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P 131043Z AUG 07
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002454 
 
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.  Iraq 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited official Israeli assessments according to 
which Syria does not believe PM Ehud Olmert's public statements of 
reassurance that Israel has no intention of attacking Syria, and 
that the latter is genuinely concerned about an Israeli preemptive 
attack.  On Sunday Yediot reported that a few days ago Israeli 
sources heard from Syrian and Lebanese sources at a secret meeting 
in the presence of European and American representatives that Syrian 
President Bashar Assad has been persuaded to drag Israel into a war 
of attrition.  Yediot quoted a senior IDF official as saying that 
Syria's anti-aircraft rocket deployment is the "densest in the 
world."  On Sunday Ha'aretz quoted a GOI source in Jerusalem as 
saying on Saturday that Syria is still not a satellite of Iran and 
that it can be extricated from an Iranian bear-hug." 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted PA officials in Ramallah as saying on 
Sunday that PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas plans to hold 
legislative and presidential elections -- both in the West Bank and 
the Gaza Strip -- within six months.  On Sunday The Jerusalem Post 
reported that a group of Palestinian businessmen and academics 
disillusioned with Fatah and Hamas, has decided to establish a new 
political party to run in the next PA election.    The Jerusalem 
Post quoted a member of the group as saying that they want to "set 
up a Palestinian version of the Israeli Kadima Party, which 
attracted voters from both Likud and Labor." 
 
Israel Radio quoted the British House of Commons' Foreign Affairs 
Committee as saying that refusing to speak to Hamas is 
counterproductive and that efforts should be made to form a new 
unity Palestinian government.  The radio also reported that the 
committee advocated engaging Hizbullah. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that the Palestinian police 
recently resumed law-enforcement activities in Area B of the West 
Bank, where the IDF is responsible for security.  On Sunday Maariv 
reported that on Saturday Hamas announced that for the first time it 
was forming a naval arm. 
 
Maariv and other media reported on a new proposal by President 
Shimon Peres in which Israel would free all Palestinian prisoners in 
stages over five years instead of conceding land. 
 
Citing Reuters, Ha'aretz quoted Tom Lantos, the Chairman of the 
House Foreign Affairs Committee, as saying in Jerusalem on Sunday 
that he saw little chance of a real breakthrough on a Palestinian 
state, either at a US-sponsored conference this year or before the 
end of President Bush's term.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
Lantos warned that the premature removal of West Bank checkpoints 
would lead to violence as long as the PA lacked the capability to 
secure the area. 
 
Leading media reported that film from a closed-circuit police camera 
that captured Friday's shoot-out in the Old City of Jerusalem 
between an Israeli Arab and two security officers counters the 
family's claim that the slain assailant was innocent.  Ha'aretz 
noted that the film was incomplete. 
 
Ha'aretz cited a special report submitted to the Winograd 
Commission, which recommends that the Foreign Ministry should be 
reorganized to allow it to have more of an impact on the 
decision-making processes involved in forging Israel's foreign 
policy.  The report was compiled by the Re'ut Institute, a 
nonpartisan research organization, after a series of interviews with 
past and present Foreign Ministry and defense officials.  The report 
concluded: "The Foreign Ministry does not have the skill, authority 
or minimum requirements to deal with matters of national security." 
 
Leading media reported that on Sunday the cabinet approved the 
proposed 2008 state budget, at some 312 billion shekels (around USD 
72.7 billion) the largest in the nation's history.  Twenty-one 
ministers voted in favor, and five ministers, including 
Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and the four Shas ministers 
voted against, as expected. 
 
Ha'aretz's Zvi Bar'el reported from Sulaimaniya, northern Iraq, that 
the Kurds are "building an island of calm in Iraq's inferno." 
 
On Sunday leading media reported that New York authorities took 
extra counterterrorism precautions over the weekend in response to 
what they said was an unsubstantiated radiological threat to the 
city reported by the Israeli Web site, DEBKAfile (www.debka.com). 
 
Over the weekend major media quoted the late Palestinian leader 
Yasser Arafat's physician as saying that Arafat's blood contained 
HIV, but that poison killed him. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Sunday American billionaire Sheldon 
Adelson pledged USD 60 million for the Taglit-birthright israel 
project, which sponsors trips to Israel for Jewish youths who have 
never visited the country.  Ha'aretz said that 20 Congressmen from 
the US Republican party accompanied Adelson during his trip to 
Israel.  Adelson reportedly tries to spread "hawkish" views to 
congressional delegations.  In an unrelated story, The Jerusalem 
Post reported that during his presidential campaign, former 
Republican Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is drawing inspiration 
from his visit to Yad Vashem. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted the British weekly The Sunday Telegraph as saying on 
Sunday that Hizbullah is purchasing large plots of land from 
Christians and Druze in southern Lebanon to improve its military 
capabilities in preparation for another war with Israel. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that sources in Israel told the newspaper that 
Jordan is considering dropping its plans for the Dead Sea canal 
because of cost considerations. 
 
Major media quoted Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu as saying over 
the weekend that a low turnout in his party's primary this week 
might increase the strength of extremist contender Moshe Feiglin. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Japanese FM Taro Aso, who will start a visit 
to the region today, is expected to declare renewed aid to the PA. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the FMs of Israel, the PA, Jordan, 
and Japan are scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Jericho to launch a 
joint economic project called the "corridor for peace and 
security." 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted a GOI official as saying on Sunday that 
Israel will not take up with Egypt its tactic of stopping refugees 
along the border, despite growing calls from human right 
organizations that cite the Egyptians' "brutal tactics." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Prof. Mark Pepys, a leading British 
academic and member of the University and College Union (UCU) warned 
over the weekend that the UCU's call for an academic boycott of 
Israel could seriously damage working relationships between UK and 
US universities and colleges. 
 
Maariv cited Israel research stating that the education of Israeli 
students in the US costs Israel USD 2 billion. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on September 9, the American rock 
group Arrested Development, along with The Black Eyed Peas and The 
Commitments, will perform in Jerusalem in a concert dubbed 
"Jerusalem Rocks!" 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "[Prime 
Minister Ehud Olmert] must restrain the Defense Minister and remind 
him that the overall and supreme responsibility for Israel's peace 
and security policy is in the hands of the government he heads." 
 
Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "[Defense Minister Ehud] Barak is right.  It will 
take years, in which a real and well-grounded process will be 
demanded here." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Hamas 
is plainly playing for time and judging that Abbas cannot survive 
long in office." 
 
Shalom Dichter, joint general manager of Sikkuy, the Association for 
the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel, wrote in Maariv: "Every 
attempt to use the Arab citizens of Israel in exchanges of citizens, 
territories or both, assumes from the start that these citizens are 
not wanted by the state." 
 
Intelligence affairs reporter Ronen Bergman wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Israel needs ... an 
agent today more than ever, who will give not only technical 
information on troop sizes, weapons acquisitions and upgrading 
capabilities, but who is able to decipher the leaderQs intentions." 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
¶I.  "Restrain the Defense Minister" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (8/12): "The 
more talks accelerate between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of 
the international conference and the formulation of new diplomatic 
plans, the more reports crop up of objections by Labor Party 
Chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to changing the 
'no-partner' policy.  In a statement to party members and the media 
Friday, Barak quickly denied reports that he had considered the 
meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority 
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas 'air, or if you will, atmosphere.'  He also 
denied saying that the talks before the renewal of negotiations for 
a final-status agreement were nothing but "fantasies" and that he 
objected to withdrawing from territory before Israel had the means 
to intercept various types of missiles.... Barak's actions and 
failures since joining the government confirm the reports by senior 
journalists of his devotion to the policy that states the 
Palestinian side is unable to deal with those who do not want peace 
and/or are not interested in a two-state solution.  This assumption 
has spawned a security policy that emphasizes security needs and 
ignores civilian ones.... Barak dictates his outlook on the most 
critical issue in Israel as if he is at the top of the pyramid.  If 
Olmert sees Abbas as a partner and seriously intends to strengthen 
the Abbas camp by renewing negotiations on a permanent-status 
solution, he must restrain the Defense Minister and remind him that 
the overall and supreme responsibility for Israel's peace and 
security policy is in the hands of the government he heads." 
 
II.  "Barak's Sense" 
 
Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv (8/13): "After the problematic disengagement 
process, which aroused a great deal of doubt, there is no one who 
can carry out a real historical move, if at all.  Barak knows what 
happened to him when he made the most generous proposal to date to 
the Palestinians, and following this received an Intifada and was 
forced to step down from power.  Olmert, of course, is not the 
person who can demolish settlements and raise a Palestinian flag on 
the Temple Mount (in keeping to President [Shimon PeresQs] plan, as 
reported).  With single-digit percentages of support, he can barely 
evacuate a trailer or an antenna.  The problem is also the partner. 
After disengagement, most of the public will find it difficult to 
give up even isolated settlements without receiving anything real in 
return.  Barak is right.  It will take years, in which a real and 
well-grounded process will be demanded here, including a convincing 
Palestinian renunciation of the right of return, and not promises on 
paper.... The problem is also within the army, where pockets of 
[right-leaning] rebelliousness are revealed time and time again." 
 
III.  "Donors Beware" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (8/12): 
"It emerged late last week that 3,500 Hamas 'security-force' 
salaries had been paid by the Fatah-led Salam Fayyad government in 
Ramallah.  At first this was passed off as computer error, corrected 
only after 1,000 of the beneficiaries had managed to withdraw the 
money from their bank accounts in Gaza.  Now 'investigations' are 
reported in progress.  The latest version is that a higher-up in the 
PA Finance Ministry may have been bought off by Hamas and remitted 
the funds without authorization.... Indeed, persistent buzz exists 
about a possible rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas.... Hamas is 
plainly playing for time and judging that Abbas cannot survive long 
in office.... It becomes immaterial whether Fatah couldn't or 
wouldn't live up to its undertakings.  The end result is what 
counts.  Money is fungible.  If the Hamas leadership is freed from 
paying wages to its underlings, it can spend its money on its 
favorite nefarious causes.  The direct consequence of this 
particular episode is that PA benefactors -- the US, EU and Israel 
included -- have indirectly helped finance Hamas terrorism.  Donors 
beware." 
 
 
IV.  "A Nightmare Called Peace" 
 
Shalom Dichter, joint general manager of Sikkuy, the Association for 
the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel, wrote in Maariv (8/12): 
"In light of the resumption of talks between Israel and the 
Palestinian Authority, we have heard the news that the President of 
Israel has a new political plan (which the Prime Minister repudiates 
for the present).  Under the headline 'Return of 95 to 100 Percent 
of the West Bank,' it turns out that the possibility of revoking the 
citizenship of the inhabitants of the Arab communities along the 
Green Line by transferring them to the Palestinian Authority has 
once again been raised.  This is not an official part of the new 
document but rather an 'oral tradition' from President Peres's 
advisers, but the voice is the chilling voice of [far-Right cabinet 
minister Avigdor] Lieberman.  Every attempt to use the Arab citizens 
of Israel in exchanges of citizens, territories or both, assumes 
from the start that these citizens are not wanted by the state." 
 
¶V.  "What Is Going On Inside Bashar's Head" 
Intelligence affairs reporter Ronen Bergman wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (8/13): "For years, 
[during Hafez Assad's rule], Israel's intelligence community 
operated, or at least thought it was operating, through the Mossad, 
a high-placed agent in the heart of the Syrian establishment..... 
Israel needs such an agent today more than ever, who will give not 
only technical information on troop sizes, weapons acquisitions and 
upgrading capabilities, but who is able to decipher the leaderQs 
intentions.  This, of course, is without disregarding the main 
lesson of the Yom Kippur War, according to which even if we are 
certain that there is full and reliable information about the 
leader's intentions, we should pay it no heed as soon as the enemy 
army has sufficient troops and readiness to go to war.  The current 
state of affairs in the Syrian army is not similar to its deployment 
prior to the Yom Kippur War -- far from it.  If what the Syrian army 
has been undergoing in recent months can be considered as 
preparations for war, then the IDFQs buildup of strength in the last 
decade, which is 20 times as large as that of the Syrians, can 
certainly be considered the same.  There is no debate that the 
Syrian army is undergoing a fundamental change.  The question is 
what the nature of this change is, and where Bashar Assad is 
headed." 
 
 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iraq: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and 
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Israel must be interested in 
the United States withdrawing from the battle right now, when its 
standing has not suffered any more damage than it already has." 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz from 
Sulaimaniya, Northern Iraq: "After four years of American presence 
in Iraq, the amicable dialogue between the U.S. and the Iraqi Kurds 
is growing increasingly discordant." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
¶I.  "Superfluous Israeli Advice" 
 
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and 
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (8/13): "The neo-conservatives in 
Washington have learned nothing from the lessons of the past 15 
years in Eastern Europe.  In a combination of arrogance and 
ignorance they believed that Saddam's fall would herald the rise of 
a democracy by its own accord, of course with the help of American 
spears.  What they did not take into account is the fact that the 
sudden introduction of democratic procedures into a society that 
lacks the most basic infrastructures will inevitably lead to chaos. 
What the ideologues in Washington forgot is that even if democracy 
is a recipe for stability, the processes of democratization can in 
fact lead to prolonged instability.... Israel must be extremely 
cautious about being seen as the spearhead of an attempt to find a 
solution through bullying.... Israel must be interested in the 
United States withdrawing from the battle right now, when its 
standing has not suffered any more damage than it already has: 
America's global status is without a doubt one of the foundations of 
Israel's strategic power.  It will not be built up by Israeli advice 
that will not change the American position and will only exacerbate 
the hostility to Israel in the Arab countries and in Western public 
opinion.  Even if right now it is difficult for Israel to progress 
toward peace with the Palestinians, it must not come across as the 
driving force behind Washington's bullying obduracy that is unaware 
that it has reached the end of the road in Iraq." 
 
II.  "Washington Has Forgotten Them" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz from 
Sulaimaniya, Northern Iraq (8/13): "It began as a natural alliance, 
a political love affair.  But after four years of American presence 
in Iraq, the amicable dialogue between the U.S. and the Iraqi Kurds 
is growing increasingly discordant.  Beyond the culture gap, Iraqi 
Kurdistan is beginning to feel betrayed by its American allies.... 
The latest example of this was seen in the words of US Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rica.  Referring to the rights of the Iraqi Kurds, 
Rice said that the Kurds' best security guarantee comes not from the 
United States, but from the Iraqi constitution.... The Kurds dream 
of seceding, but this is unlikely to happen.  Any sign of Kurdish 
independence triggers a Turkish, Iranian, and Syrian backlash. 
Tehran, Istanbul, and Damascus are afraid of an Iraqi precedent that 
would agitate their domestic Kurdish communities.  And so, 
Washington is striving to make Kurdistan dependent on the Iraqi 
government and neighboring countries by withholding assistance for a 
separate Kurdish industrial infrastructure.  The assumption is that 
the Kurds will accept this and not revolt." 
 
JONES