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DE RUEHTV #2601/01 2401033
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281033Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2978
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 2655
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 9359
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2733
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3450
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 2685
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0676
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 3416
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0288
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0754
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 7340
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4774
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 9687
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 3845
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 5787
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 7767
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RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002601 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported on today's meeting in Jerusalem between PM Ehud 
Olmert and PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas, which Israel Radio 
said started this afternoon.  Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post said 
that the rescue by PA security personnel of an IDF officer who lost 
his way in the West Bank Jenin on Monday and found himself in Jenin 
will likely be acknowledged and improve the atmosphere.  Leading 
media reported that FM Livni thanked Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad for 
the rescue during a meeting on Monday.  The Jerusalem Post quoted 
Livni as saying: "These types of actions prove the growing strength 
of the Palestinian government and its forces in the field against 
terrorism." 
 
Yediot quoted PM Olmert as saying on Monday: "We are nearing the 
moment of truth in the dialogue between us [with the Palestinians], 
and today's meeting is expected to be of a definitive character." 
Ha'aretz quoted a senior GOI official as saying that the framework 
of discussions between Israel and the PA will be expanded to include 
the establishment of negotiating teams for each side, which will 
discuss the agreement of principles to be prepared ahead of the 
peace "summit" in November.  The newspaper's Web site later reported 
that Chairman Abbas voiced concern on Monday that much has yet to be 
agreed to before the international conference in November.  He was 
quoted as saying that the conference would be a "waste of time" if 
it stuck to a "declaration of principles" -- a phrase used by some 
Israeli officials to describe what they may offer in answer to 
demands for the rapid, final negotiation of a Palestinian state. 
Abbas was quoted as saying that he is still unsure about the timing, 
participants, and agenda of the planned meeting.  "There are no 
answers to these questions," he was quoted as saying after talking 
with the Secretary of State by telephone.  "I spoke with Dr. 
Condoleezza Rice today and she has no answers either."  Makor 
Rishon-Hatzofe quoted a senior GOI source as saying that the gaps 
between the sides and the leaders' unsteady status are preventing 
the formation of an agreement. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad 
as saying on Monday in an interview with the Austrian daily Die 
Presse that the Middle East and Islamic civilization are so unstable 
now that they could draw the world's nations into another global 
war. 
 
Maariv reported that Saudi Arabia has informed the US that, 
considering progress accomplished between PM Olmert and Chairman 
Abbas regarding an agreement of principles, it will consider coming 
to the Washington meeting. 
 
All media reported that today is the 21st birthday of abducted IDF 
Cpl. Gilad Shalit.  Ha'aretz quoted an Israeli advocacy group for 
abducted soldiers as saying that his father, Noam Shalit, has been 
attempting to get the leading Hamas newspaper to print a birthday 
letter to Gilad, but that the editor has refused to run it.  Major 
media reported that Hamas has suggested that Israel release 1,000 
women and minors from jail in exchange for a video recording of 
Gilad Shalit.  A TV commentator noted that those prisoners have 
"blood on their hands." 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Abu-Yusef, a senior Palestinian officer 
in the PA's Force 17, as saying in an interview with Israeli 
journalist Aharon Lerner from the conservative Web site IMRA that 
the training that his forces received from the US allowed them to 
kill over 1,000 Israelis during the 2000 Intifada and defeat Israel 
in Gaza. 
 
Maariv cited the concern of the Israeli defense establishment that 
Pakistan might become a bigger threat to Israel than Iran, because 
Muslim extremists might destabilize President Musharraf's regime. 
Maariv cited fears that Pakistan will give Iran nuclear weapons. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday Pakistan accused UN 
watchdog groups of launching a "smear campaign" to discredit the 
upcoming 2009 UN anti-racism conference. 
 
Ha'aretz, Yediot, Maariv, and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted French 
President Nicolas Sarkozy as saying on Sunday in his first major 
foreign policy speech since he was elected in May: "I have the 
reputation of being a friend of Israel and it is true.  I will never 
compromise on Israel's security."  He was further quoted as saying 
that the "establishment of Hamastan in the Gaza Strip might be the 
first stage in the takeover of all Palestinian territories by 
radical Muslims.  We cannot allow that." 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak 
as saying on Monday that Hizbullah has about 20,000 rockets and 
missiles of various ranges, more than it did prior to the Second 
Lebanon War.  He was speaking before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs 
and Defense Committee. 
 
Leading media reported that new digs by the Muslim Waqf on the 
Temple Mount endanger the vestiges of the Jewish Temples. 
 
All media reported on controversy aroused by remarks made on Monday 
in a radio broadcast by Shas party Rabbi Ovadia Yosef that secular 
IDF troops die in war because they do not observe the Sabbath. 
Several media quoted Yosef as saying that he was misunderstood. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Iran has joined a scientific project in which 
Israel is already a standing member. The Jordan-based Special Sensor 
Microwave Imager (SSMI) project aims to build a synchrotron particle 
accelerator for advanced research in medicine and the life sciences. 
 Financed by the EU and Jordan, the project aims to advance regional 
cooperation through science.  Iran joined as a standing member of 
SSMI two years ago. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the message carried by Martin Luther King 
III, the son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during his current visit 
to Israel was "bland," except for his declaration that the use of 
civil disobedience is irrelevant today.  Instead, he recommended 
using the Internet to spread the message of nonviolence. 
 
Leading media reported that Gad Yaacobi, a former cabinet minister 
and ambassador to the UN, passed away in Toronto on Monday at age 
¶72. 
 
Yediot highlighted the poor state of the Labor Party's finances. 
 
Yediot reported that respected Egyptian actor Amr Waked might be 
prosecuted in his country for playing alongside Israelis in a BBC 
series about Saddam Hussein's life. 
 
The media reported that on Monday Bank of Israel Governor Stanley 
Fischer tightened monetary policy and raised the central bank 
interest rate by 0.25 percent to 4 percent. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Israel ... is continuing to hold 
negotiations with the only partner left.... The problem is that all 
this effort appears to be virtually hopeless in light of Fatah's 
failure." 
 
Yehuda Bauer, Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at the Hebrew 
University of Jerusalem, wrote about West Bank settlers in Ha'aretz: 
"There are two states; one committed to a Western democratic 
government, and the other committed to extremist, messianic 
religious rule." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
continued captivity of Shalit is an outrage.  Abbas, who has 
garnered Israeli and international backing as the exemplar of 
moderation, can use today's meeting as a platform to demand Shalit's 
release." 
 
Jonathan S. Tobin, Executive Editor of The Jewish Exponent in 
Philadelphia, wrote in The Jerusalem Post: "Extremist Muslims are a 
genuine threat to both peace and the West; while most settlers are 
no threat to anyone and are, if anything, among the primary victims 
of Muslim terror." 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Much Ado" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (8/28): "Israel -- realizing that it must help 
Abbas as much as is possible -- is continuing to hold negotiations 
with the only partner left.  The IDF is also getting involved in 
trying to save the Abbas government, such as by maintaining the Erez 
crossing [into the Gaza Strip], on the assumption that this will 
hamper Hamas sovereignty in Gaza and win points for Abbas.  The 
problem is that all this effort appears to be virtually hopeless in 
light of Fatah's failure to become stronger in either the West Bank 
or Gaza and the continuing trend of radicalization in Palestinian 
society.... Abbas and his Fatah movement face another obstacle, 
which was raised by the deputy director of the Shin Bet security 
service at the cabinet meeting on Sunday.  If Hamas suspects that a 
breakthrough in the Olmert-Abbas talks is imminent, it will try to 
disrupt the process by carrying out terror attacks from the West 
Bank.... The situation in Gaza is a lot worse.... With [improved 
military] equipment and with the close guidance of Hizbullah, it is 
no wonder that Hamas is moving forward with attempted attacks that 
are becoming ever more daring." 
 
II.  "Who's in Charge in the West Bank" 
 
Yehuda Bauer, Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at the Hebrew 
University of Jerusalem, wrote in Ha'aretz (8/28): "Israel does not 
control the several hundred thousand Jewish settlers in the West 
Bank. They accept Israeli rule only to the extent that it works in 
their favor. When they think it does not, then in the best-case 
scenario they ignore it; otherwise, they succeed in resisting it.... 
There are two states; one committed to a Western democratic 
government, and the other committed to extremist, messianic 
religious rule.... There is no truth to the well-known tradition 
that the Second Temple was destroyed due to baseless hatred or 
internecine rivalry. The Temple was destroyed because religious, 
messianic extremists forced the nation to rebel against a global 
empire that it had no chance of defeating.... There may be a 
scenario (an imaginary one) in which a radical religious minority 
thwarts peace because the fanatic political assassins of the Second 
Temple period have found worthy successors." 
 
III.  "Shalit's Birthday" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (8/28): 
"Today is Cpl. Gilad Shalit's 21st birthday, his second in 
captivity.... Hamas knew exactly what it was doing when it released 
an audiotape from Shalit on June 25, the fist anniversary of the 
kidnapping.... Monday was the turn of Ahmed Youssef, an aide to 
Hamas's 'prime minister,' Ismail Haniyeh, who said in an interview 
with Israel Radio that if Israel freed Palestinian women and 
children from jail (he didn't say how many), Hamas might release a 
videotape of Shalit revealing his current condition as a 'gesture of 
goodwill'.... The continued captivity of Shalit is an outrage. 
Abbas, who has garnered Israeli and international backing as the 
exemplar of moderation, can use today's meeting as a platform to 
demand Shalit's release, to condemn Hamas for holding him, and to 
underline the damage caused to Palestinian interests by the ongoing 
acts of terrorism, including Shalit's imprisonment, carried out or 
fostered by Hamas.  If followed by long-required action against 
terrorism that would improve security for both Israelis and 
Palestinians and begin to enable a return to substantive dialogue, 
this would be a fine birthday present for Shalit and, it is to be 
hoped, the beginning of a speedy process leading to his release." 
 
IV.  "CNN's False Symmetry" 
 
Jonathan S. Tobin, Executive Editor of The Jewish Exponent in 
Philadelphia, wrote in The Jerusalem Post (8/28): "[In the age of 
political correctness], we are asked to pretend that there is an 
intrinsic connection, or even symmetry, between Christian, Jewish, 
and Muslim extremists.  That was exactly the premise of a widely 
heralded three-part series on CNN last week.  Titled 'God's Holy 
Warriors' and fronted by international correspondent Christiane 
Amanpour, it was a triptych across the globe to highlight the danger 
from Jewish, Muslim, and Christian extremists, who are all given the 
same treatment and air-time in the guise of even-handedness.... 
Extremist Muslims are a genuine threat to both peace and the West; 
while most settlers are no threat to anyone and are, if anything, 
among the primary victims of Muslim terror.  As for Evangelical 
Christians, who were the targets of Amanpour's third program, most 
American Jews may disagree with most of their political positions 
but, to date, they have launched no terror attacks, nor do they plan 
any.  Any analogy between them and Islamists is the figment of 
Amanpour's fevered imagination.  If anything, their main sin, in the 
eyes of many Western apologists for the Islamists, seems to be their 
support for Jewish victims of Arab terror.  CNN cannot be allowed to 
get away with this sort of despicable bias.  Decent persons of all 
faiths need to speak out against this network and make sure that it, 
and its arrogant star Amanpour, are made to hear of our outrage at 
every possible opportunity and in every way possible, including the 
use of economic leverage by both sponsors and viewers." 
 
JONES