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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TEL AVIV 002239 
 
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 
 
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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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All media underscored the blocking by Defense Minister 
Amir Peretz on Sunday of an IDF proposal to step up its 
offensive on the Gaza Strip in response to the recent 
barrage of Qassam rockets fired into Israeli territory. 
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired over 20 Qassam 
rockets at the western Negev on Sunday, wounding two 
Israelis, one seriously, in the hard-hit Negev town of 
Sderot. The barrage is continuing today.  More than 20 
other rockets were fired at Israel over the weekend. 
The media reported that in the wake of an incident on 
Friday, in which seven Palestinian civilians were 
killed in a yet unsolved blast originally thought to 
have resulted from an IDF shelling, the military wing 
of Hamas said that it would renew rocket attacks and 
suicide bombings in Israel, ending the truce that the 
group declared last year.  The media quoted a Hamas 
spokesman as saying: "We have decided to make Sderot a 
ghost town."  Major media reported that on Sunday, 
Khaled Mashal, the head of Hamas's political bureau, 
defended a decision to renew suicide attacks against 
Israel, a view that the media said is not shared by 
many Hamas leaders in the territories.  Maariv reported 
that the IDF has prepared a list of senior Hamas 
leaders possibly slated for assassination. 
 
Leading media reported that the IDF investigation of 
the explosion that killed seven members of a 
Palestinian family on a beach in the northern Gaza 
Strip (Beit Lahiya) is exploring three possible causes: 
an off-target IDF shell; unexploded IDF ordnance; or 
the detonation of a Palestinian bomb.  The Jerusalem 
Post reported that both PM Ehud Olmert and Peretz 
indicated at Sunday's cabinet meeting that the blast 
may have been caused by the Palestinians, not the IDF. 
Over the weekend, the media quoted State Department 
Spokesman Sean McCormack as saying Friday: "We call on 
the PA to prevent all acts of terrorism, including the 
firing of missiles and rockets from Gaza," and reported 
that responses from other international bodies, such as 
Russia and France, were more severe.   Ha'aretz 
reported that two Palestinians who were wounded in the 
explosion are being treated in Israel. 
Over the weekend (Maariv's banner on Sunday read: 
"Palestinians: We Kidnapped Israeli Youth") the media 
reported that after several hours in captivity, Jewish- 
American student Benjamin Bright-Fishbein was released 
early Sunday morning after he was kidnapped by 
Palestinian gunmen while visiting Nablus on Saturday. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Bright-Fishbein, an 
exchange student at the Hebrew University who had spent 
the past month as an intern at The Jerusalem Post, went 
to Nablus because he had heard it was an "interesting 
city." 
 
All media reported that on Sunday gunfire at a passing 
vehicle killed a Palestinian man on the northern Tel 
Aviv-Jerusalem road in the West Bank in what police and 
the IDF suspect was an attack for nationalist motives. 
Leading media cited the IDF's belief that the incident 
was a terrorist attack, and that the shooter mistook 
the victim for an Israeli citizen because of the 
Israeli license plates on the vehicle. 
 
All media reported that Olmert will meet with British 
PM Tony Blair in London today and with French President 
Jacques Chirac on Wednesday to present the principles 
of the realignment plan.  All media reported that a car 
with three Palestinians illegally residing in Israel 
was forcing Ben Gurion Airport's main gate.  They were 
arrested.  Maariv noted that the incident took place 
while Olmert was taking off.  Over the weekend, The 
Jerusalem Post reported that Ra'anan Gissin, the Prime 
Minister's Office's foreign press spokesman, who for 
the last five years has been an "Israeli fixture" in 
the foreign media, will not accompany Olmert on his 
European trip.  The Jerusalem Post expressed its belief 
that he will soon be leaving his job. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted FM Tzipi Livni as saying in 
an interview with AP on Sunday that Israel wants to sit 
down with PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, but 
that it is "not realistic" to pursue a final deal with 
him as long as Hamas refuses to moderate. 
 
Ha'aretz printed a Reuters story quoting Western 
diplomats as saying Sunday that the Bush administration 
is pressing the EU to scrap a plan to pay salaries to 
Palestinian health workers and possibly others to avert 
the collapse of essential services. 
 
Maariv cited a New York Times story Sunday that quoted 
experts as saying that Iranian President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad's remark that Israel should be "wiped off 
the map" was likely mistranslated.  On Sunday, The 
Jerusalem Post cited Defense News that the Pentagon is 
actively supporting the upgrading of the Israeli Arrow 
anti-missile system.  Major media reported that on 
Sunday, thousands of Jews and Israelis demonstrated 
against Ahmadinejad in the German city of Nuremberg 
during a World Cup soccer match between Iran and 
Mexico. 
 
All media reported that after Abbas called on Saturday 
for a July 26 referendum on the "prisoners' document," 
Hamas members jailed in Israel retracted their support 
for the document. 
 
On Sunday, The Jerusalem Post reported that the US 
House of Representatives voted Friday, 312-97, to cut 
foreign aid to Saudi Arabia due to its teaching of 
intolerance and the lack of action by the kingdom in 
preventing funding of terror groups.  The Jerusalem 
Post said that the measure still needs to be approved 
by the Senate, which has not yet voted on its version 
of its foreign aid bill. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Paul Mackney, General Secretary 
of the National Association of Teachers in Further and 
Higher Education (NATFHE), Britain's largest teachers' 
association, announced over the weekend that NATFHE's 
recent decision to encourage an academic boycott of 
Israel has expired, as was expected when it was 
implemented. It stopped being valid two weeks ago 
because NATFHE merged with another British union, the 
Association of University Teachers.  Maariv also wrote 
that the boycott had expired. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Justice Ministry 
representatives and US Embassy staff will discuss the 
issue of trafficking in persons.  The radio noted that 
three weeks ago, the GOI decided to establish a 
commission of directors-general of ministries to 
coordinate efforts on the matter.  The station said 
that late last week it was decided to name attorney 
Rachel Gershoni to head that commission. 
Yediot reported that writings by the late ultra- 
nationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane were found in the room of 
Private Yisrael Reinman, the American immigrant soldier 
who is believed to have committed suicide in a West 
Bank mosque on Monday. 
 
Maariv reported that Minister for Pensioner Affairs 
Rafi Eitan, who was the handler of convicted spy 
Jonathan Pollard, claims that Pollard's petition 
against him at the High Court of Justice, accusing 
Eitan of abandoning him to the Americans, is a "medley 
of unfounded allegations and false accusations." 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited the results of Tel Aviv 
University's Peace Index poll, conducted on May 29-31: 
Only 39 percent of Israelis think Israel will be able 
to determine its borders unilaterally even if it does 
not gain international and US support for such a move, 
whereas the majority (55 percent) say it cannot do so 
without such support. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Mideast: 
-------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
 
Prominent liberal writer David Grossman wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "The disgrace on the Gaza 
beach is a defeat in a campaign that is far more 
important than the exchange of blows with the 
Palestinians -- the campaign for our image as a nation 
and as human beings." 
 
Editor-in-Chief Amnon Dankner wrote on page one of 
Maariv: "Israel has every right in the world to 
robustly protect its citizens from Qassam rocket fire." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized: "Those who would condemn Israel for 
attempting to protect itself are not, in fact, serving 
the interests of the innocents for whom they claim to 
be concerned." 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
Prime Minister is sounding a lot less determined as 
time passes." 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "A referendum may not bring the desired 
results for [Mahmoud] Abbas." 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global 
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist 
Barry Rubin, wrote in The Jerusalem Post: "Actually 
making peace with Israel is very far down [Mahmoud 
Abbas's] list of priorities, and successfully doing so 
is blocked by all Abbas's other domestic political 
considerations." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
¶I.  "We Have to Wake Up" 
 
Prominent liberal writer David Grossman wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv (6/11): "The sight of the 
girl on the Gaza beach, whose life was torn to shreds 
before our very eyes, must wake us from the hypnotic 
coma we have been in for years.  Instead of worrying 
about the 'damage to Israel's image that could be 
caused,' instead of immediately voicing the automatic 
and faded arguments, we would do best were we to look 
at our handiwork and to ask ourselves to where, towards 
what abyss are we propelling ourselves with our own 
handiwork.  To what end is all this done?  What results 
have we achieved with our endless fire into the 'Qassam 
launching grounds,' our 'arrest of wanted men' dozens 
of times every night in the occupied territories and 
the targeted killing operations that murder mainly 
innocent people?.... The Prime Minister has said at 
every podium around the world that Israel 'will make 
every possible effort' before it despairs of the 
possibility of dialogue with the Palestinians and opts 
for unilateral realignment.  But the daring declaration 
made by Abu Mazen about the referendum was immediately 
dismissed as 'completely meaningless'.... The disgrace 
on the Gaza beach is a defeat in a campaign that is far 
more important than the exchange of blows with the 
Palestinians -- the campaign for our image as a nation 
and as human beings." 
 
II.  "Hypocritical Chorus" 
 
Editor-in-Chief Amnon Dankner wrote on page one of 
Maariv (6/12): "It is not yet clear at all what caused 
the deaths of seven members of a Palestinian family on 
a Gaza beach.... [However,] Israel has every right in 
the world to robustly protect its citizens from Qassam 
rocket fire.... The attitude of sixties-like flower 
children who haven't grown up and who believe that, 
were it only possible to give peace a chance, it would 
land on us with crowns of roses, borne by white Hamas 
doves ... is so stupid in the perspective of what 
Israel has lived through.... True, there are no wonder 
cures.  But another conclusion is wrong, too -- it was 
reached by [prominent liberal Israeli author] David 
Grossman in this newspaper on Sunday, who said that 
instead of military wonder solution that doesn't exist, 
there is a wonderful diplomatic one." 
 
III.  "Death in Gaza" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post 
editorialized (6/11): "Hamas's very reaction to 
Friday's deaths [of seven Palestinian family members] 
underlines the bankruptcy of its approach. A leadership 
that genuinely sought to act in the interest of its 
people would call for, and determinedly act to achieve 
a halt in the unceasing fire of Qassam rockets and 
intermittent other anti-Israeli assaults from Gaza into 
Israel.  Self-evidently, after all, a halt to such 
rocket fire would obviate the need for any Israeli 
response and thus ensure the well-being of ordinary 
Palestinians.  Instead, Hamas has itself now openly 
rejoined the ranks of those terror groups firing Qassam 
[rockets] across the border, in turn requiring further 
Israeli action to try to thwart the fire....  Those who 
would condemn Israel for attempting to protect itself 
are not, in fact, serving the interests of the 
innocents for whom they claim to be concerned.  The way 
to avoid bloodshed is to demand and ensure a halt to 
the original acts of aggression, not to blame a nation 
under attack on those occasions, of which Friday may or 
may not turn out to be a rare example, when its efforts 
at self-defense misfire." 
 
IV.  "Sharpening Olmert's Message" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized 
(6/12): "Since [Ehud Olmert's] government was sworn in, 
the convergence plan has been pushed off the diplomatic 
and the public agendas.  They were replaced with 
military escalation and the danger that the cease-fire 
with Hamas may collapse.  In view of the fact that the 
disengagement from the Gaza Strip did not result in a 
period of calm, it is difficult to convince the Israeli 
public and the international community of the necessity 
of a similar move in the West Bank.... Israel has also 
lost the initiative on the diplomatic front -- in the 
face of international pressure to enter negotiations 
with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and 
American support for Abbas's efforts to bring the so- 
called prisoners' document to a referendum among 
Palestinians -- to create a legitimate 'partner' for 
dialogue with Olmert.  The end result is that the Prime 
Minister is sounding a lot less determined as time 
passes.... The Prime Minister proved in his visit to 
the United States that he is able to make an impressive 
showing on the international stage.  His visits in 
London and Paris will be an opportunity to sharpen his 
message. That way he will be able to persuade both his 
hosts and the people at home." 
 
¶V.  "An Expected Change of Heart" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in 
Ha'aretz (6/12): "That Hamas and Islamic Jihad 
contributors to the prisoners' document would distance 
themselves from it was expected.... For Abbas, the sole 
reason to hold a referendum would be to prove that he 
is popular and as such dismiss the sense that Hamas 
continues to enjoy massive public support.  Abbas may 
be basing his efforts on opinion polls that reflect his 
popularity, and may be seeking to prove those 
assessments at the polls.  However, in view of the 
realities on the ground, the deaths of civilians on 
Friday, the escalation of violence between the various 
factions and the absence of diplomatic hope, which may 
lead to the next Intifada, a referendum may not bring 
the desired results for Abbas." 
 
VI.  "A Disturbing Poll" 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global 
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist 
Barry Rubin, wrote in The Jerusalem Post (6/12): "A 
careful and balanced evaluation of Mahmoud Abbas's new 
strategy is tremendously important.  While in some 
respects it represents a step forward, it is also 
couched in the tricky double meanings Palestinian 
political groups have used to conceal their continuing 
goal of total victory in eliminating Israel.  Moreover, 
nothing is likely to come out of it.... [A Bir Zeit 
University poll] seems [to indicate that] a large 
majority of Palestinians support the plan -- which they 
see as a way of promoting national unity and stopping 
chaotic Hamas-Fatah fighting -- and also oppose 
recognition of Israel, or even a real two-state 
solution.... Abbas wants to consolidate Fatah popular 
support, stop the fighting with Hamas, force Hamas back 
into being Fatah's junior partner, gain more 
international support through a public relations 
campaign, and end the international sanctions against 
the PA.  Actually making peace with Israel is very far 
down that list of priorities, and successfully doing so 
is blocked by all Abbas's other domestic political 
considerations." 
 
JONES