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P 140905Z MAR 07
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000767 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio, Ha'aretz's web site, and the leading Internet news 
site Ynet reported that on Monday, in a video link with AIPAC's 
(American Israel Public Affairs Committee) Policy Conference in 
Washington, PM Ehud Olmert endorsed President Bush's Iraq policy. 
Olmert warned the US against a quick departure from Iraq, saying it 
would lead to instability in the region and undermine Washington's 
ability to deal with emerging threats.  "Those who are concerned for 
Israel's security, for the security of the Gulf States and for the 
stability of the entire Middle East should recognize the need for 
American success in Iraq and responsible exit," Olmert was quoted as 
saying, adding: "Any outcome that will not help America's strength 
and would, in the eyes of the people in the region, undercut 
America's ability to deal effectively with the threat posed by the 
Iranian regime will be very negative."  The radio said that the 
audience granted Olmert's remarks a lukewarm response.  Ha'aretz 
reported that on Monday, in her address to AIPAC, FM Tzipi Livni 
warned the US no to sow weakness in Iraq.  Ynet quoted Olmert as 
saying that Israel is now taking Iran's threat seriously.  The 
Jerusalem Post led with remarks made on Monday by Vice President 
Dick Cheney at the gathering, in which he warned that failure in 
Iraq would endanger Israel.  Cheney warned of "chaos and mounding 
danger," as well as a strengthened Iran and emboldened terrorists. 
Stressing that he stood before crowd "as a strong supporter of 
Israel" and that "Israel has never had a better friend in the White 
House that George Bush," Cheney was quoted as saying: "A precipitous 
American withdrawal from Iraq would be a disaster for the US and the 
entire Middle East."  The Jerusalem Post commented that the Vice 
President's plea for AIPAC support is putting US Jews in a bind. 
 
Yediot reported on progress in negotiations for the release of IDF 
Cpl. Gilad Shalit.  The newspaper wrote that Hamas has passed on to 
Israel a list of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it wants freed. 
Yediot quoted Israeli defense sources as saying that the 
negotiations would become more difficult if there were murderers on 
the list. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the effort to apply economic pressure on the 
regime in Tehran through divestment has intensified in the US.  The 
pressure, which involves divestment on the part of international 
firms, is being carried Qt in parallel with continuous efforts at 
the UN Security Council to impose a second round of sanctions 
against Iran in response to its failure to abide by the world body's 
call to end uranium enrichment.  Ha'aretz wrote that various Israeli 
sources and AIPAC are also contributing to the efforts, particularly 
through specific legislation in various American states where 
pension funds hold stock in firms invested in Iran. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Hamas officials as saying on Monday that 
some of the USD 100 million in tax revenues that Israel transferred 
to the PA in January went to thousands of Hamas supporters -- 
including those in the security forces.  The Jerusalem Post also 
quoted a senior PA official in Ramallah as saying that Israel's 
decision not to release more of the hundreds of millions of dollars 
in tax revenues it owes the PA undermines PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Col. Nir Press, commander of the IDF 
Coordination and Liaison Administration, as saying that close to 
20,000 jobs have been created in the Gaza Strip over the last four 
months thanks to coordination between the IDF and Palestinian 
agricultural unions.  According to Press, a drop in terror threats 
to the Karni Crossing made the changes possible, although 
unemployment in the Strip remains close to 35 percent.  This morning 
Israel Radio reported that the High Court of Justice rejected a 
petition by six human rights organizations demanding that Israel 
open crossings with the Gaza Strip and allow the passage of goods 
through them. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted senior Israeli diplomatic officials as 
saying on Monday that Israel and the US are hoping for a change in 
the Arab peace initiative at the upcoming Arab League summit in 
Riyadh to enable reigniting the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic 
process.  Speaking on Israel Radio from Washington on Monday, FM 
Livni praised certain aspects of the Qitiative, but added that when 
it was brought to the Arab League in Beirut, two new articles were 
added that were "very problematic" for Israel -- one that talked of 
a repatriation of Palestinian refugees, and another article that 
emphasized that a solution to the refugee issue should not be found 
in the countries where they presently resided.  Israel Radio and 
other media quoted Defense Minister Amir Peretz as saying in 
Washington on Monday that the Saudi initiative should be addressed 
more seriously.  The radio also reported that Vice PM Shimon Peres 
 
called on Israel to discuss the Saudi plan if no preconditions for 
negotiations are presented.  Speaking on Israel Radio this morning, 
opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu said that the Saudi 
initiative is not realistic and that in no way should the right of 
return for Palestinians be implemented. 
 
Yediot and Israel Radio reported that on Monday Assistant US 
Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey visited Damascus for talks with 
 
SIPDIS 
senior Syrian officials. 
 
Yediot and The Jerusalem Post reported that Russia has announced 
that it is freezing construction at the Iranian nuclear reactor of 
Bushehr.  Yediot wrote that although Russia officially cited a delay 
in Iran's payments, senior Russian sources are hinting that Russia's 
patience was wearing thin because Russia's support for Iran has 
harmed its relations with the West. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN 
Watch -- which describes itself as a "NGO based in Geneva whose 
mandate is to monitor the performance of the UN by the yardstick of 
its own Charter" -- as saying that the UN's Human Rights Council 
will place Israel under permanent investigation for its "violations" 
of international law in the territories -- until such time as it 
withdraws to the pre-1967 borders.  Neuer was quoted as saying that 
he received that information from diplomatic sources. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday BBC correspondent Alan 
Johnston was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip by unknown assailants.   In 
an unrelated development, Ha'aretz and Yediot reported that in early 
February the IDF and Border Police arrested three Hamas militants in 
the West Bank on suspicion of repeated attempts to kidnap Israeli 
citizens. 
 
Maariv reported that, during a recent discussion with security 
officials hosted by Olmert, Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin warned about 
the "dangerous" growth of extremism among Israeli Arabs. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Yehuda Shaffer, the head of the Israeli 
Money laundering Authority, as saying on Monday that his 
organization, the police, and the Tax Authority opened a joint 
intelligence center at national police headquarters in Jerusalem 
last week to coordinate the fight against money-laundering, and 
terrorism financing. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited Yediot as saying on Monday that the paper's 
management has accepted Editor-in-Chief Rafi Ginat's request to step 
down earlier than expected.  The two leading candidates to replace 
Ginat are Yediot's Deputy Editor, Yoel Esteron, and Yon Feder, the 
Editor of its web site, Ynet. 
 
Leading media reported that Larissa Trimbovler, the wife of the late 
PM Yitzhak Rabin's assassin Yigal Amir, may be pregnant. 
 
Maariv reported that the BBC's globe-spanning survey of attitudes 
toward 12 major nations found that Indians are most friendly to 
Israel. 
 
Leading media reported that archaeologists have uncovered a Jewish 
neighborhood from the Second Temple period north of Jerusalem. 
 
Major media reported that on Monday Education Minister Yuli Tamir 
named Yediot journalist Nahum Barnea as this year's Israel Prize 
laureate for media. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Israel's 
policies are worthy of severe condemnation; but its right to exist 
is absolute." 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in the lead editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The conclusion for now 
... is: agree to discuss the Saudi initiative for comprehensive 
peace in the region, do not agree to the lethal clauses in it." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "[The 
Palestinians] need the Arab states to set a dramatic and powerful 
example.  The Quartet, moreover, should be demanding that the Arab 
states do so, or be justly blamed for the lack of peace." 
 
Bassem Eid, director and founder of the Palestinian Human Rights 
Monitoring Group, wrote in The Jerusalem Post: "The challenge that 
faces the Middle East today is ... instituting programs to 
successfully educate populations on cultural differences and to 
promote cooperation in Israel-Palestine." 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz: 
"If Olmert is forced to resign, Kadima, the largest party in the 
Knesset, can still search for someone in its ranks to put together a 
government without recourse to elections.  Who it is, hardly 
matters.  Just as long as it's not Bibi [Binyamin Netanyahu]." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Israel's Existence Is Not a Question" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (3/13): "The 
erosion of Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state is particularly 
difficult for supporters of peace and democracy in Israel, who 
recognize its own dubious contribution to the attitude toward 
Israel.... The statements heard in Europe, stemming from the 
academia and extreme left there, are not legitimate criticisms of 
Israel's policies, but efforts to undermine, on principle, its right 
to exist as a Jewish state.  Behind the simple question, 'Does 
Israel have a right to exist' (as a Guardian editorial read three 
years ago), hides a definitive stance, which regards Israel as a 
passing colonial phenomenon and the Jewish people as an 
ethnic-religious group different from any other people and all other 
nation-states.  However peripheral and radical this tendency may be, 
it has successfully influenced many people.  A familiar stench, 
hundreds of years old, rises from it, even when it is framed in 
contemporary terminology.  It is good to witness enlightened 
liberals like [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, [former German 
foreign minister Joschka] Fischer, and many others, rejecting this 
tendency completely.  Israel's policies are worthy of severe 
condemnation; but its right to exist is absolute." 
 
II.  "Bye-Bye, Riyadh" 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in the lead editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/13): "If the Prime 
Minister and the public were to invest themselves genuinely and 
sincerely in [the Saudi peace] plan, that could be a foundation for 
a change in the state of our region.  At such a festive opportunity 
it could also be an opportunity for Olmert and crew to free 
themselves from the state of paralysis that has gripped him and his 
cabinet.  In short, a new path to embark on, in which things can be 
'moved.'  With that having been said, one needs to know and to 
remember that the Saudi plan in its current format is a recipe for 
the destruction of the State of Israel.  Consent (which has no 
chance whatsoever of being given) by Israel to take in hundreds of 
thousands and perhaps millions of Palestinian refugees means for us 
that weQre going to have to go packing.  Olmert has already made 
that clear to everyone who needs to know, but he too understands 
that 'every plan is a platform for change,' as was once commonly 
said in the IDF.  And the more they talk about the plan, so we must 
believe, pray and hope, the more innocent lives that will be spared. 
 The conclusion for now therefore is: agree to discuss the Saudi 
initiative for comprehensive peace in the region, do not agree to 
the lethal clauses in it." 
 
III.  "Fix the Saudi Plan" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/13): 
"A flurry of diplomatic activity is gathering speed ahead of the 
Arab League summit later this month.  The US and Israel seem to 
harbor some hopes that the 'Saudi plan,' unveiled at a 2002 Beirut 
summit, will be reintroduced in an improved form.  It should be said 
at the outset that the likelihood of any breakthrough emerging from 
the Arab summit is extremely slim, given that the Syrian and 
Palestinian (read Hamas) delegations hold veto power over any 
decision, normally issued by consensus.  This constraint, however, 
should not stop the US, Europe and Israel from telling the Arab 
states what is necessary for any peace initiative to be meaningful. 
While any potential peace negotiation is fraught with difficult 
problems, what made the Saudi initiative a non-starter ought to be 
removed: the demand to negotiate over a 'right of return' to 
Israel.... There is only one formula that will work in this case, 
that adopted in the 'People's Voice' campaign launched by former 
Shin Bet head Ami Ayalon and Palestinian university president Sari 
Nusseibeh (www.mifkad.org.il): 'Palestinian refugees will return 
only to the State of Palestine; Jews will return only to the State 
of Israel.'  This is the only formula that is consistent with the 
two-state vision, the Roadmap, and Israel's right to exist as a 
Jewish state.  If the Arab League were to adopt this formula, 
moderate Palestinians would be greatly strengthened, Iranian-led 
radicalism would be dealt a serious blow, and real peace 
negotiations would suddenly be possible.   The US and Israel need to 
be clear with Arab states that claim they are for peace: The 
Palestinians cannot extricate themselves from their radical rut 
alone; they need the Arab states to set a dramatic and powerful 
example.  The Quartet, moreover, should be demanding that the Arab 
states do so, or be justly blamed for the lack of peace." 
 
IV.  "Human Rights and Security" 
 
Bassem Eid, director and founder of the Palestinian Human Rights 
Monitoring Group (PHRMG), wrote in The Jerusalem Post (3/13): "In 
the past two years the Arab-Israeli conflict has gone from bad to 
worse, leading the Middle East into a perpetual state of war, 
anxiety and loss of life.  It has left the Palestinian people 
stateless and dispossessed, creating frustration and anger that 
deepen regional tension. ... The first barrier to cooperation 
between the Israeli and Palestinian governments is that 
communication between Israeli and Palestinian organizations is 
extremely low.... One important factor in achieving greater 
cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian NGOs is the human rights 
organizations themselves.... Journalists and media professionals are 
also an important factor in the cooperation puzzle.... The second 
important barrier to improving human security and human rights in 
the region is cultural misunderstanding.... The challenge that faces 
the Middle East today is therefore instituting programs to 
successfully educate populations on cultural differences and to 
promote cooperation in Israel-Palestine.... Increasing cooperation 
and cultural understanding is not an easy task.  Whether addressing 
media representatives, NGOs and activists, or educational resources, 
the agenda is complex and interconnected.  Nevertheless, with 
workshops, seminars, training events and other such tools the PHRMG 
believes it is possible to improve human rights and security in the 
Palestinian territories.  To do so, however, citizens, 
organizations, and donors must work together to solve the problems 
of human security.  If we do not, political events and parties will 
shape the future of human rights in Palestine." 
 
¶V.  "Anyone But Bibi" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz 
(3/13): "In the surveys, Netanyahu is chalking up a proportional 
majority.  But a party with all of 12 seats is not going to 
establish a government that will lead us anywhere, all the more so 
by recycling a leader who was toppled eight years ago, on the 
pretext that he has changed.  In what way has he changed?  He's not 
a radical right-winger anymore?  He quit smoking Cohiba cigars?  If 
Olmert is forced to resign, Kadima, the largest party in the 
Knesset, can still search for someone in its ranks to put together a 
government without recourse to elections.  Who it is, hardly 
matters.  Just as long as it's not Bibi [Binyamin Netanyahu]." 
 
JONES