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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 001376 
 
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 
 
¶3.  Trial of Former Liberian President Charles Taylor 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The electronic media reported that today, President 
Moshe Katsav invited Acting PM Ehud Olmert today to 
form a government.  Maariv quoted Olmert as saying at a 
meeting with Kadima members that he will present his 
government by the end of April.  Israel Radio reported 
that Kadima is striving to form a broad-based coalition 
of 84 Knesset members that would include Kadima, the 
Labor Party, Shas, Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael 
Beiteinu, the Gil Pensioners' Party, and United Torah 
Judaism. Should such a government be created, there 
would be one cabinet minister for three-and-a-half 
Knesset members, and the government would comprise 23 
to 25 ministers.  Israel Radio quoted senior Kadima 
member Haim Ramon as saying that the word "convergence" 
does not appear on the government's guidelines, but 
that Olmert's convergence plan did.  Ha'aretz reported 
that a senior Labor Party official warned on Wednesday 
that the emerging Ehud Olmert government, with the 
Yisrael Beiteinu faction, "will crumble the moment the 
convergence [Olmert's political plan] begins." 
Ha'aretz wrote that the warning came despite a 
statement made Tuesday by Labor head Amir Peretz at a 
joint press conference with Olmert that the government 
could last four years. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that Olmert will 
convene a meeting on Israel-PA ties early next week. 
Ha'aretz quoted senior GOI  officials in Jerusalem as 
saying on Wednesday that Israel will cut off all ties 
with the PA that are not essential for preventing an 
immediate humanitarian disaster, and that any contact 
would take place only through those channels intended 
to prevent a crisis -- which they said was not in the 
offing.  Major media reported that Palestinian PM 
Ismail Haniyeh told the first meeting of his cabinet on 
Wednesday that his government is broke and may not be 
able to pay tens of thousands of public workers this 
month, which Ha'aretz said was the first admission by 
Hamas that it will have difficulty running the West 
Bank and the Gaza Strip without massive foreign aid. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a source close to 
Haniyeh told the newspaper that Haniyeh told his 
ministers on Wednesday that they would be allowed to 
maintain contacts with Israeli officials to discuss the 
day-to-day affairs of the Palestinian population. 
Israel Radio and other electronic media reported that 
this morning, the Shin Bet detained Hamas Minister for 
Jerusalem Affairs Khaled Abu Arfa while he was on his 
way to Azzariyeh near East Jerusalem, where he was 
planned to inaugurate a new office.  His bodyguard was 
detained as well.  Ha'aretz's web site quoted Israeli 
security sources as saying that Abu Arfa was detained 
because he was trying to enter the Palestinian 
territories with an Israeli ID card, which he holds as 
an East Jerusalem resident. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a member of the IDF 
General Staff told the newspaper this week that Hamas's 
refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist and its 
continued support for terror activity have granted the 
IDF the legal right to target and strike the Hamas 
Palestinian leadership. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that in the letter he sent UN 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday, Palestinian PM 
 
SIPDIS 
Mahmoud Zahar wrote that Israel's actions are 
undermining hopes of achieving an agreement and peace 
based on the two-state solution.  Yediot quoted EU 
foreign policy chief Javier Solana as saying Wednesday 
before the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the 
EU does not want the Hamas government to fail, and that 
it should be allowed to modify its approach to Israel. 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli Foreign Ministry 
Spokesman Mark Regev as saying that Israel "welcomed" 
Solana's statement that Hamas had clearly not met the 
benchmarks established by the international community. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that responding to Solana's 
call for Israel to transfer revenue payments to the PA, 
Regev asked, "Can anyone guarantee that money that is 
transferred today to the Hamas-controlled treasury will 
not come back to haunt us in the future in the form of 
suicide bombings?"  Israel Radio cited a statement by 
the Chinese Foreign Ministry that China has no 
intention of hosting Zahar and the delegation he will 
lead on a tour of Asian countries.  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that France is considering issuing a visa to a 
Hamas representative invited to attend a meeting of the 
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) 
in Strasbourg on April 10. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday, various 
Palestinian organizations and individuals filed a 
petition with the High Court of Justice demanding an 
immediate opening of the Karni crossing "for regular, 
sufficient, and predictable hours" to enable orderly 
and proper passage of goods to and from the Gaza Strip. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that UN officials warned 
Wednesday that poultry supplies, the primary source of 
protein in the Gaza Strip, were being severely affected 
by measures implemented to contain the spread of the 
H5N1 bird flu virus, including recent closures of the 
Karni crossing by Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday, Peace 
Now petitioned the High Court of Justice to force the 
government to evacuate five illegal outposts within the 
next two months, as well a sixth outpost by August. 
 
Ha'aretz printed a dispatch by the Israeli news agency 
Itim that The High Court of Justice has decided not to 
interfere with Beersheva Mayor Yaakov Turner's decision 
last week to ban a Machsom Watch photo exhibit at the 
Teacher's Center in the city.   Machsom Watch is a 
women's group that monitors the behavior of soldiers 
toward Palestinians at checkpoints.  The pictures in 
question depict interactions at the Qalandya and Hawara 
checkpoints in the West Bank.  Turner announced the ban 
last Thursday, claiming that the contents of the 
exhibit are harmful to the sensitivities of the public. 
 
Yediot reported that the national water company Mekorot 
has removed from its installations in the Ashkelon area 
large amounts of chlorine that is used in the water 
purification process.  Any damage to the chlorine 
containers could result in a severe ecological 
disaster.  There are a number of strategic 
installations situated in the greater Ashkelon area 
that are within Qassam and Katyusha rocket range. 
 
Yediot bannered a remark made by former FM Silvan 
Shalom in an interview with the newspaper that Likud 
head Binyamin Netanyahu "destroyed" his party.  Israel 
Radio reported that there is no majority within the 
Likud leadership to depose Netanyahu. 
 
Yediot and Ha'aretz reported that IAF Commander Maj. 
Gen. Eliezer Shkedy decided to dismiss the commander of 
the Arrow missile program when it was revealed that a 
"private bank" was operating within his unit.  The 
dismissed officer was a lieutenant colonel.  Yediot 
first uncovered the affair. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that lawyers on behalf of Israel have 
spoken in a Federal Court in New York in defense of US 
jurist Prof. Burt Neuborne's demand for a fee for 
handling claims submitted by Holocaust survivors. 
Prof. Burt Neuborne is seeking payment of USD 4.1 
million, at a rate of USD 700 per hour. 
 
All media reported that on Wednesday, doctors 
successfully operated on PM Sharon to replace a portion 
of his skull that was removed during brain surgery 
following his stroke three months ago. 
 
Maariv reported that on Wednesday, 60 Palestinians from 
Al-Quds University attended "Imagine - Music and the 
Media," a conference that took place at Tel Aviv's 
Hilton Hotel.  The renowned musicians Zubin Mehta, 
Pinchas Zuckerman, and Israeli Arab pianist Salim 
Abboud-Ashkar also took part in the event. 
 
Maariv reported that on Wednesday, the Municipality of 
Acre forbade a local association to screen the 
Palestinian film "Paradise Now," whose subject is 
suicide bombers. The municipality claimed that the 
screening would cause unnecessary provocations and harm 
Jewish-Arab relations in the city. 
 
Israel Radio reported that during his visit to the 
Vatican today, Shimon Peres, No. 2 in Kadima, is 
expected to invite Pope Benedict XVI to visit Israel. 
 
All media (lead story in Maariv) reported that State 
Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss drafted a severe report 
on considerable wage excesses at the Bank of Israel. 
The media reported that AG Menachem Mazuz might 
investigate the matter. 
The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio cited a report 
issued today by the Anti-Defamation League, according 
to which the rate of anti-Semitic incidents in the US 
decreased by 3 percent over the last year. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: 
"[Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor] Lieberman ... 
has no place in the government." 
 
Palestinian columnist Daoud Kuttab wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Despite the 
appearance of political stalemate on the Palestinian- 
Israeli front, a possible breakthrough seems closer 
than in the past." 
 
Yossi Ben-Aharon, who was director-general of the Prime 
Minister's Office under former prime minister Yitzhak 
Shamir, argued in popular, pluralist Maariv: "In the 
war against suicide-bombing terrorists, it is not only 
inventiveness that is needed, but also the breaking of 
conventions.... The answer is the expulsion of 
[terrorists'] families." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "When Silence Is Deceit" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (April 
6): "Ehud Olmert's announcement Monday that the 
chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu faction, Avigdor 
Lieberman, will be a minister in the government is 
astounding.  Moreover, the silence of Labor Party 
chairman Amir Peretz -- who heard about the future 
appointment while conducting covert negotiations with 
Olmert -- is strange.  This silence is akin to consent, 
and it is outrageous.  Before the elections, Peretz 
explicitly stated that he would not agree to sit in a 
government with Lieberman.  Now a few days after he 
failed in his confused and misguided attempt to 
establish a right-wing coalition, with National Union 
as its spine and the settlement rabbis as its 
enthusiastic supporters, he appears to be someone whose 
desire to govern spurs him to turn his back on all his 
principles.... Denouncing Lieberman's platform does not 
mean ignoring immigrants.  On the contrary, it is a 
call to this extensive population to give up on 
sectorial voting.  Such a call, if accompanied by 
improved treatment of immigrants based on their needs, 
is liable to break open sectorial voting in the future. 
Lieberman, therefore, has no place in the government. 
What is right for Olmert to do is 10 times more right 
for Peretz to do. If these two establish an all- 
inclusive coalition that completely ignores the will of 
the voter, that government will be forlorn and its days 
may be numbered." 
 
II.  "Prospects For Negotiations" 
 
Palestinian columnist Daoud Kuttab wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (April 6): 
"Despite the appearance of political stalemate on the 
Palestinian-Israeli front, a possible breakthrough 
seems closer than in the past.  Various pieces of the 
puzzle appear to be falling in place following both the 
Palestinian and Israel elections.... The key issue will 
continue to be how the Israelis will want to handle the 
upcoming talks. If they will act as in the past, the 
real negotiations will be within Israel or between 
Israel and Washington.  In many ways the threat of 
turning to the unilateral plan by Ehud Olmert and the 
threat of turning to Hamas by President Abbas might be 
just the right formula to get both parties to try and 
work for an acceptable solution.  For the negotiations 
to work, however, a serious cease-fire agreement (or an 
understanding like the understanding with Hizbullah) is 
needed to be followed by confidence-building measures 
and then serious talks, preferably away from the camera 
and press leaks." 
 
III.  "Expulsions Can't Be Avoided" 
 
Yossi Ben-Aharon, who was director-general of the Prime 
Minister's Office under former prime minister Yitzhak 
Shamir, argued in popular, pluralist Maariv (April 6): 
"In the war against suicide-bombing terrorists, it is 
not only inventiveness that is needed, but also the 
breaking of conventions.... The answer is the expulsion 
of [terrorists'] families.  True, we tried this in the 
past, took in harsh criticism from the world, and 
desisted.  [But] circumstances have changed since then. 
Suicide bombing has become a contagious disease, for 
which its victims in the West have found no 
solution.... [Yet], the US is deporting terrorists and 
suspects to the Guantanamo, Cuba, detention center.... 
Families [of terrorists held by Israel] would be sent 
aboard Israel Navy ships ... to the shores of Saudi 
Arabia, Sudan, or Syria.  Those countries are notorious 
for their financial and political support for Hamas." 
 
------------------------ 
¶2.  US-Israel Relations: 
------------------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Prof. Uzi Arad, the Director of the Institute of Policy 
and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, who was a 
senior advisor to former prime minister Binyamin 
Netanyahu, wrote in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "In coordinating the next foreign policy 
moves with the US, including a possible evacuation of 
territories, the challenge that faces Israel is to 
further upgrade the relations, including the strategic 
relations." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Processes and Leveraging Them" 
 
Prof. Uzi Arad, the Director of the Institute of Policy 
and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, who was a 
senior advisor to former prime minister Binyamin 
Netanyahu, wrote in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (April 6): "The foremost instrument that 
served to upgrade [US-Israeli] relations was leveraging 
power.... In return for the disengagement from Gaza, 
Sharon extricated declarative diplomatic achievements 
from the US.  Now, in coordinating the next foreign 
policy moves with the US, including a possible 
evacuation of territories, the challenge that faces 
Israel is to further upgrade the relations, including 
the strategic relations.   After all, the US has always 
supported safe, defensible and recognized borders for 
Israel, but these were based on the 1967 borders with 
slight revisions, which are now also required by the 
Clinton and Bush formulae.  If Israel gradually pulls 
back to these lines, then the understanding with the US 
should not only be expressed in giving these lines a 
seal of approval, but something essential should also 
be given in return.  This is not a simple objective, 
particularly since there are those in the US who ... 
are pushing in the opposite direction -- to minimize 
Israel's standing and distance Washington from it.  The 
agenda between the two countries is also complex, and 
focuses on the joint effort to cope with the Iranian 
threat.  But in the upcoming timeframe, with a friendly 
president like George Bush serving in Washington, as 
well as the existing infrastructure of the relations 
and broad support in public opinion (Jewish and 
Christian) -- all these afford Israel a basis for 
leveraging that could upgrade the relations, 
institutionalize them and their content, perhaps to the 
highest level.  This is the challenge to which [Israel] 
should aspire, despite the opposing currents." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶3.  Trial of Former Liberian President Charles Taylor: 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "It is encouraging to see international 
law being applied as it should be ... rather than 
seeing it manipulated as in the unwarranted hounding of 
Israeli officers in a double-standards witch-hunt." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Courting Justice" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (April 6): "It is encouraging to see 
international law being applied as it should be -- when 
there actually are reasonable grounds on which to 
prosecute suspects -- rather than seeing it manipulated 
as in the unwarranted hounding of Israeli officers in a 
double-standards witch-hunt.  Beyond the moral 
imperative to bring Milosevic, Saddam and Taylor to 
justice, and for each to bear the consequences of his 
actions, there is the equally essential element of 
deterrence.... Ultimately, the goal is to see justice 
served in the broadest sense possible, and that means 
balancing the benefits and strains of a local process 
versus a trial in a neutral setting.  If local 
officials feel a war crimes trial could destabilize 
society then, as in the case of Taylor, the trial 
should be held elsewhere.  Doing so will not change the 
evidence but should result in justice being done, and 
being seen to be done." 
 
JONES