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DE RUEHTV #0133/01 0161039
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P 161039Z JAN 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000133 
 
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 led with the violent incidents between Israel and the 
Palestinians that took place in Gaza and the surrounding Israeli 
communities on Tuesday.  The media reported that at least 19 
Palestinians were killed with 15 of them being confirmed as armed 
militants.  On the Israeli side, 10 people were injured as a result 
of a barrage of over 30 Qassam rockets, as well as a Grad rocket 
that landed in Ashkelon, being fired at Israel.  A kibbutz volunteer 
from Ecuador working a field near the Gaza fence was also killed by 
a sniper.  Among the casualties on the Palestinian side was the son 
of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.  Ha'aretz and Maariv reported that 
his death may jeopardize a prisoner swap involving Gilad Shalit. 
The IDF has said that senior Hamas members are not being targeted 
and those killed were trying to launch rockets against Israel. 
Hamas is claiming that the IDF attack was the result of a green 
light given by President Bush during his recent visit. The Jerusalem 
Post reports that the PA is threatening to suspend negotiations in 
response. This morning Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources as 
saying that IDF troops killed Walid Obeid, the commander of Islamic 
Jihad in the West Bank. 
 
The electronic media reported that this morning Avigdor Lieberman 
announced that his party Yisrael Beiteinu is leaving the government 
and PM Olmert's coalition over the negotiations on the core issues. 
This will reduce PM Olmert's majority from 78 to 67 Knesset seats. 
Yediot earlier cited the disapproval of MK Yisrael Hasson, the 
party's No. 2, of the move.  Leading media reported that Meretz may 
take Yisrael Beiteinu's place, although senior Meretz members like 
MK Zahava Gal-On are opposed to such a move.  Some media said that 
Meretz's entrance into the coalition would cause Shas's departure. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that United Torah Judaism is also split 
on entering Olmert's coalition. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted a senior Western diplomat as saying on Tuesday that 
President Bush left Israel last Friday convinced that PM Ehud 
Olmert's coalition was stable enough to advance the peace process. 
The newspaper further quoted the diplomat as saying that this was 
one of the purposes of Bush's trip: to evaluate the Israeli 
political situation for himself, in order to decide whether it was 
worth the investment of his time and energy.  Bush reportedly made 
this clear at a dinner with Olmert and his senior ministers, 
including Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) and Eli Yishai 
(Shas).  The diplomat was quoted as saying that Bush also tried to 
reassure his hosts, saying that he will not impose an agreement on 
Israel, but encourage it to reach an agreement.  The diplomat was 
also quoted as saying: "Bush hinted to the ministers that if there 
weren't a stable coalition, he would not invest himself in the 
process. The fact that he announced he would return in May shows 
clearly that he believes there is a chance."  Ha'aretz also reported 
that there is growing support in Washington for reopening the Gaza 
border crossings, despite Israel's objections.  Yet the 
administration also wants to continue isolating Gaza's Hamas 
government. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior Western diplomatic source as 
saying on Tuesday that President Bush is "very conscious" that 
Jewish refugees fled to Israel from Arab lands after the 1947-49 
war, and this came up in his discussions on the Palestinian refugee 
issue last week in Jerusalem. 
 
Citing AP, The Jerusalem Post quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice as saying on Tuesday in Riyadh that the U.S. wants Arab nations 
to do more to reach out to Israelis, to help nudge a Middle East 
peace accord into being.  The Jerusalem Post reported that two 
Jewish members of Congress -- Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Robert 
Wexler -- are circulating a resolution condemning a plan to sell and 
advanced weapons system to Saudi Arabia. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that two weeks ago, Jerusalem's district planning 
and construction committee approved a controversial plan to restore 
the Mugrabi bridge leading to the entrances of the Temple Mount. 
Israel Radio reported that the Knesset will vote next week on 
approving the inclusion of four towns, including Ma'aleh Adumim, in 
the municipal jurisdiction of Jerusalem. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited the London-based Al-Hayat as saying that 
the Egyptian government has expressed its objection to the 
definition of Israel as a Jewish state. 
 
All media reported that the university presidents and heads of the 
university governing councils decided unanimously at an emergency 
meeting last night that all Israel universities will shut down on 
Sunday if the Finance Ministry does not reach an agreement with the 
striking senior lecturers. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that its journalist Gideon Levy has won this 
year's Euro-Med Journalist Prize for Cultural Dialogue. 
 
Right-wing writers praised Yinon Magal and Meirav Miller, the new 
anchors of Israel TV's central news broadcast, saying that they 
restored objectivity to the station. 
 
Maariv reported that the fictional Israeli movie "Beaufort" about 
the First Lebanon War is among the nine final contestants for the 
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that the Herzliya Theater Ensemble will perform in New York 
-- and the Orna Porat Children and Youth Theater in Tulsa, Okla. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv: " The question arises of what is Israel's 
policy.  The answer, unfortunately, is that there is no policy.  In 
the meantime, we are advancing from one operation to the next, and 
praying that the number of casualties on the home front will be 
'tolerable.'" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "There is a military 
option and there is a political option.  Both are uncertain, both 
are temporary, and both have a price.  The government should decide 
which is better for us." 
 
Maj. Gen. Yossi Peled (res.), the former OC Northern Command and a 
member of Likud, wrote in the independent Israel Hayom: "The 
Palestinians must understand that firing at Israel's cities comes at 
a cost.  There is no matter of politics here, or one kind of 
worldview.  There is a moral imperative here." 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Olmert must 
prove that he has the courage needed to complete the life-saving 
operation that Ariel Sharon began." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Occasionally there are murmured allusions to [claims to 
compensation of Jews from Arab countries] from official Israel, such 
as from Menachem Begin in the first Camp David process and Ehud 
Barak in his 2000 Camp David talks.  But the issue has not been 
pursued in earnest.  It should be." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "First Gaza War" 
 
Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (1/16): "The prime minister can continue 
to declare that he has no interest in a large-scale ground operation 
in Gaza, but in practice Israel is being dragged into the Gaza Strip 
one step at a time.... At this stage, what is preventing a truly 
large-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip, the kind that will 
also require a call-up of reserves, is the paralyzing fear of 
another Winograd Commission, the deep fear of dozens of casualties, 
as well as weather considerations.  The IDF, like any other army in 
the world, prefers to wage its large-scale wars in the summer or in 
the spring at the earliest, so that clouds do not limit the Air 
Force's activity.  ... The question arises of what is Israel's 
policy.  The answer, unfortunately, is that there is no policy.  In 
the meantime, we are advancing from one operation to the next, and 
praying that the number of casualties on the home front will be 
'tolerable.'" 
 
 
II.  "Dragged into Gaza" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (1/16): "It is hard to 
shake the feeling that the IDF settled a score on Tuesday.  During 
Bush's visit, the army was asked to keep a low profile.  Hamas and 
Islamic Jihad took advantage of the opportunity and fired mortar 
shells and Qassam rockets.  On Tuesday they paid for it.... 
Tuesday's lesson: Partial operations will not put an end to the 
Qassam rockets.  A military raid, no matter how successful, and even 
taking control of parts of the Gaza Strip, will not stop the fire. 
On the contrary, they may only increase it.  The Qassam rockets will 
only stop, at least temporarily, by an agreement with Hamas or by a 
full military takeover of the Gaza Strip.  This is the juncture we 
are fast approaching.  There is a military option and there is a 
political option.  Both are uncertain, both are temporary, and both 
have a price.  The government should decide which is better for 
us." 
 
III.  "Break the Equation" 
 
Maj. Gen. Yossi Peled (res.), the former OC Northern Command and a 
member of Likud, wrote in the independent Israel Hayom (1/16): "For 
many years, the Palestinians got us accustomed to an untenable 
situation: Sderot and the Gaza periphery communities under fire. 
We, with our Jewish morals, make an exerted and real effort not to 
harm innocent people -- while the Palestinians fire deliberately in 
order to indiscriminately harm children and civilians.  This 
untenable situation must be broken.... It does not matter how we 
react, whether it is by aerial activity, by overt or covert ground 
activity or by raising the level of punitive action.  It has to be 
clear and painful.  The Palestinians must understand that firing at 
Israel's cities comes at a cost.  There is no matter of politics 
here, or one kind of worldview.  There is a moral imperative here, 
and with all the desire not to harm civilians -- the needy of your 
own city come first.... There is, of course, the concern that there 
will be casualties among our troops, but we must not forget that 
with all the sincere concern for the wellbeing of the combatants, 
the IDF must defend the country's residents.  And this comes at a 
costQif we seek to live, we should remember this over and over." 
 
 
 
 
 
IV.  "There Are No More Excuses" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (1/16): "If 
Kadima is a party and not a mere accident of circumstances, if it 
plans to run again in the next elections, it must prove that it 
intends to fulfill the Prime Minister's promises.  If the Prime 
Minister cannot even keep his promise to evacuate settlement 
outposts, there would seem to be no reason for him to remain in his 
seat for so much as another day.... Olmert must prove that he has 
the courage needed to complete the life-saving operation that Ariel 
Sharon began.... Following the Annapolis conference and George 
Bush's visit, a bold decision to remove the outposts is needed in 
order to signal that Israel has a government that stands behind its 
statements and promises.  The mooted departure of [Avigdor] 
Lieberman will be welcome if it leads to results.  But in any case, 
there are no more excuses." 
 
¶V.  "Fair Compensation" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (1/16): 
"As was highlighted in this space on Sunday, U.S. President George 
¶W. Bush displayed a critical understanding of the real obstacle to 
peace when he stressed last week that an agreement 'must establish 
Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel 
is a homeland for the Jewish people.'  This language is the clearest 
U.S. rejection to date of the Palestinian demand of 'return,' which 
is a backdoor method of denying Israel's right to exist.   It is 
difficult to overstate the importance of repeating this formula and, 
even better, explaining what is behind it, namely that mutual 
recognition is a non-negotiable prerequisite for any serious talks 
on the two-state vision.... The establishment of Israel afforded 
Arab tyrants the pretext to engage in massive ethnic cleansing 
against their own Jewish inhabitants.... The Jews, though, were 
never compensated for the property they were forced to 
relinquish.... Occasionally there are murmured allusions to these 
facts from official Israel, such as from Menachem Begin in the first 
Camp David process and Ehud Barak in his 2000 Camp David talks.  But 
the issue has not been pursued in earnest.  It should be." 
 
JONES