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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
¶3.  Global War on Terror 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported on PM Ehud Olmert's meeting with French President 
Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace on Monday.  The Jerusalem Post 
banners: "PM Feels Fresh Breeze from the Elysee."  A Yediot headline 
reads: "Israel Has a Friend in the Elysee."  Media reported that the 
two leaders agreed to cooperate in efforts to contain Iran's nuclear 
program.  Ha'aretz quoted PM Olmert as telling reporters after his 
meeting with Sarkozy: "We need to prevent Iranian businessmen from 
doing business, until the class that controls the Iranian economy 
does something against the regime."  The media reported the leaders 
agreed that Palestinian refugees should be resettled in a 
Palestinian state, not in Israel.  Sarkozy expressed strong support 
for Israel, describing its establishment as a "miracle" and the 
"most significant event of the 20th century." 
 
Ha'aretz and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that PM Olmert has 
informed Attorney General Menachem Mazuz that he intends to present 
the anticipated joint statement at the Annapolis meeting to the 
Knesset for approval. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Sallai Meridor, Israel's Ambassador to the 
US, as saying on Monday at an American Jewish Committee luncheon 
that Israel should always be prepared "to preempt , to deter, to 
defeat if we can" when speaking about threats facing the country. 
Chief among those threats was Iran, Meridor was quoted as saying. 
He called for a unified international as well as a domestic American 
front to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions.  The Jerusalem Post noted 
that Meridor's comments appeared to put Israel at odds with 
America's approach to UN Security Council sanctions.  The Jerusalem 
Post reported that on Monday FM Tzipi Livni told visiting Russian 
Deputy FM Alexander Saltanov and Moscow's envoy to the Quartet, 
Sergei Yakovlev, that there was a need for additional sanctions on 
Iran.  Visiting Georgian FM Gela Bezhuashvili  was quoted as saying 
in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that the international 
community must deal with Russia from a position of unity and 
strength, and not try to appease it.  Ha'aretz reported that 
Bezhuashvili told the newspaper that his country is interested in a 
strategic partnership with Israel. 
 
Israel Radio reported that two Islamic Jihad militants were killed 
in a clash with IDF troops in Jenin.  An IDF officer was lightly 
wounded during the incident.  Leading media reported that a 
Palestinian security prisoner was killed on Monday during a riot in 
the Ketziot prison. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Israeli government and defense 
establishment are becoming increasingly concerned over the closer 
ties that Egypt and Hamas government are forging in the Gaza Strip 
and over Egypt's turning a blind eye to continued smuggling from 
Sinai to the Gaza Strip.   The newspaper reported that an Israeli 
government and defense delegation to Cairo recently protested 
Egypt's allowing gunmen to enter the Strip from its territory. 
 
Ha'aretz's Web site reported that Finance Minister Roni Bar-On met 
Monday in Washington with World Bank President Robert Zoellick and 
urged him not to cooperate in any manner with Hamas and economic 
projects in the Gaza Strip.  "We must strengthen moderates through 
economic cooperation, but there is no room to include Hamas in this 
framework," said Bar-On, who added that Israel would like to 
contribute to the development of job opportunities and proper living 
conditions in the West Bank in order to demonstrate to Palestinians 
that terror does not pay.  The Finance Minister also urged Zoellick 
to strengthen Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora economically and 
help prevent arms shipments from Syria to Lebanese territory. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday Defense Minister Ehud Barak 
decided to appoint Maj. Gen. Benny Ganz, who spearheaded Israel's 
withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, as military attache in Washington. 
The Jerusalem Post said that he could be called upon by the 
Americans to provide advice should the US decide to withdraw its 
military forces from Iraq. 
 
Major media reported that on Monday five Qassam rockets and four 
mortar shells were launched from Gaza into Israel.  More rockets 
landed in Israel this morning. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted IDF Col. Nir Press, the head of the Gaza 
Coordination Liaison Administration, as saying on Monday that Hamas 
is unnecessarily endangering Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by 
generating phony humanitarian crises. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the PA has released dozens of 
Hamas militants from West Bank jails. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that on Monday 
the Knesset's State Control Committee decided to require State 
Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss to publish a special report 
regarding the Waqf's digging on the Temple Mount. 
 
Ha'aretz (Akiva Eldar) reported that the 46-sq-km demilitarized zone 
between Israel and Jordan could become a serious bone of contention 
when Israelis and Palestinians begin territorial swaps. 
 
Maariv reported that two Republican Congress members -- Pete 
Hoekstra (Michigan) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida) -- who know 
the details of Israel's raid in Syria demand that President Bush 
reveal them to the entire Congress. 
 
Yediot quoted senior officials at the Prime Minister's Office as 
saying recently that Israel is not cooperating with Kurds in 
northern Iraq.  The newspaper noted that over the past few months 
senior Turkish government and intelligence officials have raised 
such a concern. 
 
All media highlighted the contents of a videocassette released by 
the police, which shows the initial interrogation of Yitzhak Rabin's 
assassin Yigal Amir.  The media publish many commentaries on the 
murder and its implications for Israeli society, including the 
notion that public attention may be focusing more on Amir than on 
Rabin.  The official anniversary of the assassination will be 
commemorated tonight and on Wednesday. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Evangelical Christians in the US 
have brought dozens of Iranian Jews to Israel in recent months, 
offering cash incentives and claiming that Iran's tiny Jewish 
community is in grave danger. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited AP that on Monday a Dallas judge declared a 
mistrial for four former leaders of the Holy Land Foundation for 
Relief and Development, a US-based Muslim charity accused of funding 
terrorism.  A fifth defendant, foundation chairman Muhammad 
El-Mezain, was acquitted of most charges. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a group of Indonesian journalists 
just made a "ground-breaking" visit to Israel. 
 
Leading media reported on an interfaith meeting taking place this 
week in Naples.  Pope Benedict XVI and Yona Metzger, Israel's 
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, were among the participants. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Columnists Gilad Katz and Haggai Huberman wrote in the nationalist, 
Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe: "[Olmert] has no idea how he will 
come out of the Annapolis meeting -- diplomatically, from a security 
point of view, or politically." 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The growing cooperation between Hamas and 
Cairo reflects a worrying trend: Egypt, by commission or omission, 
is becoming one of the Islamic organization's strategic partners." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Preparing for the Talks, Fearing a Failure" 
 
Columnists Gilad Katz and Haggai Huberman wrote in the nationalist, 
Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe (10/23): "Olmert is trying to walk in 
the rain without getting wet.... He is trying to win over [coalition 
party leaders Eli] Yishai and [Avigdor] Lieberman.... As past 
experience proves and as may people fear, Olmert knows how he will 
enter the conference, but he has no idea how he will come out of the 
Annapolis meeting -- diplomatically, from a security point of view, 
or politically.  On the other side, some people are waiting for 
Olmert.  The more Israel is prepared for concessions, the more the 
Palestinians are radicalizing their positions, which they view as 
non-negotiable." 
 
II.  "Egypt's Warming - and Enabling - Cooperation with Hamas" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/23): "Is Egypt happy when Israel 
bleeds?.... The growing cooperation between Hamas and Cairo reflects 
a worrying trend: Egypt, by commission or omission, is becoming one 
of the Islamic organization's strategic partners.  Hamas owes the 
Egyptian security services, for turning a blind eye to the arms 
smuggling and helping Hamas build up its forces.  Until recently, 
Egypt has insisted that it was trying to stop the smuggling, albeit 
unsuccessfully.  But its decision to allow 85 Hamas operatives into 
the strip a few weeks ago, along with talk about bringing wounded 
Hamas members for treatment in Egypt, cannot be similarly explained 
away.... Possible explanations for Cairo's behavior include its need 
to reduce unrest among the Bedouin population of the Sinai, and to 
blunt criticism of President Hosni Mubarak's 'pro-Israel' policy by 
the Muslim Brotherhood.  But perhaps the most likely explanation is 
an internal Egyptian disagreement over what course to follow. 
Israeli sources say there is a clear dispute between Egyptian 
Intelligence -- headed by General Omar Suleiman -- which favors a 
conciliatory policy toward Hamas; and the Foreign Ministry, which 
wants to take a hard line against the Islamic organization. 
Currently, Suleiman and his people appear to be setting the tone. 
Israeli officials do not rule out the possibility that this reflects 
a struggle over who will succeed Mubarak.  Washington and Ramallah 
are also very upset over Cairo's behavior -- the US and the PA have 
been shocked by the zigzags in Egypt's policy toward Hamas. 
Washington has been openly critical, and in closed forums, PA 
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has also lambasted Egypt's double 
standards." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Resolving a crisis that 
threatens the world is beyond our ability. Israel would do well to 
leave the use of force to the big guys." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
 
"Leave It to the Big Guys" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/23): "The Israeli ethos of 
not relying on foreign troops to defend this country is all fine and 
well, but there's no need to be stupid about it.  Israel should not 
be racing ahead of the pack with its threats on Iran.  Even if 
Ahmadinejad is baiting Israel, Iran is the world's problem.... It's 
pretty funny when you think about it: Israel single-handedly 
stopping Iran.... A botched operation is worse than doing nothing. 
The 'Nasrallah model' could repeat itself, with Ahmadinejad 
transformed into an Islamic hero.  The whole region could go up in 
flames as Tel Aviv is bombarded, and Hamas, aided and abetted by the 
Iranians, grabs the reins in the territories.... With all due 
respect to the ethos that the defense of Israel must not rely on 
outside forces, the Olmert administration does not have the 
leadership skills, political credibility or public backing for a 
military entanglement in Iran.  Resolving a crisis that threatens 
the world is beyond our ability. Israel would do well to leave the 
use of force to the big guys." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------------------- 
¶3.  Global War on Terror: 
------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "The 
jihadists who seek to dominate the world in the name of Allah are 
not merely involved in violent activities." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Shari'a-Friendly Investments" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (10/23): 
"Perhaps the greatest problem with the term 'war on terror' is that 
it confuses the public and those charged with prosecuting the war on 
all levels about the nature of the enemy we face.  The jihadists who 
seek to dominate the world in the name of Allah are not merely 
involved in violent activities.  Organizations like Hamas, 
Hizbullah, and al-Qaida devote the majority of their efforts to 
spreading the message of jihad by proselytizing fellow Muslims 
through propaganda, education, and welfare activities and for their 
larger political goals.  Essential to the aims of jihadists is the 
Muslim sacrament of zakat.  Zakat, one of the pillars of Islam, 
requires Muslims to donate 2.5 percent of their incomes to 
charity..... [New York financial institutions] should carefully 
consider the likely moral and criminal implications of enabling 
Shari'a advisors associated with radical Islamic theologians and a 
foreign body on record for supporting terror, anti-Americanism and 
anti-Semitism to determine both the composition of their investments 
and the utilization of 2.5 percent of the revenues stemming from 
those investments." 
 
JONES