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

041101Z Apr 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 001331 
 
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.  US-Israel Relations 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The media continued to highlight Acting PM Ehud 
Olmert's efforts to form a government coalition. 
Yediot and Israel Radio quoted Olmert as saying Monday 
that it can be assumed that if the Labor Party joins 
the coalition, Kadima will have to give up one of the 
two important portfolios -- finance or defense. 
However, Israel Radio and other media quoted senior 
Kadima members as saying that the likelihood of the 
finance portfolio being transferred to a coalition 
partner is very slim.  Israel Radio quoted Olmert as 
saying that he is not ruling out any coalition partners 
provided they back his political plan.  Ha'aretz 
reported that Olmert's advisers are divided over 
whether to bring the Labor Party into the coalition. 
Maariv, which wrote that Kadima is prepared to hand the 
Defense Ministry and apparently the Education Ministry, 
to the Labor Party, quoted senior Kadima members as 
saying that if Labor declines to renounce the finance 
portfolio, Kadima could form a coalition with the 
Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, the ultra-Orthodox parties 
(Shas and United Torah Judaism), and the Gil 
pensioners' party.  The Jerusalem Post reported that in 
the coalition taking shape, Olmert would offer Peretz 
the defense portfolio and a senior portfolio to Yisrael 
Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman.  Major media 
reported that Shas intends to recommend that President 
Moshe Katsav choose Olmert as the politician who will 
form the next government. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Olmert and Peretz will hold 
a joint conference this afternoon.  The radioreported 
that the two leaders will apparently report on 
preliminary coalition talks between their two parties, 
and that Peretz will subsequently convene party members 
to update them on coalition talks. 
 
In its lead story, Ha'aretz reported that UN aid 
organizations are warning that the Gaza Strip is on the 
verge of a humanitarian disaster due to lack of money 
and food. 
The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior EU official as 
saying Monday that if Olmert consults the international 
community before implementing his "convergence" plan, 
one suggestion he is likely to hear is that Israel 
should lease the settlements blocs from the PA rather 
than annex them outright. 
 
Major media reported that on Monday, Raed Abayat, a 
senior Fatah-Tanzim militant, was killed in an exchange 
of fire with IDF soldiers near Bethlehem. 
 
Ha'aretz cited AP that on Monday in Amman, Jordanian PM 
Marouf Al-Bakhit told Assistant Secretary of State for 
Near East Affairs David Welch that the US must 
intensify efforts to restart Mideast negotiations. 
 
Maariv reported that Israeli political and security 
officials have drafted a blacklist of countries that 
hold -- or will hold -- contacts with Hamas.  The 
newspaper reported that on Monday, IDF Radio detailed 
the countries in question.  Maariv reported that 
Russia, India, and possibly France have already 
conducted talks with Hamas.  The newspaper reported 
that China is secretly considering holding contacts 
with Hamas.  The newspaper cited Israel's concern that 
Venezuela and other Latin American countries could open 
a dialogue channel with Hamas as part of their effort 
to fight US policy.  Maariv also cited Israel's concern 
that the UN has unofficially conveyed messages to Hamas 
members.  This morning, Israel Radio quoted Egyptian FM 
Ahmed Ali Abu al-Gheit as saying that Palestinian FM 
Mahmoud Zahar has arrived in Cairo for talks. 
 
Israel Radio and The Jerusalem Post's web site cited 
the London-based Al-Hayat as saying that an Al-Qaida 
affiliated group operating in Gaza is planning 
terrorist attacks against sensitive targets in the 
area.  Al-Hayat was also cited as saying that Al-Qaida 
recently appointed a chief for the region of Jordan, 
Israel, Syria and Lebanon. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that an Israeli defense 
source told the newspaper on Monday that the high-speed 
underwater missile recently launched by Iran was not 
operational and that Iran had conducted the test "to 
flex its muscles" in the face of international pressure 
to suspend its nuclear program. 
 
Hatzofe reported that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud 
Abbas is the only senior Palestinian who still holds a 
valid VIP document issued by the Israeli defense 
establishment. 
 
Yediot reported that Finance Ministry officials are 
preparing drastic cuts in the defense budget, as it is 
proposed that 2 billion shekels (around USD 430 
million) be moved to social issues.  Yediot wrote that 
Olmert is expected to support the plan. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted several senior PA officials as saying 
this week that Hamas plans to rebuild the Palestinian 
police force in an effort to restore law and order to 
the Palestinian street. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that MK Silvan Shalom intends, in the 
near future, to call for a leadership showdown to 
replace Binyamin Netanyahu as Likud chairman. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel is 
to host an international conference on the threat to 
civil air traffic by shoulder-launched missiles.  The 
conference, to take place this week, is being organized 
by the Foreign Ministry's departments for weapons 
monitoring and will bring together delegates from 25 
countries, among them the US, the EU, Russia, China, 
India, Brazil, and Argentina.  The Jerusalem Post wrote 
that the seminar will take place on Wednesday. 
 
Yediot quoted Prince Turki al-Faysal, the Saudi 
Ambassador to the US, as saying last week in San 
Francisco before the Council on Foreign Relations that 
the destruction of Iraq's nuclear reactor by Israel was 
a positive step. 
 
Leading media reported that PM Sharon was to undergo an 
operation this afternoon, to reattach a bone in his 
skull that was removed during the first surgery he 
underwent when he was hospitalized three months ago. 
Ha'aretz reported that the operation is intended to 
prepare Sharon for a move to a chronic care facility, 
or following special preparations, to his home at 
Sycamore Ranch.  This morning, Ha'aretz's web site 
reported that the surgery was postponed due to a mild 
respiratory infection. 
 
Hatzofe reported that the Committee to Release Jonathan 
Pollard has asked the Shas party to demand that the new 
government decide upon its establishment to ask the US 
to release the convicted spy.  Hatzofe cited the 
committee's assertion that the Gil pensioners' party, 
headed by Pollard's control officer Rafi Eitan, should 
include in its coalition negotiations a "minimal" 
demand to have Pollard released. 
 
All media (banners in The Jerusalem Post and Hatzofe) 
reported that on Monday, AG Menachem Mazuz strongly 
urged Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger to resign 
voluntarily because he appeared to lack the necessary 
qualities for such high office.  The media quoted Mazuz 
as saying that if he does not resign, he will recommend 
that the Justice Minister begin proceedings to remove 
him from his post.  The police had investigated Rabbi 
Metzger on suspicion of having stayed at a major 
Jerusalem hotel over the 2004 Passover holiday without 
paying for room or board.  The media cited Metzger's 
intention to petition the High Court of Justice. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "If 
Peretz the moderate and dovish politician overcomes 
Peretz the suspicious and power-hungry one, and accepts 
the defense portfolio, the evacuation of the 
settlements will go ahead in the good and reasonable 
spirit that he proposes in his platform." 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "The Labor Party shouldn't be the 
coalition-maker's first target.  Kadima had actually 
better foster the dialogue with potential partners on 
the Right." 
 
Liberal columnist Dr. Gadi Taub wrote in Maariv: "These 
elections were a decision over an ideology of 
principle, and not voting was also a decision.  The 
decision was that Israel will continue to separate from 
the Palestinians." 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "As Hamas prepares for war 
on all levels, Israel is about to form a government led 
either by Kadima or Labor whose politicians insist on 
pretending that there is no problem here." 
 
MJ Rosenberg, Director of Policy Analysis for the 
Israel Policy Forum, wrote in The Jerusalem Post: "We 
are at a moment of equilibrium.  We have a new 
Palestinian government, democratically elected, and a 
new Israeli government, democratically elected." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Dangerous Liaisons" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (April 
4): "Just a week has gone by since the elections, and 
already the political establishment is caught up in a 
logic-defying whirlwind that has at least a hint of the 
malodorous about it. [Labor Party Chairman] Amir 
Peretz's efforts to form a government under his 
leadership and in partnership with the right wing raise 
harsh questions.... Olmert could have prevented the 
aggressive and confusing ongoings had he told Peretz 
the day after the elections that he views him as a 
senior partner in the government, with all that such a 
position entails.... The impression created is that 
Kadima is accepting Labor under duress, and wishes to 
weaken it.... Peretz, for his part, must get down from 
his high horse and make his demands clear.  From 
numerous points of view, he would be better off, in 
fact, going for the defense portfolio and not the 
treasury.  As defense minister, Peretz would be the 
Prime Minister's most senior partner when it comes to 
all the political decisions Israel faces.... Contrary 
to its image, the Defense Ministry is a distinctly 
social-oriented one, which has a sway over important 
organizations and a broad population.  If Peretz the 
moderate and dovish politician overcomes Peretz the 
suspicious and power-hungry one, and accepts the 
defense portfolio, the evacuation of the settlements 
will go ahead in the good and reasonable spirit that he 
proposes in his platform, and he will pave himself a 
wide road for the furthering of his political career. 
If not, he will be remembered by the voter as the man 
who in the throes of the coalition talks lost his 
world." 
 
II.  "Look Rightwards" 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (April 4): "The Labor Party shouldn't 
be the coalition-maker's first target.  Kadima had 
actually better foster the dialogue with potential 
partners on the Right.  Olmert has presented a clear 
political program.  He honored the Roadmap, but he 
believes that there's no one to talk to in Ramallah.... 
The government must dispatch authorized, erudite, and 
reliable spokesmen to the settlements -- not in order 
to argue and annoy, but to present its view and 
convince.  There is a reasonable chance that some of 
the 'orange' people change their minds; I dare say that 
many of them will support 'convergence'.... The 23 
Knesset seats garnered by Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu 
are more important that Labor and Meretz's 24 Knesset 
members." 
 
III.  "Decision Despite Apathy" 
 
Liberal columnist Dr. Gadi Taub wrote in Maariv (April 
4): "Despite everything that can be said about apathy, 
these elections were a decision over an ideology of 
principle, and not voting was also a decision.  The 
decision was that Israel will continue to separate from 
the Palestinians.... A decision about another 
disengagement is not necessarily a happy matter, 
therefore these elections were without enthusiasm and 
passion.  Disengagement is more than the breaking of a 
dream (both on the Right as well as the Left); it is 
more of a medical procedure than of an attractive 
vision.  It is healthy and even necessary, but like 
surgery, it isn't something you look forward to with 
anticipation." 
IV.  "'Let's Ignore Hamas'" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (April 4): "Last Thursday 
the first jihadist government since the Taliban 
ascended to power.  The induction of the Hamas 
government in the Palestinian Authority has created a 
new dynamic in the Middle East.... Hamas's rise to 
power renders it all but impossible to deny the 
connection between the insurgency in Iraq and the 
global jihad in general and the Palestinian war with 
Israel. Indeed, in his first statement as foreign 
minister, Mahmoud Zahar attacked the US claiming, 
'America is committing big crimes against the Arab and 
Islamic countries.'  Yet as Hamas prepares for war on 
all levels, Israel is about to form a government led 
either by Kadima or Labor whose politicians insist on 
pretending that there is no problem here.... The 
Taliban's rise to power was greeted by indifference 
from the international community.  Every once in 
awhile, Mullah Omar and his buddies would be caught 
stoning women to death or blowing up Buddhist monuments 
and would receive global reprimands for a few days. 
Although it was shunned by all countries except Saudi 
Arabia and Pakistan, the Taliban's global isolation did 
not seem to inhibit its commitment to jihad. In the 
end, the Taliban were only forced to change the way 
they did business when the US military brought down 
their regime after they enabled the September 11 
attacks.  Is there anyone willing to draw any lesson 
from the last jihadist government in their dealings 
with the newest one?" 
 
¶V.  "Let's Seize the Opportunity" 
 
MJ Rosenberg, Director of Policy Analysis for the 
Israel Policy Forum, wrote in The Jerusalem Post (April 
4): "Olmert may be eager to end the occupation, but 
Hamas can very easily make that almost impossible. The 
ball is in Hamas's court. Its response to last week's 
killing of four Israelis in the West Bank (although not 
perpetrated by Hamas or its affiliates) could indicate 
whether, just possibly, Israel and the new Palestinian 
Authority can reach some form of accommodation, or if 
Israelis and Palestinians are both going to be 
subjected to the resumption of deadly violence that 
will, once again, not only take innocent lives but kill 
off economic growth, tourism and hopes for a better 
future for both peoples.  We are at a moment of 
equilibrium.  We have a new Palestinian government, 
democratically elected, and a new Israeli government, 
democratically elected.  Those anxious to disturb that 
equilibrium had better understand precisely what they 
are doing and how their actions will affect those they 
profess to care about. " 
 
------------------------ 
¶2.  US-Israel Relations: 
------------------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Jonathan S. Tobin, Executive Editor of The Jewish 
Exponent in Philadelphia, wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "Rather than worrying so 
much about the popularity of Israel on the Right, 
liberals need to start worrying about how unpopular it 
is on the Left." 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Paranoid Style of American Anti-Israel Politics" 
 
Jonathan S. Tobin, Executive Editor of The Jewish 
Exponent in Philadelphia, wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (April 4): "While Pat 
Buchanan of the troglodyte Right once falsely referred 
to Congress as 'Israeli-occupied territory,' it is the 
American university that has become more and more a 
place where pro-Israel students and teachers often feel 
unable to speak their minds publicly.... Rather than 
worrying so much about the popularity of Israel on the 
Right, liberals need to start worrying about how 
unpopular it is on the Left.  The point that so 
perplexes [Americans professors John] Mearsheimer and 
[Stephen] Walt -- the pro-Israel consensus -- ought to 
remind us that support for Israel is neither the 
property of the Left or the Right.  It would be just as 
illogical to reject liberals who love Israel, as it is 
to condemn conservatives who do so.  It would be a 
mistake to conclude that the authors of 'The Lobby' are 
the only people with glittering credentials and the 
ability to influence students who feel as they do. 
Rather than laugh at them, we should be thinking hard 
about just how deep the roots of hatred for Israel run 
in our most prestigious schools.  And that is a variety 
of academic politics where the stakes are very high 
indeed." 
 
JONES