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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000297 
 
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 ICD 
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
 
SIPDIS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Iran 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
¶3.  Israel: Governance 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz reported that during a session of the World Economic Forum 
(WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, FM Tzipi Livni warned PA 
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday that should he reach 
a compromise with Hamas that would send the diplomatic process into 
a deep freeze.  The daily wrote that Abbas, though not mentioning 
Hamas by name, responded by saying that should the Islamic 
organization refuse to honor agreements signed by the PLO or to 
accept proposals that have the support of the Arab world -- an 
apparent reference to the Arab League's Beirut declaration of 2002 
-- he will call new elections.  Ha'aretz wrote that both Livni and 
Abbas stressed a desire for a two-state solution, but disagreements 
were evident on the subjects of borders and the Palestinian 
refugees.  Abbas reportedly added that a comprehensive solution is 
needed, rather than another partial or interim solution, and urged 
Israel to begin final-status talks now.  The Jerusalem Post stressed 
that Livni outlined her plan to empower the moderates.  Ha'aretz 
reported that Vice PM Peres, who also addressed the gathering, 
announced a trilateral Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian agreement to 
develop a joint economic zone in a 500-square-kilometer region of 
their mutual border, and urged all those attending the WEF to invest 
there.  Leading media reported that Livni presented Peres as the 
"next president of Israel."  Ha'aretz reported that Deputy Defense 
Minister Ephraim Sneh told the newspaper that Israel and the 
Palestinians have also agreed to establish a joint, USD 25-million 
venture capital fund that will invest in technology projects in 
Israel and the PA. 
 
Maariv cited the surprise of Israeli defense sources over PM Ehud 
Olmert's declaration at the Herzliya Conference on Wednesday that 
Israel may strike Iran militarily -- a change in Israel's explicit 
policy.  Israel Radio cited the US weekly Aviation Week & Space 
Technology as saying that Iran is ready to launch a satellite into 
space. 
 
Maariv expects IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz to tell the 
Winograd Committee -- probing the war in Lebanon -- on Sunday that 
the IDF only recommended attacking infrastructure in Lebanon.  The 
newspaper said that Halutz will claim that the IDF did not recommend 
going to all-out war, and that Defense Minister Amir Peretz 
recommended wide-ranging aerial attacks, which inevitably led to 
war.   Israel Radio quoted Olmert as saying that there were big 
victories in Lebanon, as Hizbullah was removed from the Israeli 
border and foreign forces stationed there.  Yediot and other media 
reported that Olmert convened the General Staff, whose members 
presented him with the conclusions of the investigation of former 
chief of staff Dan Shomron.  Yediot reported that Maj. Gen. Aviv 
Mizrahi, the head of the IDF's Logistics Branch, told Olmert that 
Shomron had adopted a lenient attitude toward the General Staff. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that today the UN General Assembly is expected to 
adopt a resolution condemning "any denial of the Holocaust."  The 
newspaper reported that Iran, which supported the resolution to 
commemorate the Holocaust, may support today's resolution, which is 
seen as a direct response to Iran's hosting a Holocaust denial 
conference in December 2006.  Yediot's Sever Plotker met with former 
Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in Davos and quoted him as saying 
that he is very interested in coming to Israel and that he condemns 
Holocaust deniers.  Plotker quoted him as saying: "What are you 
doing to my townsman?" He was referring to Iran-born President 
Katsav. 
 
Most media continued to lead with developments pertaining to the 
affair of Israel's President Moshe Katsav.  All media reported that 
the Knesset's House Committee voted on Thursday, by 13 to 11, to 
accept Katsav's request for temporary incapacity.  Shortly after the 
vote, Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik became Acting President, but 
Katsav retains the right to reside in the President's Residence. The 
Jerusalem Post noted that the next time Itzik goes abroad, the 
Acting President will be Druze MK Majalli Whbee (Kadima, formerly 
Likud).  Leading media reported that on Monday, at the next House 
Committee meting, MKs led by Meretz's Zahava Gal-On will vote on 
whether to start a process intended ultimately to force Katsav to 
resign.  To embark on this process, 19 of the 25 MKs would have to 
back it.  As of Thursday night it was unclear whether there were 
sufficient votes for such a move. 
 
Leading media (banner in Ha'aretz) reported that Olmert is working 
to get Vice PM Shimon Peres elected to the post of president of the 
 
state. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Attorney General Menachem Mazuz as saying 
on Thursday that Katsav's hearing will be held "as soon as possible 
and within a reasonable amount of time."  This morning Israel Radio 
quoted a close aide to Mazuz as saying that the AG is prepared to 
hold the hearing immediately.  Major media refuted allegations made 
by Katsav in his speech on Wednesday. 
 
Yediot and Maariv reported that since 2000, 3,000 Israelis have 
requested political asylum in Canada.  They claim that they were 
persecuted and exposed to terrorism in Israel. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Thursday IDF troops killed an Islamic 
Jihad/Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades activist near Tulkarm.  The Jerusalem 
Post and Hatzofe reported that security troops captured a 
Tanzim/Hizbullah terrorist in Nablus.  Leading media reported that 
on Thursday a Hamas security officer was killed and five others were 
wounded in the northern Gaza Strip.  This morning Israel Radio 
reported that a militant of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades was 
killed in the same region, probably by Hamas.  The radio also 
reported that gunshots were fired at the house of Palestinian FM 
Mahmoud Zahar in Gaza. 
 
Leading media reported that on Thursday international donors pledged 
some USD 7.6 billion in aid and loans for Lebanon's PM Fouad Siniora 
and his economic reform program.  Israel Radio quoted State 
Department Spokesman Sean McCormack as saying on Thursday that the 
US urges all sides in Lebanon to exercise self-restraint. 
 
Ha'aretz (Zvi Bar'el) reported that regional discussions this week 
(which did not involve Israel) on the crises in the PA and in 
Lebanon revealed emerging centers of influence in Iran, Saudi 
Arabia, and Syria. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Dr. Margaret Chan, the new Director 
of the World Health Organization, has invited Israeli health 
professionals to contribute their experience and skills to the UN 
organization. 
 
Ha'aretz printed an AP story quoting a PA Interior Ministry official 
as saying on Thursday that the Palestinian government has begun 
issuing papers to thousands of Gaza residents caught in a legal 
limbo with no residence permit, although Israel continues to regard 
them as non-persons. 
Major media cited data on poverty for mid-2006 published on Thursday 
by the National Insurance Institute -- the equivalent of Social 
Security -- that every fifth family in Israel is considered poor, 
every fourth person and ever third child.  However, the poverty 
figures do indicate stability after a decade of expanding distress. 
Ha'aretz attributed the phenomenon to former finance minister 
Binyamin Netanyahu's growth policy. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Thursday Finance Ministry Accountant 
General Yaron Zelekha announced on Thursday that government policies 
on supporting nonprofits are about to come under scrutiny.  Charges 
that current criteria were created to discriminate against Arab 
NGO's were brought by the Mossawa Center - The Advocacy Center for 
Arab Citizens in Israel, prompting Zelekha's decision. 
 
Yediot reported that the Israeli musician Yair Dellal recently held 
a successful concert at Cairo's Nile Hilton Hotel under the auspices 
of the Israeli Embassy in Egypt. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported theta group of Palestinian, 
American, and Israeli comedians has teamed up for a local comedy 
tour in English billed as an attempt to "solve the Middle East 
conflict in only six shows." 
 
Yediot ran a feature pitching Democratic Senators Hillary Rodham 
Clinton and Barack Obama against each other, saying that 
Washington's "rock star" (Obama) should not be underestimated. 
 
Maariv ran a feature about, and published an interview with 
Washington, DC's Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier. 
 
Yediot presented the results of a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll 
according to which only 8 to 10 percent of the public believe that 
Olmert is fit for the post of prime minister.  Livni, Netanyahu and 
Labor MK Ami Ayalon, appear to be stronger candidates in a possible 
race for the premiership. 
 
--------- 
¶1.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner and diplomatic correspondent 
Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The US 
has decided to focus on overall Iranian activity, not just on the 
danger of a nuclear bomb." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "The struggle against Iran's threats and its 
nuclearization -- a struggle in which diplomatic and economic 
channels have not yet been exhausted -- demands international and, 
especially, European determination." 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "A proper 
Israeli policy would serve to check and undermine Iran's 
international maneuvering." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Everything But the War" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner and diplomatic correspondent 
Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (1/26): 
"Bush mentioned Iran five times in his State of the Union address on 
Tuesday, but only once in the nuclear context.  That was no 
coincidence: The US has decided to focus on overall Iranian 
activity, not just on the danger of a nuclear bomb.  That is even 
more worrying to the 'moderate' Arab states.  The Saudis fear an 
Iranian-sponsored uprising by their own Shi'ite minority, not an 
Iranian nuclear missile strike on Riyadh.  The states in the region 
see the Iranians as using nuclear power as a cover, to ward off a 
military threat and allow them to advance the 'revolution' through 
more conventional methods.  The fear of physical annihilation, of 
the actual use of a nuclear bomb, is reserved for Israel alone. 
Dealing with Iran has breathed new life into the strategic dialogue 
between Israel and the US." 
 
II.  "A Helpless World" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (1/26): "[Iranian President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad's] open threats of destruction are backed by Iran's 
efforts to arm itself with weapons of mass destruction that would be 
capable of carrying out this threat.  Yet the international 
community is not excited.... In a balanced address about the Iranian 
threat delivered at the Herzliya Conference, Prime Minister Ehud 
Olmert refrained from putting Israel alone at the forefront of the 
struggle, but, at the same time, he left no doubt about Israel's 
determination never again to allow an existential threat to develop 
against it.  But Israel's isolation in this struggle does not depend 
only on itself.  The struggle against Iran's threats and its 
nuclearization -- a struggle in which diplomatic and economic 
channels have not yet been exhausted -- demands international and, 
especially, European determination against these developing threats, 
and not just a rallying round memorial days and ceremonies for the 
holocausts of the past." 
 
III.  "Making the Case Against Genocide" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (1/26): "A 
proper Israeli policy would serve to check and undermine Iran's 
international maneuvering.  It would work to bring about Iran's 
delegitimization and isolations in the international community.... 
An effective, coherent foreign policy would be aimed at building 
solid international coalitions in which Israel could be part of an 
international public opinion for a unilateral Israeli military 
campaign against Iran." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Professor Naomi Chazan, a former Meretz Knesset member, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Those who reject Jimmy 
Carter's comparison cannot escape the challenge he poses." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Carter Challenge" 
 
Professor Naomi Chazan, a former Meretz Knesset member, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (1/26): "Jimmy Carter dared 
to warn, in the title of his recent book, that the 
Palestinian-Israeli relationship may be veering toward apartheid.... 
Some Israelis do admit to the prevalence of injustice.  The 
majority, however, continues to excuse its occurrence in 
all-embracing security terms.  But his argument, however critical, 
can no longer justify everything.... The purposeful denigration of 
the other, for whatever reason, goes against the human grain and is 
totally antithetical to the Jewish tradition.  Its negative 
repercussions corrupt Israeli society and distort his norms.  For 
this reason, if for no other, Israel must do everything possible to 
liberate the Palestinians, and thereby itself, from the impossible 
burden of occupation.  In the interim, it has a duty to do whatever 
it can to make Palestinian life bearable.  Those who reject Jimmy 
Carter's comparison can therefore not escape the challenge he 
poses." 
 
----------------------- 
¶3.  Israel: Governance: 
----------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
first step is not to compound the damage Katsav has caused by 
leaving him in office." 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Katsav Must Go" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (1/26): 
"According to [Israeli President Moshe] Katsav, the media decided 
that his political success was unacceptable because he did not 
belong to the Ashkenazi establishment.... Not since the heyday of 
Shas have we seen a politician so blatantly play the ethnic card. 
The principal function of the president  - beyond representing a 
paragon of citizenship and legal rectitude -- is to unite our 
divided society: Jews and Arabs, rich and poor, religious and 
secular, and Ashkenazi and Sephardi.  Many had thought, as the 
President himself suggested, that his ascent to the highest post in 
the land was emblematic of at least this last rift being behind us. 
Now Katsav has taken a giant wedge and hammered it home into a wound 
that, if not healed, was healing.  Now also, millions of Israelis 
who believe that our system is rigged against them have 
encouragement from the highest source.  What happened to me could 
happen to anybody, Katsav said.  That, of course, depends whether 
our legal system is in fact as totally corrupt as our president 
alleges. Unfortunately, his bitter complaints against police and 
prosecutors who leak to the media, if not necessarily valid in every 
instance, cannot be neatly dismissed.... Our legal system does need 
to address the widespread sense that it is elitist and leaks like a 
sieve, a sense that Katsav attempted to tap into.  But that is a 
longer term project that Katsav has made both more urgent and more 
difficult -- by coloring it in ethnic terms.  The first step is not 
to compound the damage Katsav has caused by leaving him in office." 
 
JONES