VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2063/01 1861114
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051114Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2102
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 2416
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 9128
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2456
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3219
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 2437
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0375
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 3175
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0048
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0520
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 7111
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4527
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 9443
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 3613
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 5556
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 7315
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002063 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
Major Israeli media (lead story in The Jerusalem Post) quoted Hamas 
spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri as saying on Wednesday that the release of 
kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston sends a message to Israel 
that the Islamist movement is prepared to strike a deal for abducted 
IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit.  The Jerusalem Post quoted an official in the 
Prime Minster's Office as saying that Israel welcomed Johnston's 
safe return, but that "Hamas cannot masquerade as anything else but 
the terrorist organization whose members continue to hold our 
captive son, Gilad Shalit."  Abu Mutfana -- a leader in the Army of 
Islam, the group that kidnapped Johnston -- was quoted as saying on 
Wednesday in an interview broadcast on Channel 10-TV that Shalit's 
kidnappers have transferred him to the custody of Hamas, because the 
Army of Islam had been "busy with other things."   However, a 
Channel 10-TV commentator said that Hamas had offered Abu Mutfana's 
group money and weapons in exchange for Shalit.  Media reported that 
far-right groups demand that Jews who were convicted of murdering 
Arabs, or Haggai Amir who conspired with his brother Yigal to 
assassinate Yitzhak Rabin, be freed as part of any deal to exchange 
terrorists for Shalit. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli and Palestinian 
government officials met on Monday to discuss renewing security 
cooperation, which essentially stopped in September 2000.  According 
to Israeli sources, these talks could lead to a return of security 
control over West Bank areas to the PA.  On Wednesday, Ha'aretz 
reported that IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told the Knesset's 
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that over time PA 
Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas and the head of Hamas's political 
wing, Khaled Mashal will engage in dialog, and that there will be no 
separation between Gaza and the West Bank. 
 
Electronic media reported that IDF troops operating in the Gaza 
Strip shot and killed at least four Palestinian gunmen overnight. 
 
Ha'aretz and other major Israeli media quoted several Labor Party 
ministers as saying that Wednesday's cabinet reshuffle merely starts 
the countdown to the end of PM Ehud Olmert's term, and that newly 
appointed Vice Premier Haim Ramon will be the one who will lead the 
process.  Yediot said that through the reshuffle, Olmert succeeded 
in forming the basis for future political struggles. 
 
The electronic media reported that this morning Israel transferred 
four Jordanians convicted of murder and sentenced to life 
imprisonment back to Jordan, where they will apparently be released 
in 18 months.  On Wednesday the High Court of Justice rejected a 
petition to overrule the cabinet's decision. 
 
On Wednesday Yediot cited a claim by the Syrian government newspaper 
Al-Thawra that Syria is preparing for war with Israel this summer. 
Earlier this week the Arabic-language Israel newspaper Assennara 
also carried this report. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli defense officials told the 
newspaper that Hamas's threat to open fire at Palestinians stranded 
in Egypt has thwarted Israeli plans to open the Kerem Shalom 
crossing to southern Gaza on Wednesday to let the travelers return 
to their homes. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted a report issued on Wednesday by Gisha, the 
Legal Center for Freedom, as saying that the virtual isolation 
imposed on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's takeover in June has almost 
destroyed the Palestinian economy and that it threatens to turn its 
1.4 million residents into charity cases. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a diplomatic source told the 
newspaper that Morocco wants to be more active in Middle East 
diplomacy and that its ties with Israel have deepened.  The source 
was talking after the foreign ministers from the two countries met 
in Paris on Wednesday. 
 
Citing AP, The Jerusalem Post quoted a "police official" as saying 
that Egyptian border guards shot a Sudanese refugee and arrested two 
others early on Wednesday as they tried to cross from Egypt into 
Israel.  Twenty-six other refugees succeeded in illegally crossing 
the border. 
 
Maariv reported that former NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong, who was 
the first man to walk on the moon, will soon visit Israel. 
 
Maariv quoted Spanish authorities as saying on Wednesday that 1,100 
rifles and guns were found on board a Nicaragua-bound ship 
originating from Haifa and anchoring in a southern Spanish port. 
 
The Jerusalem Post published a Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) wire 
report as saying that following a string of conservative rulings in 
the closing weeks of this year's US Supreme Court session, some 
Jewish officials are suggesting they may be forced to abandon their 
decades-long strategy of relying on the courts to protect liberal 
gains on a host of issues 
 
The Jerusalem Post printed a JTA wire report that several Jewish 
organizations have criticized the US Senate for failing to move 
forward on immigration reform. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Regional correspondent Ronni Shaked wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Abu Mazen called day and night for the 
release [of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston], but to no avail.  And 
now, Hamas was the one that brought about his release." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "No one 
-- including the Arab states and Europe, let alone the US -- wants 
Hamas to succeed.  So why is Israel sustaining Hamastan?" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The strategic environment is not promising 
in light of the split in the Palestinian Authority and the American 
veto of talks with Syria." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Uri Yablonka wrote in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Israel's aspiration for a diplomatic arrangement 
in cooperation with Arab League countries has hit an impasse." 
 
Very liberal columnist Gideon Levy wrote in Ha'aretz: "Would it 
occur to anyone to appoint Bush, on his retirement, as an envoy of 
the Quartet?  Of course not.  The same goes for his partner." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Hamas's First Accomplishment" 
Regional correspondent Ronni Shaked wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/5): "Abu Mazen called day and night for 
the release [of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston], but to no avail. 
And now, Hamas was the one that brought about his release and is 
also arresting drug dealers and restoring personal safety to the 
Gaza residents.   Johnston was in captivity when Hamas took over the 
Gaza Strip.  After their victory, the Hamas leaders ordered his 
immediate release in order to show the West that it controls the 
Gaza Strip.... Hamas's PR display proved itself when both the 
British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary praised its critical 
role in Johnston's release.  Hamas was also aiming for praise from 
the old-new guy in the region, Quartet envoy Tony Blair, and the 
Europeans, whom they expect to lift the political and economic 
siege....  It became known on Wednesday that the British Foreign 
Office had requested that Israel allow a Palestinian wanted man who 
had found refuge in Jordan -- and who they believed could help the 
release efforts -- to enter the West Bank and from there go to Gaza. 
 Israel agreed.  Gaza sources said on Wednesday that despite the 
difference between the kidnappings, it should be hoped that 
Johnston's release will help advance a deal to release Palestinian 
prisoners in return for soldier Gilad Shalit." 
 
II.  "Cut Off Hamas" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (7/5): 
"The release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston is a happy 
occasion, especially given how differently such episodes have ended 
in the past.   The contrast with another unprovoked kidnapping, 
however, could not be more stark: Hamas claims to have made 
Herculean efforts to release a hostage it did not hold, yet refuses 
to release Gilad Shalit, a hostage it took and does hold.  The clear 
message Hamas is trying to convey by Johnston's release is that it 
is in charge.... The [Israeli] government claims it is doing 
everything to secure Shalit's release.  That is not true.  In 
theory, Israel could bomb Gaza until Shalit is released and other 
demands are met.  This is what other countries, including 
democracies, would do without batting an eyelash under similar 
circumstances.... We are not suggesting that Israel take actions 
that could cause [large] numbers of civilian casualties.  But it is 
one thing for Israel to decide not to use 'disproportionate' and 
lethal force in self-defense and quite another to rule out even the 
range of non-lethal measures that our available to defend our 
interests.... No one -- including the Arab states and Europe, let 
alone the US -- wants Hamas to succeed.  So why is Israel sustaining 
Hamastan?" 
III.  "The Government of Broken Dreams" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (7/5): "Someone who needs every cabinet vote 
to survive in his seat will not take chances with controversial 
decisions.  In any case, the strategic environment is not promising 
in light of the split in the Palestinian Authority and the American 
veto of talks with Syria.... What can be achieved during this 
twilight period?  The new Olmert government will have to create a 
cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza, under the aegis of the vain talk of 
'strengthening Abu Mazen' in the West Bank; to rehabilitate the 
Israel Defense Forces, while being supremely careful to avoid a 
military confrontation with Syria; and to lead a national and 
international effort, together with Netanyahu, against the nuclear 
threat from Iran.  Success will be measured in the preservation of 
economic stability and defense and in preventing problems and 
escalation on the borders.  The initiatives, the changes and 
innovation will apparently be left to the next government." 
 
IV.  "Prime Minister Willing, But Saudis Admit: Saudi Initiative Is 
Dead" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Uri Yablonka wrote in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv (7/4): "Israel's aspiration for a diplomatic 
arrangement in cooperation with Arab League countries has hit an 
impasse.  Senior political sources in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and 
Jordan have said in closed conversations with senior Israeli 
officials that the Saudi initiative, which Prime Minister Ehud 
Olmert had viewed as a basis for an agreement, is dead for now, and 
that, in effect, as long as the chaos in the PA continues, there is 
no point in pursuing this.  These statements were made to senior 
political and security officials, in the security establishment and 
the Foreign Ministry.  These, in effect, complete a series of 
indications and previous announcements by these countries in which 
they basically dissociate themselves, at least for now, from the 
Saudi initiative.  According to the new principles of the Arab 
governments, Israel should bolster PA Chairman Abu Mazen, and any 
multilateral step should have the consent of all the countries in 
the Arab League.... Prime Minister [Olmert's] hope was that an 
agreement with Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia would nail down the 
Palestinians and compel them to agree to a peace agreement.  This 
was on the assumption that the bilateral channel with the 
Palestinians would not be making progress.  At the beginning of May, 
weeks before Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Tzipi 
Livni visited Cairo, where she met, among others, with President 
Hosni Mubarak.  The achievement she obtained with him was apparently 
dramatic: for the first time, teams led by the foreign ministers of 
Egypt and Jordan would come to Israel, in their roles as 
representatives of all the Arab League countries.  Since then, 
officials in Israel have been waiting for the teams to arrive, but 
the Hamas takeover of Gaza and the new political situation of two 
Palestinian states, an extreme one in Gaza and a moderate one in 
Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank], changed the situation.... 
According to Israel's analysis, Saudi Arabia is concerned that the 
isolation of Hamas and the continued boycott against it will further 
increase the alliance between Hamas and Iran.  Because of concern 
over this alliance, the Saudis are completely removing their 
involvement in the process on the grounds that the right strategy 
must be a warm embrace between Fatah and Hamas and not the 
opposite." 
 
¶V.  "Blair Go Home" 
 
Very liberal columnist Gideon Levy wrote in Ha'aretz (7/5): "George 
Bush's international failures are also Blair's.  Blair's beguiling 
smile cannot mitigate his responsibility for the state of the world 
and for the pointless bloodshed fanned by the fatal Bush-Blair duo. 
Just as nobody would dream of expecting Bush, who is obstinately 
preventing any progress with Syria, to act for peace in the Middle 
East, nobody would expect his all too loyal ally to do so.  Would it 
occur to anyone to appoint Bush, on his retirement, as an envoy of 
the Quartet?  Of course not.  The same goes for his partner." 
 
JONES