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P 251021Z OCT 07
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003087 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying on 
Wednesday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will come to 
Israel and the PA in early November.  Major media quoted Secretary 
of State Condoleezza Rice as saying before the House Foreign Affairs 
Committee on Wednesday:  "Our concern is growing that without a 
serious political prospect for the Palestinians that gives to 
moderate leaders a horizon that they can show to their people that 
indeed there is a two-state solution that is possible, we will lose 
the window for a two-state solution."  The radio, The Jerusalem 
Post, and Ha'aretz quoted Secretary Rice as saying that that the 
U.S. is planning to send senior officials to examine the smuggling 
of arms, equipment and persons from Egypt into Gaza.  (The Jerusalem 
Post reported that PM Olmert is expected to travel to Egypt next 
week and focus on the Annapolis meeting.)  Rice was quoted as saying 
that the smuggling activities are a grave concern and reiterated 
what she told Egyptian FM Ahmed Ali Abu al-Gheit two weeks ago about 
the need to do more, and "urgently."  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported 
that "knowledgeable American sources" told the newspaper that the 
main reason for the call to lower expectations is Rice's failure 
during her visit the region 
 
Ha'aretz reported that PM Ehud Olmert and President Abbas will meet 
privately on Friday at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem. 
Ha'aretz quoted senior officials in Jerusalem as saying that Olmert 
and Abbas want to get started and delve deeply into the work of the 
negotiating teams.  Ha'aretz, citing senior Israeli officials, said 
that US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley will arrive today 
and that his visit is intended to send a message that President Bush 
wants to stay informed and involved in preparations for the peace 
conference.  Ha'aretz reported that the Israeli and PA negotiating 
teams, headed by FM Tzipi Livni and her PA counterpart Ahmed Qurei 
(Abu Ala), met on Wednesday.  The newspaper reported that the two 
sides have not reached an agreement over the continuation of the 
talks and a joint statement. Most of the disagreement concerns 
Israel's demand for renewed deliberations on implementing the first 
stage of the road map.  The Palestinians claim that they have 
already implemented the first stage, which includes fighting terror, 
and that Israel must now evacuate West Bank outposts and stop 
construction in the settlements.  The Israeli negotiators, for their 
part, argue that the Palestinians must demonstrate greater efforts 
to fight Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 
 
Based on statements made recently in private talks, Ha'aretz quoted 
Gen. Keith Dayton, the US security coordinator in the PA, as saying 
that he does not believe Palestinian security forces in the West 
Bank are capable of enforcing security needs in cities there. 
Ha'aretz noted that Dayton's views are seconded by the PA, which 
recently informed Israel that it lacks the necessary infrastructure 
to deploy police officers in Nablus.   Ha'aretz quoted Defense 
Minister Ehud Barak as saying during talks in Washington last week 
that Israel is interested in furthering a process to enable 
Palestinian security forces to deploy in the West Bank.  Barak added 
that Israel lifted 25 roadblocks in the West Bank recently. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted FM Tzipi Livni as saying a few months ago in a 
series of closed discussions that Iranian nuclear weapons do not 
pose an existential threat to Israel.  According to the newspaper, 
Livni also criticized PM Olmert use of the Iranian issue, claiming 
that he is attempting to rally the public around him by playing on 
its most basic fears.  Ha'aretz reported that France is leading the 
push for the EU to step up efforts to pressure Iran through trade 
restrictions, while Germany is waiting for a UN resolution.  Maariv 
reported that Russia announced on Wednesday that it will respect all 
its commitments to build the Bushehr nuclear reactor. The 
announcement was published by the Russian government's news agency 
Itar-Tass, which noted that it contradicted a statement by PM Olmert 
that appeared in Ha'aretz that Russia would stop supplying nuclear 
fuel to Iran. 
 
Maariv reported that IDF maneuvers in the Golan are worrying Syria. 
The newspaper reported that Israel has reassured Syria that it will 
not attack it.  Leading media cited a Washington Post story that the 
target Israel raided in Syria looks like a nuclear reactor. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that in an effort to bolster the IAF in 
the face of Iran's race toward nuclear power, the Pentagon agreed, 
during meetings with Defense Minister Barak last week, to move up 
delivery of its newest stealth fighter -- the fifth-generation Joint 
Strike Fighter -- to Israel by two years, to as early as 2012.  That 
delivery was expected to commence in 2014. 
 
All media reported on Wednesday's shooting rampage outside Ariel in 
the West Bank.  Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed 
responsibility for the attack.  Two Israelis were wounded.  Ha'aretz 
reported that two Palestinian youths who were near rocket launchers 
were killed by IDF missiles in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. 
 Israel Radio reported that this morning IDF forces killed two 
Islamic Jihad militants in the southern Gaza Strip. 
 
Maariv quoted PM Olmert as saying on Wednesday that Yigal Amir, 
Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, deserves to die. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Mufti of Jerusalem, Ikrema 
Sabri, has made the claim that there never was a Jewish temple on 
the Temple Mount, and that the Western Wall was really part of a 
mosque. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that PA officials in Ramallah expressed 
concerns on Wednesday over attempts by Hamas and other Palestinian 
radical groups to create a new PLO at a conference due to take place 
in Syria and the Gaza Strip early next month. 
 
Yediot reported that from 1999 to 2004 oligarch Arkady Gaidamak, who 
harbors political ambitions in Israel, invested a large sum in a 
Kazakh company mining and selling uranium   Yediot noted that an EU 
report had criticized him over his access to uranium due to his 
involvement in arms trading. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that this week in Jerusalem academics 
and police brass from the US and Israel attended a symposium on 
confronting terrorism in civil society.  The ongoing dialogue 
started in November 2005. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The only question is how long [Olmert] can 
continue to march this way in no-man's-land, until the indifference 
turns into disappointment." 
 
Regional correspondent Ronni Shaked wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "If Abu Mazen wants to succeed at 
Annapolis conference, then he must first put his own house (Fatah) 
in order." 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in Ha'aretz: "As 
someone put it, Bush wants to go to Jerusalem by way of Baghdad 
rather than to Baghdad via Jerusalem.  [But] Bush no longer behaves 
as though he believes what he once did." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Policy in No-Man's-Land" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/25): "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's trip to 
Europe this week once again illustrated that the 'peace process' is 
the most convenient diplomatic situation for Israel.  Conducting 
high-level talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority; 
Israel's willingness to discuss the principles for ending the 
conflict; and gestures such as the release of prisoners are in 
themselves sufficient to remove international pressure on Israel to 
withdraw from the territories and to end the occupation.... To 
translate the diplomatic language, Olmert is saying the following: I 
am responding to international expectations and talking to Mahmoud 
Abbas, although it is clear to me and to him that the situation on 
the ground will not change as a result of these talks.  If I present 
a 'diplomatic horizon' to the Fatah leaders, they may have a chance 
of surviving on the West Bank.  And even if they fall and Hamas 
takes control of Ramallah, Nablus, and Hebron, Israel will not be to 
blame.  Meanwhile, we must not rush with negotiations, and 
implementation must be postponed, so that my coalition will not fall 
apart and my government will have an agenda.... He is not the first 
to benefit from the convenience of an ongoing 'peace process' whose 
end is unknown -- 'There are no sacred dates,' said Yitzhak 
Rabin.... But Olmert, as opposed to his predecessors, declared from 
the very beginning that he wanted to leave the territories.... The 
only question is how long he can continue to march this way in 
no-man's-land, until the indifference turns into disappointment -- 
which will increase the danger of a flare-up with the Palestinians, 
or could once again ignite the internal debate." 
 
II.  "The Trouble Starts from Fatah" 
 
Regional correspondent Ronni Shaked wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (10/25): "The Fatah leadership, headed by 
Abu Mazen, is careful ... to condemn terror and call for its 
cessation.  But even while they speak, their soldiers -- the members 
of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- are immersed ... in terror.  In 
the past few days, we have received painful ... reminders from them: 
the shooting attack in Ariel and plot to assassinate Olmert in 
Jericho.... It has not been easy to reorganize Fatah in the West 
Bank after it was crushed in Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.... 
The Fatah operatives in the West Bank enjoy the best of both worlds: 
They take advantage of Israel's uncompromising war against Hamas and 
Islamic Jihad to gain strength, and have become the source of terror 
in the West Bank.... If Abu Mazen wants to succeed at Annapolis 
conference, then he must first put his own house (Fatah) in order. 
Hamas is pressuring its members to carry out a large terror attack 
in order to obstruct the conference, and as a result even Abu Mazen 
is fighting against them in the West Bank.  Now it has become 
apparent that our concerns should be aimed in a different direction 
-- that Abu Mazen's soldiers will be the ones who will succeed in 
carrying out a large terror attack that will spoil the conference at 
Annapolis." 
 
III.  "The Voice of the Old Bush" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in Ha'aretz (10/25): 
"The great revolution that Bush brought to the Israeli-Arab arena 
was grounded on a change in thinking:  All of his predecessors in 
the White House from Truman to Clinton viewed the conflict as the 
fundamental problem of the Middle East. Solve the conflict and the 
region will be changed entirely: from the particular to the general. 
 Bush was the first to flip the pyramid on its head: Change the 
region and the conflict will more or less solve itself.  As someone 
put it, Bush wants to go to Jerusalem by way of Baghdad rather than 
to Baghdad via Jerusalem.  [But] Bush no longer behaves as though he 
believes what he once did.  Perhaps he was persuaded by the 
arguments of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, perhaps he was 
worn out by heavy international pressure, or maybe he's just 
pretending..... [The US administration now] views solving the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the key to dealing with other 
regional issues.  That's how it is for Bush and his emissaries, but 
not his successors in the Republican Party." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Europe 
cannot have it all ways: complaining about American power while 
refusing to exercise its own; complaining about an American or 
Israeli resort to force while gutting all non-military efforts to 
repel the Iranian challenge." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Europe's Awakening?" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (10/25): 
"This week in Paris and London, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert heard 
some quite encouraging words.... This new wind is not just good for 
Israel, it will increase European influence on events in the Middle 
East, could help breathe new life into the peace process, and 
directly advance European interests.  It is even good for the Arab 
world, since Arab countries are also threatened by the advance of 
Islamofascism and by the severe developmental costs their war 
against Israel has imposed.  The most encouraging aspect of the 
seeming shift is that it might just be dawning on Europe that the 
threat of Islamofascism is real, not some American-Israeli plot.... 
While this apparent growing realization is the good news, the bad 
news is that it has not spread far enough and is not being acted 
upon fast enough.... Europe cannot have it all ways: complaining 
about American power while refusing to exercise its own; complaining 
about an American or Israeli resort to force while gutting all 
non-military efforts to repel the Iranian challenge.... The prospect 
for peace, incidentally, between Arabs and Israelis hangs in the 
balance.  No Western government should be under any illusions: The 
outcome of the conflict with Iran, not this or that diplomatic 
effort, will be the primary determinate of whether the Arab world 
goes the way of beleaguered moderates, or follows the lead of Hamas, 
Hizbullah, and al-Qaida." 
 
JONES