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P 021120Z JAN 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000005 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz and Yediot reported that the leaders of Israel, the PA and 
the U.S. are expected to hold a joint meeting during President 
Bush's visit here next week, in an effort to accelerate negotiations 
on the conflict's core issues -- borders, refugees, and Jerusalem. 
Ha'aretz reported that an association of Israeli rabbis, whose 
dominant faction is a group of Chabad rabbis, recently wrote the 
President, asking him to cancel his planned visit to Israel.  The 
group cites reports interpreting the visit as being intended to 
pressure Israel to cancel various security measures that make life 
difficult for Palestinians and to carry out a major evacuation of 
West Bank settlements, steps that would "directly cost the lives of 
hundreds of Jews." 
 
PM Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying in an interview with The 
Jerusalem Post that he is satisfied with the current makeup of his 
coalition and convinced that he would be able to pass a potential 
deal with PA President Mahmoud Abbas without changing it.  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that Olmert's statement surprised his 
coalition partners, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu, who were already 
angry at the PM for comments he made to the newspaper, published on 
Tuesday, in which he spoke about the need to internalize that even 
Israel's friends on the international stage conceive of the 
country's future on the basis of the 1967 borders and a divided 
Jerusalem.  Olmert was quoted as saying that he believes that "a 
decisive majority of Israelis and a majority in the Knesset will be 
able to support an agreement that I will be able to sign." 
 
The media cited the Shin Bet as saying that the killers of the two 
soldiers shot on Friday during a hike near Hebron were on the 
payroll of the PA and that at least one of them was a member of 
Fatah security organizations.  Israel Radio reported that the PA 
will not extradite the two men, and that Israel will not interrupt 
the ongoing talks with the Palestinians as a result of the event. 
Ha'aretz quoted the PA as saying on Tuesday that it recently foiled 
a Hamas-planned suicide bombing in Israel by arresting the would-be 
suicide bomber, but the Shin Bet says it knows nothing about the 
 
case. 
 
Maariv reported that Israel's political echelon has set as a goal a 
deal to release Gilad Shalit in a few weeks.  On Tuesday Maariv 
cited the fear of defense officials that Olmert is incapable of 
reaching a decision regarding Shalit on his own. 
 
On Tuesday Ha'aretz reported that over the past two months Ehud 
Barak has taken legal action against illegal outpost dwellers. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday the PA reacted angrily 
to PM Olmert's assertion that Ma'aleh Adumim was an "indivisible" 
part of Jerusalem and Israel, and warned that continued construction 
in the settlements and Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem would 
"sabotage" the peace process.  In an interview with The Jerusalem 
Post published Monday, Olmert made it clear that he did not envisage 
a permanent accord along the 1967 lines, adding that his primary 
responsibility as prime minister lay in ensuring a "separation" from 
the Palestinians.  "I don't think when people are talking about 
settlements they are talking about Ma'aleh Adumim," Olmert said. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a top PA official in Ramallah 
responded: "Olmert must be living on another planet.  Peace and 
settlements don't go together.  If this is his policy, he can forget 
about finding a partner on the Palestinian side."  On Tuesday 
Ha'aretz reported that the Israel Lands Administration recently 
published two construction tenders for Jerusalem in areas over the 
Green Line (for 440 apartments in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood 
and for hotels in the Gilo neighborhood).  Ha'aretz reported that 
the Jerusalem District Court ruled last Sunday that eight Jewish 
families must vacate an illegally built East Jerusalem house they 
have been living in since 2004, marking the largest ever removal of 
settlers from East Jerusalem.  However, the families plan to appeal 
the ruling to the Supreme Court. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli officials as saying on Tuesday 
that Egypt has worked to thwart Israel diplomatically in various 
international fora for years, so Egyptian FM Ahmed Ali Abu 
al-Gheit's recent threat to turn up the diplomatic heat on Israel is 
nothing new.  Maariv reported that PM Olmert has canceled a debate 
on relations with Egypt due to take place today, because of the 
tension between the two countries. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter 
recently wrote Knesset members Uri Ariel and Arieh Eldad (National 
Union-National Religious Party) that a Jew is not allowed to pray in 
any overt manner whatsoever on the Temple Mount, even if he is just 
moving his lips in prayer.  The newspaper reported that Dichter's 
statement came in response to a test of the state's position on the 
issue by the two Knesset members. 
 
On Tuesday Yediot cited data for 2007 from the GOI's Central Bureau 
of Statistics:  Growth was the highest in the western world (5.3%). 
This is the fourth year running that Israel leads western countries 
in growth over 5%.  Personal consumption has risen by 5.3%. 
Exporters' fears that the sharp drop in the U.S. dollar would harm 
exports was exaggerated.  Export and services rose by 8.6%.  Israel 
also leads with a decline in unemployment: No other western country 
can boast a 40% drop in unemployment over a four-year period, from 
11% to 6.9%.  However, the GDP per capita in Israel last year came 
to just $22,600, while the average for other industrialized 
countries to which Israel aspires is $30,000.  Inflation rose to a 
worrying rate, and is expected to clock in at 3.3%, above what the 
government aimed for - between 1% and 3%. 
 
All media told the story of Tamir Nabuani, a soldier killed in an 
accident on Tuesday.  He was soon to become the first Druze to enter 
the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit. 
 
Electronic media reported that eight Palestinians were killed 
overnight in fighting with the IDF. 
 
Electronic media reported that the Israeli, U.S., and British 
embassies in Canberra reported that they had been sent envelopes 
containing a white substance, which turned out to be innocuous. 
 
On Tuesday Ha'aretz reported that the Shin Bet presented a dramatic 
drop in terror fatalities of 2007 compared to previous years. 
Israel Radio reported that Shin Bet officials warned that Hamas has 
improved its military deployment in the Gaza Strip since its 
takeover about a half year ago and smuggled, from Egypt, dozens of 
tons of explosives and millions of dollars. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that several hundred Palestinians who have been 
stranded in Sinai for the past few months finally began their 
journey back to the Gaza Strip -- via the Kerem Shalom checkpoint. 
However, about 1,000 Palestinians are still living in tents at 
Al-Arish, in the northern Sinai.  Hundreds of Palestinians 
demonstrated in Al-Arish on Tuesday to reiterate their opposition to 
entering Gaza via Israel. 
 
On Tuesday The Jerusalem Post reported that a Jerusalem square will 
be "symbolically" dedicated to convicted spy Jonathan Pollard ahead 
of President Bush's visit to Israel. 
 
Yediot presented a "rare glimpse" (with photographs) into the Dimona 
nuclear reactor. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Ely Karmon, a senior terrorism researcher at the Interdisciplinary 
Center Herzliya, wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
"Israel's acceptance of the hudna [truce] proposal would constitute 
a strategic victory for Hamas and its allies." 
 
Zalman Shoval, a senior Likud member and former ambassador to the 
U.S., wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "If 
evacuation [of Israelis] is presented to the Palestinians as a 
given, not even to be negotiated -- why should they want to make 
concessions to Israel?" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "The announcement that the Prime Minister 
has directed cabinet ministers not to build in the territories 
behind his back sounds like a sleight of hand.... Settlement 
construction will not be stopped with words." 
 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized: "Sarkozy's bold step marks a 
lasting change in this pattern [of tolerance for rogue regimes] and 
becomes a harbinger of a shift toward a more effective Western 
policy." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Hudna Is No Solution" 
 
Ely Karmon, a senior terrorism researcher at the Interdisciplinary 
Center Herzliya, wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(1/2): "In light of the success of the pinpoint military operations 
against Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, and signs of weakening in 
the Hamas leadership, many are calling for accepting Ismail 
Haniyeh's purported offer of a hudna (a cease-fire), or alternately 
a tahadiyeh (a lull in the fighting), in exchange for an end to IDF 
operations in Gaza and a lifting of the siege.  It appears that the 
decision makers in Israel have learned nothing.... Israel's 
acceptance of the hudna proposal would constitute a strategic 
victory for Hamas and its allies: The organization would be regarded 
by the Palestinian population as the leading element in the national 
struggle.  It would quickly receive international legitimacy.... In 
a year or two, an extremist state, allied with Iran, Syria and 
Hezbollah, will emerge on our southern border, with a good chance of 
taking over the West Bank and affecting the stability of Jordan, 
Egypt, and possibly also the Islamic Movement in Israel.  Even if 
Hamas meets its promise not to violate the cease-fire for several 
months, Iran and its ally, Islamic Jihad, will do everything in 
their power to sabotage the negotiations with the Palestinians.... 
We should remember that there are still radical elements in Fatah 
who do not accept a compromise with Israel, among them Fatah 
Secretary General Farouk Kaddoumi, whose permanent base is Damascus. 
 
SIPDIS 
 Only by bolstering the moderates in the Palestinian leadership and 
population in the West Bank, while politically and socially 
weakening Hamas in Gaza, will it be possible, perhaps, for fissures 
to occur in the Islamic movement and for a joint struggle with the 
Fatah moderates and the pragmatic leaders among Hamas against the 
radicals in control in Gaza and elsewhere." 
 
II.  "Has Israel Given Up on Reciprocity?" 
 
Zalman Shoval, a senior Likud member and former ambassador to the 
U.S., wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (1/2): 
"Sharon considered President George W. Bush's recognition of the 
settlement blocs to be ironclad. But in view of the Annapolis 
conference and Bush's failure to even mention his famous letter 
affirming the settlement blocs to Sharon in his speech -- plus the 
fact that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is raising objections 
to any building in those locations, as well as in Jerusalem -- 
questions arise regarding the firmness of that commitment.... Even 
accepting the premise of most previous Israeli governments -- 
namely, that for genuine peace, unlike the present virtual exercise 
hatched at Annapolis, Israel would have to make 'painful' 
compromises, this would have to be on the basis of give and take. 
And if there was any lingering doubt about this principle, the 
letdown after the Gaza disengagement should tell us that once is 
enough.  But that is exactly what the 'evacuation compensation' 
proposal is: unilateral withdrawal.  In other words, if evacuation 
[of Israelis] is presented to the Palestinians as a given, not even 
to be negotiated -- why should they want to make concessions to 
Israel?  The inevitable result would be a demand for additional 
concessions west of the security fence, including in the supposedly 
immune -- and even for this government, non-negotiable -- settlement 
blocs." 
 
III.  "Words Won't Stop the Construction" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (1/1): "The announcement that the Prime 
Minister has directed cabinet ministers not to build in the 
territories behind his back sounds like a sleight of hand.... First 
of all the state must take back the powers it surrendered to the 
settlers' local councils.... Stopping construction in East Jerusalem 
is more problematic, but possible.... Today, as Olmert attempts to 
move ahead talks with Mahmoud Abbas, he probably regrets some of his 
decisions.  But meanwhile the system continues to work, and 
neighborhoods like Ras el-Amud and Har Homa, which were already 
provocations back then, continue to expand due to construction 
permits given in the past.... Even if the Olmert government has 
difficulty dismantling outposts, it must at least find a way to stop 
their growth.... Olmert is trying to navigate between [right-wing 
cabinet minister Avigdor] Lieberman and Abbas; but if his intentions 
to negotiate are real, this does not stand a chance.  Therefore the 
statements this week about directives to cabinet ministers on the 
need to stop construction in the settlements, or at least to inform 
the Prime Minister of any such construction, are pitiful and 
deceptive.  Settlement construction will not be stopped with 
words." 
 
 
IV.  "Sarkozy's Bold Shift" 
 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized (1/1): "French President Nicholas 
Sarkozy announced Sunday that Paris 'will have no more contact with 
Syria... until we have proof of Syrian willingness to let Lebanon 
appoint a president by consensus.'  This severing of diplomatic 
relations is being termed by some as a 'failure' of French policy. 
Yet the real failure is in the more common Western belief in a 
business-as-usual approach toward rogue regimes.... Tehran and 
Damascus are counting on the West to continue to trade with them and 
treat them as international 'players,' rather than pariahs to be cut 
off from the entire world. So long as such Western tolerance for 
these regimes continues, no one should be surprised that the rogues 
see their support for terrorism as producing more benefits than 
costs.  We can only hope that, as the new year begins, Sarkozy's 
bold step marks a lasting change in this pattern and becomes a 
harbinger of a shift toward a more effective Western policy." 
 
MORENO