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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001246 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
¶3.  PM Olmert's Performance 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the US administration has presented Israel 
and the PA with benchmarks by which the sides will be required to 
abide, in accordance with a calendar set in Washington.  Ha'aretz 
said that the plan focuses on the equation "freedom of movement in 
exchange for security."  Israel is supposed to expand the activity 
of the crossings with the Gaza Strip and remove roadblocks in the 
West Bank.  The Palestinians will have to complete the 
reorganization of the security forces under Abbas's authority. 
Ha'aretz reported that on Thursday US Ambassador to Israel Richard 
Jones and US security coordinator Gen. Keith Dayton presented the 
document to Olmert's bureau.  The newspaper wrote that a discussion 
will take place in Jerusalem next week to formulate a response to 
the document.  Ha'aretz wrote that a few days ago the US presented 
its proposal to the PA. 
 
Israel Radio and other leading media said that CBS-TV reported on 
Thursday that a new intelligence report says Iran has overcome 
technical difficulties in enriching uranium and could have enough 
bomb-grade material for a single nuclear weapon in less than three 
years.   However, US intelligence officials reportedly caution that 
before Iran could meet or beat that 2010 date, it would have to make 
further technical progress in operating a uranium enrichment plant 
now under construction.  The radio and Yediot cited CBS-TV as saying 
that Israel is the country most threatened by Iran's nuclear arming. 
 Former senior CIA official Bruce Riedel was quoted as saying on 
Thursday that the new intelligence increases the chances of an 
Israeli attack on Iran.' 
 
Based on a story in the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, which quoted 
Palestinian sources, the Jerusalem Post's web site reported that 
Palestinian Authority Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas's 
Damascus-based leader Khaled Mashal are scheduled to meet with 
Egyptian General Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Cairo this 
weekend to discuss the issue of captured IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad 
Shalit. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday the IDF held intensive 
training maneuvers in preparation for a feared Syrian attack on the 
Golan Heights. 
 
Ahead of the publication of the interim report of the Winograd 
Commission on Monday, both Ha'aretz and Maariv cited testimonies by 
senior IDF officers that missed intelligence could have foiled the 
kidnapping of the two IDF soldiers on July 12 last year.  Maariv 
reported that former OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Udi Adam 
unsuccessfully warned then IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz 
that soldiers may be abducted.  Leading media reported that PM Ehud 
Olmert's closest aides have drawn up strategies toward the report's 
publication.  Maariv quoted senior Kadima members as saying that 
they do not intend to topple Olmert at this time.  Yediot reported 
that State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss will ask Attorney General 
Menachem Mazuz to hold a criminal investigation of Olmert regarding 
suspicions that he had received a bribe in connection with the 
acquisition of a home on Cremieux Street in Jerusalem.  The 
newspaper wrote that the comptroller will not issue a report about 
the affair. 
 
Israel Radio quoted European Union envoy Louis Michel as saying on 
Thursday that the EU will not provide direct aid to the PA until it 
meets the International Quartet's three conditions.  He was speaking 
to reporters in Tel Aviv.  Michel was quoted as saying that Hamas's 
military wing, and not the Palestinian government, should be blamed 
for rocket launchings at Israel.  Michel criticized Israeli policy, 
notably the erection of the security fence in the West Bank. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Olmert aides as saying on Thursday that Olmert will 
appoint a finance minister in May, after agreeing on a candidate 
with Attorney General Mazuz.  This indicates that Olmert intends to 
hold the treasury for a few weeks at most.  The media reported that 
on Thursday Mazuz instructed Olmert to appoint an acting finance 
minister as soon as possible.  He told Olmert that he could not keep 
the finance portfolio himself, in view of the investigation into his 
involvement in the sale of Bank Leumi, Israel's second largest bank, 
as this would put Olmert directly in charge of the officials being 
questioned as part of the investigation.  However, Mazuz did not 
give Olmert a time limit for appointing an acting finance minister. 
 
Maariv reported that Yehiel Horev, the Defense Ministry's head of 
security, will soon retire after 40 years of public service. 
 
Israeli Ambassador to the US Salami Meridor was quoted as saying in 
an interview with Maariv that the nuclear threat tops his embassy's 
order of priorities.  Meridor was quoted as saying that the issue in 
every conversation with the US administration, Congress, and all his 
US contacts.  The Jerusalem Post featured grassroots efforts and a 
flurry of bipartisan legislative initiatives in the US currently 
trying to squeeze foreign investment in Iran, and with it the 
Iranian economy.  Right-wing French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen was 
quoted as saying in an interview with Makor Rishon-Hatzofe that, if 
elected French president, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy may support 
an offensive against Iran.  The Jerusalem Post quoted Croatian 
President Stipe Mesic as saying that he is resisting what he termed 
"heavy pressure" to visit Iran until Tehran stops denying the 
Holocaust and calling for Israel's destruction.  Mesic made the 
comments in talks with Zagreb with visiting VP Shimon Peres. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Khalil Abu Lailah, a senior Hamas official 
in the Gaza Strip, as saying on Thursday that Hamas will resume its 
efforts to try to kidnap Israel soldiers to trade them for 
Palestinians held in Israeli jails. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that former US Defense Secretary William 
Cohen told the newspaper on Thursday that the US would be inclined 
to allow the sale of advanced stealth F-22 fighter jets to the IAF 
if Israel's security was in jeopardy. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that, speaking before the National Jewish 
Democratic Council this week, the Democratic presidential candidates 
"promised everything: support for Israel and a dialogue with Iran." 
 
Ha'aretz cited a wire report published by the German news agency DPA 
quoting the Egyptian Interior Ministry as saying that on Thursday 
Egyptian security forces foiled a Palestinian terrorist attack 
against Israeli tourists in the Sinai. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that in the draft of his new book, "A Breakout 
Political-Security Grand Strategy for Israel," Prof. Yehezkel Dror, 
a member of the Winograd Commission, advocates unconditional talks 
with Syria.  Dror wrote: "Israel does not always have to follow the 
United States' policy line.  Sometimes it is preferable to encourage 
the US to open talks with a "boycotted" party, when it benefits 
Israel and also, according to Israel's best judgment, benefits the 
US dialogue with Syria after the war in the North is an example of 
this." 
 
Ha'aretz quoted police sources as saying in Thursday that, unless 
former MK Azmi Bishara returns to Israel for a police interview 
within a reasonable period of time, he may be declared a 'fugitive 
from justice." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that last summer Boaz Ganor of the 
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and Mitchel Wallerstein, dean of 
the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse 
University, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, 
established a team to chart new rules of war for insurgencies. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that in Jerusalem on Thursday 300 
Israeli and 100 Palestinian doctors and other professionals took 
place in the First International Congress on Chronic Disorders in 
Children. 
 
All media reported that the US dollar dropped to 4.014 shekels on 
the Tel Aviv financial market -- a 7-year low.  Yediot and Maariv 
cited major economic newspapers in the world as saying that Bank of 
Israel Governor Stanley Fischer is the leading candidate to replace 
Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank. 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "It is far more convenient for Olmert to dump 
the Gaza escalation in the lap of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail 
Haniyeh than to discuss a cease-fire (tahadiyeh) in the West Bank 
with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas." 
 
Oded Eran, Israel's Ambassador to the NATO institutions and the 
European Union, wrote in Ha'aretz: "The Assad family has waited 
slightly less than 40 years to rule the Golan Heights again; let it 
wait another few years until the heart of the conflict is 
resolved." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Endgame in Damascus and Gaza" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/27): "Olmert expects that just as Israel 
disengaged from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank too will disengage 
from Gaza.  Israel can assassinate nine Palestinians in the West 
Bank, few of them Hamas operatives, on Independence Day eve, but 
Hamas has to keep from firing on Sderot from Gaza on Independence 
Day.  It is far more convenient for Olmert to dump the Gaza 
escalation in the lap of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh 
than to discuss a cease-fire (tahadiyeh) in the West Bank with 
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.  In his last meetings 
with Olmert, Abbas reiterated his request to expand the cease-fire 
to the West Bank.  The prime minister was not ready to listen.  A 
comprehensive cease-fire is the first step in the Arab League's 
peace initiative.  So what if Olmert welcomed that initiative?  What 
is the connection? 
 
II.  "Why Syria Must Wait" 
 
Oded Eran, Israel's Ambassador to the NATO institutions and the 
European Union, wrote in Ha'aretz (4/27): "The heart of the 
Israeli-Arab conflict is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  All the 
other components of the former revolve primarily around the question 
of borders.... Until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved, 
the Israeli-Arab conflict will continue either to simmer on a low 
flame or even to boil over.... Few would dispute the assertion that 
the Israeli political bridge is incapable of supporting two peace 
processes, a Syrian and a Palestinian one, at the same time.... It 
is our duty to resolve, first and foremost, the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict and, under the right conditions for negotiations, to 
dedicate all our internal political resources to it.  The State of 
Israel must not give the Palestinians the message that it is now 
abandoning the resolution of the conflict with them and that they 
should be so kind as to come back when the complex process of peace 
with Syria is completed.  The Assad family has waited slightly less 
than 40 years to rule the Golan Heights again; let it wait another 
few years until the heart of the conflict is resolved." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
more pertinent question is how [the US presidential] candidates will 
steer the American ship of state through the wider storm -- the 
global conflict between Islamo-fascism and the West, between Iran 
and the United States." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Iran and the Democrats" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (4/27): 
"It would be a mistake ... for Israelis -- who will be dramatically 
affected by the American foreign policy -- to measure American 
candidates solely by their attitudes toward the Arab-Israeli 
conflict.  All express strong support for Israel, which should be 
accepted as sincere and reflective of the great majority of 
Americans.  The more pertinent question is how these candidates will 
steer the American ship of state through the wider storm -- the 
global conflict between Islamo-fascism and the West, between Iran 
and the United States.  As this conflict goes, so go the prospects 
for peace in this region and in the world.... It is somewhat absurd 
[for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton] to suggest [before a Jewish 
forum this week], given years of European-led negotiations and 
painstaking UN Security Council deliberations, that the US could be 
understood as pursuing force as a first resort.  Such statements 
make one wonder, for all the talk that Iran must be stopped, whether 
the Democrats would confront only terrorist groups, like al-Qaida, 
or also the regimes behind them.... So far, the Democratic position 
seems to be just two parts engagement, one part hamstringing the 
White House, and no parts urging stronger and faster international 
action.  If the Democrats want anyone -- Americans, Israelis, or 
Iranians -- to take their foreign policy stance seriously, the 
balance should change." 
 
---------------------------- 
¶3.  PM Olmert's Performance: 
---------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "On Monday, the Winograd Commission 
[probing the Second Lebanon War]  is scheduled to publish its 
partial report.... Olmert has a fair chance of surviving the first 
wave." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Celebration Starts" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (4/27): "On Monday, the Winograd 
Commission [probing the Second Lebanon War]  is scheduled to publish 
its partial report.... The attention will be focused on one person: 
Ehud Olmert.  Those who pressed to form a commission of inquiry, 
hoped that it would make it possible to end the debate over the war. 
 The report will do the opposite: It will start off another round of 
debate.  Each side will brandish the quotes that suit it.  Olmert 
presumes that he can look forward to two difficult weeks in the 
tribunal of public opinion.  Afterwards, he hopes, he will be able 
to reinvent himself, to rise the next morning and start anew.  In 
order to get through the first two weeks safely, Olmert took a 
slight turn to the left.  His assumption is that diplomatic 
moderation is a media relaxant.  Give them, those who are known as 
'public opinion makers,' a Saudi initiative, and they will calm 
down.  The headlines will soften up.... Olmert has a fair chance of 
surviving the first wave.  His aides say that immediately afterwards 
he will create the 'second Olmert government.'  Many of IsraelQs 
leaders lost the publicQs confidence and were then given a second 
chance.  The list is respectable: Rabin, Sharon, Begin in a certain 
sense, Dayan, and recently Netanyahu and Barak.  None of them 
succeeded in rehabilitating themselves during their terms of office. 
 They all rebuilt themselves from the outside, from the opposition. 
Olmert believes that he will be the first to succeed.  Blessed is 
the believer." 
 
CRETZ