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 002087 
 
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 
CDR USCENTCOM 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.  Lebanese-Syrian Track 
 
¶3.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Maariv reported that associates of PM Ehud Olmert are 
speaking of a "split realignment."  The newspaper wrote 
that one of the options that Olmert is considering is a 
three-stage realignment: the first one in the western 
West Bank; the second one in the West Bank hills; and 
the last one in the Jordan Valley, where Israel is to 
maintain a military presence. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio quoted senior IDF officers as 
saying that the army is planning to step up ground 
operations by special forces in the northern Gaza 
Strip.  The radio quoted Defense Minister Amir Peretz 
as saying that Tuesday's operation prevented the firing 
of Qassam rockets.  Israel Radio reported that this 
morning, four Qassam rockets landed in Israel, two of 
which landed in Sderot (one near Peretz's private 
residence).  Ha'aretz reported on the plight of Hamdi 
Aman, a Palestinian from Gaza whose entire family was 
hit in the assassination of Islamic Jihad operative 
Muhammad Dadouh in Gaza a week and a half ago.  The 
newspaper cited responses by the IAF and IDF that the 
army is still investigating reports about the case. 
 
Leading media reported that PM Olmert will meet with 
Jordan's King Abdullah II in two weeks. 
 
Yediot, Maariv, and The Jerusalem Post's website cited 
an uproar at a UN Security Council debate on 
international terrorism Tuesday over remarks made by 
Israel's representative at the UN Ambassador Danny 
Gillerman that the war on terror was a "third world 
war" declared by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 
while he planned the next Holocaust.  Maariv and The 
Jerusalem Post's website reported that Syria's UN 
representative blamed Israel for the start of World 
Wars I and II. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, PA 
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas decided to appoint 
Col. Mahmoud Damra, a.k.a. Abu Awad, who has been 
accused by Israel of involvement in terrorist attacks, 
as overall commander of his Force 17 "presidential 
guard" in the West Bank. 
 
All media reported that on Tuesday, the cabinet voted 
to cut the defense budget by 500 million shekels (about 
USD 110 million).  No ministers opposed the proposal, 
but all Labor Party ministers abstained.  Maariv and 
Hatzofe bannered IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz's 
comment that the cuts are insulting. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that in radio interviews, 
President Moshe Katsav and Justice Minister Haim Ramon 
defended their decision to grant partial pardon to four 
of the heads of the right-wing pirate radio station 
Arutz 7 (Arutz Sheva).  Israel Radio's legal 
commentator Moshe Negbi had said in his program that 
Katsav and Ramon were allowing people who had been 
responsible for "vitriolic attacks" against PM Yitzhak 
Rabin before his assassination to compete in the tender 
for a new radio station meant to serve the Jewish 
settlements in the West Bank. 
 
Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu was quoted as saying in 
an interview with Ha'aretz that an attempt was made to 
bribe him early in his tenure as finance minister. 
Netanyahu was quoted as saying that corruption in 
Israel "has become a cancer" that is blocking growth 
and "is liable to develop to Argentine dimensions." 
Netanyahu was quoted as saying that associates of 
former PM Ariel Sharon interfered with his work in the 
Treasury. 
 
Last night, Channel 10-TV reported that State 
Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss might ask AG Menachem 
Mazuz to prosecute Vice PM Shimon Peres over USD 
320,000 of foreign contributions he received in the 
Labor Party primaries.  Maariv reported that 
Lindenstrauss denied the report. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel climbed 22 
places to rank as the 20th strongest domestic economic 
power among the 61 countries surveyed in this year's 
IMD World competitiveness rankings.  The newspaper 
cited the Federation of Israel Chambers of Commerce as 
saying that this helped Israel maintain its 25th place 
in overall economic competitiveness in a report 
compiled by the Swiss-based International Institute for 
Management Development (IMD). 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited AP that US Treasury Secretary 
John Snow resigned Tuesday and that President Bush 
nominated Goldman Sachs CEO Henry M. Paulson as his 
replacement. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that developments in Nigeria could 
thwart a USD 250-million deal in which the Nigerian 
government selected Israeli company Aeronautics Defense 
Systems to protect the Nigerian oil industry.  The 
newspaper wrote that the central development was a 
failed attempt by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo 
to amend  the constitution in order to present his 
candidacy for a third term in office. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli convict Lior 
Atuar is set to be extradited from the US to Turkey 
after losing an appeal last week that claimed torture 
had been used to obtain evidence against him, according 
to his lawyers. 
 
Major media reported on the resignation of Sabina Biran 
from the post of CEO of the Israeli airline Israir.  In 
an interview with Yediot, Biran denied that her move 
was related to a near-incident involving an Israir 
plane at New York's JFK airport in July 2005. 
 
Yediot ran a feature ("Israel vs. Lebanon") on the 
finalists of Donald Trump's reality TV program "The 
Apprentice 5" -- Lee Bienstock, an Israeli who resides 
in the US, and Sean Yazbeck, a Briton of Lebanese 
origin. 
 
Maariv reported that the American Consulate-General in 
Jerusalem has built a small bridge at its Agron Street 
location in contravention of a Jerusalem Municipality 
ban. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that US Ambassador to 
Israel Richard Jones and his wife, Joan, hosted a 
"truly wonderful" recital by the International Choir of 
Israel, which is made up largely of members of the 
diplomatic community. 
Maariv's online service NRG cited the results of a poll 
commissioned by the leaders of the Geneva initiative: 
-59 percent of Israelis support conducting negotiations 
with the Palestinians with the aim of reaching a final 
status arrangement.  Only 25 percent support the 
implementation of a unilateral realignment plan. 
-68 percent support holding negotiations with Abbas. 
- 26% support negotiations with Hamas. 
-Only 31 percent believe that Israel will not be able 
to determine its permanent borders unilaterally without 
coordinating this in advance with the Palestinians. 
-56 percent believe that the permanent borders will 
only be finalized in coordination and in agreement with 
the Palestinians. 
-38 percent are opposed to the Geneva agreement, 33 
percent support it, 13 percent are undecided, and 16 
percent are unfamiliar with the text of the agreement. 
 
Maariv bannered a Geocartographia poll, according to 
which 44 percent of West Bank settlers are prepared to 
be evacuated, compared with 25 percent in June 2005 and 
35 percent in August 2004. 
-64 percent of secular settlers, 47 percent of ultra- 
Orthodox settlers and 23 percent of religious settlers 
are prepared to be evacuated. 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Liberal Tel Aviv University Prof. Tanya Reinhart wrote 
in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "All 
that remains is to hope that Europe will come to its 
senses, and influence the US to also accept the 
democratic choice of the Palestinian people." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Recognize the Hamas Government" 
Liberal Tel Aviv University Prof. Tanya Reinhart wrote 
in mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/31): 
"Since 1993 we have become accustomed to having the 
negotiations with the Palestinian Authority only deal 
with the question of what is good for Israel -- to what 
degree are the Palestinians willing to recognize its 
right to exist as a Jewish state and to ensure its 
security.  Suddenly, an elected Palestinian government 
has arisen that is no longer willing to play this 
game.... No Palestinian leadership has yet been found 
to be a worthy partner for peace, but a leadership that 
breaks the rules of the game and declares that it only 
represents the Palestinian people is in the eyes [of 
Israel's government and army] a true enemy, which must 
be destroyed.  Olmert may have obtained a majority in 
the US Congress for boycotting the Hamas-led 
government, but he has no majority in Israeli society. 
According to a March 2006 poll by the [Hebrew 
University's] Truman Institute, 62 percent of Israelis 
are in favor of conducting negotiations with Hamas. 
But the majority in Israel has long since ceased to 
decide.  At present, all that remains is to hope that 
Europe will come to its senses, and influence the US to 
also accept the democratic choice of the Palestinian 
people." 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Lebanese-Syrian Track: 
-------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist Shaul Schiff wrote in the editorial of 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "The same Lebanon that 
ousted Syria must also throw out the weapons 
threatening Israel's security." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Go For the Strategic Weapons" 
 
Senior columnist Shaul Schiff wrote in the editorial of 
nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (5/31): "On Sunday, 
Lebanon asked for a cease-fire and the IDF acceded to 
that request.  But the same Lebanon that ousted Syria 
must also throw out the weapons threatening Israel's 
security.  This demand can't be allowed to leave the 
agenda -- directly or indirectly.  Hizbullah's honor 
was harmed this week.  It might attack again.  If the 
[IDF] Chief of Staff hit Hizbullah's entire strategic 
infrastructure far away from the Lebanese border, it 
would be his finest hour." 
 
--------- 
¶3.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "A common 
definition of the threats that would justify American 
intervention on behalf of Israel, and the start of an 
orderly process of operational planning for an 
emergency are required." 
 
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: "[Israel] must contribute to blocking Iran's 
nuclear program to the best of its ability, and must do 
so quietly and wisely, while already mobilizing and 
gathering its resources and strengths for the events to 
come." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "An Umbrella or Handcuffs?" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/31): "President 
George W. Bush's declaration, during his meeting with 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that in the event of an 
Iranian attack on Israel the U.S. would come to 
Israel's aid is the expression of a strategic change in 
relations between the two countries.  It is a 
presidential commitment, stronger than ever, to bring 
Israel under the American defense umbrella.... Bush's 
statement seemingly is a step in the direction of the 
defense alliance, even if it is a verbal promise that 
is not enough to send a military force.  For it to be 
translated into practical steps, a common definition of 
the threats that would justify American intervention on 
behalf of Israel, and the start of an orderly process 
of operational planning for an emergency are required. 
Otherwise, it is only a statement with moral authority 
that expresses friendship and support, but not much 
beyond that." 
 
II.  "The Campaign for Blocking Iran" 
 
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 (5/31): "If even under sanctions, Iran does 
not halt its progress towards nuclear capability, the 
United States' determination will then be tested, and 
military force will be the last measure left in its 
hands.... If the US chooses not to take military 
action, and effectively throws up its hands, then the 
dilemma will reach Israel, which will have to decide 
whether to take military action or not.  Israel has not 
known such a fateful dilemma in the last generation, 
and this is not the place to spell out the 
considerations that will guide it in making such a 
decision.  If, under these circumstances, Israel 
decides for its own reasons not to exercise the 
military option -- then, and only then, is the forecast 
in which Iran achieves its goal liable to materialize. 
Israel will then have to adjust to the new strategic 
situation, and adapt its security policy 
accordingly.... One thing is clear.  Israel should not 
be following the evolving confrontation stoically.  It 
must contribute to blocking Iran's nuclear program to 
the best of its ability, and must do so quietly and 
wisely, while already mobilizing and gathering its 
resources and strengths for the events to come." 
 
CRETZ