VZCZCXYZ0015
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2090/01 1901040
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P 091040Z JUL 07
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002090 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
The media reported that on Sunday the cabinet approved the release 
of 250 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas.  The prisoners will all be members of Fatah, 
residents of the West Bank, and they will have no "blood on their 
hands."  Their release is not expected to go into effect before next 
week. The cabinet also decided to set up a ministerial committee, 
headed by PM Olmert that will determine the identities of the 
prisoners that will be released.  Vice Premier Haim Ramon was 
appointed to head a task force that will coordinate the preparation 
of the final list.  The cabinet decision was opposed by seven 
ministers: Shaul Mofaz (Kadima), the four Shas ministers, and the 
two ministers of Yisrael Beiteinu.  Ha'aretz quoted Olmert as saying 
that he is convinced that Israel's gesture "may ... create the 
atmosphere that will ease the release" of Israeli soldiers detained 
by Hamas and Hizbullah.  Maariv cited Sergio di Gregorio, the 
Chairman of the Italian Senate's Defense Committee, as saying in an 
affidavit that outgoing Italian intelligence chief Niccolo Pollari 
has information about the abducted soldiers.  Israel Radio quoted an 
Egyptian source as saying in the London-based Al-Hayat that Olmert's 
representative Ofer Dekel handed Egypt a list of Hamas activists to 
be swapped for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit but that Hamas rejected it. 
Israel Radio also quoted Egypt's intelligence head Omar Suleiman as 
telling a delegation from the Meretz party to Cairo that efforts to 
release Shalit are continuing.  The radio reported that the Egyptian 
delegation will not return to Gaza for the moment. 
 
The media reported that on Sunday FM Tzipi Livni met with 
Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad, who is also functioning as PA foreign 
minister, to discuss "improving the lives of the Palestinian people, 
without compromising Israel's security," as well as the ways in 
which the Arab world could play a role in the political process. 
Livni was quoted as saying after the meeting that she was impressed 
with the Palestinian government's and Fayyad's personal "resolve to 
change the reality."  She was quoted as saying that she was 
impressed that he is serious and ready to take action.  Last week, 
Fayyad met with Defense Minister Barak. Ha'aretz reported that early 
next week, while US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is visiting 
the Middle East, a meeting has been scheduled between Chairman Abbas 
and PM Ehud Olmert.   Ha'aretz quoted political sources in Jerusalem 
as saying on Sunday that talks are being held in preparation for a 
possible visit to Israel by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Abu 
al-Gheit and Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelelah al-Khatib. The two 
will be visiting Israel as representatives of the Arab League and 
will formally present the Arab peace initiative. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that in Amman on Sunday Jordan's King Abdullah II 
conferred with Mohammad al-Saqr, the Speaker of the Arab Parliament 
-- a representative forum for Arab League member states based in 
Damascus -- and voiced support for a move by Arab lawmakers to bring 
about reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. 
 
On Sunday Maariv presented "accumulating signs" that Syria is 
preparing for war with Israel, but also introduced 
counter-arguments. 
 
On Sunday Yediot reported on revelations supposedly made by Iranian 
General Ali Reza Askari, who disappeared in Istanbul last February 
and apparently defected to the West.  This included exposing a 
second Iranian uranium enrichment track based on relatively old 
technology by using laser beams by adding various chemicals to make 
the technology more advanced. 
 
On Sunday Ha'aretz reported that an Arab-Israeli attorney was 
appointed as a prosecutor to the International Criminal Tribunal for 
the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which is based in The Hague.  Marwan 
Dalal, an attorney with Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority 
Rights in Israel, will begin his work at the international court 
later this month.  Dalal will be the first Arab Israeli to serve in 
such an important international legal forum, in which only a few 
Israelis have ever served. 
 
Ha'aretz cited the belief of officials in PM Ehud Olmert's Bureau 
that if Defense Minister and Labor Chairman Ehud Barak continues to 
try to differentiate himself from Olmert and promote himself as a 
candidate for premier, Olmert will have to "call him to order."  The 
officials were quoted as saying that Labor will have to support 
across-the-board 600-million shekel (around USD 141.6 million) 
budget cut that was approved on Sunday by the cabinet.  Finance 
Minister Roni Bar-On originally proposed a 1.3 billion shekel 
(around USD 307 million) budget cut. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited the belief of refugees from Sudan that it 
is only a matter of days before the government begins deporting them 
to Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak has promised they will be 
safe.  The newspaper reported that Amnesty International and UN 
representatives have advised PM Olmert against sending the 
asylum-seekers back to Egypt, where local Arab and Nubian armed 
groups have attacked the mostly Christian refugees.  All media 
covered the tribulations of the African refugees in Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel's Histadrut Labor Federation 
will cut all ties with the Transport and General Workers Union, the 
800,000-member British union that last week joined the growing 
roster of British trade unions demanding boycotts of Israel. 
 
Over the weekend the media reported that on Saturday Israel joined 
Al Gore's Live Earth international music extravaganza with a concert 
at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv sponsored by Channel 10-TV. 
 
On Sunday major media reported that officials in Washington have 
confirmed that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in 
Israel and the PA on July 16 fro her fist visit to the region since 
Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip. 
 
Leading media quoted Palestinian security and hospital officials as 
saying that late on Sunday IDF troops ambushed and killed Mohammed 
Nazal, a Palestinian militant in the West Bank town of Jenin.  An 
Islamic Jihad spokesperson was quoted as saying that Nazal was one 
of its leaders. Earlier Sunday, Palestinian militants fired five 
Qassam rockets at the western Negev causing damage to a construction 
site on the campus of the Sapir College near Sderot.  Islamic Jihad 
claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.  On Saturday, three 
Qassam rockets landed in the western Negev, causing no injuries or 
damage. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel and the PA are 
working together with the UN to increase the flow of goods into Gaza 
by making improvements at the Kerem Shalom crossing into the 
southern Strip. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post quoted US Democratic presidential 
candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, as saying in a comment to a blog on 
the newspaper's Web site: "The absence of US leadership has helped 
open the door to extremism in the West Bank.  Sen. Hillary Rodham 
Clinton was quoted as saying on the same venue that there are not 
many good options in Gaza, but the PA should be helped.  In his 
response to the Web site, Republican Senator Sam Brownback said that 
UNRWA is the wrong agency to manage the crisis in Gaza. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that Hamas claimed on Thursday 
that it had played an integral part in the release of BBC journalist 
Alan Johnston and that it blamed Israel for the reporter's 114-day 
ordeal and the international community for Gaza's plight. 
 
Maariv reported that FM Livni hinted in an interview with The New 
York Times that she aspires to become prime minister. 
 
On Sunday Maariv reported that Israel officials have been trying to 
come up with ways of encouraging tens of thousands of Iranian Jews 
to move to Israel, despite their lack of desire to do so.  To this 
end, a group of Jews of Iranian extraction has created a special 
fund to promote emigration from Iran, and will give each Jewish 
family that immigrates to Israel approximately USD 60,000 in 
addition to the absorption basket provided by the state. 
 
Yediot and other media reported that the Attorney General and the 
State Attorney intend to ask the police to investigate PM Olmert in 
two weeks about irregularities in the sale of his home on Cremieux 
Street in Jerusalem. 
 
Leading electronic media quoted Likud Knesset Member and former FM 
Silvan Shalom as saying this morning today that he is withdrawing 
from his bid to compete against Binyamin Netanyahu for Likud Party 
leadership. Shalom claimed that the Likud primaries are neither fair 
nor egalitarian. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Dutch FM Maxime Verhagen recently warned 
Riwal, a construction company from the Rotterdam area, to terminate 
its involvement in work on the separation fence in the West Bank. 
 
Yediot quoted experts as saying that Israel has for years drawn 
water that would normally flow into Syria. 
 
Yediot cited The New York Times as saying hat two years ago then 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called off an operation to capture 
Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Pakistan. 
 
Maariv reported that several European countries have recently 
informed Israel that they will support Israel's bid for UN Security 
Council membership.  Maariv cited the conviction of political 
sources in Israel that there are increasing chances of Israel 
becoming a member of the council in 2019. 
 
Ha'aretz cited an announcement by executives of the Israel 
Broadcasting Authority (IBA) as saying on Sunday that the IBA will 
fire 850 employees, 40 percent of the IBA's entire workforce. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that last week Alon USA Energy Inc. 
completed its acquisition of Skinny's Inc.'s 102 convenience stores, 
in a deal valued at about USD 70 million.  The newspaper quoted the 
Israeli companies Tao Tsuot and Financial Levers Ltd/ as saying on 
Sunday that they led a group that agreed to buy Manhattan's 
"Lipstick" building for USD 648.5 million.  The Jerusalem Post also 
reported that Dorot, an Israeli producer of packaged garlic and 
herbs, announced on Sunday that it has expended its overseas 
business activities by opening a new subsidiary in the US, which 
will import and market Dorot products there.  Dorot products are 
currently sold at 1,500 retail and wholesale locations throughout 
the US. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "On paper [Foreign Minister Tzipi] Livni is 
Israel's most concerned citizen.  But when it comes to results, 
Livni is a paper tigress." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "To grant validity to its demand that the 
Palestinian side honor agreements with it, even at the cost of 
exacerbating the conflict with opponents, Israel must demonstrate 
that 'painful concessions' are not an empty slogan." 
 
Nationalist columnist Elyakim Haetzni wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot:"[In Israel] the conquest of the Gaza 
Strip by Hamas was rejoined with a spin that cast this diplomatic 
setback as if we had won the lottery." 
 
Veteran writer Yoram Kaniuk wrote in the editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "I feel and respect the 
harsh justice of [exiled Palestinian poet Mahmoud] Darwish." 
 
Ahmed Yousef, the political adviser to deposed Palestinian premier 
Ismail Haniyeh, wrote in Ha'aretz: "When there are forces that 
reflect the majority's will, their victory can lead to national 
reconciliation and prosperity, as demonstrated in the decades 
following the French Revolution and US Civil War." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Paper Tigress" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (7/9): "On paper [Foreign Minister Tzipi] 
Livni is Israel's most concerned citizen.  But when it comes to 
results, Livni is a paper tigress.... When Livni refers to Israel's 
interests, she means the formation of an independent Palestinian 
state.  She regards the two-state solution as the only means to 
preserve Israel's Jewish and democratic character.  The Foreign 
Minister believes that we must not shelve the option of a historic 
compromise and turn to other solutions (or despair) before the 
dialogue with the moderate Palestinian camp is exhausted.... As a 
politician enjoying encouraging approval ratings who harbors 
aspirations to become prime minister, Livni realizes that when her 
country's vital interests are at stake, her leadership will be 
examined for political courage, not scholarly essays." 
 
II.  "Talks Stalled, Settlements Expanding" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (7/8): " At the summit meeting in Sharm 
el-Sheikh two weeks ago, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced he 
'has no intention of delaying talks on the establishment of a 
Palestinian state'.... At worst, the government is being negligent 
in thwarting the land theft in the West Bank, out of a failure to 
grasp the ramifications of this scandal for the chance to implement 
a two-state solution.  At the absolute worst, the government is 
exercising a deliberate policy, the purpose of which is to reduce 
the living space of the Palestinian population in Area C (which is 
under full Israeli control), transfer the land reserves to Israeli 
citizens and foil the establishment of an independent and 
sustainable Palestinian state.... To grant validity to its demand 
that the Palestinian side honor agreements with it, even at the cost 
of exacerbating the conflict with opponents, Israel must demonstrate 
that 'painful concessions' are not an empty slogan." 
 
III.  "Hamas the 'Good'" 
 
Nationalist columnist Elyakim Haetzni wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/9): "The Olmert government has no 
policy.  Instead, it has spin.  The conquest of the Gaza Strip by 
Hamas was rejoined with a spin that cast this diplomatic setback as 
if we had won the lottery.... But the Arabs did not buy that spin. 
Fatah refused to agree to partition 'Palestine,' has continued to 
insist that Hamas prisoners be released and has continued to pay the 
salaries of civil servants in Hamastan with funds that were released 
by Israel.  Saudi Arabia has refused to join the front against 
Hamas, and Egypt speaks with a forked tongue.... Condoleezza Rice is 
on her way over here to toe the line drawn by the 'moderate' Arab 
Quartet, which has called for renewed Palestinian unity.  That way, 
all of those 'allies' of Israel, which tried to separate the 
Palestinians into good and bad guys, will leave Israel with its 
pants down.  The spin has spun out of control... The new spin will 
include compliments for Hamas: for it, and not the disorganized 
Fatah, which cannot 'deliver.'  HamasQs word is good as gold, and 
instead of corruption and anarchy there will be order.  Once again, 
weQll have ourselves a partner, if not for 'peace' then at least for 
ten years.  What's wrong with that?  By the same token there were 
fools who were awed by the highways and the precision of the train 
schedule under Mussolini and Hitler, by the 'order' under the 
fascists and Nazis." 
 
IV.  "Who Is More Unfortunate" 
 
Veteran writer Yoram Kaniuk wrote in the editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/9): "In one of 
Jean-Luc GodardQs latest films ['Notre Musique'], an interview is 
given by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, who will be coming to his 
homeland for the first time in years.  Darwish speaks in depth and 
wisely.  He says in the interview (I am not quoting him, only 
presenting the spirit of his words), that the Palestinians interest 
the world only because of the Jews: You are actually the PR staff of 
the Palestinian people, he argues, more or less.  Darwish is an 
excellent poet, bitter, sometimes hateful, humorous and intelligent. 
 He hints that the Palestinians are not of great concern to the 
world.  Those who interest the world are the 'bad' Jews and their 
treatment of the Palestinians.... This is not a political article. 
The political side of the conflict has been discussed enough.  If 
there is any chance of peace, I for one cannot see it.  But when I 
see Darwish, with whom I once entered into a dispute from afar over 
some nonsense that appeared in a movie, I feel the stature of his 
human and humane weight.  Although I do not consider myself a moral 
person and do not really believe that there is justice in history or 
in politics, I feel and respect the harsh justice of Darwish. 
Perhaps now, after so many years, he understands that the Jews have 
not been particularly loved in the past 2000 years -- but because of 
them, the Palestinians are now loved more.  After all, what is seen 
at the top of the news editions in the world is two Palestinians who 
were shot by Israelis." 
 
¶V.  "Gaza Is Not Algeria" 
 
Ahmed Yousef, the political adviser to deposed Palestinian premier 
Ismail Haniyeh, wrote in Ha'aretz (7/9): "The Abbas leadership has 
poorly calculated its political strategy, choosing to align itself 
with the Israeli regime and its Washington patrons in a bid to 
retain its hold on power.  Yet it has compromised its legitimacy in 
the eyes of a large swath of the Palestinian public, and it has 
fallen into Israel's Machiavellian trap of sowing discord among 
Palestinians to avoid dealing with the real issue: ending the 
occupation, fairly and justly.... When there are forces that reflect 
the majority's will, their victory can lead to national 
reconciliation and prosperity, as demonstrated in the decades 
following the French Revolution and US Civil War.  Hamas would, by 
any measure, be justified in defending itself given the 
assassinations of Hamas officials and supporters, attempts on the 
life of the elected prime minister, and kidnappings and bombings by 
some members of Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's paramilitary groups. And 
defend itself it shall." 
 
JONES