VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2592/01 2390956
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 270956Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2964
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RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 9354
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2725
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3445
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 2680
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0666
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 3410
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0282
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0748
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 7335
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002592 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media reported that PM Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas are scheduled to meet in Jerusalem on 
Tuesday as part of their push toward an "agreement of principles" 
ahead of the regional meeting organized under US auspices for 
November. 
 
Ha'aretz (banner) and other media reported that on Sunday "Y.," the 
deputy chief of the Shin Bet, told government ministers that the 
military headquarters of Hamas in Damascus has ordered militants in 
the West Bank to carry out a major attack inside Israel.  Leading 
media cited a denial by the spokesman of Hamas leader Ismail 
Haniyeh, but also quoted Hamas leaders as saying that the 
organization intends to use any means to achieve its aims.  Over the 
weekend, the media reported that the IDF shot and killed four 
terrorists including two who managed to cross the barrier and enter 
Israel.  On Sunday six unarmed Palestinian youths succeeded in 
infiltrating Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz cited a new report by Peace Now that 
at least six roads or parts of roads are currently being paved in 
the West Bank for the benefit of settlers at a cost of at least 315 
million shekels (around USD 75.4 million).  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that settlers may offer to relocate Migron, the West Bank's 
largest unauthorized outpost, ahead of a court hearing on a plan to 
evacuate several of the unrecognized communities. 
 
Maariv quoted the US Department of Defense as saying that as part of 
an arms deal reached between Israel and the US, Israel will receive 
USD 650 million worth of missiles.  The newspaper also quoted the 
DOD as saying that Egypt is acquiring 125 Abrams tanks at a cost of 
USD 847 million. 
 
On Sunday Maariv cited the belief of Israeli security officials that 
if free elections were to be held in the West Bank, it is very 
likely that Hamas would defeat Fatah. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel and the US plan to maintain 
a low profile this week in Geneva at the UN pre-planning meeting for 
a 2009 anti-racism conference that is seen as a follow-up to the one 
held in Durban in 2001, which "turned into an Israel-bashing fest." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that neither Israel nor the American 
Israel Public Affairs Committee are putting together a proactive 
campaign to combat the new Stephen Walt-John Mearsheimer book 
slamming the Israel lobby for allegedly hijacking US foreign 
policy. 
 
Yediot reported on and printed pictures of the atomic bunker beneath 
the Judean Hills west of Jerusalem which will serve Israel's 
leadership.  In the past media published reports about the 
installation.  On Sunday Maariv reported that Israeli security 
officials are examining the possibility of using the Carmel tunnels 
in Haifa to build enormous shelters deep inside the mountain.  The 
Haifa project is expected to be completed in three years. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Turkish Ambassador to Israel Namik 
Tan told the newspaper on Sunday that Turkey expects Israel to 
"deliver" American Jewish organizations and ensure that the US 
Congress does not pass a resolution characterizing as genocide the 
massacre of Armenians during World War I.  On Sunday Ha'aretz 
reported that President Shimon Peres assured Turkish PM Recep Tayyip 
Erdogan last week that Israel has not changed its position on the 
killing of Armenians during World War I. 
 
Maariv reported that IAF commander Maj. Gen. Eliezer Shkedy has 
recruited ultra-Orthodox men as air force technicians and that he 
plans to train ultra-Orthodox as pilots.  On Sunday Maariv reported 
that the relative number of cadets who wear knitted skullcaps (i.e. 
modern Orthodox) in the last IDF officer training class was 
approximately 40 percent. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Sunday Yisrael Beiteinu party 
leader Avigdor Lieberman rejected calls in Likud for the two parties 
to run on a joint list in the next general elections.  Lieberman was 
quoted as saying that the obstacles to such an agreement were not 
personal but ideological. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the government is organizing a temporary 
shelter for 1,000 Sudanese refugees at the Ketsiot site in the 
Negev. 
 
On Friday Channel 2-TV broadcast the videotaped testimony of a 
platoon commander in custody after being charged with grievous 
bodily harm -- wounding an unarmed Palestinian -- during an 
operation in Dahariyeh, south of Hebron.  The commander said that he 
got into trouble because of his desire to carry out his mission. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that on Sunday Israel allowed 75 
Palestinians out of Gaza to resume lives abroad. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited the London-based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat as 
saying that a group of Israeli Arabs is mediating between Hamas and 
Fatah.  The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior IDF officer as saying on 
Sunday that PA security forces in Bethlehem have begun cracking down 
on Hamas elements in anticipation of an unprecedented flow of 
tourists into the city. 
 
The Jerusalem Post printed a Jewish Telegraphic Agency wire report 
that Sen. Barack Obama has told a group of Jewish communal lay 
leaders that he is receiving advice on Middle East issues from 
former US envoy to the Middle East, Dennis Ross. 
 
Over the weekend leading media reported that on Friday in Lebanon, 
former Knesset member Azmi Bishara, accused by Israel of spying for 
Hizbullah during its war with Israel last summer, praised the 
organization, saying that it is now stronger than ever. 
 
On Sunday Yediot reported that major leaders from Egypt's business 
community, including officials from the Ministry of Industry and 
Trade in Cairo, are threatening to stop visiting Israel because of a 
series of incidents at Ben-Gurion Airport that delayed their entry 
into and exit from the country. 
 
Major media printed a paid ad by oligarch Arkady Gaidamak that 
"every day that [PM Olmert] remains in power, the people of Israel 
continue to live in peril." 
 
Major media reported that today Israel will send firefighters to 
Greece. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Every day the 
outposts remain in place is another day in which every member of the 
government is abusing his office." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
EU's intervention represented a perfect opportunity for Israel to 
better explain to the international community what is at stake when 
Hamas abuses the world's ongoing efforts to help the Palestinians." 
 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized: "UNIFIL can only keep the peace as 
long as ... deceptive tranquility serves Hizbullah's interests." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Outposts and Peace Don't Mix" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (8/27): "Aside 
from the legal problem, the expansion of the settlements, 
particularly the outposts, clearly contradicts the Prime Minister's 
talks of peace.  What significance could there possibly be to 
negotiations with the Palestinians on an agreement of principles for 
ending the occupation if the government is at once holding 
negotiations with the settlers on legalizing outposts in the very 
heart of the West Bank?  Barak, who also heads the Labor Party, has 
repeatedly declared that he learned the requisite lessons from his 
mistakes during his previous term as prime minister and defense 
minister.  But his forgiving attitude toward Israeli lawbreakers in 
the territories show he is determined to repeat this grave error. 
Nevertheless, overall responsibility for the failure to implement 
the decision to evacuate the outposts rests with Prime Minister Ehud 
Olmert and the government as a whole.  Every day the outposts remain 
in place is another day in which every member of the government is 
abusing his office." 
 
II.  "The EU Precedent" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (8/26): 
"For several days last week many thousands of Gaza residents had to 
make do without electricity.  Had Israel switched off the power -- 
most of which is generated by Israel -- it is safe to assume that 
the international community would have been incensed.... The fact 
that the lights had just then gone out in Gaza was automatically 
ascribed to the closure of the Nahal Oz [crossing into Israel].  The 
Hamas-led Gaza regime rushed to make the link.... Yet even as many 
observers bought into the Israel-to-blame line, Nahal Oz was 
reopened, but the Gaza blackout persisted. It emerged that the 
European Union was responsible.  EU donors, who foot the bill for 
Gaza's fuel purchases, accused Hamas of siphoning off the GGC's 
[Gaza Generating Company] income to finance extraneous activities -- 
the nature of which it is, unfortunately, not difficult to 
deduce.... If this brief episode showed anything -- apart from the 
knee-jerk alacrity to blame Israel for all Palestinian ills -- it is 
that Hamas is as corrupt as it has accurately and resonantly accused 
Fatah of being.... The EU's intervention represented a perfect 
opportunity for Israel to better explain to the international 
community what is at stake when Hamas abuses the world's ongoing 
efforts to help the Palestinians.  Sooner or later, if the rocket 
attacks continue and the terror networks flourish, Israel will be 
left with no choice but to apply such and other penalties to prevent 
Hamas in Gaza from biting the Israeli hand that helps feed it. 
Israel would do well to prepare the ground for such moves by drawing 
world attention to the EU's extraordinary measure, and to the 
cynical governance by Hamas that prompted it." 
 
III.  "Deceptive Calm" 
 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized (8/27): "For better or worse, 
barring another explosion of conflict, UNIFIL will continue to 
feature on our northern frontier for at least the next year.  Its 
mandate has just been unanimously extended by the UN Security 
Council.   The resolution extending that mandate hailed UNIFIL for 
establishing a 'new strategic environment' along the Lebanese border 
with Israel.  But comments from Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan 
Gillerman, underlined how far from satisfactory this environment 
continues to be: Israel's two kidnapped reservists have yet to be 
returned, weapons are continuing to pour into the Hizbullah armory 
and Hizbullah gunmen are still deployed in southern Lebanon, albeit 
less overtly than in the years before last summer's Second Lebanon 
War.  The extension of the mandate does nothing to grapple with 
those worrying realities.  What it does do is perpetuate a dangerous 
status quo.... An expansion of UNIFIL authority could have countered 
some of these disturbing realities.  But the international community 
has no desire to crack down on the rampant gunrunning from Syria. 
The 30 countries participating in UNIFIL do not wish to put their 
men at greater risk.  The bottom line is that UNIFIL can only keep 
the peace as long as such deceptive tranquility serves Hizbullah's 
interests.  The UN presence in southern Lebanon, unfortunately, is 
merely marking time to the next showdown." 
 
JONES