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P 081138Z FEB 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000316 
 
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 
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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.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media reported that last night Israel cut power supply to 
Gaza by less than 1%.  The media reported that Israel will 
eventually lower the amount of electricity it supplies Gaza to a 
mere 5% of the original total.  Israel Radio quoted State Department 
Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey as saying on Thursday: "We continue to be 
concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza....  We donQt 
want to see Israel do anything that would worsen the humanitarian 
situation for the people of Gaza and IQm sure weQll continue to 
convey that position."  The radio also reported that the Israeli 
human rights organization B'Tselem and Human Rights Watch condemned 
Israel's actions.  Major media cited Egypt's reservations about 
Hamas's actions and the tension between the two. 
 
Media reported that eight Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip 
in IDF operations on Thursday.  During a small-scale operation in 
Gaza, the IDF uncovered underground tunnels used by militants to 
conceal rocket launchers used to attack southern Israel.  Israeli 
security sources were quoted as saying that this kind of operational 
know-how was taught to Palestinians by Hizbullah.  Major media 
reported that Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu visited Sderot on 
Thursday.  He was quoted as saying that the government's policy in 
southern Israel is the direct continuation of its policy of 
capitulation.  He hinted that a government under his leadership 
would introduce a tough policy against Hamas.  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted GOI officials as saying on Thursday that if the Qassam rocket 
fire on the western Negev continues unabated, the government will 
have to decide whether to further ratchet up its reaction by 
targeting top Hamas political leaders. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that according to briefings recently presented to 
senior ministers, Syria has successfully developed a new 
surface-to-surface missile that would enable it to target with 
greater accuracy Israeli installations such as airports, ports, and 
factories.  According to the information, Syria developed the new 
missile with Iranian support, which is further indication of the 
tight strategic bonds between the two countries.  Many of these 
strategic ties revolve around military and intelligence 
cooperation. 
 
In Yediot's lead story, prominent liberal author David Grossman, who 
lost a son in the Second Lebanon War, lashed harsh criticism of 
Israel's leadership and called on Israel to reinvent itself. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Southern Police chief Cmdr. Uri 
Bar-Lev has called on the government to build a crucial Hebron-area 
stretch of the security barrier. 
 
Citing Reuters, Ha'aretz quoted the Quartet's Middle East envoy Tony 
Blair as saying on Thursday that Palestinian security forces had 
significantly improved and that they were starting to carry out 
their part in the Roadmap. 
 
Israel Radio and other media quoted Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad as 
saying in Texas that no Israeli-Palestinian agreement will be 
reached this year. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday Shlomo Mula (Kadima) will be 
sworn in as a Knesset member, replacing Avigdor Yitzhaki, who 
resigned on Thursday.  Mula will be the second Ethiopian-Israeli to 
serve in the Knesset. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that visiting UNESCO Director-General 
Koichiro Matsuura told the newspaper on Wednesday that "Israel has 
become a very important part of UNESCO." 
 
Ha'aretz reported that at a meeting on Thursday, PM Ehud Olmert, 
Finance Minister Roni Bar-On, and Industry and Trade Minister Eli 
Yishai did not ask Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer to 
intervene in the foreign exchange markets, despite exporters' hopes 
to make the GOI combat the effect of the U.S. dollar's decline. 
Ha'aretz (English Ed.) reported that the income of many U.S. 
expatriates in Israel has dropped by as much as 20% as a result of 
the plummeting U.S. dollar. 
 
Maariv quoted sources as saying that President Shimon Peres will 
support granting a pardon to Omri Sharon, the former PM's son, who 
was sentenced to seven months in jail for concealing illegal 
contributions from secret donors to his father's 1999 campaign for 
the chairmanship of the Likud Party. 
Ha'aretz reported that Education Minister Prof. Yuli Tamir announced 
on Thursday that the 2008 Israel Prize in Political Science will be 
awarded to historian and political theorist Zeev Sternhell, Hebrew 
University Professor, and liberal Ha'aretz columnist. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe printed the results of a Maagar Mohot poll: 
 
If the elections were held today, for which party would you vote? 
 
(In Knesset seats) Likud: 34; Labor Party: 19; Kadima: 11; Shas: 11; 
Yisrael Beiteinu: 10; Meretz: 7; National Union-National Religious 
Party: 6; United Torah Judaism: 6; Arab parties: 6; Greens: 4; 
Pensioners Party: 3 
 
In your opinion, did Ehud Barak gain or lose politically by deciding 
to remain in the government after the Winograd report? 
Gained: 18%; Lost: 57%; No response/other responses: 25% 
 
----------- 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Israel should 
be interested in the orderly opening of a crossing to Egypt and in 
lifting the total blockade on the Strip -- a siege that has so far 
not furthered any of Israel's goals." 
 
Prominent liberal author David Grossman, who lost a son in the 
Second Lebanon War, wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Israeli society cannot start to recover 
as long as Ehud Olmert is its leader and guide.... The formation of 
an [alternative] movement in the void that exists in our public 
space ... could start up an interesting initiative, which could 
perhaps awaken the good and vitalizing forces embodied in Israeli 
society." 
 
National Union-National Religious Party Knesset Member Arieh Eldad 
wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "Olmert will not dare expose 
Bush's perfidy.  We'll have to be on our own when facing Iran." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
¶I.  "Open the Rafah Crossing" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/8): 
"Following a brief and sporadic hiatus, the cycle of violence 
recently resumed on both sides in the Gaza Strip.... Israel, just 
like Egypt, is of course unable to agree to a breached border that 
is open to all.  On the other hand, the fact the Qassam attacks 
slowed to a near standstill during the days the crossing was open 
suggests that Israel should be interested in the orderly opening of 
a crossing to Egypt and in lifting the total blockade on the Strip 
-- a siege that has so far not furthered any of Israel's goals.... 
An opening of the Gaza Strip could signal the start of a new chapter 
in the history of this poor and wretched territory.  This is not a 
move free of risk, and the concerns of Egypt and Israel regarding 
its implications are justified.  It is possible to prepare for them 
through close supervision of the crossing.  On the other hand, all 
the other alternatives, which only imply mutual bloodletting, are 
much worse.  The Qassam attacks will end only when the Palestinians 
have something to lose.  This has so far not come about through 
Israeli retaliatory actions; it may occur if the blockade is lifted 
in the Gaza Strip, at least in the southern border." 
 
II.  "Movement in the Void" 
 
Prominent liberal author David Grossman, who lost a son in the 
Second Lebanon War, wrote on page one of the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/8): "Israel has great and impressive 
capabilities, but what did we see when we looked at ourselves during 
the war?  We saw a highly powerful body groping its way in a kind of 
numb daze, moving around hesitantly and clumsily, and without 
knowing where it is headed.  We were like a blind giant flailing 
about in all directions with his arms, while much smaller, weaker 
figures sunk their teeth into his flesh, shedding his blood and 
exhausting him, until it appears as if he may fall to the ground any 
moment.... Now, sixty years after its founding, Israel must devise 
content that will refuel its journey....   Israeli society cannot 
start to recover as long as Ehud Olmert is its leader and guide.... 
But what can be done now, in the situation that has arisen?  None of 
the candidates to replace Olmert appears capable of creating this 
vital recovery process on his own, and some of them will only hasten 
the deterioration.... The formation of an [alternative] movement in 
the void that exists in our public space, and the very willingness 
to fight for something, and the very declaration that we are fed up 
with being the victims of such a mediocre, feeble leadership -- all 
these could start up an interesting initiative, which could perhaps 
awaken the good and vitalizing forces embodied in Israeli society. 
Perhaps then, a public shock wave will be created, which will 
increase until even the state's leaders will have to listen to it. 
Until then, until this happens, we will not come out of it." 
 
III.  "Who Needs Enemies?" 
 
National Union-National Religious Party Knesset Member Arieh Eldad 
wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (2/8): "Bush is apparently 
Olmert's friend: he often congratulates him.... But is he a friend 
of Israel?.... It is worth remembering that Bush was the first 
American president who recognized the Palestinians' right to an 
independent state.  He is the one who forced Israel to let Hamas 
participate in 'democratic elections' and helped it come to power. 
He is the one who is pressuring Israel to remove roadblocks in Judea 
and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank] and to vacate 'unauthorized 
outposts'.... Olmert, whose entire political existence depends on 
his friend from the United States and its peace-within-a-year 
outline they devised together at Annapolis, without which the 
Israeli left would not have given him a safety net [in the Knesset] 
-- this Olmert will not dare expose Bush's perfidy.  We'll have to 
be on our own when facing Iran.  I wish we were without Olmert as 
well.  With a prime minister who failed in war, there no longer is a 
need for enemies." 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post: "When it comes to Israel in general, McCain ... has 
no real problem with his party's conservative base.... There is 
little in his past to indicate he would follow any deviant solo 
course in his handling of the situation here." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"'Maverick' McCain Likely to Follow Consensus on Israel Policy" 
 
Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent 
 
 
Jerusalem Post (2/8): "When it comes to Israel in general, McCain 
... has no real problem with his party's conservative base.  He has 
been a strong, steady supporter of the Jewish State whose views on 
the strategic relationship between Washington and Jerusalem, as well 
on how to advance the peace process, fall well within the Republican 
mainstream.... Filling in the blanks on just exactly how much a 
'priority' arriving at an Israeli-Palestinian peace would be in his 
administration will no doubt increasingly occupy the minds of 
Israel's supporters in the coming months, as McCain comes ever 
closer to securing the nomination, and possibly the presidency.... 
While McCain may well be a maverick in other areas, when it comes to 
Israel and its Arab neighbors there is little in his past to 
indicate he would follow any deviant solo course in his handling of 
the situation here." 
 
JONES