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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000636 
 
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.  Taiwan 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that tonight Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik will 
meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and later with House 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  The radio reported that Itzik invited Karnit 
Goldwasser, the wife of one of the soldiers kidnapped into Lebanon, 
to join her. 
 
Ha'aretz reported (lead story in Ha'aretz (English Ed.)), that on 
Tuesday in Moscow the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled 
Mashal, reiterated that his organization was not willing to 
recognize Israel, saying that Israel must end the occupation and the 
suffering of the Palestinian people and "only then will the 
Palestinians make their position [on recognition] clear."  Other 
Hamas spokesmen told Ha'aretz on Tuesday that the Mecca Agreement, 
in which Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a government of national 
unity, has not altered in any way the Islamist organization's stance 
on Israel.  Ha'aretz quoted the Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, 
Ismail Radwan, as saying that the organization will never negotiate 
with Israel.  The newspaper quoted a different spokesman of the 
organization in the Gaza Strip, Fauzi Barhum, as saying that "Hamas 
has decided to show a political horizon, but our position is clear. 
All the land of Palestine [from the sea to the river] belongs to the 
Palestinians and Israel is the enemy.  However, our political 
horizon offers a hudna for 15-20 years, in return for the 
establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, the return 
of the refugees and the release of the prisoners."  Ha'aretz quoted 
Russian FM Sergey Lavrov as saying during the joint press conference 
with Mashal that his country would work toward lifting the 
international embargo on the PA and that it will support the new 
unity government.  "Russia supports the understandings reached 
between Hamas and Fatah over the sharing of power, because they are 
an expression of reason, wisdom and responsibility toward the 
Palestinian people," Lavrov was quoted as saying.  The Russian FM 
added that his country was working to ensure that "all the members 
of the international community will support this process, including 
 
 
efforts to lift the embargo."  Lavrov was quoted as saying that 
Mashal had promised an end to the Qassam rocket attacks against 
Israel.  Calling on Hamas to use its strength to end the violence 
against Israel, Lavrov said that "we have received confirmation that 
such steps will be adopted," referring to an end to the rocket 
attacks.  The Jerusalem Post and Yediot also reported on the 
Lavrov-Mashal meeting.  Maariv cited the concern of the Israeli 
leadership over the drafting by the EU of a plan to resume 
international cooperation with the PA government, even if it does 
not abide by the Quartet's conditions. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Defense Minister Amir Peretz as saying on Tuesday, 
during a visit to the IDF Gaza Division, that Israel is concerned 
about the continued strengthening and arming of Hamas and that it is 
following developments closely.  Peretz was quoted as saying that 
Hamas is taking advantage of the cease-fire agreement between Israel 
and the Palestinians to continue stockpiling arms.  "We are 
definitely doing everything in order to preserve the cease-fire," 
Peretz was quoted as saying, adding that Israel has "no reason to 
turn [Hamas's] strengthening into a real threat to Israel."  Peretz 
refused to rule out a military operation in the Gaza Strip.  "Every 
solution that protects the citizens of Israel is possible," he was 
quoted as saying.  "We prefer a diplomatic solution, but where that 
doesn't work out, we will also conduct military operations." 
 
Leading electronic media reported that this morning three 
Palestinians were killed and an elite undercover Border Policeman 
lightly wounded in a Jenin refugee camp.  According to the Border 
Police, all three were Islamic Jihad members, including Ashraf 
Sa'adi, a senior member of the group, and two of his aides, Mohammed 
Abu Nasser and Daoud Jibli.  However, Ha'aretz's web site quoted 
Palestinian sources as saying that one of those killed was a taxi 
driver. 
 
Yediot reported that Hizbullah is about to get "Fateh 110" rockets 
from Iran, which have a range of 250 kilometers, are more precise, 
easier to launch, and more difficult to trace than Hizbullah's 
current rockets.  The newspaper said that if they are deployed in 
Lebanon, they could strike Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Beersheva.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli sources as saying on Tuesday that 
Israel is considering taking action to stop the smuggling of weapons 
from Syria to Hizbullah, although plans for the time being entail a 
continuation of diplomatic efforts to change UNIFIL's mandate so 
that the UN force will deploy along the Syrian-Lebanese border. 
 
Maariv reported that, in recent days, Syrian commentators and 
military experts have voiced the concern that Israel could initiate 
a military strike in the Golan.  This was broadly publicized in the 
Syrian media, in response to the publication of the annual 
intelligence assessment of Israel's security agencies. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that government bodies have been promoting a 
preliminary plan over the past few weeks to build a neighborhood of 
11,000 units for the ultra-Orthodox near the East Jerusalem airport. 
 The plan also calls for the construction of a tunnel under a 
Palestinian neighborhood to connect the new quarter to one of the 
settlements in the Beit El area east of Ramallah.  Ha'aretz quoted 
MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima), a former settler leader, as saying on 
Tuesday that the Housing Ministry is the body that developed a plan 
to erect the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood.  Ha'aretz said that the 
ministry denied any knowledge of the project. 
 
In its lead story, Ha'aretz (Hebrew Ed.) reported that on Tuesday 
the US administration confirmed that it has agreed to participate in 
a regional meeting with countries bordering with Iraq -- including 
Iran and Syria.  This move is supposed to neutralize one of the most 
complex political obstacles for the United States' public relations. 
 Ha'aretz quoted Secretary Rice as saying on Tuesday at a 
congressional hearing that Iraq is the inviting party and that there 
will be no direct US-Iranian talks.  Ha'aretz wrote that, according 
to the plan, the talks, in which David Satterfield, Senior Advisor 
to the Secretary of State and Coordinator for Iraq, will represent 
the US, are due to start this month. Ha'aretz said that a 
ministerial-level committee, in which Rice will take part, is 
planned for April.  The newspaper wrote that the UK, Russia, and 
international organizations, are among the bodies that will take 
part in the talks.  Ha'aretz quoted international sources as saying 
that the participation of those bodies would pave the way for a more 
fruitful dialogue on further issues in contention between the US and 
Syria.  Ha'aretz quoted observers in Washington as saying that the 
US has been under heavy pressure by the Iraqi government and its 
Western allies to walk the extra mile towards Iran.  Yediot also 
mentioned the turn in US policy. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that a proposed constitution written by the 
Israeli Arab advocacy center, Adalah, states that Arab Knesset 
members will be able to bring about the disqualification of bills 
that impinge on the rights of Arabs, and classifies the State of 
Israel as a "bilingual and multicultural" country rather than a 
Jewish state.  The proposal, entitled "The Democratic Constitution," 
also calls for majority and minority groups to split control of the 
government in such a way that will strengthen the Arab minority on 
issues relating to the character of the state.  Adalah's version of 
the constitution essentially abolishes the Jewish elements of 
Israel, but allows the Jewish majority to maintain its character 
through educational and cultural institutions.  The proposal 
invalidates the Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to 
people with at least one Jewish grandparent, and states that 
citizenship will be granted to those who come to Israel for 
humanitarian reasons, regardless of their religion.  The document 
states that the "internal refugees" -- Arab residents and their 
descendants expelled in 1948 and whose number is estimated at about 
a quarter of today's Israeli Arab citizens -- will return to the 
area where they used to live and receive compensation.  The 
introduction to the proposed constitution demands that Israel 
recognize its responsibility for the "historical injustices that it 
caused the Palestinian nation in its entirety," withdraw from the 
territories and recognize the Palestinian people's right to 
self-determination.  The proposal sets the state's borders along the 
1967 cease-fire lines.  The proposed constitution grants citizenship 
to all descendants of Israeli citizens, whether they were born here 
or abroad, as well as to all spouses of Israeli citizens thereby 
undermining Israeli efforts to limit marriages between Israeli Arabs 
and Palestinians living in the territories. 
 
All media prominently reported on the issue of the authenticity of 
university degrees that MK Esterina Tartman (Yisrael Beiteinu) 
claims to hold, and other irregularities she might have been 
involved in.  The chairman of her party, Strategic Affairs Minister 
Avigdor Lieberman, might have to decide that she will not be a 
minister, despite that fact that he endowed the tourism portfolio 
with her.  The Jerusalem Post reported that most Knesset members now 
oppose Tartman's appointment.  Yediot reported that PM Ehud Olmert 
expects Tartman's appointment to be rescinded. 
 
Leading media reported that five Bedouin from northern Israel have 
been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping four young Israeli women, 
including a 13 year-old girl.  "It is because of what your soldiers 
are doing to us in Gaza," they told one of the victims. 
 
The Jerusalem Post published a Bloomberg wire report citing Elbit 
Systems Ltd., Israel's biggest non-government defense company, as 
saying that the US Marine Corps placed a follow-on order valued at 
USD 51 million for its laser target systems.  The order, placed with 
Elbit's US subsidiary, follows an initial sale from July 2006.  The 
company said that the system provides a "bull's-eye" to target enemy 
troops with munitions especially designed for laser guidance. 
The Jerusalem Post cited the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor 
as saying on Tuesday that Israel is expected to boost agricultural 
exports to Turkey by approximately USD 17 million this year as a 
result of a new agriculture agreement that will take effect on March 
¶1. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Monday the Jewish Council for Public 
Affairs, one of the most important Jewish American organizations, 
decided to support divestment from companies that do business with 
the Sudanese government responsible for genocide in Darfur. 
 
All media reported that, following an intervention by Olmert, the 
Histadrut labor federation agreed to cancel the general strike 
planned for today. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff and military 
correspondent Amos Harel wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "The more time that passes since the signing of the Mecca 
Agreement between Hamas and Fatah, the clearer it becomes that the 
real winner in the current round of internal Palestinian conflict is 
Hamas." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Hamas Is Still Hamas" 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff and military 
correspondent Amos Harel wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (2/28): "The more time that passes since the signing of the 
Mecca Agreement between Hamas and Fatah, the clearer it becomes that 
the real winner in the current round of internal Palestinian 
conflict is Hamas.  From the declarations of senior Hamas leaders 
and its spokesmen and from informal conversations with central 
activists, it is clear the organization does not intend to make 
significant changes in its hard-line ideological stance.  In the 
words of its Gaza spokesman, Ismail Radwan, 'The organization has 
changed nothing in its stances toward the conqueror and Zionist 
enemy,' Radwan told Ha'aretz.  At most, according to Radwan, Hamas 
will accept the 1967 borders as a temporary solution, and that only 
on condition that the 'Palestinian refugees will return to their 
homes and all prisoners will be released.'  Then Hamas would 
consider the possibility of a hudna [cease-fire].  Radwan is not 
part of Hamas' extremist wing.  He is considered a representative of 
the mainstream, led from Damascus by the head of the Hamas political 
bureau, Khaled Mashal.  On Tuesday in Moscow, Mashal was cool to the 
praise he heard from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the 
PA unity government, and immediately reiterated that Hamas would not 
recognize Israel.  When Hamas activists summarize the events in Gaza 
over the past months, their conclusion is clear: Fatah lost the 
battle.  "Israel has not yet understood that after the Mecca 
agreement, the disappearance of Fatah is a matter of time," a senior 
Hamas member said behind closed doors this week.  Another senior 
figure, considered a leader of the pragmatic stream, went even 
further. 'Of all people,' he said, 'from you Jews, who have known so 
many disasters, it should have been expected to be careful not to 
drown in a sea of Muslims.  You might have another Holocaust.'" 
 
 
 
 
 
----------- 
¶2.  Taiwan: 
----------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior editor Rami Tal wrote in an editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It is hard to believe 
that the Chinese government will not react to a step it considers as 
an intolerable provocation." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Navigating a Perilous Route" 
 
Senior editor Rami Tal wrote in an editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/28): "China views 
Taiwan as an integral part of itself.  The Chinese authorities have 
often clarified that they do not intend to go to war in order to 
conquer Taiwan, and that a solution will only be reached through 
negotiations.... [But] fulfilling the intention to declare Taiwan's 
 
separation might produce dangerous tension in the Far East.  Taiwan 
has good relations with Japan, and the United States sees itself as 
committed to its defense.  On the other hand, it is hard to believe 
that the Chinese government will not react to a step it considers as 
an intolerable provocation.  Israel has good diplomatic and economic 
ties with both China and Taiwan.  It should be hoped that [Israel's] 
Foreign Ministry will suitably, carefully, and wisely maneuver in 
the complex situation in that region, which enjoys the fastest 
economic growth in the world." 
 
CRETZ