seek -- 
along with us -- a path of peace that will push the 
Hamas genie back into its bottle.   If a reasonable 
agreement is achieved between Israel and the Arab 
countries, then it is most certain that most of the 
Palestinians, with the encouragement and pressure of 
the Arab countries, will ratify the agreement in a 
referendum.... What about the Labor Party?  There 
indeed are moderate forces with open eyes in the Labor 
Party who will adopt Meretz's position.  However, as 
usual, there are also others in the Labor Party whose 
political positions and emotional predilection is more 
akin to Olmert and Netanyahu's 'bunker.'" 
 
 
¶V.  "Who Remembers Rachel Corrie?" 
 
Columnist Bradley Burston wrote in independent, left- 
leaning Ha'aretz (March 20): "Who remembers the name 
Rachel Corrie?  In Israel, hardly anyone.  But to many 
a pro-Palestinian American or Briton -- and to many of 
their pro-Israeli antagonists -- the mere mention of 
the name is enough to make the blood boil.  It was 
three years ago this week that the 23-year-old native 
of Olympia, Washington, who had come to the Gaza Strip 
to protest against IDF demolitions of Palestinian 
houses, was crushed to death as she tried to block the 
path of a mammoth IDF armored bulldozer.... Incidental 
death.  It's what we've learned to live with, the price 
of our security.  We know we can't root it out 
altogether.  But we have to look at it differently, 
honestly, in order to limit it as best we can.... Right 
now, somewhere in the West Bank, there's an eight-year- 
old whose life could be saved next week, if we've 
managed to learn the lesson and are resourceful enough 
to know how to apply it." 
 
------------- 
¶3.  Bird Flu: 
------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "It would be comforting to know that 
given this particular peril ... we could expect full, 
unstinting and sincere cooperation between all 
neighboring countries, as well as with the Palestinian 
Authority." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"A Case of the Flu" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (March 19): "Flu viruses mutate easily 
and frequently.... Extreme care, therefore, is 
imperative to isolate the outbreak as much as possible, 
given the fact that it's spread by undomesticated avian 
flocks that know no boundaries.... It would be 
comforting to know that given this particular peril -- 
one that doesn't differentiate between nationalities, 
religions and races -- we could expect full, unstinting 
and sincere cooperation between all neighboring 
countries, as well as with the Palestinian 
Authority.... Whatever erupts on one side of the divide 
isn't likely to have spared poultry in the immediately 
adjacent territory. International cooperation in such 
instances should be regarded both a humanitarian and 
health-preserving priority." 
 
JONES