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Carol X Weakley  10/12/2006 04:34:19 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Carol X Weakley

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SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying 
Wednesday in Washington, in an address to the American Task Force on 
Palestine: "I know the commitment of the Palestinian people to a 
better future.  I know firsthand the commitment of President Abbas 
and moderate Palestinians to that future.  And I know the commitment 
of the people in this room and of the American Task Force on 
Palestine that one day indeed there will be a Palestinian state 
living side by side in peace with Israel.  I can only tell you that 
I, too, have a personal commitment to that goal because I believe 
that there could be no greater legacy for America than to help to 
bring into being a Palestinian state for a people who have suffered 
too long, who have been humiliated too long, who have not reached 
their potential for too long, and who have so much to give to the 
international community and to all of us.  I promise you my personal 
commitment to that goal."  The radio noted that earlier in her 
speech, the Secretary refrained from specifically condemning the 
Palestinian government and reminded her audience that the US had 
supported the parliamentary elections in which "as you know, a 
plurality of voters cast their votes for Hamas." 
 
Israel Radio quoted Khaled Mashal, the head of Hamas's political 
bureau, as saying in an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat 
that he does not rule preventing by force the holding of early 
elections that would be called by PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud 
Abbas. Mashal accused PM Ehud Olmert of having torpedoed the deal to 
have IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit released.  Ha'aretz reported that 
during a press conference Wednesday, Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas 
official in Lebanon, accused Fatah of foiling Qatari efforts to 
broker the establishment of a Palestinian unity government.  Hamdan 
was quoted as saying that through its actions, Fatah was offering 
political support for Western sanctions against PM Ismail Haniyeh's 
Hamas-led government.  Hamdan was quoted as saying that Abbas and 
his team were "providing political cover for American-Israeli 
sanctions."  The Jerusalem Post reported that Hamas leaders on 
Wednesday sought to defuse tensions with Cairo by appealing to Egypt 
to resume its mediation efforts to form a Palestinian unity 
government. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that overnight, 
five Palestinians from a single family were killed in an air strike 
in the southern Gaza Strip.  The radio said that four of them were 
Hamas militants and that the fifth one was a youth.  Ha'aretz and 
other media reported that two Palestinians were killed and three 
wounded by IDF fire in several territories.  Troops also arrested 
two Palestinians reportedly attempting to bomb a West Bank 
checkpoint.  Israel Radio reported that three Qassam rockets landed 
in Sderot this morning, causing no casualties. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz announced 
Wednesday that he opposes bringing Knesset Member Avigdor 
Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu Party into the coalition, but that did 
not appear to dent Olmert's determination to try to broaden the 
coalition and thereby increase his government's stability. Ha'aretz 
reported that Olmert's aides made it clear last night that they 
blamed rebels in the Labor Party for forcing Olmert's hand with 
their lack of coalition discipline. This morning, Israel Radio 
reported that Lieberman demands only one cabinet seat for his party. 
 Media reported that Olmert is offering him a new portfolio devoted 
to strategic affairs.  Yediot reported that Jordan's King Abdullah 
II is worried about the strengthening of the Israeli Right. 
 
Ha'aretz cited a new report by the Israeli nonprofit organization 
Physicians for Human Rights, which charges that he Shin Bet security 
service is systematically preventing Palestinians who need medical 
treatment unavailable in the territories from entering Israel. 
According to the organization, in many cases, patients have been 
denied urgent, life-saving treatment.  The report says that the Shin 
Bet automatically refuses entry permits, and reconsiders its 
decisions only if legal action is begun.  Ha'aretz cited the Shin 
Bet's response that it has to balance security considerations 
against human rights, and reported that the security service noted 
that terrorist groups have tried to take advantage of Palestinian 
patients with entry permits in order to carry out attacks inside 
Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that an e-mail campaign criticizing the 
decision of the United Jewish Communities (UJC) -- the umbrella 
organization of North American Jewish federations and communities -- 
to allocate part of the funds raised for Israel after the Lebanon 
war to Israeli Arabs is stirring debate in the American Jewish 
community. 
 
Leading media reported that American student Michael Leighton 
Phillips, 24, a volunteer with Project Hope, a Canada-based group, 
was freed late Wednesday after being held for a day in Nablus by 
Palestinians. He appeared to be unharmed.  Philips is from New 
Orleans.  Israel Radio reported that Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades 
militants brought him to security headquarters in Nablus. Earlier 
Wednesday, Ansar Assuna, a previously unknown Palestinian armed 
group, claimed it had kidnapped an American student to "confront" 
the US and force the release of some Palestinians held in Israeli 
prisons.  The group made demands to reporters in the Gaza Strip by 
masked gunmen claiming it was holding 24-year-old Michael Phillips. 
Ha'aretz's web site quoted an American Consulate official as saying 
that Phillips was missing but that could not confirm that he was 
kidnapped. The Internet site said that the official was speaking on 
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to 
reporters. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted Lebanese Parliament Speaker 
Nabih Berri as saying Wednesday in an interviewed published 
Wednesday in the British daily The Guardian that Hizbullah will 
resume its fighting against Israel if it does not withdraw from the 
Sheba Farms area.  Citing AP, The Jerusalem Post reported that on 
Wednesday Italian PM Romano Prodi gave his moral support to Lebanon 
during his visit to that country.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
Prodi offered to mediate in the release of the two IDF reservists 
abducted by Hizbullah. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post cited the Jewish Telegraphic Agency 
(JTA) as reporting Wednesday that dovish pro-Israel members of the 
American Jewish community are planning to set up a pro-Israel 
alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby 
(AIPAC).  Among the figures behind the initiative are billionaire 
philanthropist George Soros, who has not been involved with Israeli 
issues until now, philanthropists Edgar and Charles Bronfman, and 
Mel Levine, a former Democratic congressman and now high-powered 
West Coast lawyer.   Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday, Meretz 
Chairman MK Yossi Beilin commended the establishment of the new 
lobby.  Beilin told Ha'aretz that the lobby would not compete with 
AIPAC but portray another facet of American Jewry.  The founders 
have been discussing ways to persuade the Bush administration to 
increase its involvement in finding a solution to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  The initiative for the lobby is 
spearheaded by Dr. David Elcott, executive director of the Israel 
Policy Forum (IPF), an advocacy think tank founded to counter 
AIPAC's objection to the Oslo Accords. 
 
Citing AP, Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted David Shearer, 
head of the UN's office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
(OCHA) in Jerusalem, as saying Wednesday that the number of Israeli 
military roadblocks in the West Bank increased by nearly 40 percent 
in the past year -- from 376 to 528. 
 
All media prominently reported on an accident that occurred in 
Manhattan Wednesday: A light airplane flown by New York Yankees 
pitcher Cory Lidle collided into the 30th floor of a 50-story 
apartment building.  Media questioned security arrangements in New 
York City's air space five years after 9/11. 
 
Maariv told the story of two brothers -- Binyamin Ben-Ari, who 
serves in the IDF, and Michael Dudley, a US Marine posted in Iraq. 
 
Yediot cited the concern of the Israeli defense establishment that 
Israel's defense exports to India would suffer following the alleged 
bribing affair to Indian officials.  Major media reported that the 
Indian suspects have accused the leaders of the Indian National 
Congress, India's ruling party, of making up the affair. 
 
Yediot reported that, five years after 9/11, the FBI still does not 
employ a sufficient number of Arabic speakers. 
 
Yediot reported that last week the IDF arrested Shelley Mizrachi, 
who was born in the US to Israeli immigrants, for dodging the draft. 
 Mizrachi had come to Israel for a visit and to arrange her 
induction into the IDF. 
 
Yediot presented the results of a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) 
poll: 
"Were elections for the Knesset held today, for whom would you 
vote?"  (Results in Knesset seats -- in brackets, seats in current 
Knesset.) 
-Likud 22 (12); Yisrael Beiteinu 20 (11); Kadima 15 (29); Labor 
Party 15 (19); Shas 10 (12); Arab parties 10 (10); National 
Union-National Religious Party 5 (9); United Torah Judaism 5 (6); 
Meretz 4 (5); Gil - Pensioners' Party 4 (7); "floating votes" -- 
equivalent to 10 Knesset seats. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Zalman Shoval, senior Likud member and former ambassador to the US, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: 
"[Condoleezza] Rice's main goal in her trip was to form a kind of 
informal bloc of moderate Sunni Arab governments versus Shi'ite 
Iran.... But very soon the Secretary of State learned that the 
candidates for joining the US initiative have other intentions." 
Nationalist writer Uri Dan commented in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "Unfortunately, the 'Chamberlainian' spirit in the United 
States' media and politics is presently gaining over the Bush 
administration's Churchillian policy." 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "[Yisrael 
Beiteinu Party leader Avigdor] Lieberman is in favor of domineering 
and uncompromising policy that uses force, in both words and deeds, 
against an ever-lengthening list of enemies to which he is careful 
to add Israel's Arab citizens.  Olmert's government has no reason to 
bring him in." 
 
 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Journey to Nowhere" 
 
Zalman Shoval, senior Likud member and former ambassador to the US, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (10/12): 
"Condoleezza Rice will probably want to forget her latest journey to 
the Middle East.... The affairs [of Bob Woodward's 9/11-related 
revelations and of that of former Republican Congressman Mark Foley] 
strengthened the feeling of Rice's interlocutors that the Republican 
administration, which is destabilized in any case due to the 
entanglement in Iraq, is about to lose its majority in at least one 
of the two houses of Congress, which will also undermine her 
authority.  Rice's main goal in her trip was to form a kind of 
informal bloc of moderate Sunni Arab governments versus Shi'ite 
Iran, whose status in the region has risen following what is 
perceived as Hizbullah's victory in the second Lebanon War.   But 
very soon the Secretary of State learned that the candidates for 
joining the US initiative have other intentions.  It is not that the 
Arab rulers who are considered allies of the US are not quaking in 
their boots over the Shi'ite danger and the Iranian nuclear threat. 
But as they told Rice, they do not intend to openly confront other 
Arab governments or movements, and will certainly not be willing to 
make any statement on the Iranian matter.  In general, all the 
problems would be solved if the US would work to resolve the 
Israeli-Arab conflict (i.e. pressure Israel) -- and in the meantime, 
Abu Mazen must be helped.... Voices can be heard in the [Israeli] 
government to the effect that Israel should accommodate the 
Palestinians, even partially, so as not to reach a head-on collision 
with Rice.  But no one should have illusions with regard to the fact 
that opening the crossings and releasing the funds will help not 
only Abu Mazen, but also the collapsing Hamas government, and could 
pave the way to forming a Palestinian unity government based on the 
plan of elements that have inscribed the destruction of Israel on 
their banner." 
 
II.  "Hate Is Celebrating" 
 
Nationalist writer Uri Dan commented in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (10/12): "Time is running out... Like in Israel, US 
politicians and media people (such as The New York Times) 
incessantly erode Bush's Churchillian policy in the face of the 
worldwide Muslim threat.  Unfortunately, the 'Chamberlainian' spirit 
in the United States' media and politics is presently gaining over 
the Bush administration's Churchillian policy.  In Israel, the 
leftist brainwashing has not yet succeeded in reaching similar 
achievements.  Israelis feel threatened and are prepared for a true 
leadership that would restore their confidence.  And Israel also has 
answers to Iran's atom -- in full coordination with the US, of 
course." 
 
III.  "War of Survival" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (10/12): 
"Despite the fact that the government has a solid majority, with 67 
Knesset members, the Prime Minister is involved in an 
incomprehensible effort to expand it.  It is hard to see the point 
in bringing together two parties, such as Labor and Yisrael 
Beiteinu, which have nothing in common in either the foreign or 
socioeconomic spheres.... In the past few days, changing the system 
of government has turned into a successful tactic to divert 
attention from the real problems on the agenda.  [Yisrael Beiteinu 
leader] Avigdor Lieberman has managed to force his platform into the 
public debate, on his way into the government..... Lieberman is in 
favor of domineering and uncompromising policy that uses force, in 
both words and deeds, against an ever-lengthening list of enemies to 
which he is careful to add Israel's Arab citizens.  Olmert's 
government has no reason to bring him in." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior military affairs analyst Reuven Pedatzur wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Israel must take advantage of 
the fury that is presently being aroused by North Korea in order to 
promote the inevitable change in its nuclear policy." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Perhaps They'll Get It Now" 
 
Senior military affairs analyst Reuven Pedatzur wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/12): "Israel must continue to 
try to convince the international community that a nuclear Iran 
endangers the entire free world, and to hope that decisive steps 
will be taken against it.  The only effective way is an American 
military operation..... Unfortunately, however, the chances of an 
American military attack on Iran are not great, and thus we return 
once again to the need to prepare to confront a nuclear Iran.  This 
preparation must include a substantial change in Israeli nuclear 
policy -- the abandonment of vague deterrence and the transition to 
open nuclear deterrence.  Experience during the Cold War period 
teaches that only such deterrence is likely to prevent the use of 
nuclear weapons by the other side.... This change in Israeli nuclear 
policy must be implemented with advance coordination and with the 
consent of the Americans.  We can assume that Washington is willing 
to allow Israel to abandon the vagueness if the threat to it is 
nuclear.  Israel must take advantage of the fury that is presently 
being aroused by North Korea in order to promote the inevitable 
change in its nuclear policy." 
 
CRETZ