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DE RUEHTV #3314/01 3241125
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P 201125Z NOV 07
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 003314 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
At midday today, the electronic media broadcast live comments by PM 
Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after their meeting 
in Sharm el-Sheikh.  Both leaders wished for success at Annapolis. 
Ha'aretz reported that PM Olmert was expected to tell Mubarak that 
Egypt must stop weapons smuggling to Gaza.  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe 
reported that Egypt demands a greater involvement in the diplomatic 
process ahead of Annapolis. 
 
Leading media reported that negotiating teams, led by FM Tzipi Livni 
and Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala), continued their talks until late last 
night.  Ha'aretz reported that the two sides managed to bridge a 
number of differences and agreed that the Annapolis declaration will 
concentrate on the process and not on the core issues.  Ha'aretz 
quoted an official source in Jerusalem as saying: "There is optimism 
compared with recent days, and there is a good chance of reaching a 
mutually agreed upon text of the declaration in coming days."  The 
media reported that Livni and Vice PM Haim Ramon voiced 
disagreements at a special cabinet session on Annapolis, as Ramon 
questioned Livni's willingness to make concessions, and Livni 
criticized Ramon's readiness to raise expectations for Annapolis, 
which may lead to violence. 
 
The media reported that PM Olmert and PA Chairman [President] 
Mahmoud Abbas met on Monday in Jerusalem.  Maariv reported that 
Olmert and Abbas have agreed on a diplomatic draft ahead of 
Annapolis.  Ha'aretz reported that Olmert and Abbas discussed the 
day after Annapolis, and agreed that follow-up talks would be 
intensive.  On Monday Olmert told the cabinet that an agreement 
should be reached within a year.  Ha'aretz quoted Palestinian 
sources as saying that that no breakthroughs or significant advances 
were made at the Olmert-Abbas meeting.  The Jerusalem Post and other 
media reported that the PA has set conditions for participating in 
Annapolis, which include an end to settlement construction, the 
dismantling of outposts, the removal of IDF checkpoints, and the 
reopening of closed PLO institutions in East Jerusalem.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted a PA official in Ramallah as saying that two 
PA envoys, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Akram Haniyeh, have been dispatched 
to Washington to relay the new demands to U.S. officials. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that at Monday's cabinet meeting PM Olmert 
announced that Israel will not build any new settlements in the 
territories, will stop expropriating land, and will dismantle 
illegal outposts, all according to the state's commitments in the 
first stage of the Roadmap.  However, Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem 
Post quoted Olmert as saying: "We have no intention of strangling 
the existing settlements."  Yediot attributed this sentence to 
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who referred to the residents of the 
blocs of settlements.  Yediot also quoted Barak as saying that he 
appreciates settlers residing in unauthorized outposts. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted "senior diplomatic sources" as saying on 
Monday that Syria would take part in Annapolis after being assured 
that "Syrian issues" will be addressed in some fashion at the 
meeting.  Ha'aretz and Maariv reported that on Monday Syrian 
President Bashar Assad warned against the negative consequences of 
Annapolis. 
 
Leading media quoted IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi as saying on 
Monday that he objects to freeing 16 Fatah members from the Gaza 
Strip ahead of Annapolis.  Media reported that Transportation 
Minister Shaul Mofaz told the cabinet: "A wholesale release of 
prisoners is a mistake.  In reality, where Gilad Shalit is in the 
hands of Hamas, all the releases until now have not helped Israel at 
all."  Ha'aretz quoted PA Minister for Prisoners Affairs Ashraf 
al-Ajrami as saying on Monday that Israel's decision to release 441 
Palestinian prisoners was a public relations move. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday Quartet envoy Tony Blair 
unveiled a series of projects aimed at strengthening PA institutions 
and the Palestinian economy.  He earmarked four projects for 
immediate implementation; the "Peace Valley" project in Jericho, 
which involves establishing a joint Palestinian-Israeli-Jordanian 
agricultural and industrial park with Japanese funding; the repair 
of a sewage system in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip; the 
"Ankara Forum" plan for building industrial locations in the West 
Bank; and a plan to boost tourism to Bethlehem.  Ha'aretz and The 
Jerusalem Post said that Blair also has several ideas in mind for 
the medium term. 
 
Major media reported that a settler was killed last night in the 
northern West Bank in an apparent drive-by shooting.  A splinter of 
Fatah's military branch claimed responsibility for the attack. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the settler leadership blamed the Olmert 
government for the violent event.  The media reported that IDF 
forces killed two of three terrorists who tried to infiltrate the 
community of Netiv Haasara, north of the Gaza Strip. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the Industry, Trade, and Employment Ministry 
intends to dismantle Elad, the NGO whose primary aim is to make 
Jerusalem Jewish.  Ha'aretz reported that Elad refuses to disclose 
the identity of the five bodies that have contributed USD 7 million 
to the association.  Elad had bought Palestinian properties in the 
area of the village of Silwan. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday State Comptroller Micha 
Lindenstrauss presented Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik with his report 
in which he claims that Olmert, when he was Industry and Trade 
Minister, granted 7.6 million shekels [in 2004, a US dollar was 
worth over 4 shekels] in business-related aid to Likud activist 
Rahamim Ben-Shoshan. 
 
Leading media quoted West Bank settlers as saying that there has 
been a recent spate of Palestinian vandalism on property belonging 
to Jewish farmers. 
 
Israel Radio reported on the founding of a new right-wing party -- 
Hatikva (The Hope). 
 
The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that on Monday in Tel 
Aviv Ambassador Richard Jones attended a joint session of the 
Knesset's Committee for Foreign Workers and of the Knesset's 
Committee on the Status of Women's Subcommittee on the Trafficking 
in Women with the findings of the State Department's 2007 annual 
Trafficking in Persons report, which was published in June.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted Jones as saying: "Israel has made significant 
progress in combating trafficking into the country but there are 
still many steps that can and should be taken to improve the 
situation."  The media quoted the Ambassador as saying that 
trafficking in persons was a serious threat to Israel's national 
security.  Israel Radio cited Meretz Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On's 
concurrence with him.  Gal-On is the Chairperson of the Knesset's 
subcommittee.  In an unrelated development, Ha'aretz quoted Meretz 
sources as saying that Gal-On will try to wrestle Meretz 
chairmanship from Yossi Beilin at the party's primaries. 
 
The Jerusalem Post lengthily described increasing hardships for 
Jewish students from Europe to get an H-1B work visa for the U.S. 
Ha'aretz ran a feature on Israeli architect Michael Arad -- the son 
of Moshe Arad, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and Mexico --, 
who won the competition to design the memorial to the victims of 
September 11, 2001, in Manhattan.  Ha'aretz said that Arad became 
caught up in an imbroglio of politicians, architects, public 
officials, and interest groups. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Prominent liberal author Amos Oz wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "We need to go to 
Annapolis and to continue from Annapolis onward with the recognition 
that the two peoples already know more or less what the final 
agreement is going to look like." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Each side wants the declaration 
to be formulated in a way that will make it easier to persuade 
Washington, and the rest of the world, of the other's culpability." 
 
Former Ambassador to the U.S., former Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and former Minister of Defense Moshe Arens wrote in Ha'aretz: 
"Whereas the Annapolis process is in no way injurious to the 
Palestinian case, it weakens Israel's position when and if we 
finally sit down with some real, and not virtual, Palestinian 
representatives to negotiate." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post:" Assad has a price for his attendance 
[at Annapolis] and for moving away from Iran, a price that -- sooner 
or later -- Israel will be asked to pay." 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in Ha'aretz: " Just as Anwar 
Sadat leveraged the Yom Kippur War to achieve peace with Jerusalem 
(and Washington), the General Staff believes that this is an 
opportune time to leverage the IDF's power to achieve peace with 
Bashar Assad." 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: "To 
say the least, it is irresponsible to engage in a diplomatic process 
that will affect Israel for decades from a position of haste and 
weakness." 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Time Is on the Extremists' Side" 
 
Prominent liberal author Amos Oz wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/20): "The extremists 
on each side await failure and pray for an impasse. Time is on 
neither the Israeli nor the PalestiniansQ side; rather, it is only 
on the extremistsQ side.  The burden of progress lies principally on 
the shoulders of the Israeli government and Israeli public opinion, 
since Israel is the one that is holding the Palestinian territories 
and not the other way around.... Abu Mazen is weak only as long as 
we weaken him by not giving him any tangible achievement.  What will 
happen if the current negotiations fail?  The two-state solution is 
liable to collapse irrevocably in the event of such a failure, and 
we will be forced to choose between two historic catastrophes: a 
joint state (that is nearing an Arab majority) between the Jordan 
River and the Mediterranean Sea -- or an Israeli apartheid regime 
that will continue forcibly to oppress the occupied Palestinians, 
who will continue to resist the occupation forcibly.  We need to go 
to Annapolis and to continue from Annapolis onward with the 
recognition that the two peoples already know more or less what the 
final agreement is going to look like: Palestine within the 1967 
borders, alongside of Israel, with mutual border revisions, without 
the return of refugees to Israel and with two capitals in Jerusalem. 
 Everyone knows that -- even the opponents on both sides already 
know that: The patient -- the Israeli-Palestinian patient -- is 
almost ready for surgery.  Will the doctors be able to muster enough 
courage?" 
 
II.  "Blaming the Other Guy" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/20): "Why all the fuss about 
the wording of a declaration that will never be implemented?  Very 
simple:  Each side is preparing for the day after Annapolis, by 
seeking to ensure that the inevitable breakdown is blamed on the 
other.  The Palestinians will claim that Israel is still building in 
the settlements; Israel will claim that the PA is not fighting 
terror.... Thus each side wants the declaration to be formulated in 
a way that will make it easier to persuade Washington, and the rest 
of the world, of the other's culpability.  But despite the 
difficulties, a declaration probably will be formulated before next 
week's summit -- if only because U.S. President George W. Bush and 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will decide any disputes that 
 
SIPDIS 
have not been resolved by then.  Both sides warned, via the media, 
of a crisis this week, and Israel, as always, pulled out the 
shopworn threat of 'switching to the Syrian track' -- a tactic it 
used even during the original Oslo talks.  But, again as always, it 
seems that a joint declaration will ultimately emerge.  The only 
problem will be how to implement it." 
 
III.  "Syria Becomes the Annapolis Prize" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (11/20): "Bush cannot afford to be seen 
now as someone who cannot even succeed in bringing two parties 
heavily dependent on the U.S. to a U.S.-sponsored meeting.  That 
would be a slap in the face, and another sign of U.S. weakness in 
the region.  And this is where Syria comes in.  While there is no 
love lost in Washington for Syrian President Bashar Assad, Syria's 
presence at the meeting is something that in a matter of months has 
gone from something that the U.S. indicated it would tolerate, to 
something that the U.S. now wants badly.... The U.S. wants to see 
Syria  at Annapolis because it will be proof that it may very well 
be possible to peel Syria out of Iran's orbit and into the arm 
embrace of the 'normative' Arab direction.... Assad has a price for 
his attendance and for moving away from Iran, a price that -- sooner 
or later -- Israel will be asked to pay." 
 
IV.  "Waiting for Annapolis" 
 
Former Ambassador to the U.S., former Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and former Minister of Defense Moshe Arens wrote in Ha'aretz 
(11/20): "Here comes Annapolis.  Now the line is that nothing should 
be done that might disturb the atmosphere in the period leading up 
to the Annapolis summit.  Isn't this far more important than the 
peace of mind of the citizens of Sderot?  Mahmoud Abbas is clearly 
not capable of implementing any agreement.  We know it.  He knows 
it. And Condoleezza Rice knows it.  To the stupid claim that there 
is no harm in trying, the answer is that whereas the Annapolis 
process is in no way injurious to the Palestinian case, it weakens 
Israel's position when and if we finally sit down with some real, 
and not virtual, Palestinian representatives to negotiate. 
Everything will have already been conceded, and another lame excuse 
will have been added to the list explaining why the government is 
not fulfilling its duty to protect the citizens of the western 
Negev." 
 
¶V.  "This Time, the IDF Favors Syria" 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in Ha'aretz (11/20): "Ehud 
Olmert is superfluous at Annapolis. And not only superfluous, but 
detrimental.... But with or without Olmert, Israel cannot improve 
either its security or its diplomatic situation by storming the 
Palestinian front.  All the alternatives are bad, from tolerating 
the ongoing Qassam rocket attacks and the strengthening of Hamas to 
attacking built-up areas of Gaza.... It is not only the Egyptians 
who are to blame for the sieve that their border with Gaza has 
become.  The Americans share the blame, as they have not exerted 
their full force to solve the problem. After all, it does not really 
affect them.... After 60 years of fighting, the IDF's top brass does 
not delude itself that military successes are an end in themselves. 
Without diplomatic follow-up -- 'leverage' is the fashionable term 
-- military operations, regardless of whether they succeed or fail, 
will continue forever.  Just as Anwar Sadat leveraged the Yom Kippur 
War to achieve peace with Jerusalem (and Washington), the General 
Staff believes that this is an opportune time to leverage the IDF's 
power to achieve peace with Bashar Assad." 
 
VI.  "A Position of Weakness" 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized 
(11/20): "Comments by the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister at 
Monday's cabinet meeting that Israel is going to Annapolis knowing 
that 'time is not playing in Israel's favor' is like entering a bid 
and saying that you will buy at any price.  To say the least, it is 
irresponsible to engage in the diplomatic process that will affect 
Israel for decades from a position of haste and weakness.... Were it 
not for [Israel's] commitments [to the United States], we would not 
have had dozens of 'unauthorized' outposts: Their illegality is a 
direct result of the Israeli governments' will to comply with those 
commitments, thus playing the very unrespectable game of building 
while turning a blind eye." 
 
JONES