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 000886 
 
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.  Iran: Nuclear Program 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
¶3.  UAE Role in US Port Management 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that A/S David Welch told members 
of Congress in Washington that the US is interested in 
isolating Hamas economically and politically in order 
to make it very difficult for the government it 
establishes in the PA to function. Welch was quoted as 
saying that American diplomats are trying to convince 
administrations throughout the world not to meet with 
Hamas representatives and that the US will report to 
the Quartet about such meetings.  Ha'aretz and The 
Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday, South Africa 
invited Hamas leaders for talks.  Israel Radio quoted 
Khaled Marshal, the head of Hamas's political bureau, 
who leads the movement's delegation to talks in Moscow 
today, as saying that the Israeli occupation is the 
main obstacle to peace, and that Israel rejects the 
Roadmap.  Israel Radio quoted Russia's special envoy to 
the Middle East Alexander Kalugin as saying that the 
meeting is not an attempt by Russia to impose 
conditions on Hamas, but to convince Hamas to change 
its positions. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Fatah's council will meet in 
Ramallah on Saturday to decide whether the movement 
will join the new Palestinian government.  The radio 
reported that there is no majority in the council to 
adopt the proposal. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a high-ranking IDF 
officer told the newspaper on Thursday that Israel's 
Arrow-2 anti-ballistic missile system is capable of 
intercepting and destroying any Iranian missiles, even 
were they to carry nuclear warheads. 
 
Leading media quoted Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz 
as saying after his meeting with PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas at the Allenby Bridge on 
Thursday that Abbas is "very relevant."  The Jerusalem 
Post reported that Abbas and Peretz discussed ways to 
eradicate terrorism and form a partnership.  Israel 
Radio quoted senior Kadima member Shimon Peres as 
saying that Israel avoids meeting with enemies, but 
that Abbas is not an enemy.  The radio quoted 
associates of Acting PM Ehud Olmert as saying in 
response to Peres's comment that Kadima ministers or 
members will not meet with Abbas. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday, Abbas 
phoned several Iraqi government officials and 
representatives of various groups in Baghdad, urging 
them to stop the killing of Palestinians in Iraq.  The 
Jerusalem Post wrote that PA officials in Ramallah told 
the newspaper that dozens of Palestinians have been 
killed in Iraq over the past few months by Iraqis 
belonging to various political and religious factions. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that in a letter to Senator 
Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Idan Ofer, chairman of the 
Israeli shipping giant Zim, expressed support for the 
Dubai Ports World company, which has won a contract to 
run six US ports. 
 
In its lead story, Ha'aretz cited the outrage of senior 
IDF officers over the IDF's decision to prevent one of 
their number from traveling to Britain for fear he 
might be arrested as a war criminal, charging that 
leading Hamas terrorists now enjoy more freedom of 
movement than IDF officers.  The newspaper reported 
that FM Tzipi Livni raised the issue with Foreign 
Office Minister Kim Howells during her visit to London 
Thursday. 
 
Yediot quoted Israeli defense sources as confirming 
Thursday that Hamas has succeeded in infiltrating 
terror activists into the Gaza Strip.  Hatzofe and 
Israel Radio reported that on Thursday, an unknown 
organization, the "Army of Jihad and Corruption 
Curbing" (approximate translation) conveyed a message 
to all foreign representations in the PA, demanding 
that they leave the PA within a month. 
 
Major media reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz 
decided Thursday that the Karni crossing will remain 
closed, after new information on concrete threats by 
terror groups to attack it was revealed in a meeting 
with the senior security echelon.  Israel Radio 
reported that several Qassam rockets were fired at 
Ashkelon this morning. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the same Bush administration 
review panel that approved a ports deal involving the 
United Arab Emirates (UAE) has notified the Israeli 
software security company Check Point that it faces a 
rare, full-blown investigation over its plans to buy 
the U.S. software firm Sourcefire, a smaller rival. 
The company was reportedly told that U.S. officials 
feared the transaction could endanger some of the USG's 
most sensitive computer systems.  Ha'aretz wrote that 
the objections brought forward by the FBI and the 
Pentagon were partly over specialized intrusion 
detection software known as "Snort," which guards some 
classified US military and intelligence computers. 
Snort's author is a senior executive at Sourcefire. 
 
Major media reported that on Thursday, the Moody's 
credit rating agency published its annual analysis of 
Israel, in which it confirmed Israel's credit rating of 
A2, with a "stable" outlook. 
 
Maariv reported that Silvan Shalom, the number two on 
the Likud list, has devised a plan for a rotation 
between Binyamin Netanyahu and Amir Peretz as prime 
ministers in a possible Likud-Labor government.  Peretz 
told Israel Radio this morning that he rejects such an 
arrangement.  Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that the 
Shas party has launched a campaign for English-speakers 
for the first time in its 22-year history in an attempt 
to capture the "small but crucial Anglo-Sephardi vote." 
 
In an article written for Maariv, an unnamed academic 
Iraqi woman described her daily experiences in anarchic 
and corruption-ridden Baghdad. 
 
All media reported that a nuclear deal was reached 
between the US and India during President Bush's visit 
to New Delhi Thursday. 
 
Leading media reported that the Federal Reserve has 
issued a new 10-dollar bill with color markings that 
will make counterfeiting more difficult. 
 
Maariv reported that oligarch Boris Berezovsky is 
expected to request that his Israeli citizenship, which 
he had forsaken, be returned to him so that he can 
escape prosecution by the Russian authorities.  Britain 
is considering extraditing him to Russia over his 
recent statement that he wants to topple the Russian 
regime. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that pastors John Hagee and 
Jerry Falwell have both denied a report in The 
Jerusalem Post earlier this week that they embrace the 
"dual covenant" theology, which holds that Jews are 
saved through a special relationship with God and 
therefore need not be Christians to enter heaven. 
 
Yediot reported that the American singer Madonna is 
interested in purchasing a house in the picturesque 
northern Galilee city of Rosh Pina and turning it into 
a Kabbala center. 
 
Reviewing the polls conducted for the newspaper by Mina 
Zemach (Dahaf Institute) from February 10 through March 
3, Yediot found that Kadima lost five Knesset mandates 
(from 43 to 38) during that period. 
 
Maariv reported that Kadima enjoys a small lead over 
the Labor and Likud parties in the newspaper's public 
opinion poll in the development towns (new immigrant 
towns established in the 1950s especially in the border 
areas, rural regions and periphery of Israel) that have 
so far been Likud strongholds.  Maariv printed the 
results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling Institute survey 
conducted on Wednesday in nine development towns. 
-"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom 
would you vote?"  (Results in Knesset seats; in 
brackets: actual 1993 election figures in those towns): 
-Kadima 29; Labor Party 25 (5); Likud 24  (45); Shas 19 
(16) (40 in 1999); National Union-National Religious 
Party (NRP) 11 (in 1993, National Union-Yisrael 
Beiteinu obtained the equivalent of 10 Knesset seats, 
and the NRP 5); United Torah Judaism 5 (4); Yisrael 
Beiteinu 7. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) and other media cited a poll 
conducted by Hanoch Smith, which indicates that about 
60 percent of the Jewish Israeli public (according to 
Hatzofe: 40 percent) supports encouraging Arabs to 
emigrate to Arab states.  The poll was presented by 
former MK Michael Kleiner, head of the right-wing Herut 
list that runs for the Knesset. 
 
-------------------------- 
¶1.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "The age of words has ended; the West 
must start the countdown to action." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Age of Words Has Ended" 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (March 3): "Not only has the chairman 
[sic] of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the 
Egyptian Mohammed ElBaradei, dared to talk a few days 
ago about a possibility that the world could put up 
with Iran enriching a small quantity of uranium, but 
nobody among the Western politicians said anything ... 
or raised an uproar.  This is a precedent that will be 
remembered as a watershed, after a disaster takes -- or 
alternatively following the outbreak of a preemptive 
strike.... Israelis who recently visited Washington 
[also] found slight hints of softening.... In a New 
York Times article, Professor Barry Posen wrote: 'We 
can live with a nuclear Iran'.... [Posen wrote]: 
'Iranian nuclear weapons could be put to three 
dangerous purposes: Iran could give them to terrorists; 
it could use them to blackmail other states; or it 
could engage in other kinds of aggressive behavior on 
the assumption that no one, not even the United States, 
would accept the risk of trying to invade a nuclear 
state or destroy it from the air.'  Posen wrote that 
the first two threats are improbable and that the third 
is manageable.  How?  Through a preemptive action by 
countries such as the US.  Israel is mentioned, too. 
[Posen's] explanations are futile.  Let there be a 
preventive strike at once.  At this time America isn't 
open to such a possibility -- only to a theoretical 
debate.  The red light is already switched on.  All 
bells must be rung.  The age of words has ended; the 
West must start the countdown to action." 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Israel's war against terror 
will continue with countless minor operations ... 
rather than with ostentatious displays." 
 
Columnist Khaled Abu Toameh wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "Ironically, Hamas wants 
Abbas to remain in power so that the international 
community could continue channeling funds through him 
to the Palestinians.  Hamas knows that the money would 
eventually go to the ... institutions under its 
control." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "A New Wave of Terrorism?" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 3): "For reasons not yet 
fully clear, terrorism seems to be reviving in the West 
Bank.... Does this add up to a random set of incidents 
or a new wave of terrorism?  However, all these 
incidents do not come close to the damage that one 
suicide bomber could cause.  Since the beginning of the 
year the Shin Bet and IDF have assassinated several 
Jihad leaders and arrested others.  Still, it appears 
the network has maintained its capability of launching 
suicide bombers.  This is a result of Israel's 
relatively restrained policy in the pre-pullout 
days.... Hamas, in contrast, is not part of this game. 
Its people have received clear orders not to take part 
in the attacks.  Israel's ongoing failure to stop the 
fund flow for terror from Damascus and Beirut has 
enabled Jihad and Hizbullah people there to send rogue 
Tanzim units to carry out attacks in the West Bank. 
Some of them were involved in the recent attacks.  On 
Thursday, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatened 
to deal with the situation with an 'iron fist' and said 
he instructed the defense establishment to operate 
'special measures not yet used' against terrorism. 
Taken literally, one could assume Israel would 
retaliate with deliberate attacks on Palestinian 
civilians.  Not to worry, no such orders have been 
issued.  Olmert's declaration sounds more like the 
bravado of a politician whose popularity is waning in 
the polls.  Israel's war against terror will continue 
with countless minor operations ... rather than with 
ostentatious displays." 
 
II.  "Friends or Foes?" 
 
Columnist Khaled Abu Toameh wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (March 3): "[Top Palestinian 
officials] said that [Mahmoud] Abbas went to Yemen 
[this week] to seek its help in persuading Damascus and 
Tehran not to provide Hamas with financial aid for fear 
that such a move would prompt the US and the Europeans 
to stop supporting the Palestinian Authority.... In any 
case, what is evident is that the Palestinians will 
soon find themselves under the control of two 
authorities -- one led by Hamas and the second by 
Fatah.  Although Hamas won the election, all the 
indications are that Fatah has no intention of 
relinquishing control over the PA's finances and 
security forces.... Ironically, Hamas wants Abbas to 
remain in power so that the international community 
could continue channeling funds through him to the 
Palestinians.  Hamas knows that the money would 
eventually go to the Palestinian budget and from there 
to ministries and other institutions under its 
control." 
 
----------------------------------- 
¶3.  UAE Role in US Port Management: 
----------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "The Dubai deal may or may not violate 
US anti-boycott laws, but treating a government that 
boycotts Israel as if nothing is wrong is pre-9/11 
thinking." 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Dubai's Boycott" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (March 3): "The Dubai deal may or may not 
violate US anti-boycott laws, but treating a government 
that boycotts Israel as if nothing is wrong is pre-9/11 
thinking.... Some claim that the boycott has become a 
dead letter, or 'all bark and no bite,' as an Israeli 
who combats the boycott put it.  Israeli goods, 
stripped of their labels, now make their way into Arab 
states, and the secondary boycott of companies that 
trade with Israel has collapsed.  But the Arab boycott 
and, more generally, the refusal of nations that do not 
even share a border with Israel to normalize relations 
cannot be viewed as protesting a particular Israeli 
policy.  Israel not only favors a Palestinian state, 
but is arguably more eager to create one than the 
Palestinian leadership, be it Fatah or Hamas.  In this 
context, the boycott can only be seen as a refusal to 
accept Israel's existence.  Such radical rejectionism 
by any state of another should not be tolerated, much 
less ignored." 
 
JONES