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P 201134Z FEB 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000412 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
Media quoted PM Ehud Olmert and Israeli negotiators as saying that 
Jerusalem was not discussed during his talks with PA Chairman 
[President] Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday.  The media quoted the 
Palestinians as saying that Jerusalem was discussed.  Ha'aretz 
reported that the sides agreed to expand their negotiations to 
topics beyond the "core issues": Within two weeks, teams will be set 
up to discuss at least seven other issues.  Olmert and Abbas 
assigned the heads of the negotiating teams on the core issues -- FM 
Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei -- the job of 
deciding exactly which issues the new task forces should begin 
discussing, and Livni hopes to reach an agreement with Qurei on this 
matter soon.   Ha'aretz reported that Livni hopes that these 
negotiations will attract media attention and thereby create a 
feeling of momentum.  One of the most important new issues on which 
Israel hopes to begin talks is the development of a "culture of 
peace," with an emphasis on ending incitement to terrorism.  Israel 
would like to reach agreements with the PA on preventing media 
incitement, encouraging people-to-people activities, and changing 
parts of the Palestinian school curriculum, which Israel says 
negates its right to exist.  On Sunday, Livni held discussions with 
representatives of several other government ministries to formulate 
Israel's positions on these issues.  Transportation Minister and 
former defense minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted as saying in an 
interview with Israel Hayom that an agreement with Abbas would be 
dangerous and turn into an Israeli "deposit" to the PA.  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad told the 
newspaper on Tuesday that if Israel and the Palestinians do not 
change their behavior faster in the West Bank, they will fail to 
finalize a peace agreement.  Leading electronic media reported that 
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Palestinian negotiating team, 
told Reuters that if they cannot reach a deal with Israel, the 
Palestinians should consider declaring independence like Kosovo did 
on Sunday.  "If things are not going in the direction of actually 
halting settlement activities, if things are not going in the 
direction of continuous and serious negotiations, then we should 
take the step and announce our independence unilaterally," he was 
quoted as saying.  However, Ha'aretz's web site reported that the 
chief Palestinian negotiator, Ahmed Qurei, quickly quashed the idea 
of a unilateral declaration, saying it was never brought before the 
Palestinian leadership 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that defense officials have told the 
newspaper that the U.S. is reviewing the feasibility of deploying a 
NATO force in the West Bank as a way to ease IDF security concerns 
and facilitate an Israeli withdrawal from the area within the coming 
years.   The plan, which is reportedly being spearheaded by U.S. 
Special Envoy to the region Gen. James Jones, is being floated among 
European countries, which could be asked to contribute troops to a 
West Bank multinational force.   The Jerusalem Post quoted an 
official close to Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying that the 
deployment of a multinational force in the West Bank could create 
operational challenges for the IDF if it decided to respond to 
Palestinian terror attacks following the withdrawal.  One of the 
issues that most concerns Israel is whether under such a withdrawal 
the IDF would retain its operational freedom in the West Bank, 
despite the presence of the multinational force. 
 
Yediot reported that Israeli security officials are frustrated with 
EgyptQs attitude towards Hamas.  According to this report, Egypt is 
accused of playing a "double game," in which it arrests Palestinian 
infiltrators in Sinai on the one hand, but holds covert talks with 
Hamas on the other.  In the same report, Israeli security officials 
raise concerns about possible Hamas efforts to develop an aerial 
capability, which could include attempts to develop attack drones. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that a new neighborhood comprising 27 trailers is 
currently under construction at the settlement of Eli, north of 
Ramallah, even though PM Ehud Olmert vowed publicly after the 
Annapolis conference that such construction would cease. Even though 
some of the trailers are being set up on land privately owned by 
Palestinians, the authorities are taking no action.  Similar 
unauthorized construction has taken place in the settlement of 
Maskiot in the northern Jordan Valley. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited Hamas's belief that Israelis are buying 
Palestinian property.  The newspaper quoted Palestinian ministers as 
saying that the land has not been sold to Israelis. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that Amos Gilad, head of the 
Security-Political Bureau at the Defense Ministry, visited Cairo at 
the beginning of the week and spoke there with Omar Suleiman, head 
of Egyptian intelligence, and Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein 
Tantawi.  The two sides agreed to continue holding talks to resolve 
the issue of who controls the border crossing at Rafah on the 
Palestinian side, and on stemming arms smuggling into the Gaza 
Strip. 
 
Israel Radio quoted the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida as saying that Imad 
Mughniyah's assassination is only the first Israeli move in a series 
of hits against Hizbullah, Hamas, and Iranian targets. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Tuesday an IDF ground unit killed a 
Palestinian gunman several km east of Dir al-Balah, near Kissufim in 
the Gaza Strip. Later in the day an IDF force came under mortar fire 
in the Strip.  Palestinians reported that a 7-year-old was killed in 
crossfire. Also on Tuesday, the Palestinians fired three Qassam 
rockets on Israeli communities in the western Negev.  Yediot 
reported that two young Israelis have set up a forum on Facebook 
meant to create worldwide solidarity with the victims of Qassam 
attacks. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted National Infrastructure Minister 
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer as saying that the West Bank city of Ariel will 
be part of Israel in any future agreement. 
 
Leading media reported that eight to 15 Knesset members from a broad 
spectrum of parties will soon embark on a tour of Europe and the Far 
East to explain the dangers of Iran's nuclear program and urge that 
sanctions against the Islamic Republic be intensified.  Yediot 
reported that among other things, Israel wants the European 
countries to prevent Iran from receiving technologies that would 
allow Iran to develop its gas fields. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio quoted the BBC as saying that in 2005 
British police refrained from arresting a retired IDF general 
accused of war crimes in Britain: Lawyers acting for Palestinian 
campaigners lobbied the Metropolitan Police to act on allegations 
that he had ordered the destruction of more than 50 Palestinian 
homes in the Gaza Strip in 2002.  According to the report, Almog 
stayed on the plane.  The BBC said that British police feared an 
armed confrontation with air marshals or Almog's security details if 
they stormed the aircraft. 
 
Maariv reported that President Peres will not allow State 
Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss and his team to enter his residence, 
saying that he may not be probed.  Lindenstrauss allegedly replied 
that the President's residence may be investigated. 
Maariv reported that starting next week the Tel Aviv police will 
adopt New York's precinct system. 
 
The Jerusalem Post presented the results of an Anti-Defamation 
League poll finding that one-third of Americans believe that 
American Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the U.S. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "In the most recent dispute 
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority about beginning 
negotiations over Jerusalem, both parties are in the right.... It 
seems Jerusalem and Ramallah are still trying to figure out how to 
be not just right, but also clever." 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in Ha'aretz: "Olmert and 
his partners in power believe, for some reason, that peace is 
something you do with trickery." 
 
The ultra-Orthodox Hamodi'a editorialized: "The ambiguity policy 
under the cover of which the dialogue between Olmert and Abu Mazen 
is taking place should be viewed as a cover-up ... for the reality 
that was discussed on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office." 
 
Columnist Michael Freund, who was an assistant to former prime 
minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post: "It is time for Israel to stop looking the other 
ways whenever the Palestinians assail everything we hold dear.  If 
it is a war of symbols they want, then Israel should not hesitate to 
respond." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "They're Both Right" 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/20): "In the most recent 
dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Authority about beginning 
negotiations over Jerusalem, both parties are in the right..... 
Olmert's rush to the media exposed Abbas and his associates to 
criticism from their own Fatah movement and the rival Hamas, and 
they were seen as spineless when it comes to talks with Israel. 
This led Abbas' advisers and spokesmen to issue a spate of denials 
regarding any such agreement.  All the same, the Palestinians were 
right when they said that discussions over Jerusalem had not been 
taken off the agenda.  The heads of the negotiation teams, Foreign 
Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed 
Qurei, are discussing everything, including Jerusalem.  But 
Palestinian sources say their talks deal in generalizations and that 
the real negotiations have yet to begin.... But it could be that 
both leaders, aware of the limits of their power, find it easier to 
continue negotiations without bringing them to a decisive point on 
any issue.  Abbas and Olmert realize that they won't be able to push 
through a deal that includes dramatic concessions -- because of Gaza 
and Shas -- so leaving Jerusalem off the agenda will ensure that the 
negotiations never reach a dangerous intersection.  It seems 
Jerusalem and Ramallah are still trying to figure out how to be not 
just right, but also clever." 
 
II.  "You Can't Make Peace with Tricks" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in Ha'aretz (2/20): 
"When the Prime Minister twists his tongue into knots to assuage the 
respective suspicions of two groups listening to what he has to say 
-- Shas on the one hand and Abu Mazen and his colleagues on the 
other -- he seems more like a tightrope walker who is scared of 
falling than a clever politician who knows where he is headed.  When 
Olmert declares that today we are not talking with the Palestinians 
about Jerusalem, he gives the impression of weakness.  People listen 
to him and wonder to themselves: And what about tomorrow?  Will this 
silence about the city's future continue?.... The polls suggest that 
the majority supports, for the time being, Likud and the other 
parties on the right.  This is also the mood in the Knesset. 
Therefore, Olmert's political maneuvering will presumably die out on 
its own.  On the other hand, there is a strong likelihood that were 
the two sides to be presented with a peace plan that offered them a 
promising future, they would adopt it even though they have their 
differences -- vis-a-vis one another and also internally -- about 
each of its central elements.  At the heart of this assumption lies 
the leaders' determination to take a chance, to talk with the enemy, 
to cut into the most sensitive aspects of the conflict, and ask for 
the public's trust in their positions.  This entails leaders who 
speak with honesty to the public, who involve it in the details of 
the negotiations, who expose the difficulties to the people, and 
don't try to hide the concessions that need to be made.  This is not 
the way things stand in the current Israeli realities: Olmert and 
his partners in power believe, for some reason, that peace is 
something you do with trickery." 
 
III.  "Conflicting Declarations" 
 
The ultra-Orthodox Hamodi'a editorialized (2/20): "All negotiators 
with the Palestinians should carefully listen to the song coming out 
of the Muqata in Ramallah.  The talk there is about a Palestinian 
state with Jerusalem as its capital -- nothing less than that. 
Experience teaches us that the Palestinians' statements are more 
serious than those of Israeli politicians.  Thus, the ambiguity 
policy under the cover of which the dialogue between Olmert and Abu 
Mazen is taking place should be viewed as a cover-up ... for the 
reality that was discussed on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's 
Office." 
 
IV.  "Shut Down Orient House" 
 
Columnist Michael Freund, who was an assistant to former prime 
minister Binyamin Netanyahu, wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post (2/20): "On Monday, Israel Radio reported that 
Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority has chosen to defy the law, 
which bars it from operating in Jerusalem, by reopening the Orient 
House.... This is nothing less than a clear Palestinian slap in the 
face to the Israeli government, which only recently reaffirmed the 
ban on PA activity in Jerusalem, something to which the Palestinians 
themselves had agreed in the Oslo Accords.  More importantly, 
though, it is a slap to the people of Israel, the overwhelmingly 
majority of whom cherish Jerusalem and are against re-dividing the 
Holy City.  And that is precisely why the Palestinians are doing it. 
 They understand the power that symbols have to influence, shape and 
yes, even to alter reality.... It is time for Israel to stop looking 
the other way whenever the Palestinians assail everything we hold 
dear.  If it is a war of symbols they want, then Israel should not 
hesitate to respond.  A good place to start would be to tear down 
the Orient House in Jerusalem, raze the site, and close it once and 
for all.  Similarly, the Muslim Waqf must be held accountable for 
the damage it causes to the Temple Mount, site of the ancient Jewish 
Temple.... We simply cannot afford to allow the Palestinians to 
continue to spit in our faces, and then call it rain.  Our foes 
understand well the importance of symbols.  They realize that 
despite their name, symbols are not merely symbolic, but have 
substantive value too.  The question is, when will we?" 
 
JONES