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 001854 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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Major media quoted FM Tzipi Livni as saying Wednesday 
that Israel has agreed to release tax revenue it has 
withheld from the PA since February to pay for 
humanitarian aid.   Yediot and Israel Radio said Israel 
has thus acceded to the Quartet's demands.  The radio 
reported that Defense Minister Amir Peretz has asked 
Gen. Yosef Mishlav, the coordinator of GOI activities 
in the territories, to prepare the transfer of USD 50 
million to the PA.  Ha'aretz reported that on 
Wednesday, US representative to the UN Ambassador John 
Bolton told visiting IDF soldiers from the National 
Security College in Israel that the US is wary of the 
initiative agreed upon at a meeting of the Quartet on 
Tuesday, under which a mechanism will be created to 
transfer financial assistance to the Palestinians. 
Bolton was quoted as saying that "the US has still not 
granted its final agreement" to the mechanism, and that 
only after the US receives all the details will it 
"evaluate the proposal and consider its response." 
 
Ha'aretz, Yediot, and Maariv bannered moves allegedly 
being considered by Peretz.  Ha'aretz reported that 
Peretz is considering easing the policy on transporting 
goods between Israel and the Gaza Strip, out of concern 
that the stringent policy at the border crossings is 
causing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.  Ha'aretz 
reported that Peretz has demanded explanations from the 
top IDF brass regarding artillery fire on Palestinian 
communities in the northern Gaza Strip and that he has 
instructed the police and IDF to arrest settlers who 
attack and harass Palestinian children in the vicinity 
of the Maon farm in the southern Hebron hills.  Yediot 
reported that Peretz is calling for immediately 
engaging in a dialogue with PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas, against the view of PM Ehud Olmert, and 
contrary to what the newspaper says is the 
international community's decision to break off 
contacts with the PA as long as it is led by Hamas. 
Yediot also wrote that Peretz intends to instruct the 
IDF to immediately complete the evacuation of all 
illegal settler outposts in the West Bank within a 
year.  Maariv, which bannered: "Peretz: We Must Help 
Abu Mazen," anticipated a confrontation between his 
views and the defense establishment's traditional 
stances. 
 
Yediot and Hatzofe reported that Olmert is considering 
implementing his convergence plan in stages.  Leading 
media quoted Disengagement Administration head Yonatan 
Bassi as saying Wednesday that evacuating 70,000 West 
Bank settlers is not realistic. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Western diplomats dealing with 
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict expressed concern 
Wednesday that Israel would carry out a rapid 
unilateral withdrawal from the territories and create a 
new reality in the West Bank without first exhausting 
the possibility of serious diplomatic negotiations with 
the PA.  The newspaper quoted some of the diplomats 
involved in the Quartet's talks on Tuesday in New York 
as saying that that they intend to apply pressure on 
Israel not to make any decisions on the matter in the 
near future.  Ha'aretz wrote that a western diplomat 
told the newspaper Wednesday that "the Americans also 
know our position on this matter, and they recognize 
that we will not look favorably on unilateral steps at 
this stage."  The diplomat was further quoted as saying 
that talks between Israel and Abbas could lead to "much 
more positive results than unilateral actions."  Yediot 
cited the disappointment of GOI officials over the fact 
that in its final statement Tuesday, the Quartet did 
not refer positively to the convergence plan and that 
it twice stressed its objections to unilateral steps. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that AIPAC is lobbying 
against US administration efforts to oppose a proposed 
bill that would limit aid to the PA.   The newspaper 
reported that on Monday, AIPAC circulated a memo in 
favor of the bill, known as the Palestinian anti- 
terrorism act of 2006.  The Jerusalem Post also 
reported that on Tuesday, Americans for Peace Now sent 
a letter to Congress refuting AIPAC's answers to 
"frequently asked questions" about the bill.  Israel 
Radio also took up the issue. 
 
Ha'aretz cited Reuters that Israel's National Security 
Adviser Giora Eiland told reporters on Wednesday that 
if Iran eventually acquires nuclear weapons, it will be 
unlikely to share them with the Islamic militants it 
backs in the Middle East.  Eiland was quoted as saying 
that he does not believe that Iran is irresponsible. 
Ha'aretz reported that gaps have appeared between the 
US on one hand, and Germany and France on the other on 
the Iranian issue.  IDF Radio and Ha'aretz's web site 
reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 
told students in Jakarta today that Israel is a "regime 
based on evil that cannot continue and one day will 
vanish." 
 
Leading media reported that Lebanese PM Fuad Siniora 
met this week with senior British officials, including 
PM Tony Blair, and asked them to pressure Israel to 
withdraw from the Sheba Farms. 
 
Ha'aretz cited Reuters that on Wednesday, Jordanian 
government spokesman Nasser Joudeh accused Hamas of 
trying to recruit operatives to undergo military 
training in Syria and Iraq and stage attacks in Jordan, 
and quoted Joudeh as saying that Jordan had found new 
weapons that included Iranian rocket launchers. 
Ha'aretz printed a DPA (German Press Agency) dispatch 
that on Wednesday, Hamzeh Mansour, a top leader of the 
Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest political party, 
sent a message to Swiss President Moritz Leuenberger 
praising his stated readiness to meet with officials 
from the Hamas-led Palestinian government as an 
"objective viewpoint." 
 
Maariv reported that Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi's 
commanders have decided to send him to the US for 
studies.  Kochavi was supposed to begin classes at the 
Royal College of Defense Studies in the UK, but gave up 
the idea following concerns that he would be arrested 
there on war crime charges.  He commanded the IDF 
forces in Gaza. 
 
All media reported that on Wednesday, four Labor Party 
Knesset members bucked coalition discipline by 
refraining from voting for the 2006 state budget, which 
passed its first reading in the Knesset by a 62-47 
margin. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that The Annals of Neurology, the 
official journal of the American Neurological 
Association, published in its April issue an article 
stating that Ariel Sharon received reasonable 
neurological treatment and that his doctors' decisions 
were acceptable. 
 
Maariv reported that the Israeli airline Arkia has 
asked Israel's Civil Aviation Administration for a 
permit to operate scheduled flights to New York and 
destinations in Europe and South America. 
 
Maariv reported that an unnamed American billionaire 
donated USD 2.5 million for the construction of an 
emergency ward in the Negev town of Dimona. 
 
Yediot reported on a huge delay -- nine weeks - in the 
time needed to obtain non-immigrant visas to the US. 
The newspaper cited a press release issued by the US 
Embassy in Israel, which strongly encourages all 
individuals who plan to travel to the United States at 
any time between now and the end of September to make 
an interview appointment as soon as possible, through 
the Embassy's visa appointment internet web site 
(detailed in the article).  Yediot further cited the 
press release: "The Embassy will do all that it can to 
help individuals obtain an expedited appointment date 
for a true emergency, but this may not be possible in 
all instances, due to the exceptionally strong demand 
for visa appointments and the Embassy's limited visa 
interviewing capacity."  Maariv reported that starting 
next year every visitor to the US will be required to 
have biometric pictures taken, including handprints. 
 
Leading media quoted President Bush as saying Wednesday 
that his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, is 
presidential material. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "As long as 
Hamas refuses to accept the conditions set by the 
Quartet, no aid should be sent to the PA organizations 
-- neither direct nor indirect." 
 
Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Israel's image and its diplomatic 
situation have so improved of late, that every Jew with 
any experience should start worrying." 
 
Veteran columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Agreeing to 
fund PA salaries and other governmental activity would 
... facilitate the Hamas government's survival.... For 
its own sake as well as Israel's, one must hope that 
the US will rethink this disastrous idea before it is 
too late." 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "The most important decision of this decade 
will be made in the coming months by one man: Bush. 
And Israel's role is to assist this one man, who is 
under great pressure." 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "Whatever Fatah, Israel, the Arab states, and 
the entire world do to undermine the Hamas government 
will not work.  The Palestinian public is loyal to it. 
So it is best to look for a way to live with it." 
 
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote in nationalist, 
Orthodox Hatzofe: "The Palestinian leadership has 
managed to channel the multitude's rage against its 
classical enemies -- Israel and the United States." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "The World Bank's Palestinian Workers" 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/11): "The 
Quartet ...  which coordinates foreign policy and 
international aid to the Palestinians, decided in its 
late meeting to make the workers of the PA employees of 
the World Bank.  That, succinctly, is the meaning of 
the 'Hamas bypass arrangement' to transfer aid money, 
as formulated by the Quartet to ease the great economic 
distress that has reigned in the Palestinian 
territories since the Hamas government was sworn in.... 
The Hamas government will be able to be released of any 
budgetary responsibility and enjoy having the 
connection cut between crime and punishment.  Its hold 
on the Palestinian public will gain in strength, not 
weaken.  It can boast to its voters: Look, we didn't 
fold and we didn't bow to international pressure to 
change our charter and our attitude toward Israel, and 
even so, aid was resumed.  The terrible economic 
situation in the PA is the direct consequence of the 
Intifada and of terror (which only hurt the 
Palestinians), of the ongoing and overbearing Israeli 
occupation (which only hurts Israel) and the corruption 
of the Palestinian government itself.  To improve their 
living conditions from the bottom up, there must be an 
Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.  Therefore, as 
long as Hamas refuses to accept the conditions set by 
the Quartet, no aid should be sent to the PA 
organizations -- neither direct nor indirect. 
Unfortunately, the international community has 
voluntarily given up on its main means of pressure on 
Hamas -- that of money -- and missed an historic 
opportunity to force it, as a governing body, to 
maintain budgetary, administrative and political 
discipline." 
 
II.  "A Worrisome Improvement" 
 
Foreign News Editor Arik Bachar wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (5/11): "One can only feel sorry for 
all those experts in foreign policy, from Condoleezza 
Rice to Javier Solana, who made themselves a bed of 
thorns.  In the script, it all worked beautifully -- 
Israel leaves Gaza, the Palestinians warmly adopt the 
democratic system of elections.  Until Hamas came along 
and decided it didn't like the text, which said that to 
fulfill the vision of two states for two peoples, it 
should recognize Israel and start talking to it.  The 
script of Europe and the US underwent radical changes 
ever since Sharon brought us out of the Gaza dung heap, 
and left the Palestinians with the burden of proof that 
they are capable of beginning to function as a 
responsible people.  Now the Palestinians have been 
given the role of beggars ... while Israel clips the 
coupons in the diplomatic sphere, particularly in 
Europe.... Israel's image and its diplomatic situation 
have so improved of late, that every Jew with any 
experience should start worrying." 
III.  "The Mockery of Funding PA Salaries" 
Veteran columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (5/11): "To 
say that ordinary Palestinians should not suffer 
because of the government they themselves elected, and 
whose objectionable policies they continue to support, 
is thus to ensure that they have no incentive not to 
reelect Hamas in the future.  Agreeing to fund PA 
salaries and other governmental activity would make a 
mockery of the international aid boycott and facilitate 
the Hamas government's survival.  And by proving that a 
policy of Islamic extremism entails no long-term price, 
it would also encourage the election of similar 
governments elsewhere in the Middle East.  Thus, for 
its own sake as well as Israel's, one must hope that 
the US will rethink this disastrous idea before it is 
too late." 
 
IV.  "The Hum of the Centrifuges" 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (5/11): "Israel is behaving like an ostrich. 
The Middle East is on the verge of going nuclear, and 
the locals are obsessed with the convergence.  Yet it 
is clear that there is no convergence without American 
leadership.  Equally clearly, the US is a superpower 
that cannot simultaneously manage the battle against 
Iran, the war in Iraq and the Israeli withdrawal.  It 
is therefore evident that the convergence will have to 
wait.  The vital task of dealing with the settlements 
will have to wait until after the urgent task of 
dealing with the centrifuges has been completed.  The 
most important decision of this decade will be made in 
the coming months by one man: Bush.  And Israel's role 
is to assist this one man, who is under great pressure, 
to make the right decision, in the right way and under 
the right circumstances.... Israel must not make it 
difficult for him, and should not divert his attention 
from the priority.  Israel's role now is to keep a low 
profile: It should stick to the road map, deal with the 
illegal outposts and not draw any unusual attention to 
itself.  It must help Western public opinion to 
understand the inevitable and also prepare Israeli 
public opinion for the unavoidable.  Only after the 
great international crisis of 2007 can Israel return to 
the routine of the conflict, the occupation and the 
shaping of its borders.  Only after the hum of [Iran's 
nuclear] centrifuges has been silenced will it be 
possible to seriously deal with the systematic 
uprooting of settlements." 
 
¶V.  "Bypassing Hamas" 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in 
Ha'aretz (5/11): "Hamas and Israel are ... strategic 
partners in the non-partner position.... it is possible 
that there will be a security lull the likes of which 
has not been seen here in years.  It turns out that 
there might also be a financial arrangement that would 
enable the Hamas government to function and survive. 
The Quartet decided Tuesday night to create a mechanism 
that will pay salaries to tens of thousands of PA 
employees, most of whom work in vital services, the 
school system and the health system.... It is clear to 
everyone now that whatever Fatah, Israel, the Arab 
states, and the entire world do to undermine the Hamas 
government will not work.  The Palestinian public is 
loyal to it.  So it is best to look for a way to live 
with it." 
 
VI.  "Palestinians Obviously Blame Israel and the US" 
 
Senior columnist Haggai Huberman wrote in nationalist, 
Orthodox Hatzofe (5/11): "Domestic [Palestinian] 
violence never reached intolerable levels, and the 
cease-fire [between Hamas and Fatah] was reached within 
a few days.  The Palestinian leadership has managed to 
channel the multitude's rage against its classical 
enemies -- Israel and the United States.  Those claims 
were repeatedly made in sermons delivered in the 
mosques: We suffer because of Israel and the Americans. 
The economic crisis is their fault.  They're 
responsible for the hunger and for the siege on the 
Palestinian Authority.  Palestinian suffering serves 
Israel and the US, therefore they're to blame for 
everything." 
 
JONES