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DE RUEHTV #1579/01 1511059
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P 311059Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001579 
 
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 
 
 
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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is examining the 
possibility of resuming peace talks with Syria through a third 
party. According to a government source there are no direct contacts 
with Syrian officials but a very serious assessment is being 
conducted. The source added that the examination is focusing on what 
will Israel gain from giving up the Golan Heights. 
 
Yediot reported that PM Olmert is slated to meet US President George 
Bush in Washington in three weeks. 
 
Maariv reported that Israel and the US will begin secret talks in 
Washington next week in order to coordinate and progress the fight 
against the Iranian nuclear program. The newspaper reported that 
Minister of Transportation and Road Safety Shaul Mofaz will be in 
charge of the strategic dialogue. 
 
All media reported that six Qassam rockets landed in Israel on 
Wednesday, two of them hit two apartments causing damage. No 
injuries were reported. Israel radio reported that two more Qassam 
rockets were fired at Israel early Thursday morning. IAF struck in 
the northern Gaza Strip Thursday morning injuring two Palestinians. 
 
Yediot reported that Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor 
Lieberman is preparing a political initiative to define the Gaza 
Strip as an independent, hostile political entity, separate from the 
West Bank. According to the newspaper Lieberman's plan includes 
cutting off the power and water supplies and closing all the 
crossings to the Gaza Strip. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Home Front Command plans to 
launch a publicity campaign to prepare the Israeli public for war. 
This action comes due to the possibility of a conflict with Syria 
and Hizbullah and with Iran racing towards nuclear power. 
 
Leading media cited Defense Minister Amir Peretz and outgoing Labor 
chairman as saying on Wednesday that Israel must accept the Saudi 
initiative as a starting point for negotiations and not ignore the 
voices of peace coming from Syria. He added that Israel must not 
ignore the threat of war. 
 
Leading media reported that current Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz 
will most probably announce early next week that he supports Labor 
Party candidate Ami Ayalon to be the next party's chairman. 
 
All media reported that Britain's University and College Union (UCU) 
voted Wednesday to promote a boycott of Israeli academic 
institutions, protesting Israel's policy towards the Palestinians. 
 
Ha'aretz headlined that South Africa's largest trade union 
federation intends to launch a campaign against the Israeli 
occupation this week and that it will demand that Pretoria impose a 
boycott on all Israeli goods and break diplomatic relations 
 
Maariv reported that the US administration is promoting a bill that 
would increase dramatically the number of H1B visas granting skilled 
professionals the opportunity to live and work in the US. The reform 
would also change the priorities in granting Green Cards to people 
who wish to immigrate to the US. According to the paper, up till now 
Green Cards were given only to people with family relations and now 
they would be given to individuals who have needed and unique 
professions. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited European Parliament President Hans-Gert 
Potering as saying to Israeli Knesset Members that the EU will stand 
with Israel against any threat from Iran. 
 
Ha'aretz cited a senior Defense Ministry official as saying that it 
will be impossible to comply with the High Court's ruling to 
reinforce all classrooms in Sderot and in the communities around 
Gaza by the beginning of the coming school year. 
 
Leading media reported that the Public Committee Against Torture in 
Israel published Wednesday a harsh report in which it accuses Shin 
Bet security service and police of severely torturing Palestinian 
security suspects. 
 
All media reported that the UN Security Council voted to set up an 
international tribunal to prosecute the murder of former Lebanese 
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri two years ago. 
 
Yediot reported that ammunition was found in a train that was 
attacked on Turkish soil by Kurds. The train was traveling between 
Iran and Syria and according to a Turkish source the weapons' final 
destination was Hizbullah in Lebanon. 
 
 
 
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Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in an editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "only it, America, can 
put Iran where it belongs ... in all that relates to nuclear 
affairs.  A big danger is lying at our door and if the beloved 
America cannot save us, who will?" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
failure to systematically hold states accountable for terrorism is 
the fundamental weakness of the international response to the 
Islamofascist threat since 9/11.  Until this changes, new conflicts, 
like the current one in northern Lebanon, will continue to 'burst 
out.'" 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶1. "The Great Fiasco" 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in an editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (05/31): "Policy makers 
and decision takers in Washington are frightened ... They have no 
answer to what is happening in Iraq. Despite brain storming, the 
solution is getting further and further away.  The cowboy ruling 
from Texas that landed in the White House about six years ago put 
down on the great American a hard blow. True, they 'finished' Saddam 
Hussein's 'career' ... but they did not think about the end.  Now 
the world geniuses are sitting in the Pentagon, the CIA, the State 
Department, and the White House and are breaking their heads what to 
do? ... and until they find out if at all, American families 
continue to receive every day their loved ones in coffins draped in 
the US flag.... We would not write about this hurtful issue if we 
didn't need the US so desperately: only it, America, can put Iran 
where it belongs ... in all that relates to nuclear affairs.  A big 
danger is lying at our door and if the beloved America cannot save 
us, who will?" 
 
¶2. "Hold Terror States Responsible" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (05/31): 
"Global jihadist terrorism ... can and must be fought by governments 
against the terrorist groups directly, but must ultimately be 
understood as a weapon in the hands of states.  Though confronting 
these states may not be sufficient to stop such terrorism, it is 
certainly futile to fight terrorism while allowing state sponsors to 
escape responsibility and punishment.  This is exactly why the 
Hariri tribunal is not only important, but a concept that should be 
expanded to include not only assassinations, but support for 
terrorism generally.... The failure to systematically hold states 
accountable for terrorism is the fundamental weakness of the 
international response to the Islamofascist threat since 9/11. 
Until this changes, new conflicts, like the current one in northern 
Lebanon, will continue to 'burst out.'" 
JONES