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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TEL AVIV 001913 
 
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.  Libya 
 
¶3.  Darfur 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio cited a statement issued Monday by the 
White House Press Secretary: "President Bush will 
welcome Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel to the 
White House on May 23, 2006.  The President looks 
forward to discussing with the Prime Minister the 
strong bilateral relationship between the United States 
and Israel, as well as a wide range of regional and 
international issues."  The radio reported that the 
President will devote the entire afternoon and evening 
hours to the PM. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that President Bush will 
not discuss with PM Olmert the details of his 
convergence plan when he meets him next week, but that 
he would prefer to allow him to outline his vision. 
Quoting sources who were at a meeting between National 
Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and a group of Jewish 
leaders Monday, the newspaper reported that Hadley told 
the party: "There will be no maps and no exchange of 
letters."  The Jerusalem Post reported that Hadley and 
his deputy, Elliott Abrams told the Jewish leaders that 
any discussion about the details of Olmert's 
convergence plan would be premature and that it was 
"only the beginning of the conversation" about Israel's 
future plans.  The newspaper wrote that "in what is 
seen as an attempt to lower expectations," the senior 
administration officials told Jewish officials that the 
purpose of the meeting was simply to "get to know 
Olmert."  The Jerusalem Post reported that they 
stressed that it was now important to build a 
relationship with him and learn his thoughts for the US 
to keep up its support for Israel.  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that the issue of providing extra aid to 
Israel to finance the convergence plan was not raised 
in the preparatory talks, and that according to both 
Israeli and American sources, this issue is off the 
table for now and will not be raised during Olmert's 
visit.  The Jerusalem Post reported that Hadley and 
Abrams were "very clear" regarding the United States' 
refusal to fund salaries for PA employees.  The 
newspaper quoted Hadley and Abrams as saying that the 
US was firm in its belief that while the international 
community should provide humanitarian assistance to the 
Palestinians, it should not fund the PA salaries.  The 
Jerusalem Post and other media reported that a team of 
Olmert's advisers, headed by his chief of staff Yoram 
Turbowicz and Dov Weisglass, met with Hadley and with 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the 
 
SIPDIS 
details of Olmert's visit. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Israeli sources as saying Monday that 
the U.S. administration is working behind the scenes to 
bolster the security forces under the control of PA 
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli sources 
said Monday.  According to the sources, the US is also 
promoting the creation of a new Palestinian 
administration that will manage the border crossings in 
the Gaza Strip.  Ha'aretz wrote that the same sources 
interpret the US administration's moves as indicative 
of its desire to preserve the status of Abbas in the 
PA.  Ha'aretz wrote that a key figure involved in these 
activities is General Keith Dayton, who is responsible 
for security coordination in the territories, and 
maintains close ties with Abbas's bureau and the 
Defense Ministry in Israel.  The newspaper reported 
that since US law bars holding any direct contact with 
Palestinian security forces or institutions that are 
directly or indirectly controlled by the Hamas-led 
Palestinian government, Dayton is in contact solely 
with Abbas, officials such as Saeb Erekat, and 
institutions directly controlled by Abbas.  Ha'aretz 
reported that the main Palestinian security force with 
which Dayton has links is the Presidential Guard, which 
is responsible for the personal security of the 
Palestinian leader, as well as his offices and 
residence. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Amir Peretz as saying Monday in 
Jerusalem in his first speech as Defense Minister, 
before a conference of the Movement for Quality 
Government in Israel, that he hopes that the 
convergence plan will be implemented with full assent 
of the Palestinians and the international community. 
He was quoted as saying that sincere and serious 
efforts would be made to reach a negotiated agreement 
before any decision regarding a unilateral step. 
Peretz emphasized the fact that a majority in the 
Knesset and among Israeli citizens supports the 
implementation of the convergence plan. 
 
Ha'aretz printed a Reuters story that the EU pledged on 
Monday to resume payments to the Palestinians as soon 
as possible, but that it said that a new mechanism 
required Israeli support.  EU Ambassador to Israel 
Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal was quoted as saying in an 
interview with The Jerusalem Post that the mechanism 
will be crafted in such a way as to encourage Israel to 
funnel the PA tax revenues it is withholding toward 
Palestinian humanitarian aid.  Cibrian-Uzal was also 
quoted as saying that the EU does not support 
unilateral border moves.  The Jerusalem Post reported 
that on Monday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed 
branch of Fatah, threatened to strike at US and 
European interests in response to international 
sanctions on the PA.  The Jerusalem Post wrote that 
another armed group affiliated with Fatah, the Abu Rish 
Brigades, threatened to launch a new Intifada unless 
the international community agreed to fund the PA. 
 
Major media, including Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post, 
reported that on Monday, the family and friends of 
American teen Daniel Wultz, who was killed in the 
latest Tel Aviv bombing held a memorial service in 
Jerusalem to pay their last respects to Daniel before 
his body was flown to his home in Weston, Florida, for 
burial.   The media reported that US Ambassador to 
Israel Richard Jones offered condolences to the 
bereaved family and placed a triangular folded US flag 
on the casket.  Ha'aretz quoted the Ambassador as 
saying: "Although the bloodthirsty terrorists took 
Daniel's life, they cannot deprive us of his spirit." 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday, in an address 
broadcast on Palestinian television and radio on the 
anniversary of the Nakba, the "catastrophe" of the 
establishment of the State of Israel, Abbas called on 
Israel to abandon its plans for unilateral steps in the 
West Bank and return to the negotiating table.  Yediot 
reported that Abbas reiterated his call for an 
international conference to resolve the Israeli- 
Palestinian conflict.  Ha'aretz also quoted Abbas as 
saying that "Israel must also release the funds of the 
Palestinian people and abandon its plans for unilateral 
withdrawal because not doing so will lead to a regional 
conflagration and an end to the chances for peace for a 
long time." 
 
All media reported that three Islamic Jihad militants 
were wounded Monday evening in an IAF strike east of 
Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip.  This morning, Israel 
Radio quoted Israeli security sources as saying that 
Qassam rocket fire into Israel has decreased over the 
past few days and that it is less accurate. 
 
Israel Radio reported that last night in a building of 
Petah Tikva in central Israel, security forces found 
and arrested 240 Palestinians who were residing in the 
country illegally. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that in Damascus on Monday, 
an Arab League committee called for greater efforts to 
block trade with Israel, but that fewer than two-thirds 
of the Arab states attended the talks on a boycott that 
"has largely run out of steam." 
 
Major media reported that on Monday, at a conference 
held by Tel Aviv University's Jaffee Center for 
Strategic Studies, former IDF Intelligence chief Aharon 
Zeevi-Farkash warned of an impending world jihad 
"tsunami" that he said may soon descend on the entire 
Middle East.  Zeevi-Farkash was quoted as saying that 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been 
overheard promising the "end of history in two or three 
years," and that the Iranian threats be taken 
seriously, saying that Tehran will soon have nuclear 
tipped surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 
5,000 kilometers, putting Europe within striking 
distance.   Media also reported that Zeevi-Farkash 
warned that Israel should not rule out the possibility 
of a conventional war against Islamic militants.  He 
was quoted as saying that he foresees this war breaking 
out on Israel's northern frontier, against Syria and 
Hezbollah. 
 
Major media reported that the State Department 
announced Monday that it will remove Libya from the 
list of state sponsors of terrorism in 45 days as part 
of a three-pronged process of normalizing U.S.-Libyan 
relations, declaring that Libya was "out of the 
terrorism business."   Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice announced the restoration of full diplomatic 
relations with Libya and that it was being rewarded for 
its "renunciation of terrorism and the excellent 
cooperation Libya has provided to the United States" in 
the war on terror.  Yediot quoted Israeli political 
sources as saying Monday that Israel knew about the 
Washington-Tripoli contacts.  The newspaper quoted a 
senior GOI source as saying Monday that a warming of 
relations between Israel and Libya should not be 
expected.  In another development, Yediot reported that 
a Libyan diplomat who holds a senior position at the UN 
institutions in Geneva visited Israel several months 
ago. 
 
Yediot reported on a draft resolution presented to the 
UN Security Council, calling on Syria to take steps to 
prevent further weapons transfers into Lebanese 
territory. 
 
Maariv and other media quoted Labor Party members as 
saying that the party might split and that six of its 
Knesset members might join Kadima as an independent 
faction.  Speaking on Israel Radio this morning, 
Education Minister Yuli Tamir (Labor) said that she was 
unaware of such developments.  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that Meretz members, including senior MK Ran 
Cohen, are planning to present a motion to bring 
forward elections for the party's leader to replace 
Yossi Beilin.  The motion will be voted on at the party 
convention next month. 
 
Leading media (banner in Maariv) cited data released 
Monday by the GOI's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) 
that in the first quarter of 2006, Israel's GDP grew by 
a record 6.6 percent.  Business sector growth was 10.6 
percent in the first quarter of 2006, compared with 7 
percent in the previous quarter and 6.1 percent in the 
third quarter of 2005. The CBS was cited as saying that 
private consumption shot up by 10.3 percent in the 
first quarter of 2006 -- marking an 8.7 percent rise 
per capita after a 1 percent decline in the previous 
quarter.  The 2006 figure reflects a 14.6 percent 
increase in purchases of durable goods per capita. 
 
Major media reported that senior Kadima members 
associated with Olmert are lobbying the Knesset for the 
election of former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Israel Meir 
Lau -- who presently serves as Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv- 
Jaffa -- to the position of President of Israel.  The 
vote will take place in about a year.  Yediot and 
Maariv reported that National Infrastructure Minster 
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) has requested the blessing 
of Shas party mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef for his running 
for president.  Yediot reported that former FM David 
Levy and former Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin are also 
interested in the post, and listed the possible names 
of High Court Justices Aharon Barak and Mishael 
Cheshin, who the newspaper said are less likely to join 
the fray. 
 
All media reported that on Sunday, outgoing Industry, 
Labor, and Trade DG Ra'anan Dinur was installed as the 
DG of the Prime Minister's Office. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Minister for Pensioner 
Affairs Rafael "Rafi" Eitan, who was the control 
officer of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, refused to 
sign a petition for his release, to be presented to 
Olmert before his trip to the US.  Eitan was quoted as 
saying that Pollard's interest should be advanced 
through private, not public moves.  The petition was 
launched by MK Uri Ariel (National Union-National 
Religious Party). 
 
Leading media reported that Olmert has appointed Motti 
Sklar as DG of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). 
Sklar is currently DG of the Second Authority for 
Television and Radio. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Transportation Ministry is 
not likely to approve the Israeli airline Arkia's 
request to operate regular flights to New York. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "A 
sign of convergence of views between Fatah and Hamas 
should be welcomed, especially when the direction in 
which they are moving is a positive one." 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "Olmert's assertion that 
the existence of isolated Israeli communities in Judea 
and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank] is a root cause of the 
Palestinian and Arab war against Israel today is 
exposed in all its strategic blindness." 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "The moral groundwork has already been laid 
for historic reconciliation with jihadist Islam.  In 
that sense, at least, from now on Israel is living on 
borrowed time." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Don't Be Dismissive" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(5/16): "Last week, Marwan Barghouti of Fatah and 
Sheikh Abd al-Halk al-Natshe of Hamas signed the 
'National Reconciliation Document,' the first of its 
kind, from the Hadarim Prison where they are serving 
time.  Khaled Mashal and others rushed to reject the 
document before the ink with which it was printed had 
dried; but in reality, this is an attempt to create a 
platform for talks on cooperation between the various 
Palestinian factions.... For the first time, the 
document refers to the willingness of senior Hamas 
officials to establish a Palestinian state alongside 
Israel, based on the 1967 borders, and to the need to 
respect agreements signed between Israel and the 
Palestinians.... The second conclusion stemming from 
the document is that Hamas is not monolithic, and that 
a more lenient and well-disposed approach may reinforce 
the more practical position in the organization -- and 
all out of a desire to promote the establishment of an 
independent Palestinian state and to gain international 
economic support.  Israel must talk with the legitimate 
representatives of the Palestinians.  At present, in 
the wake of elections held with Israel's consent, 
legitimate Palestinian representation is shared by 
Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas.... The conclusion is that a 
sign of convergence of views between Fatah and Hamas 
should be welcomed, especially when the direction in 
which they are moving is a positive one.  Meetings 
between religious leaders, Muslims and Jews, should be 
encouraged, and should include members of the Islamic 
Movement in Israel, Israeli rabbis such as Michael 
Melchior, and also members of Hamas.  And this should 
not be regarded as surrendering to terrorism, or giving 
up the basic demands Israel posed for holding political 
negotiations." 
 
II.  "Ehud Olmert's Mythological Settlements" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (5/16): "Last Friday the 
PA's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said, 'From 
Lebanon to the West Bank, the Zionist enterprise is in 
retreat.'  Haniyeh contrasted this perceived retreat 
with what he views as the rise of the Palestinians on 
all fronts.... Against statements like Haniyeh's, 
Olmert's assertion that the existence of isolated 
Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West 
Bank] is a root cause of the Palestinian and Arab war 
against Israel today is exposed in all its strategic 
blindness.  Far from moderating the Palestinians, 
Israel's retreat from Gaza last summer radicalized them 
and their allies throughout the Islamic world by 
fanning their faith that Israel will one day disappear 
completely.... In light of all of this, it is 
terrifyingly clear that Israel's new Prime Minister has 
placed as the centerpiece of his government's goals the 
implementation of a policy that is based on mythology 
and will lead not to the enhancement of Israel's 
national security and the strengthening of the forces 
fighting the global jihad, but to the destabilization 
of Israel's national security and a strategic defeat 
for the nations, led by the US, that are fighting the 
war against Islamofascism." 
 
III.  "On Borrowed Time" 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (5/16): "The media ran a picture of the Jewish- 
American linguist, Professor Noam Chomsky, making a 
solidarity visit at Hizbullah headquarters in Lebanon. 
One might regard both the incident and Chomsky's 
statements in support of Hizbullah as an evanescent, 
curious oddity.... But one might also regard the words 
of praise that Chomsky had for Hizbullah and Iran as an 
expression -- one of the expressions -- of a troubling 
and dangerous trend that has become increasingly 
popular among the intelligentsia in the West: 
reconciliation with fanatical Islam and regarding it as 
a legitimate liberation movement.  Liberation from 
what?  That, of course, is clear: from the yoke of 
American-Israeli colonialism and oppression.... 
Regarding the Iranian issue, the opinion that is 
beginning to crystallize in the liberal-Left of Europe 
and the United States is that Tehran has the full right 
to develop nuclear capabilities, including military 
capabilities, as long as the US and Israel also do.... 
[Following a successful Iranian nuclear test], 
statesmen would air soft condemnations, and George 
Bush, whose public standing has reached an all-time 
nadir in any event, would make an angry appearance at a 
press conference and lose a few more popularity 
points.... Left-wing intellectuals would explain that, 
all the problems this entails notwithstanding, the 
'Iranian bomb' serves as a necessary counterweight 
against the American occupation of Iraq and the Israeli 
occupation of Palestine.... The moral groundwork has 
already been laid for historic reconciliation with 
jihadist Islam.  In that sense, at least, from now on 
Israel is living on borrowed time." 
 
---------- 
¶2.  Libya: 
---------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Intelligence affairs reporter Ronen Bergman wrote in 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Libya's 
repentance is a shining, if isolated, medal of 
excellence on George Bush's chest." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"'Crazy' Libya Turned Into a Good Kid" 
 
Intelligence affairs reporter Ronen Bergman wrote in 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/16): 
"Libya's repentance is a shining, if isolated, medal of 
excellence on George Bush's chest.  It is also evidence 
used by the 'neoconservatives,' a group of senior 
officials serving in the [US] Department of Defense, 
who are in charge of shaping the administration's 
foreign policy, that an aggressive, consistent foreign 
policy works.... On the other hand, the Israeli Mossad 
failed twice: first when it didn't succeed in obtaining 
any significant information about Libya's nuclear 
project, which was at a quite advanced stage -- and 
second, when its staff learned about Qadhafi's dramatic 
twist from the newspapers." 
 
----------- 
¶3.  Darfur: 
----------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of 
Political Science and former director-general of the 
Foreign Ministry, wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "The way [Israel] treats 
the [Darfur] refugees should be addressed on the only 
meaningful plane -- that of basic humanitarian 
compassion." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"The Doors Are Closed" 
 
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of 
Political Science and former director-general of the 
Foreign Ministry, wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (5/16): "As a state, Israel 
has over the years had to balance political 
calculations with moral precepts.  Not always did it 
emerge from the equation with flying colors.... But 
these complexities are not relevant in the Darfur case, 
where the way we treat the refugees should be addressed 
on the only meaningful plane -- that of basic 
humanitarian compassion.  It is a moral duty for 
Israel, a nation built by refugees, to follow this 
example.  Otherwise, all the lofty talk about 'Never 
again' and 'the world's silence' is mere hypocrisy. 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi 
Livni have a chance to make the world a little less 
cruel for a small number of people." 
 
JONES