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Viewing cable 06TELAVIV981, ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TELAVIV981 2006-03-10 11:39 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tel Aviv
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

101139Z Mar 06
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 000981 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
The lead stories in all three major Hebrew-language 
newspapers focus on interviews with Acting PM Ehud 
Olmert.  (The Jerusalem Post also conducted an 
interview with him.)  Ha'aretz highlighted Olmert's 
statement that he plans to open an "internal dialogue" 
with the Yesha Council of Jewish Settlements in the 
Territories if he wins the elections, in an effort to 
reach an agreement about Israel's withdrawal line in 
the West Bank.  Ha'aretz quoted Olmert as saying that 
he plans to offer the settler leaders a deal: 
convergence into the large settlement blocs and the 
expansion of those blocs, and evacuation of those 
settlements beyond whatever border is set.  Government 
investments beyond the Green Line would match the 
future map.  Similarly, Olmert was quoted as saying in 
his interview with Yediot that Israel will establish a 
new border, on the other side of which there will be no 
Israelis.  Yediot also quoted Olmert as saying that 
anyone involved in terrorist attacks is a legitimate 
target for assassination.  Olmert was referring to 
Palestinian PM-designate Ismail Haniyeh.  Maariv 
highlighted a remark made by Olmert that Jerusalem will 
not necessarily retain its current borders.  In the 
interviews, Olmert criticized the Likud's campaign 
methods against him. 
 
All media quoted former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe 
Ya'alon as saying in a speech at the Hudson Institute 
in Washington that the IDF could overcome the Iranian 
air defense system and carry out several dozen air 
strikes.  The media reported that Israeli military and 
political sources sharply condemned Ya'alon's remarks. 
Israel Radio quoted Olmert as saying in an interview 
with Reka, its station directed at immigrants, 
principally from the Former Soviet Union, that idle 
talk is superfluous.  Major media reported that Defense 
Minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters in Germany on 
Wednesday that Israel had all it needed to defend 
itself against Iran.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
a senior Defense Ministry official told the newspaper 
that the US has until now not done enough to prevent 
Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.  The official 
reportedly expressed hope that Wednesday's referral of 
the Iranian issue to the UN Security Council would 
prove to be effective. 
 
Israel Radio and Ha'aretz web site reported that Mofaz 
decided this morning that the IDF will impose a full 
closure on the West Bank and Gaza from Saturday night 
until Wednesday, due to fears of terror attacks during 
the Purim holiday and ahead of the March 28 elections. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior officer of 
the Civil Administration in the territories told the 
newspaper on Thursday that while Hamas does not plan to 
dismantle its armed wing and a third Intifada is on the 
horizon, Israel will eventually have to backtrack from 
its refusal to deal with a PA that Hamas controls.  The 
officer was quoted as saying that "reality on the 
ground" will force pragmatism on Hamas. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Meretz-Yahad Chairman Yossi Beilin 
as saying that his party will not join the government 
coalition if the government intends to build in the E1 
area. 
 
Leading media reported that high-level meetings held 
between Fatah and Hamas representatives on Thursday did 
not bring forth any results regarding a Palestinian 
national union government. 
 
Major media reported that on Thursday, Foreign Ministry 
DG Ron Prosor met with Jordanian PM Maruf al-Bakhit. 
Ha'aretz quoted GOI sources as saying that the meeting 
was not intended to diffuse tension between Israel and 
Jordan following remarks by O/S Central Command Yair 
Naveh about the future of the Hashemite ruling dynasty. 
Other media reported that the meeting was aimed at 
resolving the crisis between the two countries.  Maariv 
quoted government sources in Jerusalem as saying that 
the purpose of the visit was to agree on the price 
Israel would have to pay following the crisis. 
Ha'aretz reported that Jordan initially demanded 
Naveh's dismissal but downgraded their demand when 
Israel balked.  Hatzofe reported that the Jordanian 
Interior Minister has instructed Jordanian civil 
servants to obtain advance permits to visit Israel. 
Hatzofe quoted GOI sources as saying that the move 
would make cooperation with Jordan much more difficult. 
 
Former senior Pentagon official Richard Perle was 
quoted as saying in an interview with Maariv that the 
Iraqis will eventually prove to the world that they 
want and can live in a democracy. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Palestinians working for 
international organizations will have to have entry 
permits to enter the "seam line" area extending from 
the separation fence to the Green Line.  The newspaper 
reported on tension between the international 
organizations and the Israeli defense establishment. 
 
Major media quoted nuclear whistleblower Mordecai 
Vanunu in an interview with BBC-TV that in the 1960s, 
the UK provided Israel with plutonium and chemicals 
with which nuclear weapons 20 times the power of the 
Hiroshima A-bomb could be made. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that several Israeli groups 
praised the United States' most recent human rights 
report for bringing more attention to Israeli abuses 
they have long campaigned against. 
 
Major media reported that the GOP-dominated House 
Appropriations Committee voted to bar Dubai Ports World 
(DPW), which is run by the government of Dubai in the 
United Arab Emirates, from holding leases or contracts 
at US ports.  Leading media cited the White House that 
President Bush is open to compromise but would not 
retreat from a threatened veto of legislation on the 
issue. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israel's media barons, concerned 
that Google's latest venture, a Hebrew version of 
Google News, will bite into their business, have 
decided to fight the new initiative. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that the Jewish 
Agency's education department will sponsor election 
analysis, the latest exit polls, and live feed from 
Israeli television dubbed into English, that will be 
made available on the Internet during election night, 
March 28.  The newspaper lists an Internet address: 
http://masaisrael.org/globalvote/ for more information 
or to register. 
 
Yediot reported that more than 94 Israeli artists 
working in various media -- including the Acting PM's 
wife Aliza Olmert --  will present their work at an 
Israeli art week that will take place in New York in 
the coming week. 
 
Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling 
Institute survey conducted among immigrants from the 
Former Soviet Union: 
-"Who among the following candidates is most suitable 
to become the next prime minister?"  Avigdor Lieberman: 
34 percent; Binyamin Netanyahu: 21 percent: Ehud 
Olmert: 17 percent; Amir Peretz: 2 percent. 
-Based on the assumption that the vote of new 
immigrants from the Former Soviet Union would amount to 
18 Knesset seats, the survey's results indicate that 
the new immigrants would bring eight mandates to 
Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, 5 to 6 mandates to 
Kadima, 2 to 3 mandates to Likud, and 0.5 to 1 mandate 
to the Labor Party. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted the results of a poll 
conducted among Russian immigrants on behalf of the 
newspaper by the Smith Institute: 35 percent favor 
Yisrael Beiteinu; some 20 percent support Kadima; and 
another 17 percent favor the Likud.  Only 4 percent are 
likely to vote for Labor. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited a survey presented at a 
conference Thursday about the trends of the Arab voters 
at the University of Haifa, according to which two- 
thirds of Israeli Arabs were pleased with Hamas's win, 
but that even more (69.5 percent) believe Israel has a 
right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state. 
 
------------ 
1. Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "Olmert's implication that he tends 
toward a more minimalist map ... is disturbing.... What 
incentive do the Palestinians have to end their war 
with us if they receive the same territories in any 
case?" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in The Jerusalem Post: "In 
backing Kadima, a party committed to transferring lands 
and money to the Hamas-led PA, the US has effectively 
made strengthening the Iranian-backed Hamas its central 
aim in the region." 
 
Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "The organizations of the radical 
left have long ceased to be human-rights groups." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
I.  "Olmert's Specifics" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (March 10): "While holding open the 
possibility that Hamas will bow to the conditions set 
by Israel and the international community regarding 
combating terrorism and accepting Israel, the thrust of 
[Ehud Olmert's] plan assumes the opposite: that the 
road map will be a dead letter, that Israel has been 
freed from its constraints -- including those inherited 
from Oslo -- and that the US can be persuaded to 
support Israel acting unilaterally on 'final-status' 
issues.  Whether this logic makes sense is precisely 
what the voters will be deciding in this election.  It 
would be good, however, to know if he really thinks 
that Israel can establish a permanent border 
unilaterally.  It is perhaps wise to act as if this 
were the case for the purpose of establishing the 
strongest possible negotiating position.  But we should 
not confuse ourselves.  Any border determined 
unilaterally must leave room to negotiate, unless 
Israel plans to live indefinitely without a full and 
formal peace agreement with its neighbors.   In this 
context, Olmert's implication that he tends toward a 
more minimalist map -- one that does not include the 
Jordan Valley, its western slopes, and other groups of 
settlements -- is disturbing.... What incentive do the 
Palestinians have to end their war with us if they 
receive the same territories in any case?" 
II.  "Kadima Vs. Israel" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in The Jerusalem Post (March 
10): "In backing Kadima, a party committed to 
transferring lands and money to the Hamas-led PA, the 
US has effectively made strengthening the Iranian- 
backed Hamas its central aim in the region.  From this 
it becomes apparent that Kadima's party interests are 
diametrically opposed to Israel's national interests. 
What the adamant public opposition to the Dubai deal 
shows is that regardless of how the administration may 
presently be treating Israel, if Israel elects a 
different government this month, the administration 
will not be able to easily oppose it if it decides to 
actually advance Israel's national interests for a 
change.  Indeed, as is the case with the DPW deal, if a 
new Israeli government projects a powerful image in 
Washington, accompanied by a dedication to the goal of 
ending the Palestinian war in victory, not surrender, 
the American people will intuitively support it and 
force the administration to support it as well." 
 
 
 
 
III.  "Human Rights or the Elimination of Zionism" 
 
Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (March 10): "One can -- and even must 
-- debate the means that Israel is allowed to use in 
its confrontation with a hostile population.  It is 
possible and legitimate to create a debate about 
targeted assassinations and checkpoints.  It is 
certainly allowed to expose actions that have nothing 
to do with protecting Israelis, but mostly are 
humiliations of Palestinians.... The organizations of 
the radical left have long ceased to be human-rights 
groups.... In the past few years, part of the 'human- 
rights' organizations have turned into support groups 
for the more extreme Palestinian ideology, which wants 
the 'Zionist process' to be erased." 
 
-------------------------- 
2.  Iran: Nuclear Program: 
-------------------------- 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: 
"Revelations [about a secret Iranian nuclear program] 
arouse concern that the political process led by the 
United States against Iran will not be sufficient to 
remove the serious threat to the security of Israel and 
the entire region." 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "Even as the [US administration's] message 
was sharp and uniform at AIPAC, elsewhere, in Vienna, 
New York, and Washington, it was a week of obfuscation 
and maneuvering." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
I.  "Achievement in the Shadow of Threat" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (March 
10): "The diplomatic effort to halt Iran's nuclear 
program took a step forward Wednesday with the referral 
of the issue to the UN Security Council, which will 
discuss the matter next week.  The US administration 
chalked up a political achievement when, after an 
extended effort, it brought about the referral of the 
'Iranian case' from the hands of the International 
Atomic Energy Agency to the Security Council, which can 
impose sanctions on recalcitrant countries.  There is 
still a long way to sanctions, especially due to the 
opposition of Russia, which is worried about a 
confrontation and continues to search for compromise 
formulas.  But the process completed this week 
expresses increasing agreement in the international 
community that Iran is indeed trying to obtain nuclear 
weapons and has therefore systematically violated its 
commitments and deceived the IAEA.... According to Zeev 
Schiff's article in Thursday's Ha'aretz, Iran is 
suspected of establishing secret plants outside the 
realm of IAEA supervision and reporting, in which 
nuclear research and development, in several fields, is 
underway.... The revelations arouse concern that the 
political process led by the United States against Iran 
will not be sufficient to remove the serious threat to 
the security of Israel and the entire region.  The U.S. 
ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, hinted 
at this when he told the AIPAC conference the United 
States would use 'all the tools' at its disposal to 
stop the Iranian threat." 
 
II.  "Washington: Clarity" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in 
Ha'aretz (March 10): "The Iranian problem, a senior 
[US] administration official told Ha'aretz this week, 
is disturbing the entire region.  The administration is 
holding talks on the subject with friends of the US in 
the Persian Gulf, in Egypt, 'with all the players in 
the region.'  He said that there is an 'American-Arab- 
Israeli consensus' on the Iranian issue.  A rare sight. 
However, even as the message was sharp and uniform at 
AIPAC, elsewhere, in Vienna, New York, and Washington, 
it was a week of obfuscation and maneuvering." 
 
JONES