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P 181004Z MAY 07
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001492 
 
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.  Muslims in US Society 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media continued to highlight Qassam rocket attacks on the 
western Negev and related developments, mainly a limited Israeli 
military response to the rocket fire.  Yediot and Maariv bannered 
the fact that a rocket fell 500 m from PM Ehud Olmert, who visited 
Sderot on Thursday.  Israel Radio reported that 40 Qassam rockets 
landed in Israel last night.  A woman was moderately wounded on 
Thursday.  The media reported that on Thursday the Defense Ministry 
organized the evacuation of 560 Sderot residents. 
 
The media reported that the air force continued to hammer away at 
Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday as the IDF made its 
first foray into the northern Gaza Strip, sending tanks and infantry 
to take over Qassam launch sites.  Media quoted Palestinian sources 
as saying that 10 Palestinians died in the Israeli attacks, 
including a Hamas operative who was killed when the IAF dropped a 
bomb on a two-story building belonging to Hamas's Executive Force. 
Forty-five others were wounded in the bombing, which leveled the 
building and several next to it.  Leading media reported that Hamas 
threatened to resume suicide bombings.  Yediot reported that FM 
Tzipi Livni told German FM Frank-Water Steinmeier in a phone 
conversation that, in the absence of effective action by the 
international community to bring an end to the shelling of Sderot, 
Israel will act to put en end to the attacks. 
 
Defining the US response to Israeli strikes in the Gaza strikes as 
"minor," Israel Radio and other media quoted President Bush as 
saying on Thursday, at a joint White House press availability with 
British PM Tony Blair: "We talked about the Middle East, and we're 
concerned about the violence we see in Gaza.  We strongly urge the 
parties to work toward a two-state solution.... The Prime Minister 
and I discussed the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people. 
We recognized the deep humiliation that can come as a result of 
living in a land where you can't move freely, and where people can't 
realize dreams.  We talked about the need to reject and fight 
terrorism.  We understand the fright that can come when you're 
worried about a rocket landing on top of your home. I'm committed to 
peace in the Middle East, and I appreciate Tony Blair being a 
partner in peace."  Israel Radio quoted State Department Spokesman 
Sean McCormack as saying on Thursday: "We are urging all parties to 
exercise restraint."  The radio reported that Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice talked on the phone with PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas and PM Olmert.    Israel Radio reported that Abbas 
asked Secretary Rice, German FM Steinmeier, and UN Secretary General 
Ban Ki-moon to convince Israel to cease its attacks. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted President Bush as saying during his 
meeting with Tony Blair: "We fully recognize that the Iranians must 
not have nuclear weapons."  Yediot quoted Prof. Bernard Lewis as 
saying in a lecture before the America-Israel Friendship League 
that, were Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, it would not hesitate 
to make use of it.  The newspaper also quoted former permanent US 
representative to the UN John Bolton as saying that the situation 
with Iran can be compared to Adolf Hitler's rush to the Rhine 
district. 
 
Maariv cited Reuters as saying on Thursday that the State Department 
has told EU officials that it will not object to the establishment 
of a new mechanism to funnel money to the PA. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Western diplomatic sources familiar with the PA as 
saying that the forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas fought well in the 
battle against Hamas fighters near the Karni Crossing, contrary to 
reports in the Israeli media.  The diplomats emphasized the courage 
and resolution demonstrated by Abbas's loyalists, who were surprised 
by a larger Hamas force, yet succeeded in thwarting the attack. 
Maariv and the Jerusalem Post reported that Chairman Abbas escaped 
an assassination attempt. 
 
Maariv reported that King Abdullah II of Jordan has recently been 
trying to promote the idea of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation. 
 The concept is conditioned on Israel accepting the Saudi-Arab peace 
initiative.  Maariv quoted senior Israeli officials that this is a 
"honey trap" and that Israel might find itself negotiating with 
Jordan having the upper hand. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that its panel of experts examining the upcoming 
US presidential elections in light of US-Israel relations still 
prefers Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton over Sen. Barack Obama, but that 
her advantage is eroding and sometimes seems about to vanish.  The 
panel focuses on former Republican senator from Tennessee Fred 
Thompson as a potential presidential candidate. 
 
Leading media reported that a meeting to be held today by the Labor 
Party's Central Committee will determine the party's future in the 
government.  The Jerusalem Post reported that an investigation by 
the newspaper of US Securities and Exchanges Commission documents on 
Thursday reveled that former PM Ehud Barak continues to serve as a 
consultant for companies in the US and Israel.  The Jerusalem Post 
said that this contradicted Barak's promise to sever his business 
ties before running in the Labor Party primaries. 
 
Leading media reported that on Thursday the Likud's Knesset faction 
celebrated the 30th anniversary of their party's first rise to 
power.  Ha'aretz quoted Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu as saying 
that, when Israel blew up the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, the 
late PM Menachem Begin "acted with great daring against 
international opinion and against the United States." 
 
Yediot reported that on May 28 US representatives will meet with 
Iranian officials in Baghdad to discuss the situation in Iraq. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted sources in the UMP, newly-elected French 
President Nicolas Sarkozy's party, as saying that Israelis should be 
pleased that he chose Bernard Kouchner, a defector from the 
Socialist Party, as his foreign minister.  Other media cited the 
dismay of Israeli officials that Sarkozy made former French FM 
Hubert Vedrine responsible for the Israeli-Palestinian dossier. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that this year Israeli companies have signed 
contracts for weapons deals with Chad at a tune of USD 15 million. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israel, which has been invited to negotiate 
membership with the OECD, will be required to legislate against 
bribing foreigners if it joins the organization. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday four 
Israeli professors met at the University of Brighton (England) with 
representatives of Britain's University and College Union, the 
sponsors of a resolution proposing an academic boycott of Israel. 
Ha'aretz wrote that the British academics were not impressed by the 
Israelis' arguments. 
 
Major media reported that Yisrael Meir Lau, the Chief Rabbi of Tel 
Aviv-Jaffa, has withdrawn his candidacy for Israel's presidency. 
 
The Jerusalem Post wrote that people around the world will be able 
to learn the lessons of the Holocaust in a bid to also prevent any 
future genocide through a seminar being offered this week to UN 
Officials.  The newspaper said that the US Holocaust Memorial Museum 
is a co-initiator of the project. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Holon Children Museum's 
Dialogue-in-the-Dark exhibition, which recreates the sensation of 
blindness, will be available in the World Economic Forum on the 
Middle East, taking place in Jordan's Dead Sea resort this weekend. 
 
Ha'aretz (English Ed) reported that an 11th-grader at the American 
International School in Kfar Shmaryahu raised about USD 100,000 
earlier this month for a Jaffa-based afterschool program for 
disadvantaged Jewish and Arab youth. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a poll 
commissioned by Bar-Ilan University's BESA (Begin-Sadat) Center and 
the Anti-Defamation League: 
-Fully 71 percent of Israelis believe that the US should launch a 
military attack on Iran if diplomatic efforts fail to halt Tehran's 
nuclear program, according to a new poll. 
- Fifty-nine percent of Israelis still believe the war in Iraq was 
justified, while 36 percent take the opposite view. 
-Some 65 percent believe that the US is a loyal ally of Israel, with 
only 11 percent saying the opposite.  A slightly higher proportion, 
73 percent, described President George Bush as friendly. 
Forty-eight percent attributed US support for Israel to strategic 
considerations, while 30 percent credited American Jewry and 17 
percent cited shared values and a shared democratic tradition. 
-Regarding America's importance to Israel, there was near consensus: 
91 percent said that close relations with the US are vital to 
Israel's security.  Some 51 percent of respondents predicted that 
the US will ultimately impose an agreement on Israel and the 
Palestinians, while 43 percent disagreed. 
-In addition, 52 percent of respondents described American Jewish 
support of Israel as "sufficient," while 33 percent did not.  About 
half of all Israelis believe that American Jewry is in danger of 
disappearing due to assimilation, the poll found. 
 
Yediot presented the results of a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll 
conducted among registered Labor Party voters: 
-"Were elections for leadership of the Labor Party held today, for 
whom would you vote?"   Ehud Barak: 34 percent; Ami Ayalon: 32 
percent; Amir Peretz: 14 percent; Ophir Pines-Paz: 11 percent; Danny 
Yatom: 5 percent. 
-"In case of a second round, for whom would you vote?"  Ami Ayalon: 
47 percent; Ehud Barak: 43 percent. 
 
According to the Yediot poll, 69 percent of Israelis do not believe 
that a peace treaty can be reached with the Palestinians; 31 percent 
believe that peace can be reached.  Fifty-eight percent of Israelis 
do not support the "land for peace" formula"; 28 percent do. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The government does 
not much want to start lengthy and ongoing ground operations.  The 
army's performance in the war in Lebanon left no one with a taste 
for more." 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "In the Israeli view, Fatah is engaged in a holding action 
in the Gaza Strip." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote on page one of the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "A collapse of the PA as a 
government ... could fundamentally change the two-state concept that 
has underpinned Israeli policy since 1993 and the Oslo Accords." 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev Schiff wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "[Syria] knows there could be a heavy price to pay for a 
large-scale war, including the fall of the Alawite regime." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Winograd Paralysis" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/18): "Let nobody say 
there is no connection between the Winograd Commission and what we 
are doing about Gaza.  For four days the government of Israel was 
paralyzed in the face of the Qassam rocket barrage.... Reoccupying 
the open area of the northern Gaza Strip -- which is between two 
kilometers to six-seven kilometers wide -- today requires slow and 
lengthy action to prevent casualties.... The government does not 
much want to start lengthy and ongoing ground operations.  The 
army's performance in the war in Lebanon left no one with a taste 
for more.... A political echelon decision to allow the army to hit 
the Hamas military wing -- installations and military activists -- 
is the default that could be effective, if it is kept up over time. 
Assassinations of central activists have led, in the past, to a 
change in Hamas's behavior pattern.  The condition is: persistence, 
perseverance.  But around here, if Hamas does not launch Qassam 
rockets for two days, the wind will go out of the sails and the 
assassinations will also stop, until the next round.  And who, here 
in Israel, will answer for the last four days of paralysis?" 
 
II.  "Duel to the Death?" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (5/18): "As far as Hamas is concerned, the meaning of 
postponing the confrontation would be a substantial strengthening of 
Fatah.  Hamas decided to embark on an organized and well-timed 
campaign.... Fatah in the Gaza Strip, without [its military chief 
Muhammad] Dahlan, has no landlord.  Behind the recent escalation, 
the Israeli security establishment is identifying the clear 
fingerprints of Khaled Mashal, head of the Hamas politburo in 
Damascus.  The firing of the Qassam rockets on Sderot immediately 
after the deadly ambush that Hamas laid for Fatah people traveling 
in a bus near the Karni border crossing, has been interpreted in the 
army as an action aimed at diverting the intra-Palestinian debate 
from the subject of the murderousness of Hamas to the conflict with 
Israel.  In the Israeli view, Fatah is engaged in a holding action 
in the Gaza Strip." 
 
III.  "What a PA Collapse Would Mean For Israel" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote on page one of the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (5/18): "The spiraling 
anarchy inside Gaza is not something Israel can watch from outside. 
A collapse of the PA as a government, something that the events of 
the last few days have shown is a real possibility, would have 
far-reaching strategic ramifications for Israel and could 
fundamentally change the two-state concept that has underpinned 
Israeli policy since 1993 and the Oslo Accords.... Faced with the 
possibility that the PA could collapse, Israel is essentially faced 
with two unattractive choices: drop the three conditions established 
 
when Hamas came into power and deal with a Hamas-led PA, under the 
logic that some address is better than none at all, or side with 
Fatah in its battle with Hamas." 
 
IV.  "A War This Summer?" 
 
Senior columnist and chief defense commentator Zeev Schiff wrote in 
Ha'aretz (5/18): "[As far as Israel is concerned,] the most complex 
problem is Syria.  There is no question that Syria is readying for 
combat.  Again, the question is whether it has plans to initiate a 
war, or suspects that Israel does.... Syria is capable of surprising 
Israel, mainly through hit-and-run attacks.  But it knows there 
could be a heavy price to pay for a large-scale war, including the 
fall of the Alawite regime.  A cautious conclusion is that none of 
the parties [in the Middle East] today are interested in an all-out 
war.  But war could erupt by mistake.  For example, if the other 
side's intentions are incorrectly assessed, or if a local military 
campaign veers out of control and sparks a major showdown.  For 
safety's sake, Israel needs to step up its vigilance in the sphere 
of intelligence, as well as to reinforce IDF troops on the Golan 
Heights and hone the army's quick-response capabilities." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "It is 
in Europe's hands whether Iran's challenge means war or not." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Europe's Choice" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (5/18): 
"Fortunately, some action is being taken [about the Iranian nuclear 
program].  Two important bills, the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act 
and the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act, are making their way through 
the US Congress.  If enacted, they would accelerate a process of 
divestment by state pension funds from non-US companies invested in 
Iran (direct US investment is already barred).... Actually, it is in 
Europe's hands whether Iran's challenge means war or not.  Europe 
must choose between its commercial interests and its desire to avoid 
war.  If the US and Israel are left with no option but military 
action, European shortsightedness will be to blame.   Europe needs 
no further UN resolutions to act; it needs to decide to divest 
itself from Iran." 
 
-------------------------- 
¶3.  Muslims in US Society: 
-------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The day that one organized gang succeeds in 
carrying out the first large-scale homegrown Muslim attack will be 
the real test of America's tolerance." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"A Homegrown Attack" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/18): "The Muslim community in the US is 
small but growing rapidly.  It is very diverse, stemming from 
different cultures, and its members speak many languages and 
therefore can strike roots.  It is not easy to be a Muslim in 
America, say the community leaders, and rightly so.  And 
nevertheless, apparently it is easier in the US than in the places 
they came from.... This challenge is easy neither for the US, nor 
for the Muslims living there.  For the time being, everyone is 
handling it well.  The events of September 11 were followed by 
attacks on mosques and Muslims, but that phenomenon continues to 
exist on a very small scale.  America's involvement in wars in 
Muslim countries increased the number of Muslim Americans who can 
find an excuse to plan a terrorist attack, but the gang now referred 
to as the 'Fort Dix Six' is a worrisome exception, not yet part of a 
tsunami washing over America.... The day that one organized gang 
 
SIPDIS 
succeeds in carrying out the first large-scale homegrown Muslim 
attack will be the real test of America's tolerance." 
 
JONES