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

051446Z Jun 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TEL AVIV 002140 
 
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.  Iran 
 
¶3.  Anti-Semitism 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying Sunday, 
at a news conference with Egyptian President Hosni 
Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh, that he will meet PA 
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas to urge resumption 
of negotiations on the road map.   Olmert was quoted as 
saying he would insist that the PA carry out its 
commitments, including the dismantling of terrorist 
groups.  Major media quoted Mubarak as saying that 
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are 
the way to peace, but that if no such talks are 
possible, "we will find other solutions."  Major media 
reported that the GOI was satisfied with the fact that 
during Olmert's visit, Mubarak did not rule out in 
principle his "realignment" plan.  Israel Radio said 
that Mubarak did not explicitly state an acceptance of 
the plan.  Leading media quoted Egyptian FM Ahmed Ali 
Abu al-Gheit as saying that at this stage Egypt is 
opposed to any unilateral Israeli move. 
 
Leading media reported that disagreements emerged in 
Sunday's cabinet meeting between Defense Minister Amir 
Peretz and Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter over 
the appropriate response Israel should adopt over the 
launching of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip against 
targets inside Israel.  Dichter said that the IDF 
should escalate its operations, and, if necessary, 
occupy parts of the Gaza Strip.  Dichter added that if 
Qassam rocket launchings could not be stopped, the 
northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun should be turned 
into a "ghost town."  Peretz said that the reoccupation 
of parts of the Gaza Strip and pointed to the fact that 
the IDF had successfully confronted the threats posed 
along the Gaza frontier for some time, and that new 
ways of applying forces were being used.  Maariv quoted 
Olmert as saying that the GOI does not act in such an 
extreme fashion.  This morning, Israel Radio reported 
that Muhammad Sadi, a senior Hamas military leader, was 
assassinated in a bombing.  The radio cited the IDF's 
denial that it was behind the operation. 
 
Leading media (lead story in Ha'aretz) quoted Yasser 
Abed Rabbo, who represents Abbas at the national 
dialogue forum between the Palestinian factions that 
the deadline for accepting the ultimatum posed to Hamas 
by Abbas regarding the National Reconciliation Document 
ends tonight at midnight and will not be extended.  The 
document calls for a Palestinian state within the 1967 
borders.  This morning, Israel Radio reported that 
Abbas dispatched former Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei to 
Damascus in a last attempt to reach a compromise with 
Hamas on the issue of the "prisoners' document." 
Israel Radio and other media reported that on Sunday, a 
Hamas militant and four Palestinian civilians were 
killed in the Gaza Strip in Fatah-Hamas clashes.  On 
Sunday, leading media reported that on Saturday, some 
2,500 Fatah militants, members of a new security force, 
deployed in Jenin as part of the escalating struggle 
with Hamas.  Maariv cited assessments made at Sunday's 
cabinet meeting by Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin and Brig. 
Gen. Yosef Kuperwasser, the head of Military 
Intelligence's Research Division, that Abbas's status 
in the PA has strengthened and that Hamas is weakening. 
 
Maariv wrote that the basic assumption of the IDF's 
five-year plan, which is due to be approved next month, 
is that Israel is at the cusp of a sharp confrontation 
with the Palestinians. 
 
On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that the IAF has 
recently expressed interest in procuring a new squadron 
of F-15I fighter jets from Boeing with enhanced long- 
distance capabilities. 
 
Outgoing National Security Council chief Giora Eiland 
was quoted as saying in an interview published by 
Ha'aretz on Sunday that he considers the disengagement 
from the Gaza Strip as a "missed opportunity of 
historic proportions" that was marred by faulty 
planning.  Eiland also spoke against a unilateral 
withdrawal in the West Bank, saying that it would lead 
to a "radical state, not satisfied and not viable, and 
a situation of "continuous instability."  Ha'aretz 
reported that on Sunday, MK Ran Cohen (Meretz) and MK 
Avraham Ravitz (United Torah Judaism) demanded that MK 
Tzachi Hanegbi, the Chairman of the Knesset's Foreign 
Affairs and Defense Committee, schedule a special 
session to discuss Eiland's views. 
 
Over the weekend, all media reported that in an 
incident early Friday in the southern Negev, IDF troops 
killed two Egyptian policemen who had crossed the 
border and opened fire at them.  A third policeman 
escaped back to Egypt.  On Sunday, Yediot quoted an 
Israeli security official as saying that the Egyptian 
policemen had crossed the border with the purpose of 
carrying out an action "like the Ras Burka massacre," a 
reference to the 1985 Sinai massacre of vacationing 
Israelis by an Egyptian police officer.  Maariv 
reported that Olmert opened the Sharm el-Sheikh press 
conference by offering Israel's apology for the 
incident. 
 
The Jerusalem Post printed a picture of Sen. Hillary 
Rodham Clinton, Israeli Consul-General Arye Mekel, and 
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, leading the Salute to 
Israel Parade along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue on Sunday. 
 
All media quoted Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as 
saying Sunday that the flow of energy in the Middle 
East might be disrupted should the US make a "wrong 
move" over Iran. 
 
Chinese Ambassador to Israel Chen Yonglong was quoted 
as saying Sunday in an interview with The Jerusalem 
Post that the decision to send PA FM Mahmoud Zahar to a 
Sino-Arab forum in Beijing last week was made by Abbas. 
The newspaper wrote that Yonlong was thus downplaying 
the significance of that controversial visit. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Dov Weisglass's four-year stint 
as the PM's senior adviser and envoy and came to an end 
during the weekend, as he assumed his role as chairman 
of the board of the major Israeli telecommunications 
company Bezeq. 
 
On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that in an 
interview, Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ), sharply 
criticized Saudi Arabia in the wake of a Tuesday report 
in The Post regarding that country's ongoing 
enforcement of an anti-Israel embargo.  Ferguson was 
quoted as saying that he plans to raise the issue 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Foreign Ministry is trying 
to stop a UN initiative to invite Israeli politicians 
and public figures to the International Media Seminar 
on Peace in the Middle East, scheduled to be held in 
Moscow on June 8 and 9.  The newspaper cited the belief 
of officials in the Foreign Ministry's International 
Organizations office, which is headed by Roni Ya'ar, 
that the invitation is intended to lend the appearance 
of respectability to an anti-Israeli forum. 
 
Leading media reported that on Sunday, the Knesset's 
Finance Committee approved the 2006 state budget.  Nine 
Knesset members voted in favor, six were against -- 
including Shelly Yechimovich (Labor) -- and two 
abstained. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Yohannes Lemma, the 
director of the African Refugees Development Center, a 
local NGO helping African refugees, told the newspaper 
Sunday that the GOI has ordered 75 Liberian asylum- 
seekers to leave Israel by March 31, 2007. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that FM Tzipi Livni named 
veteran diplomat Ido Aharoni as her media adviser 
Sunday, replacing personal spokesman Shai Ben-Mor. 
 
On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported on the 
popularity of Israeli psychologist Dr. Tal Ben Shahar, 
who lectures to a "staggering one fifth of the student 
body at Harvard University."  Other media previously 
ran features of Ben Shahar. 
 
On Sunday, Ha'aretz reported that four Israelis were 
killed in a light aircraft crash in New Jersey last 
Wednesday, and that the American authorities are 
investigating the accident. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: ""If our older 
brother [America] was truly a strategic asset, he would 
have gotten us out of [the territories] long ago." 
 
Veteran print and TV journalist Ya'acov Ahimeir wrote 
in popular, pluralist Maariv: "Olmert's appearance 
before the joint session of Congress ... was not aimed 
at responding to the boycott attacks against Israel." 
 
Columnist Shaul Schiff wrote in Hatzofe's page-one 
editorial: "Egypt is involved in everything that can 
hurt Israel's interests." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "Europeans may be entertaining much- 
belated second-thoughts about the Palestinians -- and 
in a big way." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "Is America a Strategic Liability?" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/5): "When Vice 
Prime Minister Shimon Peres, 'the architect of the Oslo 
agreement,' was asked why he was supporting the policy 
of Ariel Sharon, he shrugged his shoulders and 
responded: 'How can I object to a policy that the 
president of the United States supports?'  That 
'policy' of 'there's no partner for peace' is what gave 
rise to the unilateralism that continues to chip away 
at what is left of the pragmatic Palestinian camp and 
to continue to reduce the chances of ending the 
occupation.  Sunday was the 39th anniversary of that 
strategic burden.  If our older brother was truly a 
strategic asset, he would have gotten us out of there 
long ago." 
 
II.  "Ahmadinejad's Troops in Academia" 
 
Veteran print and TV journalist Ya'acov Ahimeir wrote 
in popular, pluralist Maariv (5/5): "While the Iranian 
president calls almost daily for Israel's destruction, 
a snowball of boycotting Israel is gathering momentum: 
It is quietly rolling along, without receiving a proper 
political and rhetorical response from the attacked 
party.  Once, many years ago, things were different: 
Israel had great advocates, whose voice reverberated, 
in complete contrast to the sound of silence that the 
Foreign Ministry emits today, with no response -- even 
rhetorical, if not political-being provided to the 
offensive aimed against the state.... After all, 
Olmert's appearance before the joint session of 
Congress in Washington, no matter how successful it was 
in representing the government's position, was a one- 
time affair, and was not aimed at responding to the 
boycott attacks against Israel, but rather appeasing 
the legislators on Capitol Hill.... The enemy is 
rallying its troops and has even opened fire -- and for 
whom and for what are the besieged forces waiting?  How 
long will Israel's rhetorical silence continue?  Will 
all the denunciations remain in the studios here, and 
their voice be heard only in central Israel?  That's 
it, is there no one who will speak to the world on 
behalf of the majority of the people?  We are being 
drenched, and in these summer days it is not by 
raindrops." 
 
III.  "Misguided Courtship" 
 
Columnist Shaul Schiff wrote in Hatzofe's page-one 
editorial (5/5): "On Sunday Prime Minister Ehud Olmert 
met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at Sharm el- 
Sheikh.  This was another trip by an Israeli prime 
minister and senior political figure to meet with the 
Egyptian president on his home ground, again 
capitulating to Mubarak's insistence not to step on 
Israeli soil.... Hosni Mubarak, directly and 
indirectly, is behind the growing campaign to pressure 
Israel to give up its nuclear arms.... In talks with 
the Americans, Mubarak explained that he must maintain 
a controlled relationship with Israel in order not to 
give propaganda advantages to his adversaries at home. 
This story would have deserved serious attention, had 
we not already known that Egypt is involved in 
everything that can hurt Israel's interests.  Under 
cover of peace, it has established an excellent western- 
type army, and we should ask openly at least once: 
Against whom is it directed." 
 
IV.  "Europe's Opening Mind" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (5/5): "Europeans may be entertaining 
much-belated second-thoughts about the Palestinians -- 
and in a big way.... It is clearly much too premature 
to celebrate the end of Palestinian supremacy in the 
fight for European hearts and minds, but what confers 
particular credence on [American pollster Stanley] 
Greenberg's findings is both what they show and what 
they don't. Greenberg does not report a remarkable rise 
in sympathy towards Israel.  He does report a dramatic 
fall in sympathy for the Palestinians.  What is 
striking about this shift is that it is occurring 
despite the fact that much of the European media remain 
skewed against Israel.... Israel would be foolish to 
pessimistically downplay what should be seen as a new 
opportunity.  If it was a mistake to opt for defeat by 
default in Europe before Greenberg's survey findings, 
assuming a reflexive European receptivity to the anti- 
Israel messages of Arab and Moslem propagandists, it 
would be all the more unpardonable now." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "It is not so much that Ahmadinejad is no 
Hitler -- it's more that Bush is no Churchill." 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a 
lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in 
Yediot Aharonot: "strange though it may sound, Iran of 
all places could be the first candidate in the Middle 
East for a real, pro-American democracy after Israel." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "It Pays to be a Bully" 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (5/4): "Ahmadinejad is a violent bully, and 
the world is scared of bullies with nuclear programs. 
Ahmadinejad's regime emerges from this conflict 
courted, strengthened and superpower-like.  As 
expected, Tehran has officially rejected (for the time 
being; they are waiting for the offer to be sweetened) 
the American conditions for dialogue, but they received 
with satisfaction the proposal to hold talks and the 
generous package of incentives.... Officials in 
Jerusalem swallowed the insult and were taciturn; the 
Israeli government willingly has ignored the chilling 
significance of the United States' reconciling with 
Ahmadinejad.  Is the US administration and, in its 
wake, the entire cultured world, already slipping down 
the slippery slope?  Are we facing once again the 
illusion of 'peace in our time'?  Bush might come to 
his senses and stop in mid-course but, the way it looks 
... it is not so much that Ahmadinejad is no Hitler -- 
it's more that Bush is no Churchill." 
 
 
 
II.  "From an Enemy to a Lover" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a 
lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in 
Yediot Aharonot (5/4): "Iran is liable to agree to 
[the] package of [US] proposals, but this is where its 
commitment will have to be made: to abandon the axis of 
evil and its support of Syria, Hizbullah, Hamas and 
Islamic Jihad, and to remain uninvolved in the Israeli- 
Palestinian conflict, in keeping with the policy set by 
Iran's former president, Mohammed Khatami.  Iran, under 
Khatami, said that it would accept any agreement 
between Israel and the Palestinians.  An Iranian 
withdrawal from its support for Hamas and Islamic Jihad 
will greatly reduce the volume of terrorism in our 
region, stabilize Israel's borders, and facilitate 
reaching Israeli-Palestinian arrangements.  If that, 
indeed, is how matters develop, the process will 
culminate with full diplomatic relations between 
Washington and Tehran and an exchange of ambassadors. 
Both countries have a lot to be gained from accepting 
the proposed plan....   Iran is not operating from a 
position of power, but from a position of weakness and 
a sense of major panic. Intelligent American 
statesmanship might yet turn today's enemy into 
tomorrow's ally and, strange though it may sound, Iran 
of all places could be the first candidate in the 
Middle East for a real, pro-American democracy after 
Israel." 
 
------------------ 
¶3.  Anti-Semitism: 
------------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
Jewish people have not always been able to count on a 
friend in the form of a strong US administration. At a 
time when such a government has appointed someone to 
emphasize its commitment to the Jewish people, it is 
only right to offer our blessings and our thanks." 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Against All Anti-Semitism" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (5/5): 
"A law passed by the US Congress some two years ago led 
to the appointment about 10 days ago of a special State 
Department envoy for monitoring and combating anti- 
Semitism. The envoy's job will be to persuade decision- 
makers to keep the war against anti-Semitism high up on 
the US agenda with respect to its relations with other 
countries, and to ensure that the sharp teeth of 
American foreign policy are used in this battle.  The 
Bush administration has proved repeatedly that it will 
not stand idly by in the face of anti-Semitic 
statements and actions.  At the swearing-in ceremony 
for the first envoy, Gregg Rickman, Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice said that 'anti-Semitism is not just a 
historical fact. It is a current event'.... US State 
Department officials are not thrilled about the 
appointment that was forced upon them by the 
legislature.  In this case, however, it appears that 
the collective wisdom of the lawmakers has exceeded 
that of the State Department, most of whose objections 
were for bureaucratic reasons.... The Jewish people 
have not always been able to count on a friend in the 
form of a strong US administration. At a time when such 
a government has appointed someone to emphasize its 
commitment to the Jewish people, it is only right to 
offer our blessings and our thanks." 
 
JONES