VZCZCXYZ0005
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2986/01 2890606
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160606Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3668
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 2854
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 9547
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2983
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 3652
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 2886
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0934
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 3617
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0481
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0949
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 7528
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4975
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 9888
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 4034
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 5979
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 8163
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002986 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank, October 14-18, 2007: 
 
SIPDIS 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Major media quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying 
during a joint press conference with PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud 
Abbas: "Israelis and Palestinians are making their most serious 
effort in years to resolve the conflict.  Frankly, it is time for 
the establishment of a Palestinian state."  The independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz quoted Chairman Abbas as saying that Israel 
should dismantle all settlements and pull back its military to the 
pre-Intifada lines even before the completion of negotiations. 
Abbas made additional demands, including the release of all 
Palestinian prisoners.  The Palestinian leader was quoted as saying 
that he told Rice of these demands, and that he asked her to help 
halt construction within the existing settlements, citing the 
relevant clause in the Roadmap. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman 
told Rice on Monday that going ahead with a Middle East meeting next 
month would be a mistake and that the Israeli government cannot 
afford to make to make controversial decisions on matters of such a 
sensitive nature.  Lieberman also stressed to the Secretary the 
importance of security for the residents of Sderot and the area 
around Gaza.  The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post reported 
that Lieberman told Rice that an IDF operation to destroy the 
terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is inevitable. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Tel Aviv University's "Peace Index" poll 
found that some two-thirds of Israel's Jewish public thinks that 
from Israel's standpoint it is impossible to go on indefinitely with 
the current state of relations between Israel and the Palestinians. 
A similar number of Jewish citizens think that among the most urgent 
issues on Israel's agenda is the government's attempt to reach a 
peace agreement with the Palestinians.  Yet a large majority of this 
public does not believe that the Annapolis meeting will 
significantly advance the process of reaching a permanent 
Israeli-Palestinian peace, or even achieve a basic clarification of 
the differences between the two sides. 
 
 
All media led with reports that information received from Hizbullah 
during a deal carried out along Israel's northern border on Monday 
is hoped to bring to a conclusion the mystery 
surrounding the fate of missing IAF navigator Ron Arad.  On Monday 
evening Israel and Hizbullah exchanged the remains of three 
individuals and a seriously ill prisoner.  The media said that the 
transaction, carried out with the help of the UN and the Red Cross, 
is the first overt sign of a mediating process that began six months 
ago for the release of the two abducted reservists, Eldad Regev and 
Ehud Goldwasser.  As part of the deal, Israel received sensitive 
information linked to the case of Arad, missing since 1986 when his 
jet crashed in Lebanon.  The media are divided regarding the amount 
of knowledge Hizbullah has about Arad's fate.  Similar to other 
media, Ha'aretz reported that senior Israeli defense sources told 
the newspaper last night that the deal reflects a certain degree of 
progress in contacts with Hizbullah, but negotiations are still 
slow, and at this stage there is no expectation that Regev and 
Goldwasser will be freed in the near future. 
 
Leading media reported that speaking to the Knesset plenum on 
Monday, PM Ehud Olmert questioned whether Arab neighborhoods in East 
Jerusalem should be defined as part of Israel's capital. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the 
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs in Washington on 
Monday that the US must leave all options open in the fight against 
Iran's nuclear program.  Gates did not say whether this meant a 
military operation against Iran.  Leading media reported that during 
his visit to Tehran, Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss 
Iran's nuclear program with the Iranian leaders. 
 
Major media quoted police as saying on Monday that the Israeli 
police will handle the criminal probe into PM Olmert's activities 
when he was industry and trade minister.  Ha'aretz quoted police 
sources as saying that the investigation is complicated and will 
take several months. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank, October 14-18, 2007: 
 
SIPDIS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "[Because of 
the opposition of right-wing groups to her moves, Secretary Rice] 
deserves double the congratulations for her perseverance in 
promoting the important tasks she has taken upon herself: preparing 
the ground and hearts for the unavoidable compromises on the way to 
dividing the land." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
immediate question ... is whether Livni will insist on this bedrock 
Israeli interest [mutual recognition] as a condition for any 
document." 
 
Gilad Sharon, son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, wrote in 
the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "What point is 
there to an agreement when it is known that Palestinian terror will 
continue?" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz: "The good 
news ... is that in their four one-on-one meetings, Prime Minister 
Ehud Olmert and Abbas have touched on the conflict's most sensitive 
issues.  The bad news.... is that the two leaders have agreed that 
the gaps between them with respect to details are too big." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Welcome Involvement" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (10/16): "The 
difficulties that have emerged through direct talks between Israel 
and the Palestinians do not discourage [Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice].  Rice is once again shuttling between the two 
parties.... Rice does not content herself with promoting 
understandings between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas.Rice is 
attempting to utilize Washington's prestige as a superpower and her 
personal influence to persuade the Israeli premier's coalition 
partners and party members to cooperate.... In her meeting with 
[Israeli cabinet ministers], Rice reminded them that Israel has for 
decades avoided the necessary move of addressing the core issues, 
and that a decision on the matter is now inevitable.  ' Frankly, it 
is time for the establishment of a Palestinian state,' Rice later 
said.  Her words will probably not be greeted with applause from 
Israeli right-wing circles nor by Jewish and Christian groups that 
have influence over the Bush administrationQs top brass and in 
Congress.  And for that reason, the visitor deserves double the 
congratulations for her perseverance in promoting the important 
tasks she has taken upon herself: preparing the ground and hearts 
for the unavoidable compromises on the way to dividing the land." 
 
II.  "Livni's Mission" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (10/16): 
"Regardless of Olmert's motives, Livni's appointment [as the head of 
the Israeli negotiating team] would have an important effect on 
[the] outcome [of the talks].  She has long taken an interest in the 
true pivot of the conflict, the Palestinian demand for the 'right of 
return.'  Now her goal and motto should be a simple one: Without 
positive Palestinian movement on that, there is little point to the 
summit and no basis for Israeli concessions.... Successful 
negotiations toward a two-state solution cannot proceed in earnest 
when one side denies the fundamental legitimacy of the other's 
state.  Such a challenge violates the principle of mutual 
recognition, which must be established as a prerequisite to 
negotiations rather than as their hoped for result.  One would like 
to be fully confident that the Prime Minister would walk away from 
any deal that does not advance this fundamental position, but such 
confidence is in short supply.  The immediate question, therefore, 
is whether Livni will insist on this bedrock Israeli interest as a 
condition for any document." 
 
III.  "With Whom and About What?" 
 
Gilad Sharon, son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, wrote in 
the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (10/16):  "The very 
skipping to permanent-status [talks] is the result of the fact that 
the Palestinians have not stood up to their commitments in the 
framework of the Roadmap and other agreements -- in particular the 
cessation of terror, the dismantling of the [Palestinian terror] 
organizations and the weapons gathering.  What point is there to an 
agreement when it is known that Palestinian terror will continue? 
Moving to the permanent-status agreement is therefore a stupid and 
dangerous solution." 
 
IV.  "A Prelude of Niceties" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in Ha'aretz (10/16): 
"Israelis and Palestinians who have met with US Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice in recent days and have spoken with her staff have 
gained the impression that she does not really know what on earth 
her boss wants from her.  It isn't that Dr. Rice has a hearing 
problem.  Her problem is that US President George W. Bush has 
apparently not yet decided what exactly he wants to achieve at the 
Annapolis peace conference.  His answers depend on who he is 
speaking to and on the day of the week.... There are two camps at 
the White House and at the State Department.  The prevailing train 
of thought in one of the camps, led by neo-conservative Elliott 
Abrams, who is in charge of the National Security Council's Middle 
Eastern Affairs, holds that negotiations with the Palestinians on a 
final status solution is an idiotic idea.  Members of the other 
camp, headed by Rice, believe the time has come to renew the peace 
process, but they have no idea how to go about this.  The good news 
they have heard is that in their four one-on-one meetings, Prime 
Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas have touched on the conflict's most 
sensitive issues.  The bad news that has been brought to their 
attention is that the two leaders have agreed that the gaps between 
them with respect to details are too big." 
 
JONES