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Carol X Weakley  08/04/2006 03:49:57 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Carol X Weakley

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TAGS: IS KMDR
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that the IDF is planning to complete its 
deployment today along a new defensive line in southern Lebanon 
about six to eight kilometers north of the Israeli border. The area 
that the IDF has brought under its control is comparable to the 
security zone it maintained until the pullout from Lebanon in May 
2000, except for the area northeast of Metulla where the IDF has 
opted not to operate.  Israel intends to maintain this security zone 
until the deployment of a multinational force in the area. 
 
All media reported that in fighting yesterday, an IDF soldier died 
and dozens of Hizbullah fighters were killed.  At least 14 other IDF 
soldiers were injured, two of them seriously, the rest lightly. Also 
on Wednesday, more than 200 rockets struck northern Israel, a record 
number since the outbreak of war three weeks ago.  One of the 
rockets killed 52-year old Dave Lalchuk in Kibbutz Sa'ar, north of 
Nahariya.  Lalchuk was a Boston native who immigrated to Israel some 
20 years ago.  (The media reported that another American Israeli, 
Michael Levin, 21, was killed earlier this week.  Levin moved to 
Israel three years ago from the suburbs of Philadelphia.)  A 
long-range, Iranian-made Khaybar missile fired by Hizbullah, landed 
near Jenin, in the West Bank. 
 
Maariv reported that the purpose of IDF commando raids in Lebanon is 
to obtain information about the two IDF soldiers abducted by 
Hizbullah.  The newspaper and other media said that the raid on a 
Baalbek hospital on Tuesday night was meant to show Hizbullah that 
the IDF is able to strike its relatively safe home front. 
 
Leading media reported that the US and France are working on shaping 
a compromise UN Security Council resolution (which Yediot dubbed a 
"delay mechanism"), according to which the Council would first 
declare the cessation of fighting and declare a cease-fire only a 
few days later.  The proposed draft resolution allegedly stipulates 
that the territory between the Israel-Lebanon border and the Litani 
River would be demilitarized.  Israel Radio said that this is only 
one of the proposed compromises, and quoted US administration 
sources as saying that that no resolution will be passed before 
Monday. 
 
Maariv quoted King Abdullah II of Jordan as saying in an interview 
to be published today by the Jordanian newspaper Al Rai that it will 
pay a hefty price in the future for its behavior vis-a-vis the 
Palestinians and Lebanon.  Also citing interviews of King Abdullah 
II in Jordanian papers, Israel Radio quoted him as saying that if 
the fighting in Lebanon continues, and no peaceful solution is 
found, organizations like Hizbullah will appear in other Arab 
countries.  So long as there is occupation and aggression, there 
will be resistance and it will receive popular support, he was 
quoted as saying.  Asked whether the Jordanian Ambassador will be 
sent back to Israel, the King said Jordan will do everything that 
will serve its own interests and those of Lebanon and the 
Palestinians.  Ha'aretz printed an AP dispatch that Egyptian FM 
Ahmed Ali Abu al-Gheit warned Wednesday that Israel's fight against 
Hizbullah in Lebanon should end immediately before it involves other 
parties, apparently referring to Syria, a key supporter of the 
Lebanese militant group. 
 
All media reported that the interview PM Ehud Olmert gave AP on 
Wednesday, suggesting that the war in Lebanon could serve as a 
catalyst for reviving the realignment plan, has enraged settlers and 
Israeli right-wing supporters.  "I'll surprise you," Olmert said. "I 
genuinely believe the outcome of the present [conflict] and the 
emergence of a new order that will provide more stability and will 
defeat the forces of terror will help create the necessary 
environment that will allow me ... to create a new momentum between 
us and the Palestinians."  He went on to reiterate that "we want to 
separate from the Palestinians.  I'm ready to do it.  I'm ready to 
cope with these demands.  It's not easy, it's very difficult, but we 
are elected to our positions to do things and not to sit idle." 
Leading media reported that Olmert later clarified his position to 
Knesset Member Effi Eitam (National Union-National Religious Party), 
telling him that the war is the result of the attack that Hizbullah 
initiated against Israel, and that it is not related to diplomatic 
moves. 
 
Israel Radio reported that last night the IAF carried out three 
strikes in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, killing three 
Palestinians (an activist from Islamic Jihad, another from Hamas, 
and a civilian).  The media reported that on Wednesday a Qassam 
rocket landed in Ashkelon's industrial zone, lightly wounding one 
person.  A second Qassam landed in a Western Negev community. 
 
Maariv cited the growing assessment of the IDF that some of the 
harsh pictures from the scene of the Qana killings were faked.  The 
newspaper said that army sources are not ready to talk about that 
possibility, "because anyway the world does not believe us."  Maariv 
also featured Hizbullah's manipulation of the foreign media in 
Beirut. 
 
Yediot cited the assessment of the Israeli defense establishment 
that following the fighting in Lebanon and threats by Iran, the US 
will supply Israel with F22 Stealth fighter planes.  The newspaper 
report that the cost of such an aircraft is around USD 150 million. 
Yediot also cited the assessment of the Israeli defense 
establishment that the US administration will significantly increase 
financial assistance for the American-Israeli project to develop 
missile-interception systems. 
 
Leading media reported that citing intelligence alerts of possible 
violence, Jerusalem police announced Wednesday that the Temple Mount 
will be closed to non-Muslim visitors on Thursday, as Israel marks 
Tisha Be'av (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av) and the 
destruction of the biblical Jewish temples. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that reported that Rabbi David Wolpe, 
who heads Temple Sinai in Los Angeles, led his congregants and 
others from the LA Jewish community on a two-day solidarity mission 
to Israel, bringing with them over USD 1 million in donations. 
Israel Radio reported that a group of 40 young American college 
students, most of them non-Jews, have not renounced a planned trip 
to Israel and will "learn how a democratic state copes with 
terrorism." 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson announced 
Tuesday that the GOI has posted information and updates on the 
emergency situation in northern Israel on the government portal 
GOV.IL (English web page: http://gov.il/firstgov/english). 
 
Yediot reported that Israeli tourists were attacked in Turkey.  The 
media reported on anti-Semitic incidents in Europe, Australia, and 
New Zealand. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "This is the time 
to tell the people the truth, and the Prime Minister and the rest of 
the government's spokespersons would do well to spare the public 
their empty talk of 'unprecedented achievements' as Katyusha rockets 
land all over the Galilee." 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Why has 
this war won such backing?  Why have anti-war rallies in Israel 
drawn only a few hundred people, and why haven't we seen a large 
Peace Now demonstration against the war?" 
 
Veteran journalist Yaron London wrote in the editorial of 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: " If Hamas and Islamic 
Jihad are not deterred ... there is no reason to assume that the 
fanatic organization beyond Israel's northern border will leave us 
in peace." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "Olmert has the right to work toward the realignment 
plan.... But right now there's a war on." 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev Schiff wrote on 
page one of Ha'aretz: "Under Article 7 [of the UN Charter], Israel 
[would] be unable to carry out aerial reconnaissance missions in 
order to identify possible Hizbullah preparations for an 
offensive." 
 
Columnist Avraham Tal wrote in Ha'aretz: "The war in Lebanon is 
first and foremost a war to rehabilitate Israel's deterrent power in 
the eyes of the wild Middle East." 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the 
Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "Welcome to the 
Middle East, Israel.  And paradoxically, precisely thanks to your 
playing by the rules, the Middle East will accept you.  This time it 
will have no choice." 
 
Columnist Moti Zaft wrote in nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe: "Why 
should Olmert have tied the realignment ... to the IDF's successes 
in Lebanon?" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Dov Kontorer wrote in conservative 
Russian-language Vesty: "Olmert tries to present the situation in 
such a way that a successful conclusion of the war becomes an 
argument in favor of [his] political agenda." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
¶I.  "What About the Missiles?" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (8/3): "'Israel is 
succeeding in this war and is making unparalleled, perhaps 
unprecedented, achievements,' Ehud Olmert said [Tuesday at Israel's 
National Defense College].... The Israeli public, especially the one 
bearing the main brunt of this war, is entitled to receive a more 
realistic account of the war's achievements so far.  The home front, 
whose fortitude politicians and officers praise so much, is entitled 
to know which war objectives have been attained, which are still to 
be attained, and which perhaps will not be attained at all.  Hence, 
this is the time to tell the people the truth, and the Prime 
Minister and the rest of the government's spokespersons would do 
well to spare the public their empty talk of 'unprecedented 
achievements' as Katyusha rockets land all over the Galilee." 
 
II.  "Own Goal" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv (8/3): "Olmert has the right to work toward the realignment 
plan.  If he passes it in the Knesset, we will all have to obey and 
carry it out.  But right now there's a war on.  During a war, it is 
better to be smart than to be right.... You will have enough time 
for realignment, Mr. Olmert.  Finish the planning stage, ponder, be 
persuaded, and after that, persuade us.  It is doubtful whether you 
will succeed.  And if you do succeed, I tip my hat to you.  We will 
do it together.  But first of all, we need to win this war.  You 
need to decide whether you are the prime minister of realignment or 
the Prime Minister of Israel.  Israel needs you today, even more 
than it needs realignment." 
 
III.  "Beyond the Straits" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (8/3): 
"Despite international calls for a cease-fire, a series of public 
polls indicates the IDF operation against Hizbullah in Lebanon, now 
in its third week, still enjoys the support of a majority of 
Israelis.  In the latest survey by the Geocartography Institute on 
Tuesday, a day on which three soldiers were killed in Lebanon, 56 
percent of those surveyed said they believed the fighting must go 
on.  And polls published in the local press show that more than 80 
percent of Israelis back the war.... Why has this war won such 
backing?  Why have anti-war rallies in Israel drawn only a few 
hundred people, and why haven't we seen a large Peace Now 
demonstration against the war?  The simple answer is that it is a 
just campaign.... But perhaps there is a psychological reason too 
that people pulled together.  Perhaps Israelis of all political 
persuasions were yearning for a common cause to bring them 
closer.... What better national glue than a common enemy in the form 
of a cruel terrorist organization bent on Israel's destruction, 
sponsored by Iran and aided by Syria, spitting in the face of UN 
resolutions that called for its disarmament?  Yet in spite of the 
broad support for the war, there are an increasing number of voices 
beginning to question the way the operation has been conducted. " 
 
IV.  "We Have Not Changed the Face of the Middle East" 
 
Veteran journalist Yaron London wrote in the editorial of 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (8/3): "In the speech 
that the Prime Minister delivered Tuesday at [Israel's] National 
Defense College, he declared that the face of the Middle East has 
already changed.  In which sense has it changed?  The only meaning 
that can be construed from the speech is that Israel has recovered 
its deterrent capability.  'Deterrent capability' is no minor 
matter, but one would be well-advised to remember that almost all of 
our wars started when Israel believed that it could scare its 
enemies.  If Hamas and Islamic Jihad are not deterred, despite the 
fact that we are ceaselessly killing their people, there is no 
reason to assume that the fanatic organization beyond Israel's 
northern border will leave us in peace.  Its fanaticism stems from 
deep wells that we do not have the power to dry up." 
 
 
 
 
¶V.  "Time Is of the Essence" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev Schiff wrote on 
page one of Ha'aretz (8/3): "Now, there is talk of basing the 
cease-fire on Article 7 [of the UN Charter], which ... includes the 
threat of sanctions.  The danger is that sanctions will apply to 
both sides.  This may make it very difficult for Israel to defend 
itself, even if it argues self-defense.  Thus, under Article 7, 
Israel will be unable to carry out aerial reconnaissance missions in 
order to identify possible Hizbullah preparations for an offensive. 
Israel has already voiced its concerns to the Americans, who have 
displayed an understanding; but not so the French. Israel and the 
United States are also of one mind on the need to supervise the 
border crossings between Syria and Lebanon so that Hizbullah will 
not be re-supplied by Iran." 
 
VI.  "Deterrence Put to the Test" 
 
Columnist Avraham Tal wrote in Ha'aretz (8/3): "Since the outbreak 
of the war in the north, changes have been made to its defined 
objectives, which, for the most part, have been scaled down in 
response to newly exposed limitations on the ground.  But one 
supreme objective remains unchanged -- the restoration of Israel's 
deterrence.... Arab nations, hostile and less hostile ones, have 
attentively witnessed what has happened here over the last six 
years.... The growing sense that the day on which it will be 
possible to settle accounts with the Zionist state, once and for 
all, is drawing near.  The war in Lebanon is first and foremost a 
war to rehabilitate Israel's deterrent power in the eyes of the wild 
Middle East." 
 
VII.  "Speaking Middle Eastern" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the 
Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot Aharonot (8/3): "In the 
Middle East, one does not attack the strong but rather the weak, 
especially when he is unprepared. Israel attacked Hizbullah when it 
was unprepared for war and not expecting it. In the Middle East, one 
builds deterrence by using enormous military force, and this 
deterrence is supposed to work for many years. Israel never knew how 
to effect deterrence, and if any existed, Israel did not create it 
intentionally. Today, everyone in the Middle East knows that anyone 
who attacks Israel will pay a heavy, intolerable price, to the point 
of the destruction of the attacking country... If the IDF had 
responded with severity when soldiers were kidnapped in 2000, 
Hizbullah and Iran would not have dared to turn all of Lebanon into 
their command post. Today Israel has drastically changed the 
situation: instead of kidnapping being bad for Israel, to the point 
of blackmailing an entire country, from now on kidnapping will be 
bad for the kidnapper and the country from which he came.... Welcome 
to the Middle East, Israel.  And paradoxically, precisely thanks to 
your playing by the rules, the Middle East will accept you.  This 
time it will have no choice." 
 
VIII.  "Who Is Encircling Whom?" 
 
Political correspondent Nadav Eyal wrote in popular, pluralist 
Maariv (8/3): "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a tactical political 
mistake on Wednesday when he linked the realignment plan with the 
fighting in Lebanon, not only because the right wing Knesset members 
and groups denounced it with such fury, but mainly because the 
understanding that prevails more and more in the political 
establishment is that unilateralism has taken a decisive blow in 
this war.  In this matter, the right-wing parties are not important. 
 After all, they will rule out all territorial concessions on any 
pretext.  What is important here is the erosion of Kadima and the 
Labor Party.  They no longer consider a unilateral solution as a 
magic formula that will cure any defect in the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict." 
 
IX.  "Olmert's New Self-Inflicted Blow" 
 
Columnist Moti Zaft wrote in nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe (8/3): 
"Why should Olmert have tied the realignment, which almost all 
Israelis -- left- and right-wingers -- believe that given the Gaza 
Palestinians' behavior after Israel left the Strip, there is no 
military or political justification to implement, to the IDF's 
successes in Lebanon?  Many of the [Israeli] fighters in Lebanon 
come from the Jewish settlement drive in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza 
[i.e. the territories], support it.  Either they reside there or 
they identify with that ideology." 
 
¶X.  "A Good Try, but a Poor Performance" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Dov Kontorer wrote in conservative 
Russian-language Vesty (8/3): "Prime Minister Olmert's sophisticated 
rhetoric -- especially in the interview he granted Reuters on August 
2 -- does not match Israel's real achievements in this second 
Lebanon War, the goals of which had to be corrected several times 
since the [original] goals determined by GOI three weeks ago were 
obviously impossible to achieve.... First of all, the war goals 
recently corrected by Olmert look rather strange.  They are more 
modest, but not cleverer than the ones declared by the Israeli 
government at the beginning of the conflict.  Second, Olmert tries 
to present the situation in such a way that a successful conclusion 
of the war becomes an argument in favor of the political agenda ... 
Kadima party was created for and for which he was elected Prime 
Minister." 
 
JONES