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DE RUEHTV #2233/01 2041201
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P 231201Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002233 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Turkish Elections: AKP Victory 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The media reported that former British PM Tony Blair, the Quartet's 
special envoy to the Middle East peace process, is scheduled to 
arrive in the country today for a series of meetings on Tuesday in 
Jerusalem and Ramallah.  Ha'aretz quoted Israeli political sources 
as saying on Sunday that he is expected to stray from his mandate 
and try to further diplomatic talks between Israel and the 
Palestinians.  Ha'aretz quoted sources in the Foreign Ministry as 
saying that Blair is unlikely to deal with "technical" matters -- 
building institutions and mobilizing the support of donor countries 
-- instead he will focus on furthering the peace process.   Ha'aretz 
quoted a political source in Jerusalem as saying on Sunday: "From 
this point of view, Israel is less enthusiastic."  The Jerusalem 
Post reported that Israel made clear on Sunday that Jerusalem would 
oppose a widening of Blair's mandate to include a dialogue with 
Hamas.  Maariv cited assessments which concluded that Blair will 
demand that Israel make significant gestures to the Palestinians. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Sunday FM Tzipi Livni met with Palestinian 
FM Salam Fayyad in Jerusalem in the latest of a series of bilateral 
and multilateral talks aimed at reviving the stalled Middle East 
peace process.  Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on 
Sunday Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik held separate meetings with 
Jordanian FM Abdelelah al-Khatib and PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud 
Abbas.  Media reported that Jordan's King Abdullah II will meet 
President Bush in Washington on Tuesday.  On Sunday Ha'aretz printed 
an interview conducted last Sunday with Palestinian FM Salam Fayyad, 
in which he stated his belief that only an international presence in 
the territories will bring about the necessary change.  Ha'aretz 
(Akiva Eldar) said that Fayyad "speaks the same lingo as the current 
US administration." 
 
On Sunday Maariv reported that the government has decided to "dry 
up" the settlements by moving the World Zionist Organization's (WZO) 
settlement division to the Agriculture Ministry.  Today Makor 
Rishon-Hatzofe cited a denial by the WZO's spokesman.  The Jerusalem 
Post, which today repeated the Maariv story, said that many view the 
move as one more step to shift settlement activity from the West 
Bank to the Negev and the Galilee. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that Olmert called this 
weekend for direct peace talks between Israel and Syria.  Over the 
weekend all media cited a report published on Saturday in the 
London-based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat that Iran will give Syria USD 1 
billion in aid for advanced weapons procurement, assistance in 
nuclear development, and the development of chemical weapons.  In 
exchange, Syria wants Syria's agreement to stay outside of the 
Middle East peace process.  Today media reported denials from 
Mujtaba Samareh Hashemi, a senior adviser to Iranian President 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah as saying 
on Sunday in an interview with Al Jazeera-TV that his organization 
is capable of hitting every part of Israel and that it had the same 
capability during the Second Lebanon War. 
 
Leading media reported on the landslide victory of Turkish PM Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Sunday's 
elections.  Yediot bannered: "Islam Conquers Turkey."  Yediot 
reported that the election results were received with mixed feelings 
in Jerusalem. 
 
Leading media quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying on Sunday that Kadima 
will continue to rule Israel and that he will remain prime minister 
after the elections.  The media quoted Olmert as saying that the 
government is not completely responsible for protecting Sderot. 
 
All media reported that a female college student sustained light 
injuries on Sunday when a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza hit the 
entrance to Sapir College, located near the Negev town of Sderot. 
 
All media reported on Sunday that Israeli politicians were in uproar 
over the mention of the Arab term "nakba" or "catastrophe" in an 
official third-grade Education Ministry textbook for Arab 
schoolchildren. 
 
The media reported that on Sunday Egyptian police shot and killed a 
Sudanese woman and seriously wounded four others in the Sinai 
Peninsula as they tied to sneak into Israel. 
 
The media reported that on Sunday an IDF patrol killed two 
Palestinian gunmen in the northern Gaza Strip.  The IDF force 
commander was lightly injured during the clash. 
 
Major media reported that last night police forcibly removed scores 
of right-wing activists following their attempt to reach the 
evacuated settlement of Homesh in the northern West Bank.  Leading 
electronic media reported that dozens of rightists infiltrated the 
settlement overnight and began building a synagogue there.  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that on Sunday the IDF's Civil 
Administration told two Jewish families living in Hebron that they 
have until Friday to evacuate two shops of an abandoned Palestinian 
marketplace next to the Jewish Avraham Avinu complex. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel's Ambassador to 
the US, Sallai Meridor, told the newspaper on Thursday that the 
world should launch a divestment campaign, such as the one carried 
out against South Africa in the 1980s, to prevent Iran from 
developing nuclear weapons. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that over 30 American trade unions have 
condemned the spate of boycott initiatives by trade union movements 
in the UK, branding them "inimical" and questioning the motives for 
singling out Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio quoted Frances Townsend, 
President Bush's Homeland Security Adviser, as saying on Sunday that 
the US would consider using military force if necessary to stem 
Al-Qaida's growing ability to launch terrorist attacks. 
 
Maariv and other major media reported that the Histadrut Labor 
Federation threatens a public sector strike on Wednesday. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Officials in the Saudi 
King's court have demanded that senior representatives of Hamas be 
included in the regional peace conference." 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Danny Rubinstein wrote in the 
left-leaning, independent Ha'aretz: "The present and future belong 
to those who were not [at last week's meting of the PLO Central 
Committee in Ramallah], regardless of whether this means Hamas or 
opposition within Fatah." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "It is not certain whether the president 
who succeeds George Bush will be able to repair the damage that his 
policy caused to the Middle East in particular and to the world in 
general." 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: "The 
moment Assad turned into Ahmadinejad's ally, we moved away from a 
dialogue with Syria." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "War is 
eminently preventable, provided that basic steps to reduce its 
likelihood -- by convincing the aggressor that it will be too costly 
-- are taken." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Saudi Arabia Withdraws From Peace Initiative" 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/22): "Saudi Arabia is 
distancing itself from the Arab peace initiative, which was 
formulated and presented by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia five years 
ago in Riyadh.  As a result of King Abdullah's cold feet, and in 
contrast to the position of the US administration, Israel, Jordan 
and Egypt, officials in the Saudi King's court have demanded that 
senior representatives of Hamas be included in the regional peace 
conference that will convene in another two months, under 
sponsorship of the US administration.... Officials in Amman have 
been monitoring with concern the reversal in the Saudi position. 
Over the past number of weeks, the King of Jordan had held a series 
of meetings with senior Israeli officials in order to advance the 
Saudi Arabia peace initiative, 'in the absence of the Saudis,' as 
explained to the Israelis.  The Jordanian King called his Saudi 
counterpart, after the latter insisted on the re-establishment of 
the Fatah-Hamas unity government, and pointed out to him the serious 
ramifications of ignoring the international boycott of Hamas. 
However, it has been learned that the Saudi King insisted on 
including Hamas.  Israel intelligence experts stress: The Saudis are 
frightened by the Iranian threat, which now dictates that they go 
underground.  The Israeli security officials also noted that the 
report in Yediot Aharonot about the secret meeting between Olmert 
and Saudi National Security Adviser, Prince Bandar Bin-Sultan, 
increased the panic, confusion and concerns in the kingQs court in 
Riyadh.  After conversing with his Saudi counterpart, King Abdullah 
of Jordan called President Bush and asked to meet with him urgently. 
 The two will convene in Washington next Tuesday, with one focus of 
the conversation being Qthe Saudi flight from the peace 
initiative.'" 
 
II.  "Abbas's Only Chance" 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Danny Rubinstein wrote in the 
left-leaning, independent Ha'aretz (7/23): "For a moment this past 
weekend, it seemed that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas 
was getting stronger, while Hamas and its leadership were in a 
slump.  The prisoners' release was presented to the public as a 
success for Abbas, who was very keen to point out -- to avoid 
finding himself in hot water -- that Israel alone prepared the list 
of the released, without him or his aides knowing anything about 
it.... The present and future belong to those who were not [at last 
week's meting of the PLO Central Committee in Ramallah], regardless 
of whether this means Hamas or opposition within Fatah.  Such an 
opposition does exist, not only abroad but also in the territories, 
and among its spokesmen are Hani al-Hassan and Jibril Rajoub, and 
possibly Marwan Barghouti.  They are asking to hold a dialogue with 
Hamas, not just fight against it.  Abbas's success is greatly 
dependent on the political steps of the Israeli government, which 
is, more than anyone, responsible for his weakness.  Nonetheless, 
Abbas must make order in Fatah, and hold a general conference and 
internal elections.  Otherwise, he stands no chance of success." 
 
III.  "Chirps of Evil and Winds of War" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (7/22): "In the current state of affairs, 
one might have expected the world's responsible adult, the United 
States, to gird up its loins and create a formula that would be 
tempting enough to extricate Bashar Assad from the embrace of Iran 
and return him to the family of nations.  Such a measure would 
isolate Iran, help the Americans in Iraq, dry up Hizbullah, save 
Lebanon, pacify the northern front, calm Israel and allow the United 
States and the world to focus on the Iranian nuclear threat without 
interference.  The problem is that for some time, America has not 
been acting like a responsible adult.  Rather it has been acting 
like the neighborhood bully, who is retarded, doesn't understand 
anything, and just runs amuck in the neighborhood, throwing punches 
 
 
in every direction while the other children run away.  It is not 
certain whether the president who succeeds George Bush will be able 
to repair the damage that his policy caused to the Middle East in 
particular and to the world in general.  In order to know whether 
that will happen, we must try to reach January 2009 in peace or, 
alternatively, pray that Bush will fix what he did in a courageous, 
correct and penetrating move against the Iranian atom bomb." 
 
IV.  "The Threat of War Approaches" 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (7/23): 
"The express agreement reached in Damascus between Iran's ruler 
Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad making use of the 
'axis of evil' against Israel, in effect annuls the Syrian 
President's call for promoting peace with Israel.... The Syrian 
ruler has received promises; in exchange, of course, a 'new page' 
has opened in relations between the two countries.  From now on the 
Syrian front ceases to be a quiet one.  The first buds of war have 
been kindled in the Iranian ruler's speech that was directed at 
Israel.  The moment Assad turned into Ahmadinejad's ally, we moved 
away from a dialogue with Syria.  The threat of war has come 
closer." 
 
 
 
¶V.  "How to Prevent War" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (7/23): 
"We do not need Assad to tell us the price of war, a price we have 
been paying since the reestablishment of the Jewish state almost 60 
years ago. Nor do we need the endless speculation about a war with 
Syria that so many seem to expect will occur this coming summer, as 
if wars are scheduled like vacations or election campaigns..... It 
is the task ... of Israel and the international community to ensure 
that such an attack would not be in the interest of Assad's 
regime.... We are under no illusions that Assad is interested in 
[unconditional peace] negotiations, much less concluding a peace 
treaty.  But the offer must be, and clearly is, on the table.  Peace 
offers, however, cannot be relied upon to prevent war because Syria 
is not interested in peace.  On the contrary, Syria fights peace 
with Israel with all its might, including through forces most 
opposed to peace with Israel, such as Hamas and Hizbullah.... The 
international community can also play an important role in 
preventing a possible Syrian miscalculation by clarifying in advance 
the diplomatic results of such aggression. If the Assad regime, for 
example, understands that an attack would be met with a European and 
American initiative to impose Chapter 7 sanctions on Damascus in the 
UN Security Council, and full backing for Israel's right to 
self-defense, the possibility of such an attack would be greatly 
reduced.... War is eminently preventable, provided that basic steps 
to reduce its likelihood -- by convincing the aggressor that it will 
be too costly -- are taken." 
 
----------------------------------- 
¶2.  Turkish Elections: AKP Victory: 
----------------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Middle East affairs correspondent Zvi Barel wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The key question on which the 
new government will be tested will be to what extent Erdogan will 
advance a religious agenda." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Storm Has Not Yet Subsided" 
 
Middle East affairs correspondent Zvi Barel wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (7/23): "As far as Turkey is 
concerned the outcome [of these elections] is good news: It 
represents the continuation of the Socialist, pro-Western line led 
by Erdogan.  It is also good news for the Turkish economy, which has 
grown 7 percent annually under the current government.  The key 
question on which the new government will be tested will be to what 
extent Erdogan will advance a religious agenda that frightens the 
army and most of the secular public so much -- the very public that 
views the Justice and Development Party as a threat to the 
principles of Kemalism and a risk of descent into the religious 
chasm." 
 
CRETZ