VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2338/01 2111024
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301024Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002338 
 
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. US-Saudi Arms Deal 
 
¶2. Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key Stories in the Media: 
------------------------- 
 
The media reported on Sunday that the U.S. is prepared to increase 
military aid to Israel to ease concerns over a proposed American 
weapons sale to Saudi Arabia.  The media cited US newspapers as 
reporting that the proposed package of advanced weapons for Saudi 
Arabia will eventually total $20 billion. According to the media the 
administration promised Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over 
the next decade, a significant increase over the past 10 years. 
 
Maariv reported that during his first visit as Quartet envoy, Tony 
Blair, already began putting together a plan. Together with Prime 
Minister Ehud Olmert, Blair intends to launch an Israeli-Palestinian 
economic initiative that will highlight the difference between Gaza 
and the West Bank. Olmert and Blair aim to combine the capital and 
capability of the Israeli economy with the cheap labor in the 
Palestinian Authority.  They will encourage Israeli businessmen to 
set up joint enterprises in the West Bank and joint industrial zones 
located in border areas.. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israel has recently agreed to allow a group 
of 41 Iraqi refugees of Palestinian origin to reunite with relatives 
in the West Bank as a goodwill gesture to the government of 
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad. A request by another group 
of 10 refugees seeking to join their relatives in the Gaza Strip was 
denied. 
 
The media reported on Sunday that Israel has agreed to allow 
Palestinians stranded in Egypt for weeks to pass into Israel and 
then into the Gaza.  The media quoted government officials in 
Jerusalem as saying that the Palestinian would have to go through 
the Kerem Shalon crossing and undergo security checks before they 
enter Gaza.  Hamas, which wrested control of the Gaza last month, 
denounced the deal since it allowed Israel to decide who could enter 
Gaza. 
The Jerusalem post reported that PM Olmert is exploring the idea of 
allowing Jordanian forces, instead of NATO forces, into the West 
Bank to help the P.A. fight terrorists. According to the newspaper, 
the forces will not be the Badr Brigade but troops from the 
Jordanian army. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel is checking into reports 
that Russia plans to sell Iran 250 advanced long-range Skhoi-30 
fighter jets in an unprecedented billion dollar deal. 
 
The media reported that the cabinet approved the findings of the 
Brodet Commission for reforming security-related expenditures on 
Sunday.  The media noted that the ministers postponed the 
recommendation to increase the defense budget by NIS 7 billion until 
at least 2009. The media described the fight over the defense budget 
between PM Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak as a clash between 
the "two". 
 
All media reported that the dollar continues to strengthen against 
the shekel.  The media noted that the dollar has risen 10 percent 
against the shekel since the middle of May. 
 
---------------------- 
¶1. US-Saudi Arms Deal: 
---------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The Americans like to talk about democracy 
in the Arab world, but they believe that strengthening armies is the 
most efficient way to protect stability and maintain pro-Western 
regimes in the face of extremist Islam." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "It is 
hard to escape the impression that we are witnessing the return of a 
'realist' US foreign policy that Bush spent the last six years 
working to discredit and displace.... Aside from the real dangers to 
Israel, a massive Saudi arms sale makes a mockery of Bush's own 
calls for the nations of the world to unequivocally take the side of 
freedom against that of jihadist Islam.  That Bush was right, this 
Bush is wrong." 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "To silence the pro-Israel 
lobby's resistance to the [Saudi weapons] deal, Bush is willing to 
increase military aid to Israel.  This way, everybody wins: The IDF 
replenishes supplies and receives extra funding, and Bush is 
portrayed as attentive to Israel's security needs." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I. "Is it a Cold War?" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (07/29): "In the regional arena, the past two 
weeks have seen the establishment of two rival axes in the region, 
led by Iran and the U.S. Each sought to strengthen its supporters 
with diplomatic gestures and arms supplies - as was common practice 
during the Cold War.  On the one hand, Iranian President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad visited Damascus and held high-profile meetings with 
Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders.  On the other hand, the 
foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan visited Israel and met 
political leaders across the board, carrying with them a moderate 
message.... The massive sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and its 
neighbors in the Gulf and the increase in military aid to Israel are 
the U.S. response to the Iranian threat, and the flow of arms from 
Russia to Iran and Syria.  Each arms-supplying power has its own 
interests: the Russians want to deter the U.S. and Israel from 
bombing the Iranian nuclear facility - therefore, they have supplied 
the Iranians with advanced air defense. Such systems will also be 
supplied to Syria in the coming year.  The Americans like to talk 
about democracy in the Arab world, but they believe that 
strengthening armies is the most efficient way to protect stability 
and maintain pro-Western regimes in the face of extremist Islam." 
 
II. "Bush in Retreat" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (07/30): 
"The US is considering a $20 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia and 
other Gulf states.... The arms sale will be a major topic of an 
upcoming swing through the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.... The striking thing 
about the Saudi side of this deal is that it seems to reflect a Bush 
administration that is not just winding down, but winding 
backward.... Iran is the enemy, but this does not mean that Saudi 
Arabia is a friend.  The Saudis embody everything the Bush 
administration claims to have been wrong with America's pre-9/11 
policy: turning a blind eye to dictatorship and the fomenting of 
radical Islamist ideologies.... It is hard to escape the impression 
that we are witnessing the return of a 'realist' US foreign policy 
that Bush spent the last six years working to discredit and 
displace.... Aside from the real dangers to Israel, a massive Saudi 
arms sale makes a mockery of Bush's own calls for the nations of the 
world to unequivocally take the side of freedom against that of 
jihadist Islam.  That Bush was right, this Bush is wrong." 
 
III. "Everyone Wins" 
 
Defense and foreign affairs columnist Amir Oren wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (07/29): "Israel may oppose U.S. 
President George W. Bush's planned arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but 
it lacks the ability to mount much effective resistance to the deal. 
 According to the unwritten rule in such cases, Israel must not lose 
the battle altogether, and it must try to reach some sort of 
compromise, usually in the form of compensation.  However, it is 
even more important that Israel does not win by completely thwarting 
Washington's weapons deal.... Israel opposes the deal because 
weapons sold to Arab countries that do not have peace agreements 
with Jerusalem may spill Israeli blood during the next military 
campaign.  This, incidentally, applies also to Egypt, with whom 
Israel does have peace.  Jerusalem, therefore, is very 
understandably concerned with the sale of the Jdam guidance kit -- 
which converts 'dumb bombs' into accurate, all-weather 'smart' 
munitions -- to Saudi Arabia.... To silence the pro-Israel lobby's 
resistance to the deal, Bush is willing to increase military aid to 
Israel.  This way, everybody wins: The IDF replenishes supplies and 
receives extra funding, and Bush is portrayed as attentive to 
Israel's security needs. " 
 
----------- 
¶2. Mideast: 
----------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Columnist Uzi Benziman wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "If Olmert and his colleagues in power genuinely believe 
it is possible to bolster the Palestinian leadership -- do they not 
prove by this that Israel always needs tomorrow's enemy in order to 
compromise with today's foe?" 
 
Columnist Gadi Taub wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "Israel 
would have been unable to cope with an Arab minority that neared the 
Jewish majority in size, and certainly could not have coped with a 
situation in which the Jews became the minority.... All of the 
disadvantages posed by disengagement need to be weighed against that 
threat, which directly endangers the existence of Israel as a Jewish 
and democratic state." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I. "Making Peace with New Enemies" 
 
Columnist Uzi Benziman wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (07/30): "Like the strong rains that have disrupted daily 
life in Britain in recent days, the barrage of gestures and peace 
offerings the Olmert government is heaping upon the government of 
Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayad makes one ponder the irony of the 
timing of the things that are happening.  But, while the downpour in 
Britain is a natural phenomenon, the timing of Israel's diplomatic 
maneuvering is man-made and worth some analysis.  Is Israel not 
closing the stable door after the horses have bolted?.... The 
concessions that Israel is dumping en masse on the Palestinian 
Authority, however welcome and positive they may be, make one wonder 
why they have been so long in coming.... This is not a pointless 
discussion.  It touches on the question of whether Israel has missed 
the boat or, on the other hand, if it is taking action in the 
knowledge that what it is doing now is merely for the sake of show, 
since there is no power that can alter the situation that has 
emerged in the PA.... If Olmert and his colleagues in power 
genuinely believe it is possible to bolster the Palestinian 
leadership -- do they not prove by this that Israel always needs 
tomorrow's enemy in order to compromise with today's foe?" 
 
II. "A Success, Nonetheless" 
 
Columnist Gadi Taub wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (07/30): 
"Two years after Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, one can 
hear a lot of criticism about it that creates a negative impression, 
as if disengagement were a failure.... In the broader picture, in 
the strategic view of things, disengagement was not a failure. 
Disengagement was based on the fundamental recognition that the 
greatest danger to Zionism was Israel's deterioration into a 
binational situation, with a hostile population that was about to 
become larger than the Jewish population.  Israel would have been 
unable to cope with an Arab minority that neared the Jewish majority 
in size, and certainly could not have coped with a situation in 
which the Jews became the minority.... All of the disadvantages 
posed by disengagement need to be weighed against that threat, which 
directly endangers the existence of Israel as a Jewish and 
democratic state.  Therefore, when that is in the balance, Kassam 
rockets, the head of an arrogant terrorist organization that has 
reared its head, the pain of the evacuees, the bully tactics used by 
Sharon, peace and all the rest are of secondary importance.  Since 
the task has not been completed yet, since it is possible that we 
will have no option but to withdraw unilaterally from Judea and 
Samaria as well, we had better bear in mind what is existential and 
what is not." 
JONES