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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000600 
 
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.  US-Israel Relations 
 
¶3.  Israel-Europe Relations 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio cited the Saudi newspaper Okaz as saying that 
preparations for a trilateral meeting between President Bush, PM 
Ehud Olmert, and PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas are underway 
in Jordan. 
 
Maariv reported that the moderate Arab states Egypt, Jordan, Saudi 
Arabia, and the UAE have been secretly meeting to build an 
anti-Iranian alliance.  Ha'aretz reported that on Sunday IDF 
Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin conveyed a similar message to the 
cabinet.   Ha'aretz quoted Yadlin as saying that Iran is determined 
to pursue the development of its nuclear program despite 
technological hardships and the threat of sanctions. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Sunday Olmert instructed the 
defense establishment to prepare for the possibility of an all-out 
war with Syria in 2007.  Such a possibility is deemed low by 
Israel's top intelligence officials. 
 
Major media reported that Erez Levanon, a 42-year old Israeli, was 
stabbed to death between the settlement of Bat Ayin, where he 
resided, and the Palestinian village of Beit Omar, in the Hebron 
area.  The radio said that the murderers acted out of nationalistic 
motives. 
 
The media reported that on Sunday, the IDF began its broadest arrest 
operation in the past six months, seeking wanted men and weapons in 
Nablus.  In the operation, which involved four IDF battalions and a 
large contingent of Border Police, the forces raided the city's old 
market and uncovered an explosives laboratory, the second in 24 
hours.  A full curfew was imposed on tens of thousands of residents 
of the market area. 
On Sunday Ha'aretz reported that Israeli security sources confirmed 
over the weekend that some progress had been made toward a prisoner 
swap for the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit.  But the defense 
establishment said a deal with Hamas, which is holding Shalit in 
cooperation with other organizations, had not yet been clinched and 
the soldier's release was not imminent.   Ha'aretz wrote that the 
Israeli negotiator for prisoners and missing soldiers, Ofer Dekel, 
was in Cairo more than a week ago and made progress in talks with 
senior Egyptian officials. Channel 2-TV said on Friday that between 
400 and 500 prisoners are to be exchanged for Shalit.  Ha'aretz 
wrote that agreement also appears close on the structure of the 
swap, with groups of prisoners to be freed in exchange for 
Palestinian and Egyptian assurances of Shalit's release before his 
return to Israel, near the end of the process.  The identity of the 
prisoners to be released is still a matter of contention.  Hamas 
wants a large number of senior figures freed, among them those 
serving sentences for the murder of Israelis.   Ha'aretz quoted 
Israeli sources close to the process as saying that Egyptian 
pressure is having an effect on senior Hamas officials and that 
Hamas has shown "signs of pragmatism" in recent weeks with regard to 
Shalit's release.  Channel 10-TV and The Jerusalem Post also saw 
signs of cautious optimism regarding Shalit's possible release. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh denied 
on Saturday that Israel was in talks with the US to use Iraqi 
airspace as part of possible plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites. 
Britain's Daily Telegraph, citing an unnamed senior Israeli defense 
official, had said on Saturday that Israel had sought permission 
from the Pentagon to use an "air corridor" in Iraq in the event that 
it decided to launch air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the European Commission has created a plan to 
renew financial assistance to the PA if and when a unity government 
is formed that receives international recognition.  According to the 
plan, the details of which Jerusalem has been informed, the EU will 
channel its aid to a temporary mechanism to be used among other 
things to build up governmental and institutional capabilities for 
the future Palestinian state, to build a judicial system and to 
assist the PA's regular police force.  The mechanism for 
distributing the aid, which at present "bypasses" Hamas to meet 
humanitarian needs in the PA, will return to working with the 
Palestinian government when the decision is made to renew aid.  The 
initiative, known as the Temporary International Mechanism, was 
presented last week in a meeting of the Quartet in Berlin.  The EU's 
Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, did not 
give a total figure for 2007 but said 35 million euros were in the 
pipeline, and that it would be an expanded version of what the EU 
had done so far. 
 
Ha'aretz wrote that the head of the Civil Administration, who is 
subordinate to Defense Minister Amir Peretz, must sign the 
development plan for the Matityahu East neighborhood of the 
settlement of Modi'in Illit for it to be legal.  The newspaper 
quoted Defense Ministry officials as saying on Sunday that Peretz 
was not asked to involve himself in the decision by the Supreme 
Planning Council for Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank] to 
legalize the project, and that in any event he was not partner to 
the "laundering" of the plan, which was frozen by the High Court of 
Justice over a year ago.   Ha'aretz reported that, following the 
report in Sunday's Ha'aretz on the council's decision, the American 
Embassy in Tel Aviv launched an investigation into its legality, 
including an examination of claims by residents of the adjacent 
Palestinian village of Bil'in that the course of the separation 
barrier was coordinated with the construction plan. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that, at their meeting in Cairo on Sunday, 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan 
called for stopping Israel's excavations at the Mugrabi Ascent in 
the Old City of Jerusalem, saying that they represent a threat to 
regional stability. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that, as Fatah and Hamas representatives 
continue their efforts to form a unity government in keeping with 
the Mecca Agreement reached earlier this month, a row has erupted 
between former PS finance minister Salam Fayad, who heads the Third 
Way list, and his No. 2, former education minister Hanan Ashrawi. 
 
Ha'aretz cited a new Peace Now report according to which 21 
settlements have encroached on the territory of natural reserves. 
 
Yediot and Maariv reported that the police are investigating 
suspicions that two Israeli companies from Ramat Gan have served as 
conduits for the transfer of goods to a Palestinian that funded 
terrorist activities against Israel. 
 
Leading media cited an announcement made by Iran that it launched a 
rocket to a height of 150 kilometers on Sunday.  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted Israeli space expert Tal Inbar as saying that Iran's 
successful test should serve as a "wake-up call" for the defense 
establishment concerning Tehran's potential to use ballistic 
missiles to destroy satellites. 
Israel Radio reported that the US has convinced Egypt not to develop 
nuclear energy. 
 
The media reported that controversial Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset 
Member Esterina Tartman is slated to become tourism minister in the 
reshuffle of the Olmert government.  Strategic Affairs Avigdor 
Lieberman chose her, his closest ally in the party, to become the 
party's second cabinet minister.  Tartman is well-known for her 
fight against the appointment of Israeli Arab MK Raleb Majadele to a 
post of cabinet minister.  Israel Radio said that Majadele will 
eventually get the science, technology, culture, and sports 
portfolio, which he had originally been offered. 
 
Leading media reported that, during the upcoming official visit to 
the US of Knesset Speaker and Acting President of Israel's Dalia 
Itzik, Druze MK Majalli Wahbee (Kadima), will be the acting 
president. 
 
Yediot reported that a team of archaeologists have found the 
sarcophagi of "Jesus and his son."  The findings will be shown in 
New York tonight. The newspaper quoted Israeli archaeologist Amos 
Kloner as saying that there is no scientific evidence supporting the 
claims. 
 
Israel Radio reported that last night "West Bank Story," a musical 
comedy set in the fast-paced, fast-food world of competing falafel 
stands on the West Bank, which was directed by Israel-born Ari 
Sandel, won an Academy Award in the category "Best Short Film, Live 
Action." 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited an analysis of Gallup polls conducted since 
2005 released over the weekend by The Gallup Organization, according 
to which Jews are more strongly opposed to the Iraq War -- and have 
been since before it began -- than any other American religious 
group.  Asked if "the "US made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq," 
77 percent of American Jews said it had, while only 21 percent 
believed the deployment was not a mistake.  This figure is in marked 
contrast to the American average, where only 52 percent indicated 
opposition to the war and 46 percent indicated support. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "'Our failure 
is your failure, and vice versa,' our neighbor the King concluded in 
[a] January interview [with Ha'aretz]." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
international community stands ready to help if [the Fatah-Hamas] 
partnership produces more peace and less terror.  What is even more 
necessary to demonstrate, however, is that a continuation of chaos 
and belligerency will be met with a sharp reduction in aid." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: "If the 
Israeli government were to treat the peace process like the grand 
prize instead of a threat, it would not stop at exploratory talks." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Hear Ye, the King Speaks" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/25): "Like 
other pragmatic Arab leaders in the Middle East, particularly the 
Egyptian President and the Saudi King, the plight of the 
Palestinians is not the sole -- or even the main -- issue troubling 
Jordan's King Abdullah.  The Arab perception that Israel ended the 
last war at a disadvantage is emboldening radical Islamic elements 
to try their luck once more.  These elements are no less of a threat 
to secular Arab regimes than they are to Israel.... 'Our failure is 
your failure, and vice versa,' our neighbor the King concluded in 
[a] January interview [with Ha'aretz]..... When will Israel's 
leaders discuss the implication of the deterioration in the West 
Bank and the Gaza Strip for the stability of the friendly regimes in 
Amman and Cairo?  It is only right that the King's impassioned cry 
be heard by the members of the Quartet as well, particularly the US. 
 The Roadmap expired more than a year ago.  In place of the map are 
fruitless visits by the US Secretary of State and lip service by the 
Quartet members about a 'political horizon.'  The impotence of the 
body that purports to lead the regional peace process was expressed 
by Javier Solana.  After yet another meeting with Palestinian 
Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, the European Union 
foreign policy chief said that Abbas was a 'good guy,' and sent him 
home empty-handed." 
 
II.  "Blind Aid" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (2/25): 
"Given the international indifference to the inverse relationship 
between financial assistance and the actual well-being of 
Palestinians, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that donor nations 
care little how their money is spent.  If they did, international 
assistance would be strictly linked to the establishment of the rule 
of law that is a critical prerequisite to real democratization, and 
to dismantling the roving militias dedicated to attacking Israel and 
each other.   Had all the PA's wherewithal been spent on improving 
the lot of its people, things would have been very different. 
Nothing obliges the Palestinian government to concentrate on 
infighting and terrorist reinforcements.  It knows, as do all its 
solicitous overseas well-wishers, that Israel has no offensive 
intentions towards the PA and would like nothing better than 
peaceful coexistence with it.  Fatah and Hamas are both calling for 
giving their partnership a chance.  The international community 
stands ready to help if this partnership produces more peace and 
less terror.  What is even more necessary to demonstrate, however, 
is that a continuation of chaos and belligerency will be met with a 
sharp reduction in aid." 
 
III.  "Closed-Door Policy" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz (2/26): 
"Instead of wasting time on arguing over the demand that the unity 
government recognize interim agreements that have passed their 
sell-by date, the only formula for a permanent agreement that earned 
the support of all 22 Arab League members could have been submitted 
to that government.  This simple logic also holds for the Syrians. 
Tehran and Hizbullah are not grieving over Jerusalem's welcome 
acceptance of Washington's prohibition against reopening 
communication lines to Damascus, even covertly.  If the Israeli 
government were to treat the peace process like the grand prize 
instead of a threat, it would not stop at exploratory talks.  It 
would use its connections in Washington to persuade the President of 
the US to renew negotiations with Syria immediately.  As with the 
Palestinians, there is no other way to assess Syria's intentions and 
force it to choose its partner.  If Bashar Assad is bluffing, that 
will become obvious within a few months, if not weeks, and he will 
lose the brass ring.  Time, as Jordan's King Abdullah said recently, 
is not on the side of peoples whose leaders know what they do not 
want but have no idea what they do want." 
 
------------------------ 
¶2.  US-Israel Relations: 
------------------------ 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Gewirtz commented in an editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The Israeli leadership 
is allowing its ally to force it to toe the line down to the very 
most sensitive areas." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Pardon Me, Madam" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Gewirtz commented in an editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/25): "It is no secret 
that Israel is dependent on the United States down to its very 
underwear.  Just as money has a scent, so the respectable American 
aid has a price.  What is new here is that the Israeli leadership is 
allowing its ally to force it to toe the line down to the very most 
sensitive areas.  The surrender to Condoleezza Rice's dictated terms 
that Israel will refrain even from feeling out the seriousness of 
SyriaQs intentions to negotiate is nothing less than a scandal. 
With all due respect to the US, the supreme duty of the Israeli 
leadership is to its citizens, to do everything possible to ensure 
that they will not be sent out to kill or be killed except in a war 
of no choice.  And with all due respect to Israel's duty to be 
attentive to the US, there are levels of independence that a 
sovereign state must keep for itself.  A responsible Israeli leader 
cannot settle for assessments about Syrian intentions.  It must 
examine them.  A strong leader would understand that this is 
precisely the matter about which he must deal with the United 
States.  In our instance, this is a strong 'case' and a weak 
leader." 
 
---------------------------- 
¶3.  Israel-Europe Relations: 
---------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's Commissioner for 
External Relations, wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"Israel will have to decide where it wants to go, and whether it is 
willing to really embark on a European path." 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The European Path For Israel?" 
 
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's Commissioner for 
External Relations, wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(2/26): "Israel will have to decide where it wants to go, and 
whether it is willing to really embark on a European path.... Europe 
is not only an economic bloc with profitable trading opportunities, 
but also a group of nations sharing common ideas and values.  Israel 
can be associated with this group, but at some point it will have to 
make the strategic decision of whether this is what it really 
wants.... If the chances for peace are not to fade away, the 
international community must stay fully engaged.  The Palestinian 
side will require support -- but how much Europe can offer will 
depend on the new government's program and actions.  President Abbas 
is a true partner for peace.  If the new government is also to be a 
partner, it must respond to the principles of peace set out by 
President Mahmoud Abbas and the Quartet.  So, Israel should keep the 
door open.  Recent weeks have brought small shoots of hope, and we 
should all work to keep them alive." 
 
JONES