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DE RUEHTV #1572/01 1501012
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301012Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1355
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RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 8959
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2228
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3030
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 2245
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0128
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 2982
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 9863
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0338
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001572 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is slated to 
meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas probably next 
Thursday. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the security cabinet will meet Wednesday in 
order to discuss the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The cabinet will 
examine acceptable terms for a cease-fire and to approve gradual 
escalation of IDF's activity should the cease-fire efforts fail. 
 
Ha'aretz internet site cited Hamas Damascus-based political leader 
Khaled Meshal as saying in an interview to the British "The 
Guardian" that Hamas intends to continue its attacks on Israel 
despite the IDF operations in the Gaza Strip. 
 
All media dealt with the results of the Labor Party primary 
elections.  Leading media noted that current Labor Party leader Amir 
Peretz can become the one to help one of the sides (Ami Ayalon and 
Ehud Barak) win the second round. Thus, most op-ed editorials call 
upon the two to avoid deals and intrigues. 
 
All media noted one of the big surprises of the Labor Party primary. 
Thirty three percent of the Arab sector voted for former prime 
minister Ehud Barak (34 percent voted for Peretz) despite him being 
prime minister during the October 2000 riots in which 13 Israel 
Arabs were killed in clashes with the police. 
 
Leading media reported that the Israel Air Force killed two Hamas 
men early Wednesday in a strike on a group of gunners firing rockets 
at Israel from the northern Gaza Strip. 
 
All media reported that PM Olmert has spoken to the Knesset on 
Wednesday regarding the Winograd Committee interim report. In his 
speech he said that the Lebanon War was justified and its outcome 
dramatically improved Israel's strategic position. 
 
Maariv reported that the Israeli Ambassador to Guatemala has 
survived an attempted assassination last week when two people opened 
fire at an event he participated in. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Meretz MKs Avshalom Vilan and Zahava Gal-On 
have been promoting a diplomatic initiative to restore stability in 
Gaza. This initiative would give the Arab League responsibility for 
the coastal strip and install a multi-national force, in cooperation 
with the European Union. According to the newspaper the two MK's 
have already presented the initiative to senior Palestinian figures 
and foreign diplomats. 
 
All media reported that the High Court of Justice has decided and 
ordered on Tuesday that the state would provide all schools in 
Sderot and towns around the Gaza Strip with protective reinforcement 
by September 2007. 
 
Leading media reported that the Bank of Israel held a discussion on 
Tuesday whether to stop its publication of daily ???representative 
exchange rates. According to Yediot the inclination is leaning 
towards stopping publication of these rates in a year. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres has 
announced that he is running for presidency with the support of PM 
Olmert and the Kadima Party. The elections for presidency will be 
held on June 13, 2007. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the UN Security Council is expected too 
approve Wednesday the establishment of an international tribunal to 
try those responsible for the murders of former Lebanese prime 
minister Rafik Harriri and other political figures. 
 
Yediot reported that the Singaporean army has set up the first 
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) force in the world.  The newspaper 
reported that this UAV force is totally based on Israeli 
manufactured planes. 
 
POLLS: 
 
Yediot presented the results of a Mina Zemach (Dahaf Institute) poll 
conducted among registered Labor Party voters and 100 Amir Peretz 
voters: 
"Whom would you like to win in the second round of the Labor Party 
primary?" The answers: Ehud Barak: 44% (all voters), 22% (Peretz 
voters); Ami Ayalon: 46% (all voters), 48% (Peretz voters). 
 
Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling Institute 
survey among Labor Party voters: "Who would you vote for in the 
second round? " Ehud Barak: 42.2%;  39.5% with Peretz's support. Ami 
Ayalon: 44.3%;  40.3% with Peretz's support. Don't know/undecided: 
10.7%. 
Not planning to vote: 2.8%. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The combative sounds 
being made by the Labor Party candidates should not cause undue 
excitement.... Whether Barak is elected or Ayalon -- either of them 
will join Olmert's government.... This is the reason that no tension 
or vigilance were felt yesterday among Ehud Olmert's close aides." 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "But anyone 
who seeks to lead the Labor Party, and presumably also the country, 
must imbue his candidacy with a bit more content.... Two weeks are 
enough time to present positions.  Even if their media advisers want 
to blur and obscure the content, the candidates must not bow to this 
dictate." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶1. "Nothing to Worry About" 
 
Senior diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (05/30): "The combative 
sounds being made by the Labor Party candidates should not cause 
undue excitement.... Whether Barak is elected or Ayalon -- either of 
them will join Olmert's government.... This is the reason that no 
tension or vigilance were felt yesterday among Ehud Olmert's close 
aides.  As of now, Olmert and his people are not packing their bags, 
they are preparing for a move that is supposed to stabilize the 
government in the coming weeks.  If Ehud Barak wins in the second 
round of the elections, Olmert will offer him the seat of the 
defense minister in the Kirya.  Olmert intends to compensate Amir 
Peretz, who will vacate the Defense Ministry, with a social 
portfolio that will be tailored to fit him.... In the end, the tube 
of glue bonding together all the coalition partners has one name 
written on it in bold letters: Binyamin Netanyahu.  Neither Barak 
nor Lieberman has any interest in making a move that will pave 
Netanyahu's way back to the Prime Minister's Bureau." 
 
¶2. "More Content, Fewer Deals" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (05/30): "After 
his strategy of total silence led Ehud Barak to victory in the first 
round of the Labor leadership primary, it is hard to imagine that it 
will be possible to get him to talk before the second round.  But 
anyone who seeks to lead the Labor Party, and presumably also the 
country, must imbue his candidacy with a bit more content.  Ever 
since Barak quit politics for business, he has turned silence into 
an ideology.... It is an open secret that the Olmert government, 
despite its political stability, is incapable of advancing any 
initiative because it has lost the public's confidence.  If the new 
Labor leader dissolves into this nothingness, and his entire role 
shrinks to becoming defense minister and examining the chief of 
staff's military plans, the change at the top will be 
meaningless.... Barak left politics with the sentence 'there is no 
one to talk to' after his talks with Yasser Arafat failed.  Ayalon, 
in contrast, has never stopped talking with the Palestinians over 
the years, and he also headed the People's Voice initiative with 
Sari Nusseibeh.  In this field as well, we deserve to hear from both 
of them whether anything has changed in their positions and what 
they propose for rescuing the region from the cycle of violence. 
Two weeks are enough time to present positions.  Even if their media 
advisers want to blur and obscure the content, the candidates must 
not bow to this dictate." 
JONES