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DE RUEHTV #1540/01 1441023
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P 241023Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001540 
 
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 
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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: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israel has agreed that members of the 
Presidential Guard of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas 
will hold extensive training in areas near Jericho, in the Jordan 
Valley. YNET (Yediot Aharonot's website) and Ha'aretz cited 
Major-General Keith Dayton, the US security coordinator to the P.A., 
as saying to the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs that Abbas's 
American-trained Presidential Guard had successfully fended off 
Hamas' recent attacks. 
 
Maariv reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is getting closer to 
opening negotiations with Syrian President Bashar Assad. According 
to sources who are close to the PM, Olmert believes that peace with 
Syria can change dramatically the strategic situation in the region. 
The paper notes that the PM has the support of the IDF Chief of 
Staff, his deputy, the head of the intelligence branch and others. 
According to the paper, Israel has approached the US and the 
Americans are convinced that such an action could assist their 
interests in the Middle East. 
 
All media cited a International Atomic Energy Agency report that 
said Tehran has not only ignored a Security Council deadline to stop 
uranium enrichment, but has actually expanded it, starting up more 
than 1,300 centrifuges. Yediot cited American TV channel CBS as 
reporting that the US plans to destroy the Iranian nuclear devices 
or at least disrupt uranium enrichment. 
 
Leading media reported that PA President Mahmoud Abbas met Wednesday 
afternoon with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and 
representatives of the different factions to discuss the need to 
reach a truce with Israel and boost the internal ceasefire. 
According to reports, the meeting ended without an agreement. 
 
Leading Internet websites reported this morning that the IDF 
arrested 32 senior Hamas officials, including legislators, mayors, 
and one cabinet minister, Education Minister Nasser Shaer. 
Leading media reported that Lebanon has turned to the US and 
requested emergency aid in order to assist it in its fight against 
the Fatah il-Islam terror organization in northern Lebanon. 
 
All media reported that Amnesty International published its annual 
report on Tuesday, according to which Israeli forces committed "war 
crimes" and other "serious violations of international humanitarian 
law" in their 34-day war against Hizbullah last summer.  The human 
rights group also accused soldiers and settlers of committing 
"serious human rights abuses, including unlawful killings, against 
Palestinians, mostly with impunity." Israel Radio this morning cited 
IDF officials as saying that they are studying the report and will 
give their reaction soon. 
 
The media reported that 13 Qassam rockets were launched into Israel 
during the 2 day holiday, with no casualties reported.  Israel Radio 
reported that three more Qassam rockets were fired this morning. 
According to Ha'aretz, despite the sharp decline in the number of 
Qassam rackets fired from the Gaza Strip in the past two days, 
defense officials have recommended that Israel maintain military 
pressure on Hamas. 
 
All media reported that 1000 Sderot residents will be evacutaed to a 
"tent city" being built by Arcadi Gaydamak in Hayarkon Park in Tel 
Aviv. The "tent city" is being built despite the objection of the PM 
office. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the 
European Union have agreed to extend the mandate of the EU's Border 
Assistance Mission (BAM) at the Rafah Crossing. 
 
Leading media reported that last night the IDF attacked offices and 
businesses in Gaza that are suspected of serving as conduits for 
transferring funds from Iran, Syria, and Lebanon to terror 
organizations in the Gaza Strip, principally to Hamas. 
 
Yediot reported that PM Olmert will be summoned once again to 
testify before the Winograd Committee. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "In lieu of 
military or political solutions and lacking a ruling party with 
which to negotiate, it seems the only chance to halt the 
deterioration we are witnessing is the effort to curb the smuggling 
of arms into Gaza.  Whether this is achieved by the Israel Defense 
Forces or with the help of other countries, the arms-flow must be 
contained as the driving force behind the conflagration." 
 
Columnist Akiva Eldar wrote in Ha'aretz: "Sooner or later, whether 
through gun slits or the slits of ballot boxes, the Palestinians 
will receive another opportunity to choose which path they prefer. 
The Israelis will, too." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "On May 
21, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Palestinian rocket 
attacks against Israel are 'completely unacceptable and violate 
international law.'  We cannot expect the world to come to our side 
if we do not demand that specific actions be taken to back such 
words and aid a nation under attack." 
 
Op-ed columnist Yael Paz-Melamed opined in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "It's time to stop the raging populism that is enveloping 
Sderot residents from all directions.  It's time to tell them the 
truth, difficult and painful and intolerable as it may be.... Only 
if Sderot residents know exactly what they face is there a chance 
they will hang on and organize as they should.  It will be hell for 
each and every one of them, but at least they won't expect 
paradise." 
 
Former Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid opined in Maariv: "What 
would the Americans do were the Mexicans to fire rockets on San 
Antonio?.... Would they also be prepared to take quietly what the 
residents of Sderot have had to take on a daily basis?  ... Or would 
they bomb and shell and destroy and kill until the Mexicans ... 
stopped shooting and begged for a bit of peace and quiet? Is there 
any doubt about that?.... In order for the Palestinian population to 
rise up against the people firing Kassam rockets we are going to 
have to respond to every Kassam rocket with massive bombing at the 
'sources of fire.'" 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I. "Unreasonable proposal" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (05/24): "In 
lieu of military or political solutions and lacking a ruling party 
with which to negotiate, it seems the only chance to halt the 
deterioration we are witnessing is the effort to curb the smuggling 
of arms into Gaza.  Whether this is achieved by the Israel Defense 
Forces or with the help of other countries, the arms-flow must be 
contained as the driving force behind the conflagration.  A 
temporary cease-fire will provide Palestinian militants with time to 
amass weapons and develop longer-range ballistic capabilities, which 
would constitute a veritable threat to Israel.  Israel has no reason 
to comply with such claims, even if they are expressed by the 
chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and even if 
they stem from good intentions.... For years, the Israeli left 
advocated helping to consolidate the moderate Palestinian forces, 
which have meanwhile lost what remained of their former strength. 
The penury inhabitants of Gaza are suffering offers a rich nursery 
for various armed militant factions, whose hatred of Israel and the 
constant war against it constitute their sole raison d'etre and the 
only purpose of life.  And in that respect, any military action 
against Gaza will vicariously serve to harm Israel." 
 
II. "The End of A Path" 
 
Columnist Akiva Eldar wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (05/24): "To embark on a new path, Israel must take a big 
step forward, along the route charted by the Arab League's peace 
initiative. Opening a channel to Damascus, whether secret or 
explicit, via which Israel would assure Syria that an accord on the 
Golan would not lag behind an agreement on the Palestinian 
territories, would not just calm the northern front; Khaled Meshal's 
host could also exert more long-term influence on the southern front 
than a few Israeli air attacks on Gaza weapons laboratories.  Hamas' 
violent clashes with Fatah in the streets of Gaza are nothing more 
than a dress rehearsal for the great confrontation the group 
anticipates in June and July.  The attempt to blend a religious 
movement (whose ideology does not allow it to recognize a Jewish 
state) and a secular national movement (which has internalized the 
limits of its power) did not succeed.  Sooner or later, whether 
through gun slits or the slits of ballot boxes, the Palestinians 
will receive another opportunity to choose which path they prefer. 
The Israelis will, too." 
 
III. "Iran and Gaza" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (05/24): 
"Hamas thinks it can escalate its way to a range of achievements. It 
already sees Israelis fleeing and attempting to protect themselves 
from its rockets, and our prime minister saying that there are 'no 
simple solutions' to the problem.  It sees that countries like Japan 
and Norway have not rescinded their announced desire to aid the 
Hamas government directly, that international aid to the 
Palestinians still stands at record highs since Hamas's election, 
and that Fatah -- though some of its leaders call for ending the 
Kassam attacks -- remains inside the Hamas-led 'unity 
government.'.... There is much that Israel should be urging the 
international community to do, both to raise the pressure against 
Hamas directly and on Iran for actively working to spark a new 
regional conflagration.  On May 21, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 
said that Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel are 'completely 
unacceptable and violate international law.'  We cannot expect the 
world to come to our side if we do not demand that specific actions 
be taken to back such words and aid a nation under attack." 
 
IV. "Enough Populism" 
 
Op-ed columnist Yael Paz-Melamed opined in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (05/24): "Someone here has gone crazy, and it's not us, the 
public.  It's time to stop the raging populism that is enveloping 
Sderot residents from all directions.  It's time to tell them the 
truth, difficult and painful and intolerable as it may be.  It is 
impossible to protect completely a city of 23,000 residents within a 
reasonable time.  And the even harder truth is that right now, as 
well as in the foreseeable future, there is no military solution to 
the Kassam rocket fire.  If there were, the IDF would have found it, 
and since there are no diplomatic talks going on now, there will 
also be no diplomatic solution.  So what do we have? We have interim 
solutions, small consolations.  Such as spending hundreds of 
millions of shekels to fortify what can be fortified. Or massive 
economic aid to the residents so that they are somewhat able to 
survive this period, and strengthening the entire mental support 
system for the residents, and taking them, in an orderly way, for 
various rests.  Only if Sderot residents know exactly what they face 
is there a chance that they will hang on and organize as they 
should.  It will be hell for each and every one of them, but at 
least they won't expect paradise." 
 
¶V. "No Choice But to Use a Heavy Hand" 
 
Former Justice Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid opined in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv (05/24): "What would the Americans do were the 
Mexicans to fire rockets on San Antonio? What would the Russians do 
were the Ukrainians to fire rockets on Moscow? ... Would they also 
be prepared to take quietly what the residents of Sderot have had to 
take on a daily basis?  ... Or would they bomb and shell and destroy 
and kill until the Mexicans, or the Ukrainians, stopped shooting and 
begged for a bit of peace and quiet? Is there any doubt about 
that?.... In order for the Palestinian population to rise up against 
the people firing Kassam rockets we are going to have to respond to 
every Kassam rocket with massive bombing at the 'sources of fire.' 
It is true that this course of action will cause damage, suffering 
and death among the civilian population.  It is true that it runs 
against the grain of our humane sentiments.  It is true that the 
television footage out of Gaza will raise an outcry in public 
opinion throughout the world against us.  It is true that the UN and 
the other powers will apply heavy pressure on us.  All of those 
troubles put together do not outweigh the fact that a country ceases 
to be sovereign when it allows its neighbor to bomb it.... If there 
were even the smallest chance that this enormous restraint would 
bring peace any closer I might think differently.  But the fact that 
we regard with such indulgence attacks on our population in the 
northern Negev does not bring peace any closer; it pushes it farther 
away. Because it signals to the Palestinians that it is possible to 
attack us and ultimately to defeat us one step at a time.... He who 
refrains today from using a heavy hand will need a far heavier hand 
in the future." 
JONES