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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000387 
 
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.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
¶3.  Lebanon 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Yediot reported that PM Ehud Olmert, PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud 
Abbas, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet on February 
¶19.  Maariv (Ben Caspit) reported that Israeli-Palestinian 
negotiations toward a final-status agreement are supposed to resume 
soon, following recent protracted contacts involving the US and 
Sunni countries concerned about intensive Iranian involvement and 
the "Shi'ite revolution" developing on their doorstep.  The 
newspaper said that Olmert, Abbas, and Secretary Rice will start 
"theoretical" negotiations over all issues, without entering the 
implementation stage.   Maariv wrote that the talks would be 
regional, US-sponsored, and include an upgrading of Israel's 
relations with regional Arab and Muslim states.  Relations might 
even be established between Israel and countries with which it does 
not yet have official ties. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that sources close to Abbas told the newspaper on 
Monday that the summit between Abbas and Khaled Mashal, the head of 
Hamas's political bureau, which begins today under Saudi auspices in 
the city of Mecca, is likely to result in an agreement on the 
formation of a Palestinian unity government.  Ha'aretz said that the 
optimistic message emerging from Fatah circles was echoed by Hamas 
leadership in the Gaza Strip on Monday, which said that the summit 
will likely result in a final agreement on a unity government.  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that Israel is concerned that a Hamas-Fatah 
unity government will create international pressure to negotiate 
with it even if it does not adopt the Quartet's preconditions. 
 
Leading media quoted Shin Bet chef Yuval Diskin as saying on Monday 
that he is opposed to Israel rushing into a military operation in 
the Gaza Strip.  Media quoted Diskin as saying that the Gaza Strip 
is going back to the rule of clans.  Leading media quoted Diskin as 
saying that 10 tunnels are being dug from the Strip to the Negev for 
kidnappings or terrorist attacks.  Yediot quoted senior Palestinian 
officials as saying that the abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit had 
been detained at Gaza City's Islamic University, and that last 
week's PA raid on the institution was connected to that fact. 
 
All media reported that on Monday IDF troops discovered five large 
explosive devices near the Lebanese border, in the vicinity of 
Moshav Avivim.  Israel Radio reported that Dan Gillerman, Israel's 
Permanent Representative to the UN, has filed a complaint with the 
UN on the matter.  Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday Olmert will 
hold a special consultation about the security situation along the 
northern border.  Yediot cited assessments among the Foreign 
Ministry and the Israeli defense establishment that Hizbullah will 
become the dominant force in Lebanon in the next decade and that it 
may rule the country. 
 
Leading media quoted Defense Minister Amir Peretz as saying on 
Monday that he hoped to reach an agreement with Olmert regarding a 
timetable for the evacuation of illegal outposts.  Peretz was 
speaking at a meeting of the Labor Party's Knesset faction.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted Kadima Knesset Member Otniel Schneller, one of 
the mediators on the issue and a former settler leader, as saying 
that the Prime Minister's Office is still trying to reach agreement 
on the outposts with the settlers.   Hatzofe quoted a senior GOI 
source as saying that there is neither US nor Quartet pressure to 
evacuate outposts.  The Jerusalem Post reported that defense 
officials told settlers on Monday that it was still likely that the 
security fence would be constructed in the Judean Desert, even 
though work there had been halted last month due to environmental 
concerns. 
 
Yediot reported that the Peres Center for Peace will soon give away 
laptop PCs to dozens of Palestinian children. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Iran has inaugurated a new, underground 
uranium-enrichment plant in Natanz.  Maariv reported that on Monday 
Olmert told a visiting delegation of French Senate members that they 
must take a nonpartisan view and act resolutely against the nuclear 
arming of Iran.   Maariv and The Jerusalem Post cited a report 
presented on Monday to British PM Tony Blair by liberal British 
experts according to which an American or Israeli attack on Iran's 
nuclear installations would have grave consequences. 
 
Yediot reported that Egypt has asked Interpol to arrest three 
alleged Mossad agents. 
Ha'aretz reported that Jerusalem's Old City's Jewish Quarter 
Development Company is planning a roof promenade to link the Jewish 
and Muslim quarters. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the foreign aid included in the budget 
proposal that President Bush presented to Congress is 12 percent 
higher than last year.  The Jerusalem Post and the radio said that 
the proposed assistance to Israel amounts to USD 2.4 billion -- 
which The Jerusalem Post says represents a USD-100 million 
decrease. 
 
Major media reported on the founding of a new British organization 
-- "Independent Jewish Voices" -- critical of Israel's policies in 
the territories.  Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, 
actor Stephen Fry, and director Mike Leigh are members of the 
group. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying on 
Monday, during a press conference about Russia's expansion of 
activity in the energy sector, that Israel is certainly a possible 
client for receiving Russian gas. 
 
Leading media reported that Olmert is expected to name a new justice 
minister today.  Yediot and other media cited another possible 
candidate for the position -- Law Prof. Daniel Friedman. 
 
Maariv and other media reported that, preceding his rivals, Knesset 
Member Reuven Rivlin (Likud), a former Knesset Speaker, announced 
his candidacy for the presidency of Israel. 
 
Leading media cited police claims that six senior officials at the 
Defense Ministry have accepted bribes in exchange for directing 
valuable infrastructure contracts to private contractors. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "[Secretary] Rice's trip will be accompanied 
by vocal pronouncements about resuming the peace process.... 
However, neither President George Bush nor Prime Minister Olmert is 
enthusiastic about all this activity." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "So long 
as Arab leaders are too fearful to set their own example of moderate 
behavior toward Israel, they should not be surprised when 
Palestinian moderates remain weak, embattled or nonexistent." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: "Ehud Olmert 
has apparently learned from Ariel Sharon that it is easier for a 
prime minister to maintain a hawkish policy if he has a minister or 
two to his left presenting dovish positions." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Bush and Olmert Don't Believe In a Peace Process" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/6): "[Secretary] Rice's trip will be 
accompanied by vocal pronouncements about resuming the peace 
process.... However, neither President George Bush nor Prime 
Minister Olmert is enthusiastic about all this activity, which they 
see as a futile move leading nowhere.  Bush and Olmert object to 
their respective foreign ministers, Rice and Tzipi Livni's joint 
initiative to begin negotiations over a Palestinian state before 
carrying out the first step in the road map.... The White House 
regards Rice's optimism with contempt.  Bush is up to his neck with 
Iraq and to a lesser extent with Iran.  He has no interest in 
getting involved with Israel and the Palestinians.  His aides have 
come to understand by now that during Bush's term no Palestinian 
state will be set up next to Israel, and the president's vision will 
not be realized.... Bush has good reason to let Rice carry on with 
the political process.  First, the Egyptians and Saudis are 
pressuring Washington to show progress on the Israeli-Palestinian 
front.  Second, Washington believes that American activism would 
keep away less friendly parties, like European mediators, who would 
only annoy Israel and the Americans." 
 
II.  "Show the Way" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (2/6): 
"Unfortunately, [in the Palestinian in-fighting], we are not 
witnessing a conflict between ideological opposites, where one side 
is clearly committed to peace and the other to terrorism....  Unless 
Abbas, still regarded by many in Israel as a potential partner, 
begins to consistently and publicly push a message and a policy of 
conciliation among his own people, the international community 
should not be trying to prop up one radical, corrupt and 
delegitimized faction against another.  It should, rather, be trying 
to steer the entire Palestinian polity away from terrorism and 
toward peace with Israel.... If [the moderate Arab] states are as 
deeply concerned about the growing Iranian-led radicalization in the 
region as they privately say they are, they should be pressed to put 
in motion an opposite trend.  So long as Arab leaders are too 
fearful to set their own example of moderate behavior toward Israel, 
they should not be surprised when Palestinian moderates remain weak, 
embattled or nonexistent." 
 
III.  "Olmert's Shelter" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz (2/6): "Ehud 
Olmert has apparently learned from Ariel Sharon that it is easier 
for a prime minister to maintain a hawkish policy if he has a 
minister or two to his left presenting dovish positions.... He 
granted Amir Peretz the empty title of 'Defense Minister' and turned 
him into a significant player to his left.  Foreign Minister Tzipi 
Livni, who often talks of peace and influences Olmert as much as 
forecasters affect the weather, has also done her part.... Under the 
cover of the sound of explosions in Gaza and Olmert's nice words to 
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the Kadima-Labor 
government is proceeding with a settlement strategy that explains 
why the minister of strategic affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, is so 
quiet." 
 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Bush will see his presidency as 
a failure if he doesn't put an end to the Iranian nuclear threat." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"A Challenge Named Bush" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/6): "This lame duck [President 
Bush] can get ready for takeoff, fly and even go on a bombing spree. 
 Bush will see his presidency as a failure if he doesn't put an end 
to the Iranian nuclear threat.... Bush is a stubborn and determined 
man, and he believes in his mission.  The Gulf states, and every 
country in this neck of the woods, from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, are 
seeking his protection, but to Bush, Israel is the fulfillment of a 
prophecy, and Ahmadinejad's Iran is a threat to the Holy Bible and 
the New Testament.... It is critically important for Israel to avoid 
any kind of overt involvement in a U.S. offensive.  At the same 
time, Israel must defend itself, whether that means preparing the 
home front for bigger missiles, or sitting with the Americans and 
quietly coordinating the building of a sophisticated defense system 
that can intercept Iranian missiles on their way to Israel." 
 
------------ 
¶3.  Lebanon: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in 
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The struggle over Lebanon 
is a battle in the war being waged by Iran, Syria, and their allies 
seeking to control the Middle East.... It is imperative that 
Lebanon's government and majority be given international support." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Lebanon's Next Round" 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in 
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (2/6): "Round One of 
Hizbullah's attempt to take over Lebanon has failed.  Watch out for 
Round Two.  The struggle over Lebanon is a battle in the war being 
waged by Iran, Syria, and their allies seeking to control the Middle 
East.... It is imperative that Lebanon's government and majority be 
given international support so they can resist this campaign, whose 
ultimate power rests on a base of terrorism and subversion." 
 
JONES