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P 090954Z MAY 07
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001358 
 
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 reported that on Tuesday the State Department denied 
that the decision to postpone Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's 
visit was a sign that the US administration is distancing itself 
from Olmert due to his government's turmoil.  Ha'aretz quoted State 
Department Spokesman Sean McCormack as saying: "We work very closely 
with Prime Minister Olmert ... We are working very closely with him 
and his government as we speak on ... Israeli-Palestinian issues and 
how to move that process forward."  Israel Radio reported that on 
Monday FM Tzipi Livni talked with Secretary Rice.  The radio quoted 
sources in Livni's bureau as saying that Rice's decision to cancel 
her visit had nothing to do with the phone call with Livni.  Israel 
Radio quoted senior sources in Olmert's bureau as saying that they 
know nothing about such a call.  Maariv (Uri Yablonka) reported that 
a source in Olmert's bureau claimed that the possibility that Rice's 
visit might be postponed was already apparent three weeks ago, so 
there is no connection between the postponement of the visit and the 
crisis following the conclusions of the Winograd report.  Maariv 
quoted other Israeli sources as saying that the reason for the 
cancellation is still unclear.  However, Maariv reported that a 
"more problematic" image of impasse emerged from meetings between US 
and Israeli officials regarding the possible fall of Israel's 
current government and Israel's inability to conduct a long-range 
policy on the Palestinian track.  Maariv reported that senior 
officials in Washington told senior Israeli officials that so long 
as there is uncertainty due to the instability of the government, 
the peace process will remain deadlocked and there may even be 
repercussions affecting other issues between the two countries. 
Maariv has learned that the American warnings left a grave 
impression on the Israeli side, the lack of confidence in Washington 
in the stability of the Israeli government may undermine cooperation 
with the US until further notice.  Maariv wrote that, in 
conversations with Israelis, the Americans did not specify the 
issues on which relations between the two countries would be 
damaged, but one of the statements made was that the complex track 
with the Palestinians will not tolerate governmental instability on 
the Israeli side too. According to Maariv, the Americans also 
expressed doubt about the possibility of dialogue with a government 
that will soon be changing hands.   Maariv quoted a senior Israeli 
political source as saying: "The US is Israel's senior strategic 
partner.  We are as dependent on it as on the air we breathe."  The 
source went on to say: "The US is our insurance policy in the 
Security Council,Q and is Qrestraining the European tendency towards 
expanding cooperation with the Hamas-Fatah government in the PA." 
The source warned that "our impasse on the Palestinian issue must 
not be allowed to become official policy."  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that the State Department is downplaying the significance 
of Rice's canceled trip.  The Jerusalem Post quoted former US 
ambassador to Israel as saying that Rice's decision to skip the trip 
was "curious," adding that the State Department would not point to 
another country's internal politics as the reason to avoid a trip, 
even if that were the cause. 
 
All media reported that on Tuesday former PM Ehud Barak publicly 
called on PM Ehud Olmert to resign, but quoted him as saying that 
should Olmert refuse to either resign or call new elections, he 
would be prepared to sit in a possible transitional Olmert 
government.  Politicians and commentators criticized Barak's 
zigzagging.  Ha'aretz quoted senior officials of the Kadima party as 
saying, in response to Barak's statement by Ehud Barak urging Olmert 
to resign, that Kadima must begin preparing to choose a replacement 
for Olmert. 
 
Leading media reported that today the Winograd Commission will 
release the testimonies of Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and 
former IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz.  Israel Radio reported that 
this morning the diplomatic-security cabinet is discussing the 
classified portions of the report.  Maariv cited the concern of 
Olmert associates that the publication of an expunged report might 
cite Olmert's testimony out of its context. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio quoted the World Bank as saying in a new 
report that Israel harms Palestinian freedom of movement and access 
to parts of the West Bank, damaging any chances for the Palestinian 
economy to emerge from crisis.  The bank's particularly critical 
report also says the limitations imposed on Palestinians' movement 
prevents their access to about 50 percent of the West Bank, and 
prevents any likelihood that the Palestinian economy can grow.  The 
radio quoted the World Bank as saying that Israel has split the West 
Bank into ten cantons without any economic connections between them. 
 Israel Radio also quoted the World Bank as saying that the 
international blockade of the PA ahs worsened the Palestinians' 
economic condition. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the five permanent UN Security Council 
members and Germany will meet today to discuss imposing tougher UN 
sanctions against Iran unless it halts uranium enrichment work the 
West suspects is part of a secret program to build nuclear weapons. 
 
 
Major media reported that, wary of the security implications of 
Palestinians traveling between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the 
Israeli defense establishment expressed its opposition to this part 
of the US "benchmarks plan" for Israel and the PA.   Ha'aretz quoted 
defense officials as saying in internal meetings this week that 
allowing freedom of movement between the two territories may create 
a dangerous security situation, enabling the transfer of 
technological know-how for the making of Qassam rockets from the 
Gaza Strip to the West Bank.  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that 
Israeli defense officials clarified this to US officials.  Ha'aretz 
said that the US argues that Israel has already committed to 
allowing the transit of convoys between the West Bank and the Gaza 
Strip as part of the November 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access. 
  Ha'aretz reported that Israeli defense officials responded as 
follows: "The security situation in the Gaza Strip has deteriorated 
significantly since the Movement agreement, and the Qassam rocket 
attacks continue and in some cases have intensified.  This fact 
should not be ignored."  However, The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli 
diplomatic officials as saying that although the security prism is 
an important prism through which to view the plan, it is not the 
only one.  The Jerusalem Post quoted the officials as saying the 
roadblocks and checkpoints extract a high diplomatic price for 
Israel around the world.  The Jerusalem Post quoted one officials as 
saying: "The Western world, with the exception of the US, sees the 
roadblocks and checkpoints as a main problem here.  It is considered 
collective punishment that bothers everyone, but only weeds out a 
few terrorists."  The Jerusalem Post quoted US diplomatic officials 
as sayng on Tuesday that the paper is not a "take it or leave it" 
document.  The Jerusalem Post quoted the spokesman of the US Embassy 
in Tel Aviv as saying that the benchmarks were "not a fixed 
deadline, but a flexible set of targets to help facilitate 
discussions." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday veteran pollster Stanley 
Greenberg told the Knesset's Subcommittee on Foreign and Public 
Relations that America's support for Israel is greater than ever. 
 
Israel Radio reported that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas and 
his senior aide Saeb Erekat are demanding that the Palestinian 
factions respect the calm in the Gaza Strip.  The radio reported 
that Erekat asked the factions to extend the truce to the West Bank. 
 Yediot quoted Israeli experts as saying that the latest Qassam 
rockets launched at Israel are more accurate and lethal than the 
previous ones. 
 
Over the past few days, leading media cited data published by the 
Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, according to which in 2020 
Jews will constitute 60 percent of Jerusalem's population -- and 
Arabs around 40 percent, 
 
Maariv reported that, in a telephone conversation he held with 
opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, French 
president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy pledged not to allow Iran to develop 
nuclear weapons.  Maariv also quoted Arab newspapers as saying that 
it was the Jews who had crowned Sarkozy as France's next president. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Arno Klarsfeld, the son of renowned 
Nazi-hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, is rumored to be the top 
candidate to become minister of immigration and national identity 
when Sarkozy chooses his cabinet in the coming weeks.  Klarsfeld 
acquired Israeli citizenship in 2002 and joined the Border Police. 
He served at checkpoints around Bethlehem. 
 
Leading media reported that on Tuesday, Hamas's military wing 
threatened to kill abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit if Israel 
carries out a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip. 
Media cited Hamas's denial of the report. 
 
Maariv reported that, in an independent move on Tuesday, FM Livni 
met with Fausto Bertinotti, Speaker of Italy's Lower House of 
Parliament, who had met with Hamas representatives.  The newspaper 
wrote that Olmert did not meet the foreign official 
 
Ha'aretz found that, despite occasional friction between 
Palestinians and Jewish settlers, Hebron is the West Bank's most 
secure city. 
 
Ha'aretz cited the belief of sources in the Finance Ministry that 
Israel has a very good chance of being voted into the Organization 
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  The finance 
ministers of the 30 OECD countries are due to meet on Tuesday and 
Wednesday next week in Paris and are expected to decide in favor of 
Israel's joining the organization.  The list of candidates seeking 
to join the OECD includes Chile, Brazil, Russia, China, India, South 
Africa, Cyprus, and European countries that have recently joined the 
EU.  The organization last expanded its membership in 1995. 
Ha'aretz wrote that Israeli Treasury sources describe the move as a 
very important achievement for Israel, both economically and 
diplomatically. 
 
Maariv reported that last week, citing case of violence by 
Palestinians, the IDF decided to ban bathing by Palestinians in the 
Dead Sea.  Those were the only beaches were the Palestinians had 
been allowed to bathe. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported Israel Broadcasting Authority -- which 
includes Israel TV and Israel Radio -- is seriously considering 
closing its Washington bureau.  The move has been spurred by an 
urgent need to cut down on costs. 
 
Yediot reported that Israel will donate 20 million shekels (around 
USD 5 million) to aid organizations helping Darfur refugees. 
 
Leading media cited the Transportation Ministry as saying on Tuesday 
that Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia will receive special financial 
aid from the government to continue operating regular flights to 
Egypt and Jordan.  El Al had threatened to discontinue flights to 
those neighboring countries because they were unprofitable. 
Ha'aretz quoted Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying on 
Tuesday: "The existence of regular flights to and from Egypt and 
Jordan is of primary importance in the political sense.... Any 
change or discontinuation could be construed as a violation of these 
agreements, with all the far-reaching political repercussions 
derived from that." 
 
Yediot presented the results of a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll 
conducted among registered Labor Party voters: 
-"Should Labor quit the government?"  No: 55 percent; yes: 32 
percent; 13 percent were undecided. 
-"Who will you vote for [in the first round of] the Labor leadership 
contest?"  Ehud Barak: 32 percent; Ami Ayalon: 29 percent; Amir 
Peretz: 18 percent; Ophir Pines-Paz: 11 percent.  Danny Yatom: 3 
percent; 7 percent were undecided. 
-"Who will you vote for in the second round [of a Labor leadership 
contest]: Ami Ayalon: 45 percent; Ehud Barak: 41 percent; 14 percent 
were undecided. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported on the results of a poll commissioned 
by a branch of the Katzenelson Institute and carried out by the 
polling institute Market Watch, to mark 40 years of Jerusalem's 
reunification: 62 percent of Israeli are unwilling to renounce 
Israel sovereignty on Jerusalem, but 78 percent of the public are 
not prepared to move to the city. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "US Secretary 
of State Condoleezza Rice, who canceled her planned visit to Israel, 
realized something that has not been understood by ministers in [the 
Israeli] government." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "As 
[Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni] rightfully noted, the government 
isn't so much as discussing IDF pressure for action against the 
rocket launchers, no plans are being reviewed, and no scenarios 
examined." 
 
Contributor Prof. Gerald Steinberg, who heads the Program on 
Conflict Management at Bar-Ilan University and is the Executive 
Director of NGO Monitor, wrote in The Jerusalem Post: "When Europe 
begins to heal itself by rejecting the dominant myths and dealing 
realistically with its own problems, relations with Israel will also 
improve, to the benefit of both countries [sic]." 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Contempt For the Public" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (5/9): "US 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who canceled her planned visit 
 
SIPDIS 
to Israel, realized something that has not been understood by 
ministers in a government desperately searching for a defense 
minister to rescue it, a government in which the Foreign Minister is 
demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, and in which the 
Finance Minister has been suspended from duty on suspicion of 
stealing from the public purse.  Even if the Winograd report were to 
state that some of the military operations were pointless, aimed 
only at creating the impression of victory where victory was nowhere 
to be found, Ehud Olmert would not resign.  Never before has 
Israel's future so heavily depended on the veteran Labor Party, its 
institutions and its members.  It is no coincidence that Labor Chair 
Amir Peretz was forced to draw conclusions about the war while 
Olmert held his position.  The internal struggle within Labor 
reflects the clash between national responsibility and the hedonism 
of power." 
 
II.  "Waiting For Disaster" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (5/9): 
"It takes no uncommon acumen to realize that it's only a matter of 
time before something dreadful happens in Sderot or elsewhere within 
the range of Gaza's Qassam rockets.... Nevertheless, away from the 
western Negev, there is barely any reaction.  Qassam barrages are 
reported as if they were routine, negligible phenomena.  It is 
eerily reminiscent of the equanimity with which accounts of massive 
Hizbullah rearmament were greeted after the hasty pullout from 
Lebanon in 2000 and until the outbreak of last summer's war.  This 
is precisely what Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni complained about soon 
after [Monday's] kindergarten near-hit.  As she rightfully noted, 
the government isn't so much as discussing IDF pressure for action 
against the rocket launchers, no plans are being reviewed, and no 
scenarios examined.  For all intents and purposes, it's business as 
usual, even down to the habitual warning by Defense Minister Amir 
Peretz (a Sderot resident) that 'Israel's restraint isn't 
unlimited.'  If a sudden -- though hardly unexpected -- catastrophe 
occurs, the concern is that the ministers would be as clueless as on 
July 12 and as ill-equipped to make intelligent choices.... Livni 
and Olmert may now be busy goading each other, but her criticism 
must not be dismissed." 
 
III.  "Where Europe Fails" 
 
Contributor Prof. Gerald Steinberg, who heads the Program on 
Conflict Management at Bar-Ilan University and is the Executive 
Director of NGO Monitor, wrote in The Jerusalem Post (5/9): "While 
Israel is outside the formal European political framework, the 
influence of events and policies made in Paris, Brussels, London, 
Stockholm and elsewhere is strongly felt.  Avoiding their own 
problems, Europeans preach the merits of multiculturalism and soft 
power, and warn of the perils from 'nationalist Zionism,' while 
denigrating Israeli democracy and shared cultural foundations.  As a 
result, the level of mutual distrust and lack of confidence between 
Israel and Europe is greater than ever.  Similarly, in their 
enthusiasm for civil society,' European governments also provide the 
funding for Israeli NGOs that claim to promote peace, democracy and 
human rights, but often justify the demonization of Israel.  In this 
way, Europe sponsors the rhetoric of multiculturalism that is used 
by [the Israeli-Arab civil rights groups] Adallah and Mossawa to 
campaign for the dissolution of Israel.  Although Israel is not free 
of blame for the tension in the relationship, European responses 
have gone far beyond constructive criticism, and the intense 
political correctness has blocked an honest dialogue.  When Europe 
begins to heal itself by rejecting the dominant myths and dealing 
realistically with its own problems, relations with Israel will also 
improve, to the benefit of both countries [sic]. " 
 
CRETZ