VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2050/01 1841029
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031029Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2079
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 2409
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 9121
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2443
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3212
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 2430
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0366
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 3168
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0041
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0513
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 7104
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4520
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 9436
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 3606
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 5549
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 7297
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002050 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
Israeli media covered Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to 
the US.   Ha'aretz reported that Presidents Bush and Putin announced 
following their meeting on Monday that they "stand together" on the 
Iranian nuclear question, however they did not elaborate further. 
Ha'aretz noted that the Bush administration and US intelligence 
services believe that this round of Security Council discussions on 
economic sanctions against Iran will determine whether this strategy 
is likely to succeed.  Other media said that Putin's visit to Bush's 
Kennebunkport retreat brought few achievements. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel has relayed messages to 
Morocco's King Mohamed VI in recent week urging him to travel to 
Ramallah and meet PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas to boost 
Abbas's standing.  The Jerusalem Post also cited Jerusalem's 
assessment that the Egyptian and Jordanian FMs, who in May announced 
their intention to come to Israel as representatives of the Arab 
League Initiative, were unlikely to come until the situation in the 
is resolved. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the US Senate version of the Foreign Aid 
legislation for 2008 includes an amendment that would prevent Israel 
from purchasing cluster bombs with US military aid.  The daily also 
reported that Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the head of the 
Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and 
Related Programs, was trying to downgrade American aid to Israel. 
Leahy ultimately failed when other members of the committee told him 
the changes he introduced were unacceptable. 
 
Ha'aretz Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner reported that the US 
is rethinking the two-state solution.  According to Ha'aretz, some 
senior administration officials have begun to ask what would happen 
if the current strategy does not work.   The newspaper reported that 
"mainstream groups," including many senior Fatah members, are 
weighing the Jordanian option for solving the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict.  Ha'aretz reported that a Palestinian source close to 
Abbas told the newspaper that he was not "frightened" by these 
ideas, however, "this is a sensitive matter.  Of course, it is 
difficult to address it publicly."   Ha'aretz quoted Jordan's King 
Abdullah II as saying during in an interview on Sunday that Jordan 
rejects the "formula of confederation and federation and we believe 
that proposing this issue at this specific point in time is a 
conspiracy against both Palestine and Jordan." 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh as 
saying on Monday that IDF projects vital to counter Iran are being 
held up by lack of funding. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Olmert as saying on Monday that it is 
worthwhile to "increase the margins of risk" in exchange  for the 
diplomatic achievements that Israel will gain in moving forward with 
negotiations with the PA.  Olmert was talking before the Knesset's 
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday thousands of Palestinians left 
stranded on the Egyptian side of the border will be allowed to cross 
through the Kerem Shalom crossing.  Ha'aretz quoted a senior 
Palestinian security source as saying that Hamas has set up a 
dormant infrastructure of its "executive force" and that Fatah is 
now working to dismantle this organization.  Major media reported 
that Hamas planned to take over east Jerusalem.  The media reported 
that the Shin Bet recently arrested nine senior Hamas activists who 
started organizing young men in the city for military action. 
Maariv said that eight of the apprehended youths carry Israeli ID 
cards and that the Hamas ministers who were arrested last year are 
also involved. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday in Jenin IDF troops killed 
Muhammad al-Hija, one of the heads of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs 
Brigades, who was thought to be the deputy to Zacharia Zubeidi. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that a day after assuming his position as Defense 
Minister, Ehud Barak ordered the dismantling of structures, mobile 
homes, and shipping containers erected in the West Bank without 
permits. 
 
Israeli media (lead story in Yediot) once again reported that the 
committee implementing recommendations from the Winograd Commission 
is primarily focusing on bolstering the National Security Council in 
the Prime Minister's Office.  Israel Radio also reported that the 
committee headed by former IDF chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, 
calls for strengthening the "diplomatic-security cabinet" and the 
Foreign Ministry's role in decision-making.  The radio reported that 
PM Ehud Olmert put his senior aide Yoram Turbowicz in charge of 
implementing Lipkin-Shahak's recommendations. Major media reported 
that on Monday Acting President of Israel Dalia Itzik invited 
Hizbullah to begin negotiations with Israel on a 'fair exchange' for 
the release of the two soldiers kidnapped last summer.  She also 
called on Hizbullah to show Israel some sign of life from the two 
kidnapped IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.  Itzik 
criticized Olmert for not forming a national unity government during 
the Second Lebanon War.  Itzik was speaking at the official state 
ceremony marking the first anniversary of the war, at Jerusalem's 
Mount Herzl National Cemetery.  The media reported that members of 
the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee from both sides 
of the political spectrum, as well as members of bereaved families, 
criticized Olmert for not  participating in the memorial 
ceremonies. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel has abandoned plans to build 
a major new bridge to the Mughrabi Gate adjacent to Jerusalem's 
Western Wall. 
 
Major media expects Olmert to appoint Haim Ramon as minister in the 
Prime Minister's Office and Vice PM today.  Maariv reported on bad 
blood between Ramon and Roni Bar-On, the Interior and newly 
appointed finance minister. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Palestinian national poet and writer Mahmoud 
Darwish is expected to take part in a literary event in Haifa on 
July 15, for the first time since leaving Israel 35 yeas ago. 
Ha'aretz reported that Iman Ouda, the Secretary of the Hadash Party, 
told the newspaper on Monday that the Defense Ministry has permitted 
Darwish to attend the event. 
 
All media reported that on Monday the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court 
sentenced nuclear whistleblower Mordecai Vanunu to six months 
imprisonment.  Vanunu was convicted of violating terms of his parole 
-- by meeting journalists without approval -- no less than 14 
times. 
 
Leading media reported that Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu 
intends to convene his party's Central Committee next week to set 
the date for the Likud leadership elections -- most likely in 
August.  Yediot quoted senior Likud members as saying that Netanyahu 
wants to prevent his rivals -- principally former FM Silvan Shalom 
-- from having time to organize their campaigns.  Moshe Feiglin, the 
head of far-right wing of Likud, is also expected to compete. 
Maariv reported that three months ago the US military in Iraq 
arrested Ali Musa Dakdouk, the former head of Hizbullah's 
operations.  US authorities only announced his capture on Monday. 
Major media cited the US claim that Iran is using Hizbullah as 
"proxy" to organize insurgents in Iraq. 
 
Major media reported that the body of Thomas K. Mooney, the US 
Defense Attach in Cyprus, was found 50 km west of Nicosia on 
Monday. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Dr. Richard Herman, Chancellor of the University of 
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as saying at a meeting with Education 
Minister Yuli Tamir on Monday that the main obstacle to student 
exchanges is the State Department's travel advisory against visiting 
Israel.  Herman proposed that the members of the delegation from 
American universities visiting Israel, approach the State Department 
with a request to re-examine its recommendations.  Ha'aretz also 
quoted Laurie Wexler, Executive Director of the American Jewish 
Committee's (AJC) Project Interchange, as saying that the visit will 
encourage encounters between scholars and allow people in leadership 
positions to pass on information and to learn first-hand about 
Israel and its complexities. 
 
All media reported that on Monday at least nine people -- most of 
them Spanish tourists -- were killed in a car bomb attack in Yemen. 
 
Leading media quoted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as saying on 
Monday that Ashraf Mawan, who fell from his apartment window in 
London last week, was an Egyptian patriot and not a spy, and 
contrary to reports published in Israel, he did not warn Israel with 
of the Egyptian-Syrian offensive that started the Yom Kippur War. 
The media reported that Sherif al-Filali, an Egyptian engineer 
convicted in 2002 of spying for Israel, has died in a Cairo jail of 
a possible heart attack. 
 
Ha'aretz presented the results of Tel Aviv University's Peace Index 
poll conducted among Israelis on June 26-27: 
-Seventy percent of the Israeli Jewish public presently support a 
peace agreement with the Palestinians based on the "two states for 
two peoples" formula (26.5 percent oppose it and the rest do not 
know).  However, as for the question of whether or not it is 
possible to reach an agreement in the near future, 39 percent 
replied that it is possible and 55 percent that it is not 
- About half the public thinks that the Abbas government will be 
unable to prevent a Hamas takeover of the West Bank even if it 
receives assistance from Israel and other countries (43 percent of 
people think it will be able to prevent it and the rest do not 
know).  Despite and perhaps because of this, 54 percent support 
providing assistance to the Abbas government (compared to 41 percent 
who oppose it and 5 percent who do not know).  The overwhelming 
majority (67 percent), however, would condition such assistance on 
the Abbas government fulfilling the Israeli government's prior 
demands such as recognizing Israel and putting a stop to terrorism. 
Only 22.5 percent support assistance without conditions, 4 percent 
oppose it under any conditions, and the rest do not know. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Damaging Gazan infrastructure, 
in accordance with the suggestion of hot-tempered Israelis, would be 
a gift to Hamas and to Iran." 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "Friends of 
Israel in Congress, the Bush administration, and the US policy 
community would be happy to work with Israel to counteract 
[Secretary] Rice's failed policies.  Unfortunately, Israeli leaders 
capable of appreciating and acting on this fact are nowhere to be 
found in the Olmert government." 
 
Berlin correspondent Eldad Beck wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It is now too late to change UNIFIL's 
mandate.  The facts, which have already been established on the 
ground, cannot be uprooted without starting a military clash with 
Hizbullah -- a clash that no one is prepared to pay the price for." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Gaza Still Linked to Israel" 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (7/3): "The [Israel-Gaza] border 
fence symbolizes separation, but not total disconnection. Israel and 
Gaza are like two parents who continue together to raise their 
children -- the Palestinians -- after their divorce.  The illusion 
that it is possible to direct Gaza westward, toward Egypt, has 
dissipated.  The only unlimited resource in Egypt is poverty.  The 
Gazan economy is still linked to that of Israel.... Israel is not 
being charitable to the Gaza residents.  It is being good to itself; 
the ethical and the realistic correspond.  Behind Hamas, as behind 
Hizbullah, stands Iran, in a military, ideological and financial 
campaign/war.  In the currency war, the rial against the shekel, 
leaving the Gazan playing field to Iran will lead to a lethal 
implementation of Realpolitik.  Damaging Gazan infrastructure, in 
accordance with the suggestion of hot-tempered Israelis, would be a 
gift to Hamas and to Iran.  As opposed to the day-to-day security 
threats, the big, long-term risk must be considered: If the Iranian 
regime is not replaced, Tehran will be here." 
 
II.  "Olmert's International Coalitions" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (7/3): "The US 
is presently considering a plan that would allow Iran to continue to 
enrich uranium without facing effective international sanctions as a 
result.  The tragedy of this situation is that a coalition could be 
brought together that would be capable of meeting both the 
Palestinian and Iranian threats to Israel and global security. 
Friends of Israel in Congress, the Bush administration, and the US 
policy community would be happy to work with Israel to counteract 
[Secretary] Rice's failed policies.  Unfortunately, Israeli leaders 
capable of appreciating and acting on this fact are nowhere to be 
found in the Olmert government." 
 
III.  "A Toothless UNIFIL" 
 
Berlin correspondent Eldad Beck wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/3): "The 'strengthened' UNIFIL can 
point to two achievements: The presence of UNIFIL prevented -- 
apparently and for the time being -- the collapse of the shaky 
Siniora government despite the series of political assassinations of 
its supporters, and relative quiet has been maintained along the 
border between Israel and Lebanon since it arrived.... UNIFIL troops 
[might later] find themselves stuck between the Israeli rock and the 
Lebanese hard place.  Military experts in Berlin have already begun 
to sketch response scenarios to such a possibility, in keeping with 
past UN experience.  One option is the 'Rwanda scenario': The calls 
by the commander of the UN forces in the country to be given backup 
forces to prevent genocide were not heeded, and when the massacres 
spiraled out of control, UN forces stood idly by and watched the 
turn of events without moving, since their mandate did not permit 
them to intervene.  There is the 'Croatia scenario': In the course 
of the civil war that caused Yugoslavia to crumble, the Serb 
minority in Croatia began to organize to ethnically cleanse its 
territory.  The UN sent large numbers of troops in helicopters to 
the scene.  The Serbs were deterred and capitulated.  And there is, 
of course, the 'abandon everything scenario': In light of the danger 
of renewed war, the UN troops will simply pack up and return home. 
Waiting for the clash is very frustrating, but the international 
community is responsible for creating this trap.  It is now too late 
to change UNIFIL's mandate.  The facts, which have already been 
established on the ground, cannot be uprooted without starting a 
military clash with Hizbullah -- a clash that no one is prepared to 
pay the price for." 
 
JONES