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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 001402 
 
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.  Global War on Terror 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported on seemingly 
moderate gestures and pronouncements from Hamas vis-a- 
vis Israel.  Ha'aretz reported that Hamas has been 
sending go-betweens to Israel recently with a proposed 
agreement for "quiet in return for quiet."  Ha'aretz 
wrote that according to the proposal, conveyed to 
Israel by, among others, Egyptian envoys, Hamas would 
pledge not to carry out any violent actions against 
Israel and would even prevent other Palestinian 
organizations from doing so. Israel, for its part, 
would pledge by means of a third party not to take 
action against the organizations operating in the 
territories.  Ha'aretz reported that Hamas is even 
prepared to declare a unilateral hudna (cease-fire), 
should Israel not want to appear to be maintaining 
contact with a body that calls for its destruction. 
According to this offer, Israel would respond with 
positive measures of its own.  Ha'aretz said that 
political and defense officials in Israel define the 
initiative as a "trick."  Israel Radio reported that 
Palestinian FM Mahmoud Zahar hinted in an interview 
with the British daily The Times that Hamas could be 
ready for a two-state solution.  However, the radio 
quoted Zahar as saying in an interview with Al Arabiya- 
TV that attacks against Israel in the territories are 
legitimate.  Ha'aretz reported that Hamas announced on 
Thursday that the ministers serving on its behalf in 
the new Palestinian government had resigned their 
membership in the organization and that others would 
inherit their posts in the movement.  Ha'aretz quoted 
Hamas officials as saying informally that the 
organization had issued the statement in an effort to 
reduce the international pressure and economic siege on 
the PA government by presenting it as "separate" from 
Hamas.  The Jerusalem Post reported that EU envoy Marc 
Otte told the newspaper that European leaders are 
likely to approve contacts with PA functionaries, even 
if they are affiliated with Hamas-led ministries, to 
ensure the flow of humanitarian aid. 
 
Yediot reported that the Israeli defense establishment 
will recommend to Olmert that Israel conduct a dual 
policy vis-a-vis the PA: on the one hand, all daily 
contacts with the PA would be cut; on the other hand, 
Israel would provide humanitarian aid and basic 
supplies in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis in 
the Gaza Strip, which would strengthen Hamas.  Maariv 
reported that senior Israeli defense sources told the 
newspaper that Israel Discount Bank is the last Israeli 
bank still working with the PA.  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that on Thursday, PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas decided to appoint Gen. Rashid Abu 
Shabak, one of his loyalists, to the newly created post 
of director-general of internal security.  The 
Jerusalem Post said that this was yet another move to 
undermine the new Hamas cabinet. 
 
All media reported that Qassam rocket launchings from 
the northern Gaza Strip are continuing.  On Thursday, a 
Qassam rocket landed in the center of Sderot.   The IDF 
responded with artillery fire, and air and naval 
strikes.  The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported 
that FIFA, the world soccer's governing body, has 
raised concerns with the GOI after the IDF targeted the 
main soccer stadium in the Gaza Strip with artillery 
fire. 
 
The leading news web site Ynet and Israel Radio 
reported that on Thursday, the Joint Standing Committee 
on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Department of the 
House of Representatives approved the "Palestinian Law 
Against Terror 2006," which bans the US from holding 
contacts with and giving aid that is not classified as 
humanitarian to the Hamas-controlled PA. The bill 
passed with a 36-2 vote.  The bill gives Congress 
extended powers to make sure that American taxpayers' 
money doesn't reach "an authority controlled by a 
terror organization."  Tough restrictions will be 
imposed on PA envoys in the U.S.  Israel Radio quoted 
GOI sources as saying that Israel is satisfied with the 
move.  Israel Radio quoted State Department Spokesman 
Sean McCormack as saying Thursday: "We're not going to 
provide US funds to a Hamas-led government.  We don't 
deal with terrorists.  We don't give money to 
terrorists.... We ... wanted to make sure that we 
retain the ability to provide humanitarian assistance 
directly to the Palestinian people." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior IDF officer 
told the newspaper on Thursday that fearing a harsh 
Israeli response, Syrian military forces stationed 
along the border with the Golan are under order to 
prevent Al-Qaida and Global Jihad cells from launching 
anti-Israel attacks from within Syria.  Maariv quoted 
political sources in Jerusalem as saying that in talks 
that Syrian officials held with representatives of 
Western countries following the Israeli elections, they 
conveyed messages to Olmert -- peace in exchange for 
the Golan.  Maariv quoted a senior political source in 
Jerusalem as saying that the Syrian offer sounds like a 
futile media spin. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Yisrael Beiteinu 
leader Avigdor Lieberman plans to fight Olmert's 
"convergence" plan from within the government 
coalition.  Leading media reported that Shas is opposed 
to Olmert's plan to name Prof. Uriel Reichman (Kadima), 
the founder of the Shinui movement, to the post of 
education minister.  Ha'aretz and other media reported 
that Olmert favors handing the justice portfolio to 
Haim Ramon (Kadima).  Maariv quoted Likud Chairman 
Binyamin Netanyahu as saying in private talks that 
former FM Silvan Shalom only waited for the election 
results to challenge his leadership.  The newspaper 
reported that Acting PM Ehud Olmert told his associates 
that he wants Shalom and the Likud at his side in the 
government coalition.  Ha'aretz reported that Shalom is 
planning a "putsch" within the Likud. 
 
Israel Radio reported that settlers took over a house 
in the Hebron neighborhood of Avraham Avinu. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday, the US 
House of Representatives passed a unanimous, non- 
binding resolution calling on Saudi Arabia to drop its 
boycott of Israel and that it urged the Bush 
administration to press the desert kingdom on the 
issue.  The Jerusalem Post wrote that the resolution 
came in the wake of a report in last month's Jerusalem 
Post. 
 
Leading media reported that on Thursday, a British 
court decided that British cinematographer James 
Miller, who was fatally shot in Gaza in May 2003 by an 
Israeli soldier, was murdered. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that US Ambassador to 
Israel Richard Jones and Mrs. Joan Jones, and Mexican 
Ambassador to Israel Carlos Rico, attended an event 
organized for a high-level delegation of Latin American 
leaders, academics, and journalists who arrived this 
week for a nine-day visit in Israel.  The newspaper 
reported that the visit is sponsored by the American 
Jewish Committee (AJC) and co-hosted by the National 
Council of La Raza [NB: The largest national Hispanic 
civil rights and advocacy organization in the US]. 
Leading the delegation is Dina Siegel Vann, a Jewish 
Mexican-American who serves as director of the AJC's 
Latino and Latin American Institute in Washington. 
 
Yediot quoted Shimon Peres, No. 2 in Kadima, as saying 
in Rome that Pope Benedict XVI will visit Israel next 
year. 
 
Yediot reported that Israel and Turkey have decided to 
freeze the water agreement they signed three years ago, 
after concluding that it was not worthwhile. 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"Tactically, at this stage, the most important thing 
for Hamas is buying time." 
 
Regional correspondent Ronni Shaked wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Perhaps the 
people in Gaza will realize that Qassam rocket fire 
harms Gaza itself above all." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "With genuine concern for the well-being 
of ordinary Palestinians, the only way forward is for 
the West to ... not capitulate to Hamas's literally and 
figuratively bankrupt policies." 
 
Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in Ha'aretz: 
"Olmert wants a broad coalition base.... To this end, 
he is blurring the primary goal of his government in a 
shameful way." 
 
Former US mediator Dennis Ross wrote in The Jerusalem 
Post: "[The US administration is ... likely to be open 
and encouraging about separation, seeing an Israeli 
withdrawal from most of the West Bank as an historic 
accomplishment." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Buying Time" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev 
Schiff wrote in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(April 7): "While Israel and the US are trying to 
figure out what strategy to use vis-a-vis Hamas, the 
movement has already come up with a clear strategy of 
its own.... Tactically, at this stage, the most 
important thing for Hamas is buying time.... If quiet 
prevails, Hamas will be able to prevent domestic 
conflicts and a Palestinian civil war.  In such a 
scenario, it will also be able to act more effectively 
vis-a-vis international players and to win their 
recognition.  Therefore, there is no doubt that the 
movement will send intermediaries to Israel, with this 
message: We are prepared at this time to provide quiet 
to Israel and its inhabitants, and in return to get 
quiet from the Israeli side.  This quiet will not be in 
the context of an agreement that outlines the 
obligations of the sides, but rather a quiet that Hamas 
can violate whenever it wants, just as when it used to 
defy understandings concerning truces with the PA in 
the past." 
 
II.  "A Hunger Bomb" 
 
Regional correspondent Ronni Shaked wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (April 7): 
"Israeli shelling is making a lot of noise in the Gaza 
Strip, causing panic among the children, but the real 
concern of the inhabitants of Gaza is for bread, 
chicken, fish and vegetables, which no one has money to 
buy.... The real explosion threatening Gaza is not that 
of tanks or aircraft but of want and distress.... No 
one in Gaza is demanding that the rocket fire [into 
Israel] cease.  Hamas spokesmen are encouraging the 
launchers to continue.  The anarchy in Gaza is as it 
was, but like always, the Gazans, not only the 
leadership, but also the street, are blaming Israel. 
Who can stop the launching of the Qassam rockets?  Abu 
Mazen and his security troops have no influence.  The 
only address is that of the Hamas government.  If 
[Prime Minister Ismail] Haniyeh wants to, he can do it 
easily enough.  But they do not want to stop Qassam 
rocket fire, and the public, which is no longer 
affected by Israeli bombs, is busy with its own 
distress, with pita and hummus, not with rockets.   If 
salaries are not paid within a week, there will be 
demonstrations and furious rioting in Gaza, perhaps 
against those who launch the rockets and against the 
Hamas government.  Then perhaps the people in Gaza will 
realize that Qassam rocket fire harms Gaza itself above 
all." 
 
III.  "'Resistance' to Change" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (April 7): "With genuine concern for the 
well-being of ordinary Palestinians, the only way 
forward is for the West to hold firm, and not 
capitulate to Hamas's literally and figuratively 
bankrupt policies.... Given that both the US and Canada 
have already firmly committed to withholding aid until, 
or unless, Hamas revises its stand, it falls primarily 
to the European Union to evince a similar strength of 
conviction.... Assuredly, as the circumstances of the 
Palestinians deteriorate due to lack of funds, Hamas 
will urge its people to find strength in their 
suffering; that such is their destiny and that there is 
glory in their collective status as economic martyrs. 
It doesn't have to be that way.  In fact, it is 
precisely to avoid condemning large numbers of 
Palestinians to such a fate in perpetuity that the 
international community must stay the course and 
continue to isolate Hamas until it changes its ways, or 
until the people who elected it as their government 
realize that it offers them no future." 
 
IV.  "Olmert's First Lie" 
 
Liberal columnist Gideon Samet wrote in Ha'aretz (April 
7): "Olmert wants a broad coalition base (84 seats, 
without Meretz-Yahad).  To this end, he is blurring the 
primary goal of his government in a shameful way.  The 
first sign of this distortion was in his victory 
speech, when the keyword -- 'convergence' - 
disappeared.  It will also not appear in the basic 
guidelines of the government.  Haim Ramon from Kadima 
explains in his tortuous way that 'the word will 
disappear, but not the content.'  Who exactly are they 
trying to blind?  Ramon, as the courtyard prompter, 
explains that Olmert has clearly said that there will 
be concessions of parts of the homeland.  So he said 
it.  Even Netanyahu gave up on parts of the homeland, 
in Hebron.  What Olmert promised was something else 
entirely -- convergence toward permanent borders within 
four years.  In order to do that, a lot of homeland 
territory will need to be given up.  The participation 
of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party and Shas 
in the coalition, without an explicit commitment to 
honor the convergence plan, will lead to one of two 
outcomes -- withdrawal from the convergence, or giving 
up on Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas as coalition partners 
after they get all the spoils." 
 
¶V.  "What Olmert Can Expect From Bush" 
 
Former US mediator Dennis Ross wrote in The Jerusalem 
Post (April 7): "In discussions with the United States, 
the new Israeli government will seek tangible 
recognition of the settlement blocs and the 'permanent 
borders that Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has 
declared he plans to establish by 2010.... What is the 
Bush administration likely to do?  It is -- as 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has already 
 
SIPDIS 
indicated -- likely to be open and encouraging about 
separation, seeing an Israeli withdrawal from most of 
the West Bank as an historic accomplishment.  But no 
one should assume that such talks between the new 
Israeli government and the administration will be quick 
or easy.... If it is clear that Abu Mazen cannot 
deliver anything meaningful, we [the US] should be 
prepared that we(and others) will support separation 
and will recognize the new borders as political." 
 
------------------------- 
¶2.  Global War on Terror: 
------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "The Bush administration 
today is bogged down in a swamp of strategic paralysis 
and political distress that prevent it from designing 
clear policies regarding the war against global jihad." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Rise of the Islamic Axis" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (April 7): "For more than 
two years, the Israeli government and media have told 
the public that no matter how our enemies threaten us, 
they can do us no harm because America is protecting 
us.  Protected by America, Israelis are told that we 
have no reason to fear the consequences of IDF retreats 
and the transfer of vacated lands to Hamas.  Sadly, 
this promise is largely untrue.  The Bush 
administration today is bogged down in a swamp of 
strategic paralysis and political distress that prevent 
it from designing clear policies regarding the war 
against global jihad.... The members of the Iran-led 
Islamist axis are actively pursuing and indeed 
progressing in their quest to encircle Israel and 
entrap the US.  This they accomplish -- both separately 
and together -- while Israel and the US insist on doing 
everything they can to prevent any possibility of 
effectively meeting the rising threats.  There is no 
doubt that the political leadership of at least one of 
these states has to snap out of its policy fog 
immediately. Our enemies have no consideration for our 
desire to ignore them." 
 
JONES