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 000930 
 
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 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that five Palestinians -- senior 
Islamic Jihad commander Munir Abu Sukker and another 
militant of the group, two children, and another 
bystander -- were killed in an Israeli air strike in 
the Gaza Strip.  In its lead story, Ha'aretz reported 
that Islamic Jihad vowed to fire Qassam rockets at 
downtown Ashkelon to avenge the IAF operation. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Israel will reject any 
request by other countries to transfer money directly 
to the PA, but that it will act together with the U.S. 
and other international bodies in order to prevent a 
humanitarian disaster in the PA.   The radio cited the 
GOI's belief that as early as next month, the PA will 
find it hard to pay salaries to 135,000 employees, half 
of whom are security personnel.  Israel Radio quoted a 
high-ranking Israeli official as saying that as of now, 
the proposal that Israel stop collecting taxes and 
customs fees for the PA has been rejected for fear that 
this might intensify the disorder in the Gaza Strip. 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted Benita Ferrero- 
Waldner, the EU's head of external relations, as saying 
on Monday in an interview with the Austrian daily Der 
Standard that it is important that Israel transfer to 
the PA money that actually belongs to the Palestinians. 
The Jerusalem Post cited a response to Ferrero- 
Waldner's remarks by a senior Israeli diplomatic 
official that Israel has "every legal, political, and 
moral right to withhold money from the PA treasury, now 
controlled by Hamas."  The official was quoted as 
saying "there is no logic" to the argument that Israel 
needed to adhere to the Paris Protocols that govern 
economic ties between it and the PA at a time when the 
incoming PA leadership said that all signed agreements 
with Israel were null and void.  The Jerusalem Post 
also quoted the official as saying that UN Security 
Council 1373 prohibited UN member states from offering 
direct or indirect aid to terrorist groups, something 
that would be the case were Israel to transfer the 
money.  The Jerusalem Post also quoted a source who 
advises various European governments on Palestinian 
affairs as saying that Western countries currently 
engaged in "learning about Hamas" are holding indirect 
contacts with the organization through various 
academics and politicians close to Hamas, but who are 
not themselves members of Hamas.  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as saying Sunday 
in New York, upon accepting an honorary degree from Bar- 
Ilan University, that Hamas must be isolated. 
 
Maariv bannered a statement made earlier this week by a 
senior Israeli defense official in a discussion about 
the situation at Israel's northern border, that 
Hizbullah is attempting to abduct an IDF soldier before 
the Knesset elections in order to destabilize Israel 
and influence the result of the elections on behalf of 
Iran. 
 
Israel Radio and other media quoted Ali Larijani, the 
head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as 
saying that the US should not resort to military 
measures. The radio quoted Under Secretary of State for 
Political Affairs Nicholas Burns as saying earlier that 
it is doubtful whether a compromise will be reached 
with Iran in the International Atomic Energy Agency's 
(IAEA) debates and that he is hopeful that the IAEA's 
Board of Governors will agree to transfer the issue to 
the UN Security Council.  Ha'aretz reported that IAEA- 
affiliated diplomats told the newspaper last night that 
Tehran and the EU appear poised to reach an agreement 
on Iran's nuclear program that would obviate the need 
for sanctions.  Ha'aretz reported that a senior Israeli 
defense official was skeptical about the tentative 
agreement, saying that it appeared to be just another 
Iranian effort to buy time to advance its nuclear 
program.  Major media also quoted IAEA DG Mohamed 
ElBaradei as saying Monday he is hopeful that a deal 
over Iran's nuclear program is still feasible. 
 
All media reported (banner in The Jerusalem Post) that 
on Monday, the new Hamas-controlled Palestinian 
Legislative Council voted in favor of cutting the 
powers of PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, 
triggering a confrontation with his Fatah party. 
 
Leading media said that further revelations published 
by Channel 10-TV last night about former MK Omri 
Sharon's extensive appointments in the public service 
are harmful to Kadima's electoral campaign.  Today, 
Israel Radio and the three television channels have 
begun broadcasting election campaign spots prepared by 
the parties. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that an official statement submitted 
several days ago to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court by 
Attorney Nira Mashriki of the Tel Aviv prosecutor's 
office for civil matters refer to HaMoked: Center for 
the Defense of the Individual and to B'Tselem - Israeli 
Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied 
Territories as organizations that work for interests 
"that undermine the existence" of the State of Israel, 
"besmirch" the state and its security forces, and 
"cause it damage in the world."  Ha'aretz reported that 
the Justice Ministry stated last night that the matter 
appears to demand inquiry, but that an official 
position on the matter will have to await input from 
the lawyer who dealt with the case.   The newspaper 
quoted senior officials as saying off the record that 
the statement made by Attorney Mashriki was not 
approved by the attorney general and state prosecutor, 
and that it naturally does not reflect the 
establishment position on these organizations. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a number of Western 
countries, including Israel, are concerned about the 
position South Africa has taken regarding Iran's 
nuclear dossier.  The newspaper quoted Western 
diplomatic officials as saying that South African 
President Thabo Mbeki's government has come under a 
degree of "cajoling" in recent weeks from the US and 
European countries to stop giving Tehran diplomatic 
cover to continue its nuclear program. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that despite a promise to 
Washington last November to drop its economic boycott 
of Israel, Saudi Arabia plans to host a major 
international conference next week aimed at promoting a 
continued trade embargo on Israel. 
 
Yediot reported that Israel has asked the U.S. to annul 
-- or at least to soften -- its travel warning to 
Israel regarding organized crime in the country.  The 
newspaper also reported that the Israeli Embassy in 
Washington has received instructions to pass on similar 
messages at professional levels in the State 
Department.  Yediot quoted Israeli diplomatic sources 
as saying on Monday that Israel has clarified to the US 
its belief that this is a "distortion" of the real 
image of criminality in Israel, which is relatively 
less prevalent than in most Western countries.  Yediot 
further quoted the sources as saying that a probe made 
by the Foreign Ministry revealed that there is no 
precedent for the State Department's devoting a special 
clause to organized crime in its travel warnings, 
except in the cases of a few developing countries such 
as Nigeria and Colombia. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted FM Tzipi Livni as saying Monday before 
the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Relations Committee 
that there is no strategic crisis between Israel and 
Jordan.  Livni denied Monday's Yediot report that 
relations between the two countries have been severed 
almost completely.  Ha'aretz also quoted Jordan's 
Charge d'Affaires in Israel Omar al-Nadif as denying 
Yediot's allegations. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israeli politicians, primarily 
from Kadima and the Labor Party, intend to cut off at 
least eight Arab neighborhoods from Jerusalem and 
solidify the Jewish majority within the new limits. 
The newspaper lists various alternatives for the 
division of the city.  Ha'aretz also reported that 
thousands of Palestinians who hold Israeli ID cards and 
who formerly lived in East Jerusalem have returned over 
the past year to live within the municipal boundaries 
of Jerusalem. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that speakers at the annual 
conference of the American Israel Public Affairs 
Committee (AIPAC) "are focusing on the same topics that 
Acting PM Ehud Olmert defined as central to Israel's 
agenda: Hamas's rise to power in the PA and the threat 
inherent in the Iranian nuclear program."  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that delegates of the AIPAC 
conference will depart today for Capitol Hill for more 
than 450 lobbying meetings with their members of 
Congress. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Slovenian President 
Janez Drnovsek, who is visiting Israel, expressed his 
empathy with Israel's "difficult road." 
Israel Radio and leading news web sites cited the 
Prisons Authority as saying this morning that Yigal 
Amir, the jailed assassin of the late PM Yitzhak Rabin, 
has been permitted to provide sperm samples for the 
artificial insemination of his wife Larissa Trimbovler. 
 
Yediot devoted almost its entire front page to the 
extradition of underworld kingpin Zeev Rosenstein to 
the US. 
 
Ha'aretz cited the results of a poll conducted by the 
Chaim Herzog Institute for Communications, Society, and 
Politics, which show that the media is widely perceived 
as sympathetic toward Kadima, but hostile toward the 
Likud and Shas.  However, the public was split toward 
the Labor Party: some 32 percent of respondents said 
that the media was sympathetic toward Labor, while 22 
percent said that it was hostile. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote 
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "At a 
congressional hearing last week, [US Security 
Coordinator Lt. Gen. Keith] Dayton essentially adopted 
the Israeli principle of security before peace." 
 
Conservative Jerusalem affairs commentator Nadav 
Shragai wrote in Ha'aretz: "Why is [Olmert] not ... 
fighting to cement the Jewish hold on areas where the 
demographic battle is not lost -- even if this means 
facing off against the United States?" 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Security Before Peace" 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote 
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (March 7): "At a 
congressional hearing last week, [US Security 
Coordinator Lt. Gen. Keith] Dayton essentially adopted 
the Israeli principle of security before peace -- in 
effect since September 2000 and the collapse of the 
Oslo process.... With chilling testimony, Dayton 
illustrated the chain of events that are distancing 
Palestine from peace with Israel and bringing war ever 
closer.... [According to him], there won't be U.S. 
involvement if Hamas is running the government in 
general, and the security mechanisms in particular.  If 
there is no U.S. involvement, there won't be any money; 
and if there's no way to ensure that the money goes to 
the miserable rather than the dangerous, the distress 
and hostility will increase.  Rejecting Hamas does not 
mean saluting Mahmoud Abbas.  Dayton spoke with 
disappointment about Abbas' weakness even before the 
elections, noting that 'the lack of political will 
resulted in little progress in either security sector 
performance or reform'.... Dayton's message, like that 
of his counterparts in the IDF and Shin Bet security 
service, is bleak and tangible: Things will get bad or 
very bad -- and soon.  The relatively small number of 
lethal terror attacks is misleading.  The terror 
organizations are not waiting until after the elections 
in Israel.  Only the success of preventive operations 
lies between the slumber and the escalation." 
 
 
 
 
II.  "Deal With the Demography" 
 
Conservative Jerusalem affairs commentator Nadav 
Shragai wrote in Ha'aretz (March 7): "The centerpiece 
of the policy prescription that Olmert is presenting is 
Palestinian demography and its effect on Israel's 
permanent borders.  But the real questions are being 
swept under the rug.... Under what circumstances, in 
which areas and through what means should Israel try to 
alter the demographic balance in its favor?.... If 
Olmert is conceding areas in which he believes that the 
demographic battle is already lost, why is he not 
simultaneously fighting to cement the Jewish hold on 
areas where the demographic battle is not lost -- even 
if this means facing off against the United States? 
The freeze on building in area E1, between Ma'aleh 
Adumim and Jerusalem, is a prime example of this 
failure -- not to mention the weakness of spirit 
broadcast by Olmert's circle regarding continued 
Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, where 
everything, even the demographics, still depends on 
Israel rather than on others." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "It would be a shame if, having defeated 
Nazism and Communism, the West were to succumb to 
militant Islamism, not for lack of power to defeat it, 
but for lack of the will to do so." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Test From Iran" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (March 7): "Today, once again, free 
nations are at a crossroads.  Two alternative futures 
lie before us.  Either Iran will be allowed to obtain a 
nuclear weapon, or that threat will be removed -- 
because the regime is gone or, like Libya, demonstrably 
gives up its nuclear and terror cards.  The future that 
includes a nuclear Iran is a bleak one.  Iran itself 
would be able to increase its support for terrorism 
with impunity. Arab nations would also seek nuclear 
weapons.  The terror network, including al-Qaida, would 
be seen to be ascendant, and the countdown before 
nuclear weapons are employed in a terror attack will 
have begun.  Terrorists, we must remember, do not 
depend on military strength but on overwhelming their 
enemies with a sense of despair and inevitability.... 
Despite its oil revenue, Iran is vulnerable to 
diplomatic and economic isolation by the West.  The 
Security Council, however, would need -- to use [US 
Representative to the UN Ambassador John] Bolton's 
terms -- to act in a more 'timely' and 'serious' manner 
than it ever has in the past; but it is never too late 
to revive the UN Charter's vision of collective self- 
defense against international aggression.  If the 
international community does act to defend itself, the 
result could be a world that is freer, more prosperous 
and more secure than it was before 9/11.  This was the 
world that was envisioned after the Soviet Union 
collapsed, ending the Cold War and launching a wave of 
democratization.  It would be a shame if, having 
defeated Nazism and Communism, the West were to succumb 
to militant Islamism, not for lack of power to defeat 
it, but for lack of the will to do so." 
 
JONES