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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002722 
 
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 continued to report on the aftermath of the alleged 
incursion of Israeli planes into Syrian air space.  Ha'aretz and 
other media reported that Syrian FM Walid Mualem told EU ambassadors 
in Damascus that he expected to lodge a complaint with the UN 
Security Council in the coming days.  Mualem traveled later to 
Turkey, where he is expected to discuss the alleged airspace 
violation with Turkish officials.  On Sunday major media reported 
that Turkey has asked Israel for clarifications after finding two 
fuel tanks on its territory near the Syrian border.   Israel Radio 
quoted Mualem as saying that Syria is prepared to defend itself but 
that it is looking forward to peace.  Major media quoted Defense 
Minister Ehud Barak as saying at Sunday's cabinet meeting that the 
IDF conducts "courageous and unusual operations," adding, "This is 
an activity that naturally cannot always be revealed to the public." 
  The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior Israeli defense official as 
saying on Sunday that the mounting tension between Israel and Syria 
has started to subside.   Leading media noted that the Arab world is 
keeping silent on the issue.  On Sunday Yediot quoted senior Iranian 
officials as saying that Islamic states would back Syria. 
 
Leading media reported that PM Ehud Olmert is scheduled to meet with 
PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem today.  Ha'aretz 
quoted Palestinian sources as saying that Abbas will press Olmert to 
begin drafting a document of principles that will be presented at 
the international meeting in the fall,. Ha'aretz said that Olmert 
prefers a one-page document that lists five general principles that 
will serve as guidelines.  Israel Radio reported that Knesset 
Speaker Dalia Itzik met with Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad at her 
residence.  The radio quoted Fayyad as saying in an interview with a 
Saudi newspaper that the failure of the international Mideast meting 
would have far-reaching consequences for the entire region and that 
agreement on the core final-status issues must be reached before the 
meeting.  On Sunday Maariv reported that for the first time in the 
history of relations between Israel and the Palestinians, Abbas has 
been invited to address the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense 
Committee.  The invitation was given by the committee's Chairman, MK 
Tzachi Hanegbi.  The Jerusalem Post reported that a high-ranking 
Israeli defense official told the newspaper on Sunday that the IDF 
and the Shin Bet are vehemently opposed to removing roadblocks in 
the West Bank as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinians.  The 
official was quoted as saying that the defense establishment first 
wants the Palestinians to prove their capabilities in combating 
terrorism in the West Bank. 
 
On Sunday the media (banner in Maariv) quoted Palestinian sources as 
saying that IDF special forces kidnapped Muhawash el-Kadi Nuimat 
(a.k.a. Abu-Khaled), a Hamas official, out of the southern Gaza 
Strip on Friday evening. According to Maariv, he was "recently 
appointed the commander of Hamas's military wing in the southern 
Gaza Strip.  In this capacity he is responsible, among other things, 
for the arms smuggling operations from Egypt and he has extensive 
knowledge about the state of the kidnapped soldier.Q  Coverage was 
less intensive in other media. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Sunday King Abdullah II of Jordan 
conferred with the Middle East Quartet's envoy, Tony Blair, and 
pledged his country's support for the group's efforts to shore up 
confidence between Israel and the Palestinians, according to an 
official statement. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post and other media reported that, buoyed 
by the growing street protests against Hamas, Fatah leaders vowed 
over the weekend to step up their efforts to end Hamas's rule in the 
Gaza Strip. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme 
allied commander and 2004 Democratic Party presidential candidate, 
told the newspaper on the sidelines of this week's counterterrorism 
conference at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya that the US 
should embark on a diplomatic offensive with Iran before it is too 
late and the only alternative left is war. 
 
Maariv reported that various security branches advocate distributing 
biochemical protection kits to the Israeli population, but that 
Barak is opposed to such a move. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday the US Senate 
passed its version of the foreign aid bill, which includes USD 2.4 
billion for Israel and USD 1.3 billion for Egypt. 
 
On Sunday all media reported on Osama bin Ladin's first video 
appearance in five years. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Iran plans to vie for one of the temporary 
seats on the UN Security Council, according to a low-key 
announcement last week in a routine informational document 
distributed by the Asia Group of member states.  The newspaper 
quoted diplomats at UN Headquarters in New York as saying that Iran 
has little chance of beating Japan, particularly in view of the 
Security Council sanctions imposed on Iran for refusing to halt its 
nuclear program. 
 
Leading media reported that on Sunday the IDF thwarted a suicide 
bombing in Tel Aviv, arresting a Palestinian youth who was carrying 
three explosive devices at the Beit Iba checkpoint on the outskirts 
of Nablus.  Earlier on Sunday, a Qassam rocket struck an open area 
near a kibbutz in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.  Also on 
Sunday, Palestinian militants fired four mortar shells at Kibbutz 
Kerem Shalom near southern Gaza. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Sunday members of the Committee to Prevent 
the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities petitioned the High 
Court of Justice, seeking to stop an excavation by the Waqf on the 
Temple Mount.  The petition is against PM Olmert, other cabinet 
ministers, and the Israel Antiquities Authority.  It was signed, 
among others, by prominent author A. B. Yehoshua; former Tel Aviv 
mayor Shlomo Lahat; Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the 
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; 
prominent archaeologists; and The Jerusalem Post, which also claimed 
that the Mount is closed to media coverage. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Sunday Jordanian authorities prevented the 
head of the northern branch of Israel's Islamic Movement, Sheikh 
Raed Salah, from entering Jordan.  The Jordanians did not give a 
reason for barring Salah entry.  On Sunday The Jerusalem Post 
reported that on Friday Salah reiterated his promise that Israel 
would disappear. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post reported that a UN conference on joint 
water management strategies in the Middle East convened in New York 
this week.  The workshop was sponsored by Hadassah, the Women's 
Zionist Organization of America. 
 
On Sunday The Jerusalem Post printed an AP wire report that the US 
would cut off funding to the UN Human Rights Council under a bill 
passed by the Senate, the latest action by Washington to target an 
agency it has harshly criticized since its creation last year. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that fertility experts in Iran, Egypt, 
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Cyprus, and Israel have 
cooperated with reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Eric Scott Sills of 
New York's RMA-Vassar Brothers Medical Center, to publish what is 
reportedly the first ever collaborative study on in-vitro 
fertilization services in the Middle East. 
 
Major media reported that Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu told the 
Winograd Commission that the decision to go to war in July 2006 was 
made hastily. 
 
Over the weekend all media reported that a month ago the police 
arrested eight Petah-Tikva youths -- immigrants from the former 
Soviet Union -- suspected of running a neo-Nazi cell.  The suspects 
attacked Jewish men wearing skullcaps, foreign workers, homosexuals, 
and drug addicts, and filmed their acts of abuse. 
 
The Jerusalem Post wrote that the Economic Intelligence Unit 
reported on Sunday that Israel was ranked the 23rd most attractive 
country in which to do business over the next five years. 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote on page one of the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "It is safe to assume that Assad 
will make some sort of move to keep Israel on the edge of its seat 
over the [upcoming Jewish] holidays." 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Only the government leaders in Israel 
are keeping silent.... One may assume that the welcome silence of 
the weekend will not last long." 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in Ha'aretz: "The present crisis 
may blow over, but the fragile nature of relations between Israel 
and Syria will continue threatening to ignite at any moment. 
Although war did not break out, joy is premature: No basic problem 
 
has been solved.  To move ahead to a solution, talk, not silence, is 
needed." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: "No military 
operation -- not even a victory -- can take the place of a 
diplomatic agreement." 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "The 
Syrians are not yet prepared for war.... In the meantime, they can 
promote terrorism in the territories." 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in 
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in The 
Jerusalem Post: "Policy must be tough, cynical, and involve equal 
trade-offs, rather than proofs of good will or flattery designed to 
win friends." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Tense Holiday Season" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote on page one of the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (9/10): "It is safe to assume 
that Assad will make some sort of move to keep Israel on the edge of 
its seat over the holidays.  The Jewish New Year [late this week] is 
an emotionally vulnerable time.  Yom Kippur [in two weeks], with the 
fresh historic memory it arouses, is even more delicate.  But no one 
among the military and political top brass deluded himself that the 
story ended the day the aircraft violated, allegedly, Syrian 
airspace.  On the Israeli side, the leadership is evidently 
surprising itself by its ability to impose restraint on the 
ministers and generals.... At times of deliberate obfuscation like 
now, however, even the most banal statement takes on a slightly 
greater significance." 
 
II.  "Absolute Silence" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (9/10): "What has been going on over the 
past few days among the top echelon in the country is so rare.... 
Syria is issuing threats.  Television stations all over the Arab 
world are brimming with anger.  Turkey is troubled....  And only the 
government leaders in Israel are keeping silent.... One may assume 
that the welcome silence of the weekend will not last long.  The 
story will come out.  If not here, then with the help of foreign 
reports.  If not in the veteran media, then on the Internet.  If not 
now, then on the eve of elections.  Or the next coalition crisis, or 
on the eve of a round of appointments at the IDF General Staff, or 
at the next interview given by one of those in on the secret on a TV 
interview program.  The generation of Israelis who took their 
secrets to their graves (or at least until they retired), has died, 
 
SIPDIS 
and in their stead has risen a generation which does not suffice 
with eulogies: It needs instant glory.  If there is a headline, it 
will appear immediately.  And if, after I have gone underground, a 
headline appears, let it be protected forever.  This is the reason 
that these days all the journalists in the country have a problem 
sleeping.  They would all be happy to be the first to publish. 
Mainly, they find it hard to bear the thought that they will be the 
second." 
 
III.  "Welcome to the Middle East" 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in Ha'aretz (9/9): "Israel has 
tripped itself up before with the boasting that accompanied its 
defeats of Arab countries, even when the defeats were justified.... 
After each achievement by the IDF comes a timeout, which the 
defeated use to grow stronger and tighten alliances.  Syria has not 
buckled under, despite its weakness vis-a-vis Israel.... In an 
interview published in the current issue of the Israel Air Force 
journal, IAF Air Directorate Commander Brigadier General Yochanan 
Loker praised some of the IAF's abilities to strike its targets. 
These are indeed impressive, especially the IAF's superior 
intelligence and ability to surprise its targets and their defenses. 
 But their strategic impact is limited.  It is very difficult to 
deliver a fatal blow to the will of a government, people, or 
organization to go on fighting until it achieves its political or 
religious goals.  The present crisis may blow over, but the fragile 
nature of relations between Israel and Syria will continue 
threatening to ignite at any moment.  Although war did not break 
out, joy is premature: No basic problem has been solved.  To move 
ahead to a solution, talk, not silence, is needed." 
 
IV.  "The Syrian Riddle" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz (9/10): "Syria 
is playing a double game.  On the one hand, it is dipping into 
Iran's arms caches, complementing what is lacking there with 
purchases from Russia, and sending its surpluses to Hizbullah.  On 
the other hand, it voted in favor of the Arab League initiative, 
which offers Israel peace and normalized relations in return for 
occupied territory.... From Israel's point of view, the most 
important question is what will happen to the Arab consensus in the 
coming months.... According to Israeli intelligence analysts, Syrian 
patience will hold out until early 2009.  Assad is counting on a 
Democratic White House lifting the embargo on Syria and convincing 
Israel to renew negotiations.  By then, Syria will have completed 
its arms procurement program, and Iran may also have completed its 
nuclear program.  On the other hand, Israel will not have completed 
development of the anti-missile technologies that the Defense 
Minister has been discussing.  These same analysts believe that the 
Alawite regime in Damascus is not interested in becoming a pawn in 
an Iranian war for regional hegemony.  But either way, before being 
drawn into a war, all means to prevent it must be sought.  And in 
any case, no military operation -- not even a victory -- can take 
the place of a diplomatic agreement." 
 
¶V.  "Syria Isn't Ready Yet" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in Yediot Aharonot (9/9): 
"Syria has a history of committing acts of terrorism by proxy.  And 
if the Iranians become involved in this story, we can expect payback 
by means of a terror attack against Israeli and Jewish targets 
around the world.  Hizbullah has sleeper cells in Europe, South 
America, and Africa, and they might try to attack embassies or 
Israeli commercial companies.  The Syrians are not yet prepared for 
war.  They are not going to do anything that might provoke a 
full-scale war.  They will be operationally prepared only in 2009, 
with the completion of the major arms deal with Russia.  In the 
meantime, they can promote terrorism in the territories -- mainly in 
Gaza.  They are going to have a hard time setting Lebanon on fire 
against us because Hizbullah, for the time being, is not interested 
in having that happen." 
 
VI.  "Influence in the Mideast" 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in 
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in The 
Jerusalem Post (9/10): "Policy must be tough, cynical, and involve 
equal trade-offs, rather than proofs of good will or flattery 
designed to win friends.  Iran knows that; America often does, and 
Europe usually doesn't.  That's why flattering Mahmoud Abbas, 
showering money and arms on Fatah, and thinking one can turn the 
West Bank into a showcase of economic progress isn't going to work. 
Nor will persuading the Arab world that America and Europe care 
about the Palestinians, want to give them a state, and don't like 
Israel.  A reasonable strategy requires showing how unprofitable it 
is to be an enemy while helping those on the other side only to the 
extent that they cooperate.  It means not having to apologize but 
getting those who ignore your interests to apologize to you.  It 
requires taking into account regional realities rather than 
sentimentalizing them into morality plays. It includes not expecting 
to solve neatly problems which have no solution." 
 
JONES