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Viewing cable 07TELAVIV764, ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07TELAVIV764 2007-03-14 09:01 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tel Aviv
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #0764/01 0730901
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140901Z MAR 07 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9934
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 1801
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 8553
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1724
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2616
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 1789
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 9585
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 2523
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 9444
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 9919
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 6535
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 3931
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 8808
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 3027
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 4945
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 6208
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY
UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000764 
 
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.  PM Olmert's Performance 
 
2.  Saudi Initiative 
 
3.  Iraq 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that the Winograd Commission investigating last 
summer's Lebanon war announced on Tuesday that it will publish 
interim report in the second half of April and that it will include 
personal conclusions regarding PM Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir 
Peretz and former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz.  The commission 
also said that the interim report would be confined to the first 
five days of the war.   Leading media quoted Olmert associates as 
saying that he will not resign if the commission's conclusions are 
not too harsh.  Media quoted Kadima party members as saying that the 
party should be prepared to replace Olmert in order to prevent its 
collapse. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted US Ambassador Richard Jones as saying on Monday that 
the US is not preventing Israel from holding negotiations with Syria 
and the decision on whether to proceed on this matter is in the 
hands of the Israeli government.  Ambassador Jones was speaking to a 
group of academics at the Davis Institute for International Affairs 
at the Hebrew University.  Ha'aretz wrote that the US Embassy in Tel 
Aviv refused to comment on the Ambassador's statements, saying that 
the meeting was a closed forum. However, Ha'aretz quoted the deputy 
press attache at the embassy as saying on Tuesday: "We are unaware 
that any US official has ever expressed an opinion on what Israel 
should or should not do with regard to Syria."  Ha'aretz quoted 
Jones as saying that he does not consider Syria a partner in the 
diplomatic process so long as it supports terrorist organizations 
and aids Hizbullah.  He added that the Syrians have not done enough 
to lift doubts that they are interested in negotiations solely as a 
means of receiving international legitimacy.  "If the Syrians change 
the situation," the Ambassador was quoted as saying, "the situation 
will also change."  Ha'aretz said that, during the meeting at the 
Davis Institute, Ambassador Jones also discussed the Arab peace 
initiative that is expected to be approved at the Arab League summit 
in Riyadh, scheduled to take place late this month.  Ha'aretz quoted 
Ambassador Jones as saying that this is an attempt to develop a 
regional link to the peace process, which presents Israel with a 
broad diplomatic horizon, and goes beyond a settlement with the 
Palestinians.  Jones was quoted as saying that the peace initiative 
may transform Israel into an accepted entity in the Middle East. 
Jones was further quoted as saying that the Mecca Agreement between 
Fatah and Hamas, which paved the way to a national unity government 
in the Palestinian Authority, has disrupted American plans for 
dealing with the political situation in the territories.  Ha'aretz 
noted that the Ambassador appears to have been referring to American 
plans to bolster Fatah through economic and military assistance as a 
counter to Hamas and as a way of restoring the leadership of the 
Palestinian government to Fatah.  Jones was quoted as saying that 
the US is firm on the three preconditions set by the Quartet. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is 
trying, through her aides, including Assistant Secretary of State 
for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, to convince Saudi Arabia to 
modify its peace initiative.  Leading media reported that on Tuesday 
Saudi Arabia criticized Israel for setting preconditions for Middle 
East peace talks and that it urged Israel to accept an Arab 
initiative proposed in 2002 and discuss details later.  Major media 
reported that Egypt and Syria also rejected Israel's demand that 
changes be made to the initiative during an Arab summit in Saudi 
Arabia scheduled for March 28-29.  Hatzofe quoted the Palestinian 
daily Al-Quds as saying that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas 
and Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh will come to the summit together. 
 
Leading media reported that on Tuesday, speaking before the 
Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Shin Bet Director 
Yuval Diskin warned that Hamas was sending hundreds of men to Iran 
for prolonged periods of advanced training.  Diskin added that he 
anticipated greater difficulty for the IDF in its operations in the 
Gaza Strip, owing not only to underground fortification but also to 
the ever-increasing population density in the area.  Diskin informed 
the committee that 31 tons of explosive material have been smuggled 
into the Gaza Strip in the last year by terror groups.  According to 
Diskin, the figure constitutes a six-fold increase in the amount 
smuggled in recent years.  Diskin was also quoted as saying that the 
Palestinian terror groups are in the process of attempting to 
increase their rocket range to 15 and even 20 kilometers, so as to 
enable them to strike at Kiryat Gat and Ashkelon, and other national 
infrastructure targets in the Negev, and that those groups were also 
trying to increase their ballistic capabilities in the West Bank. 
Ha'aretz, Maariv, and The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday 
the Israeli and US delegations walked out of the UN's disarmament 
forum in Geneva after Iran said Israel was the "real source of 
nuclear danger in the Middle East" and had a "dark record of 
crimes."  Ha'aretz quoted Vice PM Shimon Peres as saying on Tuesday 
in Tokyo that a peaceful solution must be found to the Iranian 
nuclear problem, despite its president's vow to wipe Israel off the 
map.  "I would not like to darken the future with belligerent 
declarations," Peres said at a news conference when asked about the 
possibility of a preemptive strike.  "I do hope that the problem can 
be solved economically, politically and psychologically."  Peres is 
in Tokyo for a four-nation meeting today about Middle East peace 
that includes officials from the PA, Jordan, and host Japan, as well 
as a two-day confidence-building conference that starts today. 
 
Ha'aretz and Maariv reported that the special UNESCO team 
investigating the excavations near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has 
determined that the works carried out by Israel comply with 
international standards for culturally significant sites.  However, 
the report, which is due today, includes a call on Israel to halt 
excavation, which caused disappointment in the Foreign Ministry. 
 
Maariv reported that Knesset Speaker and Acting President of Israel 
Dalia Itzik was invited to an international conference of parliament 
leaders from around the world, to be held this coming May on the 
island of Bali in Indonesia. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday the IDF expressed 
concern over the fate of Alan Johnston, a BBC reporter who was 
abducted on Monday at gunpoint by masked gunmen in the Gaza Strip, 
with some officers predicting that it could be weeks before the 
British national was released. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted sources close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip 
as saying on Tuesday that the national unity government that was 
reached last month in Mecca has triggered a behind-the-scenes power 
struggle in Hamas. 
 
Ha'aretz, Israel Radio, and other media cited a Peace Now report 
that found that 32 percent of the ground on which settlements are 
built is private Palestinian ground.  The media reported that the 
Council of Jewish Settlements in the Territories and the GOI's Civil 
Administration in the territories refuted the report's findings. 
 
Ha'aretz cited a report published by the Palestinian trading 
organization Paltrade, which says that the operation of the Karni 
Crossing is not enough to jump-start the Palestinian economy in the 
Gaza Strip.  Israel Radio said that the Peres Center of Peace also 
voiced criticism about the crossing's operations. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited a Jewish Telegraphic Agency wire report 
that on Monday Americans for Peace Now sent a letter to every member 
of Congress calling "on the Bush administration to change course on 
Iran and abandon its long-standing sanctions-only policy in favor of 
limited, constructive engagement, characterized by a combination of 
carrots and sticks." 
 
The Jerusalem Post printed an AP wire report that three Yemeni 
businessmen in New York have been charged with money laundering 
after federal authorities said they sent USD 200,000 overseas 
knowing the money was illegally obtained and that it could benefit 
Hizbullah. 
 
All media reported that on Tuesday Labor MK Colette Avital 
officially announced her candidacy to the presidency of Israel. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that, from April 4 through May 11, News Mexico's 
Bosque Redondo State Monument, a state commemorating a tragic 
chapter of Native American history, will host the traveling 
exhibition "Anne Frank: A History for Today." 
 
Leading media reported that violence erupted on Tuesday as Hollywood 
actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his Israeli girlfriend, supermodel Bar 
Refaeli, fended off photographers on their way to the Western Wall 
tunnel in Jerusalem. 
 
The Jerusalem Post presented its selection of results of The Aviv 
University's Peace Index poll conducted among Israelis on February 
26-27: 
-About 55 percent of the Jewish public now thinks that establishment 
of a Palestinian unity government would reduce the chances of 
reaching an agreement, while only 25 percent believe that its 
establishment would increase those chances (the rest have no opinion 
on the matter).  There is a majority for this view among supporters 
of all the parties. 
-Only about one-fifth of Israeli Jews are in favor of peace for a 
full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, while only 41 percent 
believe that Israel should respond positively to Syria's call to 
return to negotiations even if it has not stopped supporting 
Hizbullah and other terrorist organizations.  Conversely, 52 percent 
of Jews think that Syria's call for talks stems from weakness and 
that Israel should not respond positively. 
 
---------------------------- 
1.  PM Olmert's Performance: 
---------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "Olmert has earned what is happening to 
him fairly honestly, he has not lost his fighting spirit, and at 
this stage, he is still the Prime Minister.  As of now." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Head Hunting" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (3/14): "It is hard to predict how firm 
the conclusions [of the Winograd Commission probing last summer's 
war in Lebanon] will be, how they will be divided up between the 
targeted parties and whether they will be strong to the point of 
crushing the Olmert-Peretz government.  The informed opinion, which 
is also based on talks with the commission members, confirms the 
assumption that the members of the Winograd Commission are going for 
the heads of the prime minister and defense minister with full 
force, and therefore on Tuesday noted their intention to publish 
'personal conclusions.'  On the other hand, they have not issued 
letters of warning, which could indicate mitigated personal 
conclusions.... As of Tuesday, we still have no idea what the month 
of April will bring and who could suffer his [political] death in 
it.... The only one who should be envied even less [than the 
commission's members] is IsraelQs Prime Minister Olmert.  Exactly a 
year since winning the elections, close to a year and a half after 
finding himself in the seat of Prime Minister, he can look back in 
anger and sum up the most difficult and traumatic year of his life. 
It is difficult to describe what he underwent in this period, what 
has happened to him in each and every month of it, what happens to 
him in one week, in a single day.  The prime minister's seat in 
Israel has become an electric chair -- a suicidal, almost hopeless 
post, and yet there are so many who aspire to it.  Olmert has earned 
what is happening to him fairly honestly, he has not lost his 
fighting spirit, and at this stage, he is still the Prime Minister. 
As of now." 
--------------------- 
2.  Saudi Initiative: 
--------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "In order to try to assess the Saudi initiative, Israel must 
clarify some matters for itself." 
 
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and 
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "There can be no peace 
without negotiations, yet until now the Arab League has avoided this 
basic tenet of international diplomacy." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
I.  "What Does Saudi Arabia Mean?" 
 
Conservative columnist Yosef Harif wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (3/14): "The Saudi plan meant to establish peace between 
Israel and the Arab countries is currently arousing considerable 
interest.  This week Prime Minister Ehud Olmert devoted the first 
part of the cabinet's meeting to that initiative, noting that it 
contained 'positive elements'.... The Americans, too are showing 
interest in the Saudi initiative.  It would not be surprising if 
some day that plan replaced the Roadmap, whose chances of 
realization have been low since Hamas came to power in the 
Palestinian authority.... [Since the Saudi initiative of 1982, which 
was rejected by Israel, the Israeli stance has softened 
substantially: It appears that most Israelis approve the 
establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. 
On the other hand, the Palestinian stance has not changed; neither 
has the Saudi initiative, which again speaks about the right of 
return [for Palestinian refugees].  Olmert said that the 'Saudi 
initiative is an issue that should be treated seriously.'  Even if 
this plan deserves such a treatment, one should avoid harboring 
illusions.  In order to try to assess the Saudi initiative, Israel 
must clarify some matters for itself: not only the rejection of the 
right of return, which is part of the [Israeli] consensus, but also 
the fate of Jerusalem.... Ariel Sharon endorsed the Roadmap because 
he claimed to have received a promise from President Bush that that 
the large settlement blocs in the West Bank would remain in Israel's 
hands.  Will the government adhere to this principle?  On March 28, 
a summit conference is supposed to convene in Riyadh to discuss the 
Saudi plan, with the aim of receiving the moderate states' approval. 
 This will be the test of Saudi Arabia's real intentions -- sticking 
to its rigid positions or showing willingness to also consider 
Israel's vital interests." 
 
II.  "What's Missing From the Saudi Initiative" 
 
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and 
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (3/14): "Despite some 
ambiguities in the language [of the Saudi initiative and the March 
2002 declaration of the Arab League] one thing is clear.  The Arab 
League does not offer negotiations with Israel, nor dies it suggest 
that its demands (which are the conventional Arab ones) will become 
a basis for negotiations.  What the declaration demands is that 
Israel 'affirms' -- accepts the Arab demands and then, only then 
('consequently') the Arab countries will 'affirm' the end of 
conflict.  It would be unfair to characterize the Beirut declaration 
as an ultimatum to Israel: Accept our demands -- or else.  But the 
one, most crucial ingredient in any serious diplomatic move -- the 
willingness to negotiate with Israel -- is missing here.... The 
Beirut declaration envisages an overall Arab change in attitude 
toward Israel, not just bilateral Israeli and Syrian and Palestinian 
agreements, so one needs to know who speaks for the Arab side.  One 
may wonder whether all Arab countries would be ready for such a 
move.  If, however, the Arab League got its act together and offered 
negotiations with Israel on behalf of all the Arab countries, it 
would be a real breakthrough.  A mere declaration of demands aimed 
at Israel, without mention of any willingness to negotiate over 
them, would be just another PR exercise, not a serious attempt to 
seek a diplomatically negotiated agreement.  There can be no peace 
without negotiations, yet until now the Arab League has avoided this 
basic tenet of international diplomacy." 
 
--------- 
3.  Iraq: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "All 
Americans should now that leaving in defeat would be disastrous for 
America and the world.  The new strategy in Iraq should be given a 
chance." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Give Victory a Chance" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/14): 
"[In his speech before AIPAC's annual policy conference on Monday, 
Vice President Richard] Cheney [painted a picture of a war [in Iraq] 
with ups and downs, but one in which the US is adapting as well.  He 
pointed out that the new general in charge of the new strategy, 
David Petraeus, said he needed the extra troops to do the job. 
Finally, he argued that 'it is simply not consistent for anyone to 
demand aggressive action against the menace posed  by the Iranian 
regime, while at the same time acquiescing in a retreat from Iraq 
that would leave our worst enemies dramatically emboldened and 
Israel's best friend, the United States, dangerously weakened.'  In 
the meantime, Robert Kagan has written in The Washington Post that 
there is already evidence that the surge is succeeding.... As we 
know here, war is not easy.  It is not always short or definitive. 
But the alternative is not to give up, but to win.  All Americans 
should now that leaving in defeat would be disastrous for America 
and the world.  The new strategy in Iraq should be given a chance." 
 
JONES