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P 081025Z MAR 07
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000728 
 
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.  Proposed Baghdad Conference 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that an agreement has been reached with 
Hamas over the number of prisoners Israel will release in return for 
Cpl. Gilad Shalit and that the exchange may take place in the coming 
weeks.   The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli defense officials as 
saying that the prisoner swap will be conducted in three stages: 
Israel will first release prisoners as a gesture to PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas; Shalit will then be released into 
Egyptian custody; and Israel will then release several hundred 
additional prisoners, mostly affiliated with Hamas.  However, the 
newspaper said that officials in the Prime Minister's Office denied 
that the meeting planned for next week between PM Ehud Olmert and 
Abbas has anything to do with Shalit, although there has been 
speculation to that effect regarding the meeting, taking place as it 
is before the establishment of a PA unity government. 
 
Maariv cited Israel's anger over the disappearance of USD 100 
million that Israel had transferred a few weeks ago to Abbas.  The 
newspaper said that the money had been earmarked for specific 
purposes.  Maariv reported that senior sources in Jerusalem accuse 
the Palestinians of having deceived Israel.  Maariv said that Israel 
will not transfer any more funds to Abbas 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the five permanent UN Security Council (UNSC) 
members and Germany are drafting a new resolution against Iran which 
may for the first time include all UN members in a weapons embargo 
on Tehran.  Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday sources in New York 
estimated that Russia -- strongly opposed to the draft initiated by 
the United States -- might go along with the resolution if it is 
restricted to an embargo on Iran's export of weapons.  The newspaper 
wrote that efforts are underway to reach an agreement regarding 
Iran's import of weapons.  The new resolution would request UN 
members to remain alert and implement tight oversight and inspection 
to foil Iranian attempts to procure weapons.  Ha'aretz cited the 
belief of sources in the UN that a final draft of the new resolution 
will be brought up for discussion in the Security Council no sooner 
than the end of March.  The new resolution draft is a reaction to 
Iran's refusal to abide by UNSC Resolution 1737, passed last 
December, demanding that it halt its uranium enrichment program. 
Ha'aretz quoted IDF OC Southern Command Yoav Gallant as saying on 
Wednesday that Iran is helping Hamas upgrade its military 
capabilities by providing technology, funding and direct military 
training to Palestinian militants throughout the Middle East. 
 
The Jerusalem Post's web site reported that a senior US official 
told The Washington Post on Thursday that missing Iranian general 
Ali Rez Asghari (phon.) was in Western hands and providing 
intelligence services with information about Hizbullah, Iran and the 
ties between the two.  It was the first time since Asghari's 
disappearance last month, during a visit to Turkey, that a western 
official confirmed his fate.  Another US official, who spoke to The 
Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, suggested that 
Asghari's disappearance was voluntary and orchestrated by Israel. 
The Israeli government denied any connection to Asghari.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev  as 
saying: "To my knowledge, Israel is not involved in any way in this 
disappearance." 
 
Leading media quoted Jordan's King Abdullah II as saying in 
Washington on Wednesday that Jordan's King Abdullah II said 
yesterday the United States must take the lead in creating 
conditions for a permanent peace between Israel and the 
Palestinians.  The King, who addressed a joint session of the US 
Congress, cited the risks of further delay.  Abdullah was quoted as 
saying that history has shown no progress in Middle East peacemaking 
is possible without American leadership.  "We look to you to play a 
historic role," he was quoted as saying, adding that results are 
needed not in one year or five years, but now.  "No more bloodshed, 
no more lives pointlessly taken," Abdullah declared.  Ha'aretz noted 
that his remarks were limited almost entirely to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that they were far less critical of 
Israel than comments he made before his departure for Washington. 
Yediot quoted the prosecutor at Jordan's National Security Court as 
saying that President Bush escaped an assassination attempt last 
November, during a visit to Amman. 
 
Leading media reported that on Wednesday Israel has warned its 
citizens to immediately leave Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab states 
with which it has full ties, out of concern they could come under 
attack.  The advisory was issued on the recommendation of the 
Counter-Terrorism Unit at Israel's National Security Council, which 
this week placed Egypt and Jordan in its highest threat category, 
but gave no further details. 
 
Ha'aretz printed an AP wire report that on Wednesday Syria, through 
its government newspaper Tishrin, voiced opposition to making any 
revisions to the Arab-Israeli peace initiative endorsed by Arab 
leaders five years ago and cast doubts over Israel's willingness to 
make peace in region. 
 
Leading media reported that on Wednesday opposition leader Binyamin 
Netanyahu launched fresh attacks against Olmert, saying the 
government had failed and calling for new elections.  Netanyahu was 
quoted as saying that he had been passed information that "a number 
of Kadima Knesset members were interested in returning to the Likud, 
which they left together with former PM Ariel Sharon.  However, 
Netanyahu stressed that he was not actively involved in recruiting 
them.  Israel Radio reported that Olmert's nephew Yair was leaving 
Kadima. 
 
Major media reported that on Wednesday the Israel Air Force began 
receiving a new drone into hits ranks -- the Heron.  The new UAV is 
capable of carrying 250 kg of ordnance and equipment.  Produced by 
Israel Aircraft Industries, it can fly at 30,000 feet and can stay 
aloft for as long as 40 hours.  It also has sophisticated 
surveillance and communications equipment.  Ha'aretz quoted Israeli 
military sources as saying that Herons first saw extensive combat 
actions during last year's Lebanon war, when they were used to relay 
footage on Hizbullah guerrillas to Israeli ground forces. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday the High Court of 
Justice ordered Shin Bet interrogators to inform a Palestinian 
detainee that his wife had not been arrested and placed under 
interrogation, as they had previously told him. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Olmert told the Winograd Commission 
investigating last year's war in Lebanon that his decision to 
respond to the abduction of soldiers with a broad military operation 
was made as early as March 2006, four months before last summer's 
Lebanon war broke out. 
 
Yediot reported that Egypt banned 2,000 pilgrims -- Egyptian Copts 
and Greek Orthodox -- from coming to Israel for Easter.  Leading 
media reported that on Wednesday Israel's Ambassador to Egypt Shalom 
Cohen strenuously denied claims that Israel had murdered Egyptian 
prisoners during the Six-Day War.  Israel Radio reported that the 
Foreign Ministry has sent Egypt a copy of the Israel TV documentary 
reporting on the alleged episode. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited Israel Military Industries (IMI) as saying 
that a new type of armor it produces can help the US diminish the 
threat of improvised explosive devices (IED) in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.  The Jerusalem Post quoted IMI sources as saying that 
the specially designed Steel Wall armor significantly improves a 
vehicle's ability to survive an IED attack. 
 
Maariv reported that associates of oligarch Leonid Nevzlin, a former 
Russian citizen living in Israel, believe that Russian President 
Vladimir Putin seeks to physically eliminate him. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday an Israeli Foreign 
Ministry official characterized as "troubling" a BBC survey released 
earlier this week that ranked Israel alongside Iran and the US as 
the countries with the most negative images in the world.  The 
official was quoted as saying: "Both Israel and the United States 
are higher than 50 percent [in negative views], so in many ways, we 
are in good company.   The Jerusalem Post quoted Government Press 
Office Danny Seaman as saying that the survey was not "systematic" 
and "in-depth." 
 
Yediot presented the results of a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) 
poll, which asked Israelis to name their favorite politician. 
Twenty-two percent chose FM Tzipi Livni; 18 percent pointed at Labor 
Party MK Ami Ayalon.  With 2 percent, Olmert ranked lowest in the 
survey. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Syrian-American rift has been mended." 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz: "Israel under Olmert's 
leadership is struck by blindness and is stewing in its own rot." 
 
Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in Ha'aretz: "It is difficult not 
to see [the] ever-tightening circle in which most branches of the 
government are participating as part of a general trend -- which 
will not succeed -- to subdue the entire settlement enterprise." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Quiet, They're Talking With Syria" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/8): "Not long after the first Ha'aretz 
report about the Swiss channel, [private Israeli negotiator Alon] 
Liel was invited to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to report on his 
contacts with the Syrians.  The meeting was attended by the 
Embassy's entire political staff, apart from the Ambassador.  But 
that was just the beginning.  Nicholas Lang, the Swiss diplomat who 
acted as the contact between the Israeli participants and the Syrian 
regime, was summoned to Washington and updated senior State 
Department and National Security Council officials on the details of 
the talks and their results.  He arrived in the US shortly after a 
farewell visit to Damascus, and prior to taking up his new posting 
as the Swiss ambassador to several African countries.  Another sign 
that the Syrian-American rift has been mended can be seen in 
Damascus' receipt of an invitation to send a representative to the 
conference to resolve the Iraq crisis.  And finally, a further 
indication is the dispatch of Assistant US Secretary of State Ellen 
Sauerbrey for a working visit in the Syrian capital.  The State 
Department Spokesman did take the trouble to clarify that this is 
not a 'bilateral visit'.... The US already surprised Israel recently 
when Jerusalem received news of the conciliation between the US and 
Qadhafi's Libya.  An Israeli official who recently visited 
Washington relates that his counterparts in the US administration 
joked with him that the US is talking with Syria, but asked him 'not 
to tell anyone." 
 
II.  "No Compass, No Conscience" 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz (3/8): "Against the 
increasingly growing threats, Olmert's Israel is behaving like an 
ostrich: It does not see, it does not hear and it does not do.  The 
bug of government negligence is running amok in Jerusalem: an 
absence of leadership bug, an absence of governance -- anarchy. 
This anarchy is what brought us the second Lebanon war.  It is what 
caused the war to be managed the way it was.  But much worse is the 
fact that even after the war, the anarchy continues.  It has grown 
even while the writing is on the wall.  Every day of anarchy brings 
us closer to the next disaster --  a catastrophe for which every one 
 
who remains silent now is responsible.  Now that the Olmert era has 
become a nightmare era, the question of whether Olmert is right or 
wrong is irrelevant.... No one knows when reality will strike, but 
it is clear that reality will strike.  Olmert-led Israel is not 
prepared for such a strike, and it is not prepared to deal with it. 
Israel under Olmert's leadership is struck by blindness and is 
stewing in its own rot." 
 
III.  "Subduing the Settlement Enterprise" 
 
Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in Ha'aretz (3/8): "In the wake of 
a petition filed by the Israeli Arab legal center Adalah about a 
year ago, the High Court of Justice ruled that the government must 
abolish the 'national preference' regions in education.... The 
primary -- and apparently only -- institutions that will be 
negatively affected by this will be the educational institutions in 
the settlements.... Abolishing the educational benefits for settlers 
comes after the traumatic events of the uprooting of 25 communities 
in Gush Katif and the failure, to this day, to adequately cope with 
those who were uprooted.... It is difficult not to see this 
ever-tightening circle in which most branches of the government are 
participating as part of a general trend -- which will not succeed 
-- to subdue the entire settlement enterprise." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Pacifism ... is the driving force behind European animus toward 
both the US and Israel." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Europe's Israel Problem" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/8): 
"Two recent polls tell us what we already knew: Israel is relatively 
popular among Americans and the subject of considerable antipathy 
among European democracies.  The data suggest that Americans see 
themselves with Israelis in the same boat, while Europeans have an 
almost opposite point of view.  Why is this so and what, if 
anything, can be done about it?.... Perhaps the best explanation, 
then, is one given by Stephan Vopel of the German Bertelsmann 
Foundation for why many more Americans and Israelis favor a military 
strike against Iran than Germans: 'While Israelis subscribe to the 
maxim 'never again,' the German dictum is 'never again war.' 
Pacifism, in other words, is the driving force behind European 
animus toward both the US and Israel.  Europeans realize that Iran 
is a threat, but they are almost as, if not more, opposed to 
confronting that threat than they are fearful of the threat itself. 
The US and Israel, as the nations that are perceived both as Iran's 
main targets and as those most actively fighting back, are threats 
to the European strategy of lying low and hoping that their 
adversary will go away.  Further, America and Israel are both seen 
as provoking Iran and therefore making things worse.... Ultimately, 
it will be difficult to convince Europeans that they need to help 
defend Israel, at least morally, when they do not accept the need to 
defend themselves.  Such, however, is the struggle of free peoples 
in our age, a struggle that must be won." 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
¶3.  Proposed Baghdad Conference: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "What Iran and Syria expect to get in 
exchange does not belong to the Iraqi domain, but to places like 
Lebanon, the Persian Gulf, etc." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Baghdad Conference and the Missing Seat" 
 
Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/8): "American spokesmen are taking care 
to stress that no topics except Iraq will be discussed at the 
[proposed Baghdad] conference-- in particular there will be no 
bilateral contacts between Iran and the US, and between Syria and 
the US on other issues.  Reality might be different: Iran and Syria 
can significantly contribute to a reduction of violence in Iraq. 
Their cooperation is likely to be an offering for which something is 
expected in exchange.  What Iran and Syria expect to get in exchange 
does not belong to the Iraqi domain, but to places like Lebanon, the 
Persian Gulf, etc.  One should assume that Israel expects the US 
administration not to hold talks in Baghdad on the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  This will not happen officially.  But 
is it not logical that there will be opportunities to discuss every 
possible issue outside the [conference] hall?.... Against this 
background, Israel's absence from Baghdad is patent.  Substantially, 
Israel has the right to be there -- no less and perhaps more than 
some of the other invited parties.  The 39 missiles fired at 
Israel's territory during the first Gulf War should have granted 
Israel the right to a seat at that meeting.  Why have we been 
still?" 
 
CRETZ