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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  US-Israel Relations 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Over the weekend all media reported that the Quartet decided on 
Friday to maintain the boycott of the Hamas government until it 
renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel and the previous 
agreements that it signed with the Palestinian Authority.  The media 
reported that on Saturday the Palestinian government condemned the 
decision.  However, Yediot wrote on Sunday that people in Gaza and 
in Ramallah noted with satisfaction the position of Russia and 
Germany, which deviated from the joint decision and called for an 
end to the economic and diplomatic boycott of the Palestinians. 
Yediot reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who "will 
arrive this weekend for a summit with Olmert and Abu Mazen," called 
for the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the 
Palestinians despite the violent incidents in the Gaza Strip. 
According to Yediot, the administration has already begun to 
coordinate the summit. 
 
Ha'aretz (on Sunday) and Maariv (today) reported that the IDF is 
gearing up for a possible invasion of the Gaza Strip.  Maariv wrote 
that the IDF fears a Sabra and Shatila-like massacre. Maariv 
reported that the Israeli defense establishment is preparing for 
three possible scenarios: a mass killing, thousands of refugees 
thronging the Gaza-Israel fence, and a desperate call for help from 
Fatah. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Sunday PM Ehud Olmert rejected Defense 
Minister Amir Peretz's proposal to evacuate several illegal West 
Bank outposts.  In a routine work meeting between the two, Peretz 
suggested three or four possible outposts.  Olmert replied that the 
timing is not right for an evacuation.  Ha'aretz quoted sources in 
the Prime Minister's Office as saying that Peretz proposed tiny 
outposts with just a few trailers.  The sources were quoted as 
saying that the PM is in favor of removing illegal outposts, but 
supports developing a comprehensive plan on the matter.  Ha'aretz 
said that Olmert told Peretz they would determine the proper timing 
together. 
 
On Sunday various media (banner in Yediot) quoted President Hosni 
Mubarak of Egypt as saying during a press conference with German 
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday that without the release of 
abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, it will not be possible to 
advance the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. He 
expressed hope that an agreement will be reached soon. The 
Palestinians are also interested in the release of prisoners, 
Mubarak was quoted as saying, and added that Cairo is mediating on 
this matter. 
 
Over the weekend all media Egyptian authorities announced on 
Saturday that they had arrested a 31 year-old Egyptian subject whom 
they accused of spying for Israel. Today Ha'aretz reported that the 
student arrested in Egypt confessed to spying for Israel.  The 
Egyptians announced, moreover, that arrest warrants had been issued 
in absentia against three Israelis who allegedly had recruited the 
young Egyptian man, Mohammed Issam Ghanem el-Atar.  Israeli 
officials denied any knowledge of the affair. On Sunday Maariv's 
Jacky Hoogie suggested that the highly publicized arrest was a 
political ploy by the Egyptian government that was geared to appease 
domestic public opinion in the aftermath of a massive crackdown on 
Muslim Brotherhood activists, which was highly unpopular.  Today 
Maariv reported that two Syrians photographed the Israeli Embassy in 
Cairo. 
 
Israel Radio reported on the abduction attempt of an Israeli at the 
Eli junction in the West Bank on Sunday.  Three Hamas terrorists 
were arrested in connection with the episode. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Qadura Fares, a leading Fatah figure, who has 
recently been involved in mediation efforts between PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Mashal, the head of Hamas's 
political bureau, told the newspaper on Sunday that during their 
meeting in Mecca on Tuesday, Abbas and Mashal, are expected to agree 
on setting up a national unity government in the territories.  Fares 
was quoted as saying that there are no longer any disputes between 
the two main Palestinian groups.  Ha'aretz quoted Mashal as saying 
on Sunday that "we must not fail on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia. The 
dialogue with Fatah must succeed."  Ha'aretz wrote that according to 
details of the agreement reached between the two sides, the current 
Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, will also be the head of the unity 
government. 
 
Major media reported that on Sunday Khaled Mashal condemned 
excavations by Israeli archaeologists near Jerusalem's al-Aqsa 
Mosque and warned they were "playing with fire."  He was quoted as 
saying at a news conference in Damascus: "I have a stern warning for 
the enemy."  "Sharon's desecration of Al-Aqsa sparked the 2000 
uprising.  The Israeli leadership must learn from this lesson. We 
have confidence in our people, its masses, all of its groups and 
military wings," he added. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that senior US and European officials 
have told the newspaper that, while Israel complains that arms are 
being smuggled to Hizbullah across the Syrian-Lebanese border, it is 
not providing the international community with the documentation to 
prove it.  On Sunday Ha'aretz quoted Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan 
Nasrallah as saying in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper 
Al-Rai Al-Aam that he is willing to receive aid not only from Iran 
but also from Muslim countries that have diplomatic ties with 
Israel, such as Egypt, and states that are considered moderate, such 
as Saudi Arabia.  He was quoted as saying that it is no secret that 
Iran is aiding Hizbullah by sending money and weapons via Syria. 
 
Yediot cited British newspaper Sunday Times reports that Mossad 
agents killed a high-ranking Iranian nuclear scientist.  Yediot 
wrote that American intelligence officials reportedly told the 
British weekly that the nuclear scientist, Ardeshire Hassanpour, 
worked in the uranium-conversion compound in Isfahan. 
 
All media reported that on Sunday the cabinet approved the 
appointment of Defense Ministry Director-General Maj. Gen. (res.) 
Gabi Ashkenazi to the post of IDF Chief of Staff, and that it 
decided that his term will be for four years, rather than three 
years as has-been the case until now. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Internal Security Minister Avi 
Dichter left today for a four-day working visit to the United States 
and Canada that will include what he described as a "breakthrough 
signing of an agreement [with the US] for the war on terror and 
establishing cooperation between the Internal Security Ministry and 
the Department of Homeland Security." 
 
The Jerusalem Post printed a Jewish Telegraphic Agency story that, 
speaking at a dinner for AIPAC's Northeast Region over the weekend, 
presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodman Clinton "tried to convince 
doubters that she will stand by Israel." 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Jewish Agency Spokesman Yarden Vatikay as 
saying that leading US news media have refused to sell Internet ad 
space to the Jewish Agency for a campaign against Iranian President 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  The newspaper reported that CNN called the ad 
"political." 
 
Israel Radio reported that British Foreign Secretary Margaret 
Beckett will arrive in Israel today on her first visit to the 
country. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that in mid-January the Office of Coordinator of 
the GOI's Activities in the Territories presented foreign diplomats 
with a document detailing easing measures for the Palestinians:  The 
document is based on a bolstering of Abbas.  Among other steps, it 
proposes that employees of the Palestinian judicial system be 
granted freedom of movement.  Ha'aretz (Amira Hass) said that the 
document did not live up to expectations springing from the latest 
Olmert-Abbas meeting. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Israeli nuclear experts as saying that, akin to 
Israel, Iran is striving is striving for a nuclear ambiguity 
policy. 
 
Maariv reported that a Chicago court acquitted Muhammad Salah, a 
Palestinian who resides in the US, who was suspected of involvement 
of terrorism, despite the testimony of two Shin Bet interrogators 
who were especially flown in from Israel. 
 
Hatzofe reported that an Israeli-made stable with a camel-milking 
facility has been inaugurated in Dubai.  Yediot reported that two 
Muslim nations in Africa are interested in opening branches of Yad 
Sarah -- a charitable Israeli organization that lends medical 
equipment to patients and disabled persons. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that an Israeli-developed 
security system -- Behavior Pattern Recognition -- was used at the 
Super Bowl game in Miami. 
 
All media reported that Interior Minister Roni Bar-On (Kadima) has 
withdrawn his candidacy for the post of justice minister.  Ha'aretz 
reported that former cabinet minister Prof. Amnon Rubinstein and 
former Kadima MK Prof. Uriel Reichman, who are not currently part of 
Israel's political system, are candidates for the position. 
 
All media reported on the resignation of lawyer and former justice 
minister David Libai from the defense of Israeli President Moshe 
Katsav.  Celebrated attorney Avigdor Feldman has taken Libai's place 
in Katsav's defense team. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "The 
government should immediately and vigorously state that the country 
adopts the Arab League summit initiative, and that it is willing to 
negotiate over its basic points with any authorized Palestinian 
party." 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The dream of a 
'national unity government' in which terrorists will serve alongside 
civilians, fanatics alongside technocrats, is not expected to come 
true.  For even if a government of this type is formed in Ramallah 
or Beirut, it will soon dissolve, leaving behind scorched earth." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Hamas Is Not Going Away" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/5): "The 
terrible disturbances unfolding in the Gaza Strip, the killings of 
members of the security organizations of both Fatah and Hamas, the 
lack of control of the twin leaders -- Mahmoud Abbas on one hand and 
Ismail Haniyeh on the other -- are too easily being called 'civil 
war.'  This is a term that apparently offers Israel refuge from the 
need to act on the diplomatic front.  However, Israel has never 
needed excuses.... During the past year, a new political reality 
emerged, both in the territories and in Israel, which the Quartet 
refuses to acknowledge. Hamas, not Fatah won the elections, and 
Hamas is the one that has a hold on the Palestinian institutions of 
government, while Fatah is behaving as a rebel movement that refuses 
to accept its defeats.... Instead of constantly trying to decide 
which Israeli manipulation will work best, the government should 
immediately and vigorously state that the country adopts the Arab 
League summit initiative, and that it is willing to negotiate over 
its basic points with any authorized Palestinian party.  At the same 
time, it should state that it would be willing to cooperate with any 
Palestinian government on issues that are related to essential 
services and concern the rehabilitation of civilian infrastructures. 
 To this end there is no need for Hamas to recognize Israel, or vice 
versa - only to appreciate the humanitarian needs of a population 
that has been transformed into a hostage." 
 
II.  "War of Civilizations" 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in the editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/5): "The fronts are 
many -- the war is one.  In Gaza, in Beirut, in Baghdad and to an 
increasing degree in Tehran too, the great war over the soul and 
image of the Muslim Middle East is taking place.... From this 
standpoint, Islamic fanaticism is adopting the patterns of control 
of the extremist Western ideologies of the 20th century.  Like them, 
Muslim fanaticism needs the eternal fire of armed revolution, holy 
war of one kind or another and the aspiration for physical and 
ideological conquests.... Stability is, therefore, the number one 
enemy of fanatic Islam, as it was the enemy of fascism.  Thus, there 
is no possibility of peaceful coexistence between fanatics and 
moderates.  The dream of a 'national unity government' in which 
terrorists will serve alongside civilians, fanatics alongside 
technocrats, is not expected to come true.  For even if a government 
of this type is formed in Ramallah or Beirut, it will soon dissolve, 
leaving behind scorched earth.  You cannot ride on the back of a 
ferocious tiger, unless you are willing to become its next victim. 
Israel stands outside the internal Arab and internal Muslim war of 
civilization.  But only ostensibly: Conciliation with Israel is one 
of the main disputed issues -- though not the main bone of 
contention.  At the heart of the dispute stands the question of the 
future: What kind of future can hundreds of millions of children in 
the greater Muslim east look forward to: A future of jihad or of 
growth?   Of darkness or of light?  This dilemma is one that the 
Arab nation will have to resolve on its own, and there will be no 
shortcuts in it." 
 
------------------------ 
¶2.  US-Israel Relations: 
------------------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Editorial writer Eliahu Salpeter wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "In its political struggle, Israel needs the 
support of American Jews.  In their struggle against anti-Semitism, 
they need wiser Israeli behavior in the conflict with the 
Palestinians." 
 
Zalman Shoval, senior Likud member and former ambassador to the US, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Both 
sides, Israel and the US, must undertake without delay the task of 
investing renewed and relevant content in the term 'strategic 
cooperation.'" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in Ha'aretz: "The Jews 
of Israel comprise perhaps the most sympathetic group toward Bush in 
the entire world.... On the other hand, American Jews constitute one 
of the least sympathetic groups." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Who Really Cares About This Carter Guy?" 
 
Editorial writer Eliahu Salpeter wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/5): "More infuriating and painful [than the 
heated controversy in the US media] is the fact that [Jimmy Carter's 
latest] book creates a sort of triangle: the denunciations and 
defamations of Arab and pro-Arab sources have recently been joined 
by powerful Jews protesting against the occupation and Israel's 
behavior in the territories, speaking in the name of Jewish values. 
And now they are joined by the former US President, a symbol of 
liberalism, righteousness and American support for the weak and 
persecuted all over the world.  His words are a kind of seal of 
approval for the denunciations of Israel by the 'Do-Gooders' 
Israelis once considered themselves part of.... Criticism of the 
Israeli occupation and anti-Semitism are both on the rise.  The 
former spurs anti-Semitism, and the latter reinforces hostility 
toward Israel. In its political struggle, Israel needs the support 
of American Jews.  In their struggle against anti-Semitism, they 
need wiser Israeli behavior in the conflict with the Palestinians. 
American Jews need to remember this reciprocal relation no less than 
the leaders of Israel." 
 
II.  "Aircraft Carrier in the Middle East" 
 
Zalman Shoval, senior Likud member and former ambassador to the US, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/5): 
"Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Washington has paid less 
and less attention to strategic cooperation with Israel.... All this 
may change now, in a reality of escalating confrontation between the 
free world under the leadership of the United States (even if the US 
has weakened due to the Iraqi entanglement, there is no substitute 
on the horizon to its leadership) and Islamic fundamentalism with 
its two heads -- Shi'ite Iran on one hand and Sunni al-Qaida on the 
other -- and such elements as Hizbullah, Hamas and the Shi'ite 
militias in Iraq, which have attached themselves to these two. 
There is no doubt that IsraelQs poor performance in the second 
Lebanon War was a source of severe disappointment to the US 
administration, both on the political level and in the military 
realm.  But the IDF and IsraelQs security forces are still 
considered among the best in the world, so that their stock has only 
dropped temporarily on the Washington stock market.  On condition, 
of course, that Israel takes effective and credible steps to improve 
its security and civilian leadership.  This new reality can clearly 
be observed with regard to Iran.  Regarding Iran, a situation is 
emerging where Israel, whether it likes it or not, could under 
certain circumstances play an active role, not just the part of an 
observer from the sidelines.... But Iran is only part of the 
problem, since in the overall battle against Islamic fundamentalism 
the free world does not have many dependable allies in our region. 
The regimes, though not necessarily the populations, in the 
'moderate' Sunni states (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the oil 
emirates) do share the American concerns, but at least one of these 
states, Saudi Arabia, is also a source of inspiration and funding 
for Sunni jihadism, and there are many question marks regarding the 
others as well.... Whether we truly turn into America's 'aircraft 
carrier in the Middle East' in the future, or whether we are only 
one of the foundations upon which it depends in what has already 
been defined as 'World War III'  -- both sides, Israel and the US, 
must undertake without delay the task of investing renewed and 
relevant content in the term 'strategic cooperation.'" 
 
III.  "Abashed by Bush" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in Ha'aretz (2/4): 
"This is one of those bizarre anomalies that characterize the 
period: The Jews of Israel comprise perhaps the most sympathetic 
group toward Bush in the entire world.  They are certainly more 
supportive than the general American public and may very well be 
more sympathetic than any particular group of Americans.  On the 
other hand, American Jews constitute one of the least sympathetic 
groups.  A vast majority of them oppose Bush.  Indeed, many really 
loathe him.... Some American Jews have a hard time digesting a 
reality in which an Israeli prime minister can stand at Bush's side 
and describe the war in Iraq as an achievement.  In fact, it could 
be said that the Israelis' fondness for Bush actually serves to 
alienate these American Jews from Israel.  It is a sort of purist 
self-indulgence that does not tolerate contradictions: Jews from 
Israel.  If this is the type of leader Israelis respect, and this is 
the type of leader who is a fan of Israel, how, these Jews wonder, 
can they identify with Israel?.... Bush is also the first president 
for whose support Israel is paying a price, even if it is a hidden 
price, among other important supporters, the Jews of America.  He is 
making it difficult for a certain Jewish public to understand Israel 
and is making it easier for them to distance themselves from Israel. 
 Of course, it's not he who is the guilty party. In this test, it is 
only the Jews who are failing." 
 
CRETZ