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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000615 
 
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 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted sources in Washington as saying that Under 
Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns is slated to 
 
SIPDIS 
head the American side negotiating Israel's new aid package.  The 
newspaper quoted "individuals close to the issue" as saying that the 
designation of the number three at the State Department as the team 
leader indicates the seriousness with which the Bush administration 
regards the talks.  However, The Jerusalem Post reported that the 
State Department declined to confirm Burns' participation in the 
talks.  The Jerusalem Post quoted former Israeli ambassador to the 
US Danny Ayalon as saying on Monday that Israel should ask the US 
for increased military assistance, with the option of one-time 
special aid, to deal with "real and present" strategic threats, but 
avoid asking for any outright civilian aid.  Ayalon remarks came as 
a high-level Israeli delegation began talks in Washington on the 
subject.  The Jerusalem Post further quoted Ayalon as saying that it 
was wise to try and reach multi-year agreement with the US now, 
under the Bush administration. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Monday Hamas political bureau chief Khaled 
Mashal visited Moscow for a series of meetings with the Russian 
leadership on the Palestinian unity government.  Mashal is scheduled 
to meet today with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov.  During his visit, 
Mashal called for the lifting of the international embargo on the 
Palestinian government, and blamed Israel for the diplomatic 
impasse.  Ha'aretz also reported that PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on 
Monday to discuss the future of the unity government and the 
American demands that it abide by the Quartet's demands. 
 
The media (banner in The Jerusalem Post) cited the Shin Bet as 
saying on Monday that IDF troops have arrested two Palestinian 
youths for the murder of Erez Levanon, an Israeli whose body was 
found north of the West Bank city of Hebron late Sunday.  Ha'aretz 
reported that the largest Israeli raid in the West Bank for months 
continued on Monday, with a full curfew imposed on tens of thousands 
of Nablus residents as soldiers raided the city's old market in 
search of militants and arms.  The forces uncovered an explosives 
laboratory, the second in 24 hours.  This morning Israel Radio 
reported that the DF troops have left Nablus. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Turkish diplomatic officials as saying on 
Monday that Ankara is in the process of putting together its 
excavations at the Mugrabi Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, with the 
inspectors expected to arrive some time next week. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that FM Tzipi Livni told UN special 
envoy Michael Williams on Monday that the world must stop the 
rearming of Hizbullah if it wants to see stability in the region. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi will annul 
most organizational changes made by his predecessor, Dan Halutz.  A 
report prepared by reserves General and former police superintendent 
Herzl Shafir found that those changes caused harm during last 
summer's Lebanon war. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that, during her recent visit, Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice met with Meretz Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On.  The 
newspaper wrote that Rice did not express much interest about 
Gal-On's views on the peace process or the Palestinians, but that 
the talks focused on the fight against trade in women. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Sunday the Yemenite government airlifted 
45 Jews from Sa'dah, in the north of the country, to Sana'a, the 
capital, after suffering from threats and harassment by opposition 
supporters.  Ha'aretz said that those Jews emphasized that they do 
not want to immigrate to Israel currently. 
 
Media reported that new Social Affairs Minister Yitzhak Herzog was 
also appointed Diaspora Affairs Minister.  However, Ha'aretz said 
that the handling of the return of Holocaust-era assets will remain 
entrusted to Pensioners Affairs Ministers Rafi Eitan. 
 
Ha'aretz and Maariv reported that US Marines in Iraq will get 
Israeli-made armored vehicles, following the success of Rafael 
(Armaments Development Authority) in a Marines' tender for vehicles 
to be deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Rafael will supply 60 
armored personnel carriers, worth USD 37 million, in a first stage 
of the deal.  Several American and other companies contended for the 
tender last week, consisting of 4,000 armored vehicles.  The 
contenders had to fulfill strict requirements, including protection 
from roadside bombs, mines and RPG rockets. 
 
All Hebrew-language media led with domestic issues, principally an 
expected general strike on Wednesday. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Matityahu 
East is the latest in a series of such affairs in which the 
separation barrier, supposedly serving Israel's security needs, is 
used to annex West Bank territory to expand the settlements." 
 
Palestinian contributor Daoud Kuttab wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "US diplomats complain that [the Mecca] 
Agreement 'complicates things.'  This is a shameful position." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Legitimization of Land Theft" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/27): "The 
theft of private land and lawless construction, with the 
authorities' collaboration, have long been routine in the land of 
the settlers.  The scope of these deeds and their seriousness are 
described extensively in the report on illegal outposts compiled by 
Talia Sasson, formerly a senior state prosecution attorney.  The 
report was buried almost two years ago.  However, the decision of 
the Supreme Planning Council (SPC) for Judea and Samaria [i.e. the 
West Bank], which was revealed in Ha'aretz on Sunday, to legitimize 
the plan to build the Matityahu East neighborhood in Modi'in Ilit, 
beyond the Green Line, marks a nadir.... Matityahu East is the 
latest in a series of such affairs in which the separation barrier, 
supposedly serving Israel's security needs, is used to annex West 
Bank territory to expand the settlements.  The Defense Minister is 
dragging his feet on everything concerning the evacuation of illegal 
outposts..... If the government does not quash the planning 
council's decision to allow construction to continue, the High Court 
will have no choice but to respond to the recent petition.  It will 
have to abrogate that decision, to protect both the rule of law and 
the rights of those victimized by its breach." 
 
II.  "Support the Mecca Agreement" 
 
Palestinian contributor Daoud Kuttab wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (2/27): "It gives me pleasure, but at the 
same time it is kind of sad, to see the Israelis and the Americans 
squirming.... The Mecca agreement represents a clear shift in 
Hamas's alignment, from the Iranian-Syrian axis to the Saudi side. 
In response, however, US diplomats complain that this agreement 
'complicates things.'  This is a shameful position.  It is a shame 
for a superpower to say that the outcome of a democratic election -- 
isn't that supposed to be Bush's legacy? -- and a deal for 
Palestinian unity aimed at ending internal Palestinian bloodletting 
and saving lives 'complicates things.'  It is shameful that the 
Americans are demanding of Palestinians what they have not demanded 
of the Lebanese, Saudis or even of the Iraqi regime operating under 
US occupation.  Washington has not demanded that sovereign Arab 
countries recognize Israel.  But it is demanding that a government 
that is not sovereign recognize the very state that is occupying its 
land -- a state whose borders have yet to be determined.... The fact 
that the Islamic leaders have agreed to a long-term 'hudna,' 
provided that a Palestinian state is created within the 1967 
armistice lines, shows that the vast majority of Palestinians, Arab 
countries, the US and the international community are all in 
agreement about the two-state solution.  What is missing now is for 
the Israelis to agree to begin talks on how to accomplish this goal. 
Bush did declare it to be one that his administration was hoping to 
accomplish.... The fact that the Islamic leaders have agreed to a 
long-term hudna, provided that a Palestinian state is created within 
the 1967 armistice lines, shows that the vast majority of 
Palestinians, Arab countries, the US and the international community 
are all in agreement about the two-state solution.  What is missing 
now is for the Israelis to agree to begin talks on how to accomplish 
this goal.  Bush did declare it to be one that his administration 
was hoping to accomplish." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Our 
government should be doing more than reacting to this or that 
political or diplomatic fire.  The times demand comprehensive 
thinking, a coherent strategy and concerted action." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Strategy and Action" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (2/27): 
"The picture painted by our intelligence agencies of the year ahead, 
in a presentation to the cabinet on Sunday, was not a pretty one.... 
The truth is Israel is not helpless.  The problem is that our 
government leaders seem to be too preoccupied with the stability of 
their coalition and the next day's headlines to develop and follow a 
national security strategy.  Such a strategy would be beginning with 
what has become the central lesson taken from the last war: the 
folly of allowing our enemies to amass huge arsenals on our 
borders.... [But] confronting Iran's proxies in Lebanon and Gaza 
does not deal with the main source of these problems, the mullahs in 
Tehran.... The task of isolating Iran should not be left to the 
world's leading governments, but should also be pursued from the 
ground up, like the campaign against other dictatorial regimes. 
Also, governmental action should not be limited to Iran's nuclear 
program.  The Security Council should also be acting against Iran's 
international aggression through its support for terrorist proxies. 
And the signatories of the Genocide Convention (almost all nations) 
should be seeking an indictment of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for 
incitement to genocide, which is a punishable crime under Article 
III of that treaty.  There is, in short, much work for Israel to do, 
both publicly and behind the diplomatic scenes.  Our government 
should be doing more than reacting to this or that political or 
diplomatic fire.  The times demand comprehensive thinking, a 
coherent strategy and concerted action." 
 
JONES