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 001871 
 
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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The Jerusalem Post reported that the US will oppose 
European attempts to use the new money transfer 
mechanism created by the Quartet to pay the salaries of 
PA employees.  The newspaper wrote that US 
administration sources have made it clear in the past 
two days that the agreement reached by the Quartet on 
Tuesday does not compel the US to agree that 
international funds will be used to pay salaries of all 
or part of the 165,000 PA employees.  Israel Radio 
reported that Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa 
informed PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas that the 
League is unable to transfer money to the PA because of 
American banks' fear of retribution. 
 
Major media reported, and Yediot bannered, that PM Ehud 
Olmert reprimanded Defense Minister Amir Peretz, 
following the latter's demand that the GOI engage in a 
dialogue with Abbas.  Yediot reported that Olmert told 
Peretz that he will decide whether to meet with Abbas. 
The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that 
Israeli defense sources advised Peretz to authorize 
additional measures at the Erez and Karni crossings to 
ease the Palestinians' lives, and that Peretz said that 
those would be taken provided the circumstances are 
favorable.  Maariv quoted Tourism Minister Yitzhak 
Herzog (Labor) as saying that he will not support 
convergence "like a foolish fan" and that the option of 
dialogue with a Palestinian partner, if he exists, 
should be explored first. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Khaled Mashal, the Damascus-based 
head of Hamas's political bureau, as saying that Hamas 
and Fatah should join forces against Israel instead of 
fighting each other.  The radio said that Mashal 
refrained from referring to an agreement reached 
between Fatah and Hamas leaders imprisoned in Israeli 
jails (cited in the major media), which reportedly 
includes recognition of Israel in the 1967 borders. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the PA's new 3,000- 
strong police force, under the proposed command of 
Jamal Abu Samhadana, one of Israel's most wanted 
terrorists, is set to formally become operational in 
Gaza this Sunday. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Undersecretary of State for 
Political Affairs Nicholas Burns as saying Thursday at 
the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy that 
if Iran did not comply with the demands of the 
international community, the US would consider by the 
end of the year alternative ways to deal with the 
crisis.  The radio said that this was the first time a 
US official mentioned a timeframe in the Iranian 
nuclear program conundrum. 
 
Israel Radio reported that an activist of the Al-Aqsa 
Martyrs Brigades was killed in a clash with IDF troops 
in Nablus.  Yediot reported that around one month ago, 
the Shin Bet and IDF thwarted the formation of a 
terrorist group that planned to kidnap soldiers.   Two 
Hamas activists from the Gaza refugee camp of Jebalya 
were arrested in the case.  They had infiltrated Israel 
from Egypt and were on their way to the West Bank. 
 
Maariv reported that a group of former settler leaders 
plans to create a new body that would be a moderate 
alternative to the Yesha Council of Jewish Settlements 
in the Territories.  Hisdai Eliezer, the head of the 
local council of Alfei Menashe, is the initiator of the 
move. 
 
Yediot and Maariv quoted MK Ibrahim Sarsur (United Arab 
List/Arab Movement for Renewal), who heads the southern 
branch of Israel's Islamic Movement, as saying Thursday 
at an inter-religious meeting that he supports the 
presence of Jews who will be willing to remain in the 
territory of a future Palestinian state. 
 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was quoted as saying 
Thursday in Rome in an interview with Maariv that he is 
not anti-Semitic and that he recognizes the legitimacy 
of the Palestinian regime.  He was also quoted as 
saying that were Iran to be attacked, it should stop 
supplying oil, and that Venezuela would do so if it 
were attacked. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Menderes Turel, the Mayor of 
the Turkish coastal city of Antalya as saying this week 
that Turkey and Israel are negotiating the construction 
of a multi-million-dollar energy and water project that 
will transport water, electricity, natural gas, and oil 
pipelines to Israel, with the oil to be sent onward 
from Israel to the Far East. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that leading Israeli Holocaust 
researcher and Israel Prize laureate Yehuda Bauer told 
the newspaper this week that despite the lessons of 
World War II, Israel is as likely to commit genocide as 
any other nation. 
 
Ha'aretz's top story reported on a decision expected to 
be made today by ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism's 
(UTJ) leading rabbis about whether the party will join 
the coalition in exchange for Kadima's offer to 
increase child allowances by 400 to 500 shekels (around 
USD 90 to 115) a month for families with at least four 
children.  Yediot reported that UTJ's entrance into the 
coalition would cost the state around one billion 
shekels (approx. USD 225 million). 
 
All media, except the ultra-Orthodox newspapers, 
highlighted the death on Thursday of writer, actor, and 
singer Yossi Banai, one of Israel's most beloved and 
admired artists, at 74 after a serious illness. 
 
Yediot reported that a senior food critic wrote in the 
"leading American web site" Star Chefs that Israel has 
turned into one of the most interesting culinary 
destinations in the world. 
 
Leading media reported on the affair of "call detail 
records," information which has enabled US intelligence 
agencies to track who calls whom, and when. 
 
Major media reported on the death of New York Times 
editor A.M. Rosenthal on Wednesday at age 84. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that this week 
Democrats Abroad (DA), the US Democratic Party's 
international arm, launched an online registration 
wizard they hope will allow prospective voters to 
easily navigate complicated state regulations that have 
deterred some Americans from requesting an absentee 
ballot.  The site, VotefromAbroad.org, is for all 
American expatriates who are eligible to vote, 
regardless of party affiliation.  Ha'aretz (English 
Ed.) wrote that the American Embassy in Israel welcomed 
the developments.  The newspaper quoted the Embassy 
Spokesperson as saying that the DA initiative is one of 
"several sites working to improve access to absentee 
voting." 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that American retirees 
living in Israel are giving a lukewarm response to a 
new arrangement that allows for the direct deposit of 
their monthly Social Security payments into a local 
bank account.  The newspaper cited claims by some 
retirees that they get their checks deposited into 
their American accounts for free.  Ha'aretz (English 
Ed.) quoted officials of the American Embassy in Israel 
as saying that the USD 10 service charge is a 
"specially negotiated fee that is actually lower than 
would normally be charged by the Israeli banks, and is 
lower than the fees usually charged to cash a paper 
check here in Israel." 
 
Hatzofe cited a poll conducted by the Palestinian 
Center for Public Opinion over the first three days of 
April that over one-third (33.9 percent) of 
Palestinians are considering emigrating. 
 
 
 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Political parties commentator Sima Kadmon wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The American 
consent [to Olmert's convergence plan] is an axiom for 
Israel.  Without us, nothing remains of the plan." 
 
Contributor Rafael D. Frankel wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "[President 
Bush and Prime Minister Olmert's] need for one another 
could be the biggest advantage they both have." 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Thank you, Europeans and Americans 
of the [Jimmy] Carter kind, who have unwittingly paved 
the road for the convergence plan." 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Hamas evidently 
finds it hard to admit to the concessions it is being 
compelled to make under heavy Arab and international 
pressure." 
 
Hebrew University Political Science Professor, liberal 
contributor Zeev Sternhell wrote in Ha'aretz: "The job 
of a far-seeing government is to stop the deterioration 
[of Israeli-Palestinian relations] and to offer the 
rulers of the Palestinian Authority a life preserver." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Going Without, Returning With" 
 
Political parties commentator Sima Kadmon wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/12): "Olmert 
will not hurry in Washington to declare that the 
[convergence] plan will be implemented tomorrow 
morning.   The conversation will consist of formulating 
the plan as an alternative idea: The road map is the 
main plan, and convergence is its alternative.  The 
question is when the alternative will become the main 
plan.  In other words: When will the international 
system understand that this is a dead end?.... 
[Olmert's] only way of keeping his hold on power is to 
converge.  First of all, because he promised.  Because 
he turned his plan into a referendum.  But this is also 
his only option for survival in the practical sense: 
Convergence will put an existential national problem on 
the agenda.  It will postpone the preoccupation with 
the regular matters with which a government deals.... 
This is an internal window of opportunity.  The 
external window of opportunity is Bush.  We have two 
years in which the President of the US is gradually 
weakening, losing the backing of his people.  The 
American consent is an axiom for Israel.  Without us, 
nothing remains of the plan.  This is the reason that 
Olmert's first trip is so important.  It marks the 
beginning of a process, in the absence of which his 
political future will be in danger." 
 
II.  "Funnel Vision" 
 
Contributor Rafael D. Frankel wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (5/12): "With 
Amir Peretz using his newly won pulpit as defense 
minister in loud support of talking to Abbas, and the 
Europeans increasingly speaking out against further 
unilateralism on Israel's part, the politics of 
'convergence' are growing more problematic by the day. 
Add to that the price tag it is likely to cost the US 
and Europe ... and its shelf life as the main, viable 
option for Israel going forward appears increasingly in 
danger of expiration,  Olmert's upcoming trip to 
Washington, therefore, once sold as s mere 'getting to 
know you' jaunt by the newly elected Israeli prime 
minister, is taking on added weight.  If Olmert does 
not come back from the American capital with a strong 
wind in his sails for 'convergence,' the plan may 
whither on the vines back home before a second round of 
talks with President George W. Bush -- previously 
assumed to be the time when a grand deal would be 
struck-- can materialize.  In this aspect, the two 
leaders' need for one another could be the biggest 
advantage they both have." 
 
 
 
III.  "Hamas Can Bend" 
 
Arab affairs commentator Danny Rubinstein wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/12): "The Hamas 
spokesman in Gaza was dismissive of the national 
consensus document signed by prisoners' representatives 
from all Palestinian organizations -- but the document 
is, nevertheless, en important one.  This is how it is 
viewed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, 
who welcomed it, and the document will apparently 
provide the basis for the Palestinian national dialogue 
slated to take place in 10 days.... Hamas spokesmen 
have employed a more moderate tone in recent days and 
some have already mentioned they are prepared to accept 
a state within the 1967 borders.... Nevertheless, they 
hardly made mention of the document on Thursday -- in 
contrast to the enthusiastic praise from Fatah 
spokesmen.  Hamas evidently finds it hard to admit to 
the concessions it is being compelled to make under 
heavy Arab and international pressure." 
IV.  "The Carter Legacy" 
 
Senior columnist Dan Margalit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (5/12): "Any experienced observer 
knows that [former US President Jimmy] Carter's article 
[in The New York Times this week] anticipates the 
collapse of the European-Western protective barrier 
against the Hamas regime and the resumption of the flow 
of money to Palestinian terrorism..... But good things 
could come out of the bad ones.  A Hamas government 
with coffers full of money might stiffen its neck.  If 
there is money, there is no flexibility.  This would 
boost the need to carry out the unilateral convergence 
move.... Thank you, Europeans and Americans of the 
Carter kind, who have unwittingly paved the road for 
the convergence plan.  But the only condition for its 
implementation would be Ehud Olmert selling it to 
George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice.  The Prime 
Minister ... has started talking about unilaterally 
setting 'defensible lines' instead of 'permanent 
borders.'" 
 
¶V.  "Before Another 30 Years Go By" 
 
Hebrew University Political Science Professor, liberal 
contributor Zeev Sternhell wrote in Ha'aretz (5/12): 
"It is true that the Palestinians have always been 
their worst enemy, but at the same time, they keep 
dragging Israel into dead-end situations.  The job of a 
far-seeing government is to stop the deterioration and 
to offer the rulers of the Palestinian Authority a life 
preserver.  So far, Israel has tried every method in 
its approach to the Palestinians, except for a little 
generosity.... This is where the new Labor Party comes 
into the picture.  The current coalition could go down 
in history in the Golden Book, or it could crash with a 
loud bang.  It all depends on three elements: the 
degree to which the Likud people in Kadima, headed by 
Olmert, sincerely wish to put an end to the long war; 
the loyalty of Labor to its platform and voters; and 
the government's ability to look ahead and read the 
global map.... It is reasonable to assume that the 
start of the campaign for the presidency [in the US], 
no matter who the two candidates are, will symbolize 
the end of the neoconservative reign in Washington." 
 
JONES