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Carol X Weakley  11/13/2006 04:09:44 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Carol X Weakley

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 004491 
 
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STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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HQ USAF FOR XOXX 
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COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD 
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JERUSALEM ALSO ICD 
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL 
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ROME FOR MFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IS KMDR
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1. Prime Minster Olmert Visit to the US 
 
¶2. Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------ 
 
All media reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert began his visit 
to Washington on Sunday. Israel Radio reported that PM Olmert had 
met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and that the meeting was in 
preparation for Olmert's meeting with President George Bush.  The 
media noted that the main topic of the Olmert-Bush meeting would be 
Iran and the Palestinian issue.  Yediot reported that PM Olmert 
would urge President Bush to: "instill fear into Iran." On the 
Palestinian issue the media reported that Olmert intended to tell 
President Bush that he is prepared to approve the Palestinian Bader 
Brigade to enter Gaza from Jordan, provided that the troops come 
without their families and that the units be rotated once every 
three months. He is also prepared to approve a weapons transfer from 
Egypt and to release funds for humanitarian purposes. 
 
All media cited Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali 
Hosseini as saying, in response to several Israeli figures' 
statements that Israel may attack Iran, that Iran would put its 
Revolutionary Guards into action if Israel attacked the Islamic 
Republic: "If Israel takes such a stupid step and attacks, the 
answer of Iran and its Revolutionary Guard will be rapid, firm and 
destructive and it will be given in a few seconds." 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian sources as saying that several key 
positions in the new cabinet of experts will be given to moderate 
figures that are acceptable to the US.  According to the sources, 
the whole deal is subject to the US's willingness to lift the 
economic sanctions placed on the PA, and on Israel's readiness to 
release the imprisoned Hamas cabinet ministers as part of a 
comprehensive deal for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces 
soldier Gilad Shalit. The paper also reported that Arab League 
countries have decided to lift economic sanctions on the PA.  This 
move is in response to the U.S. veto on Saturday in the UN Security 
Council of a resolution sponsored by Qatar denouncing Israel for the 
IDF operation in Beit Hanun last week. 
 
All media reported that the committee headed by Major General 
(reserves) Doron Almog that was set up to examine the IDF's 
functioning during the period leading up to Hezbollah's July 12 
attack submitted its findings on Sunday, which were critical of the 
IDF at all levels. Brigadier General Gal Hirsch, commander of the 
Galilee Division (Division 91), submitted his resignation on Sunday 
after Almog had warned him a week ago that he would probably 
recommend his ouster.  The media reported that Chief of Staff Dan 
Halutz rejected all criticisms aimed at officers above the level of 
divisional commander and demanded that Almog reexamine his findings 
on these issues.  Yediot quoted senior IDF officers as saying that 
only the resignation of CoS Halutz can pull the IDF from the crisis 
it is in. 
 
Maariv reported that four Palestinian organizations threatened that 
the US would become a target for terrorist attacks.  The Palestinian 
threat came in the wake of the US veto at the UN Security Council 
against the proposed resolution to condemn Israel for the deaths of 
civilians in Beit Hanoun. 
 
TV Channel 10 ran footage from the surveillance cameras that 
recorded Jonathan Pollard taking classified materiel out of the US 
Navy Intelligence offices shortly before being arrested. 
 
Maariv reported on negotiations between MK Atniel Shneler, PM 
Olmert's representative, and the Yesha Council regarding illegal 
outposts.  According to the agreement under discussion, 15 outposts 
will be evacuated, four will be partially evacuated, and eight will 
be legalized. 
 
All media cited Lebanese President Emil Lahoud as saying that once 
the Hizbullah ministers resigned from the government, the Lebanese 
government lost its legitimacy. 
 
On Sunday, Yediot reported that the IDF Intelligence Branch has 
recommended that the political echelon examine positively signals 
that Syrian President Bashar Assad has been sending to Israel about 
his willingness to renew peace negotiations between the two states. 
According to the paper, neither PM Olmert nor Mossad Director Meir 
Dagan agreed with the IDF Intelligence assessment. 
 
Yediot reported that the Palestinians are demanding that Israel 
return all documents it seized in its raid on the Orient House in 
East Jerusalem in 2001. According to the Palestinians, the documents 
contain historic collective memories of the Palestinian people. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
¶1. Prime Minster Olmert Visit to the US: 
---------------------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in a page-one article in 
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "There is a price to pay for 
the political handcuffs restraining Bush and Olmert: Israel is 
growing closer to war with Iran and getting sucked deeper into the 
quicksands of Gaza." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "A 
realism worthy of the name would begin with this basic premise: The 
refusal to confront and punish aggressive tyrants will not result in 
their moderation but in the opposite -- more terrorism, greater 
threats, and a less free and more unstable world. We hope that Bush 
does not need Olmert to remind him of this, and that our prime 
minister's confidence is better placed than meets the eye." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I. "A Meeting in Handcuffs" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in a page-one article in 
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/12): "In an ideal world, 
Ehud Olmert and George W. Bush would finish the weighty part of 
their meeting in five minutes and move on to talking about their 
families, their children and sports.  Bush would promise to destroy 
Iran's nuclear facilities and thus remove the existential threat 
hanging over Israel, while Olmert would promise to withdraw from the 
territories, evacuate the settlers and create a Palestinian state, 
thus giving Bush the 'legacy' of a two-state solution.... The 
Democratic victory in the Congressional elections, which has been 
interpreted as Bush's punishment for getting stuck in Iraq, has 
reduced the chances that the U.S. will attack Iran and thus released 
Israel from the unbearably difficult decision of whether or not to 
attack Iran's nuclear installations itself.... Olmert, for his part, 
has recently promised territorial compromises and a mass release of 
Palestinian prisoners. These are empty promises, however, at least 
until the government in the Palestinian Authority is replaced.... 
There is a price to pay for the political handcuffs restraining Bush 
and Olmert: Israel is growing closer to war with Iran and getting 
sucked deeper into the quicksands of Gaza.  The hope that the 
'international community' would somehow restrain Iranian President 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is dying.  The pronouncements issued in 
Jerusalem and Tehran are growing more strident as both countries 
increase their military strength and seek diplomatic refuge in the 
UN Security Council.... Israel's 'low profile' policy in the face of 
the Iranian threat evaporated over the past several weeks as the 
world's impotence in dealing with Iran became more obvious.... That 
will be Olmert's primary message to Bush.  Will a veiled threat be 
sufficient to rouse the U.S. into saving Israel and attacking Iran? 
Will Olmert's promises to withdraw from the territories in exchange 
persuade the administration?" 
 
II. "Bush, Olmert and Iran" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/13): 
"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrives in Washington as a leader with 
the dubious distinction of having lost even more popularity over his 
management of a war than has George Bush.  Unfortunately, Olmert and 
Bush may be the last leaders on earth who are at all serious when 
they say that an Iranian bomb must be prevented at all costs. In 
fact, it is not clear that Bush himself can still be placed in this 
category.... It is Bush who stated flatly that the US would 'not 
permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the 
world's most destructive weapons.'  Yet at precisely the time when 
his secretary of state seems to have adopted the notion that the US 
must stay in lockstep with Europe ... rather than appointing someone 
who might countervail the current feckless approach, Bush nominated 
a Pentagon chief who can only be expected to reinforce a path of 
accommodation, not confrontation.  A realism worthy of the name 
would begin with this basic premise: The refusal to confront and 
punish aggressive tyrants will not result in their moderation but in 
the opposite -- more terrorism, greater threats, and a less free and 
more unstable world. We hope that Bush does not need Olmert to 
remind him of this, and that our prime minister's confidence is 
better placed than meets the eye." 
 
----------- 
¶2. Mideast: 
----------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The situation 
in the Gaza Strip cries out for the world's help.  After hundreds of 
Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of Qassam rockets have 
landed in Israel, and lacking any exchange between the Palestinian 
Authority and Israel, the two sides once again cannot extricate 
themselves from the miserable situation into which they have 
deteriorated.  In light of the situation, the world is called on to 
intervene directly, as is the norm in other areas of conflict." 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Danny Rubinstein wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "After all the failed military 
attempts to stop the launching of Qassam rockets, the time may have 
come for a political attempt, based on the rehabilitation of Gaza 
with the help of the new Palestinian government.  The lever for its 
establishment will be the release of prisoners in a manner that 
takes Palestinian demands into account." 
 
Columnist Menachem Ben wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: 
"Olmert is starting to show signs of weakness in all that concerns 
our relationship with the Palestinian and Arab enemy who has yet to 
give up anything.... Because the more the enemy recognizes your 
desire and weakness ... [the more] it raises its demands and makes 
everything impossible." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I. "International Force for Gaza" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (11/13): "The 
situation in the Gaza Strip cries out for the world's help.  After 
hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of Qassam 
rockets have landed in Israel, and lacking any exchange between the 
Palestinian Authority and Israel, the two sides once again cannot 
extricate themselves from the miserable situation into which they 
have deteriorated.  In light of the situation, the world is called 
on to intervene directly, as is the norm in other areas of conflict. 
 There is no need here to detail the danger to peace in the region 
and indirectly to world peace, as a result of the deterioration in 
the Gaza Strip. Israel's actions harm innocent civilians, and images 
of the killing broadcast round the world intensify hatred of Israel: 
At the same time, Israel cannot reconcile itself with constant 
rocket fire on its towns.  An international force deployed in Gaza, 
primarily in the areas that border Israel and Egypt, could calm the 
situation.  Both Israel and the Palestinians should be interested in 
this.... Israel must initiate the move and thus appear interested in 
calming the situation.  The world, for its part, should volunteer 
for the mission.  The prime minister, who has left for political 
talks in Washington, could bring this idea with him, which has never 
been tried between Israel and the Palestinians and, in doing so, 
advance a new reality." 
 
II. "Prisoners' Deal is the Next Step" 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Danny Rubinstein wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/13): "Those who imposed the 
siege -- Israel and the United States, and most of the nations of 
the world, including Arab nations, can congratulate themselves on 
their success.  The Hamas government is being forced to resign.  Abu 
Mazen also contributed to this.  Although he is not a leader like 
the late PA chair Yasser Arafat, whose death two years ago was 
commemorated in the territories this week, circumstances caused him 
to maneuver in a way that forced Hamas to give in.... Abu Mazen had 
no choice but to participate in the international boycott of his 
government.  Will the Hamas concessions lead to the establishment of 
the new government and to a calming of the situation in Gaza? That's 
not a certainty.  After Fatah and Hamas agreed on the two important 
issues -- a common political policy (based on the "prisoners' 
document") and a government of experts -- a third, no less serious, 
problem remains: the deal to release prisoners in exchange for 
kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.  Without a solution on this 
issue, there is no new Palestinian government.  In other words, 
there is no chance of removing the siege and of achieving calm.... 
After all the failed military attempts to stop the launching of 
Qassam rockets, the time may have come for a political attempt, 
based on the rehabilitation of Gaza with the help of the new 
Palestinian government.  The lever for its establishment will be the 
release of prisoners in a manner that takes Palestinian demands into 
account." 
 
III. "Signs of Weakness" 
 
Columnist Menachem Ben wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv 
(11/13): "Olmert is starting to show signs of weakness in all that 
concerns our relationship with the Palestinian and Arab enemy who 
has yet to give up anything.... Because the more the enemy 
recognizes your desire and weakness ... [the more] it raises its 
demands and makes everything impossible.... Olmert's defensive 
reaction to Syrian peace offers is also worrying.... But most 
worrying is the crawling of the right of return into the 
[legitimate] Israeli [debate].... Instead of Israel sticking to its 
righteous [stand] against the Palestinian and Arab non-compliance, 
instead of it clarifying out load that anyone who talks about the 
right of return actually blocks any possible peace with Israel, a 
new division is made between bad Arabs (who want to destroy Israel 
directly) and good Arabs who want to destroy us by using the right 
of return.  Eventually, we could find ourselves signing some sort of 
agreement with the good Arabs on the right of return.  Because now 
the main goal is peace; it doesn't matter that it will lead to the 
destruction of Israel later." 
CRETZ