VZCZCXYZ1382
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #0503/01 0650547
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050547Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000503 
 
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: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank, March 4-5, 2008 
 
SIPDIS 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported on the arrival of Secretary of State Condoleezza 
Rice in the region.  Ha'aretz quoted the Secretary as saying on 
Tuesday that Israel and the Palestinians can still reach a peace 
agreement by the end of the year, despite recent violence in Gaza. 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that PM Olmert told Secretary Rice 
that Israel will continue to act forcefully against Hamas.  Maariv 
reported that PM Ehud Olmert said that it will be impossible to 
reach an agreement in 2008 and that Secretary Rice expressed concern 
about the suffering of civilians in Gaza.. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Hayom quoted PA President Mahmoud Abbas as 
saying that "peace and negotiations are our strategic choice." 
Ha'aretz reported that he fell short of announcing a resumption of 
peace talks.  The Jerusalem Post quoted PA officials in Ramallah as 
saying that Abbas rejected Washington's demand to return immediately 
and unconditionally to the negotiating table.  The officials told 
The Jerusalem Post that while Abbas was ready to resume peace talks, 
he was seeking assurances that Israel would refrain from further 
military operations in Gaza.  Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted 
Palestinian sources as saying that Abbas's discussion with Rice 
centered on the idea of a comprehensive cease-fire in the West Bank 
and Gaza.  Ha'aretz quoted Hamas as saying that Rice's visit was 
unwanted and was intended to cover up the "crimes of the 
occupation." 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that this morning PM Ehud Olmert 
will convene the diplomatic-security cabinet to discuss Gaza.  The 
media reported that the meeting will not rule out any actions, 
including a large-scale military operation.  Maariv quoted the IDF 
as saying that Hamas fighters are less organized than Hizbullah's 
and that Ashdod has started preparations to brace for attacks by 
enhanced Grad rockets.  As part of a diplomatic offensive, the 
Foreign Ministry will arrange for foreign delegations to visit to 
Sderot.  Major media reported that important demonstrations 
condemning the Gaza operation took place among Israeli Arabs. 
Leading media reported that during her visit to Cairo, the Secretary 
announced that she had waived the Congressional restrictions 
withholding $100 million in military aid to Egypt. 
 
Major media reported that last night IDF troops killed Yusuf Samiri, 
the commander of Islamic Jihad in the central Gaza Strip, and at 
least three other armed militants.  Israel Radio and other media 
quoted Palestinian sources as saying that a baby was also killed in 
the operation. 
 
Leading media quoted PM Olmert as saying on Tuesday in a school in 
the Druze village of Julys that Israel will not accept a nuclear 
Iran and that it has the strength to protect itself from any 
threat. 
 
The Jerusalem Post's Internet site quoted a Foreign Ministry 
officials as saying that Foreign Ministry spokespeople are refusing 
requests to appear on Aljazeera-TV because of what the ministry 
deems heavily biased coverage of the situation in the Gaza Strip. 
The ministry statement came a day after FM Tzipi Livni ripped into 
the satellite station at a meeting with ambassadors posted here, 
saying that "when depicting Israeli attacks, Aljazeera-TV abuses the 
situation on the ground by telling lies. Unfortunately, during these 
attacks, civilians were killed.  I am not trying to change facts. 
But, of course, when it comes to Aljazeera-TV, everything is 
exaggerated."  A Foreign Ministry statement specifically cited 
praises of Aljazeera-TV by senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar. 
 
Yediot reported that security sources are opposed to allowing two 
French lawyers representing the family of Gilad Shalit to enter 
Gaza. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a group of American and Israeli 
lawmakers -- the latter including Benny Elon (National 
Union-National Religious Party) and Orit Noked (Labor) -- are 
planning to establish a U.S.-Israel joint study group to prepare 
foreign policy recommendations for the next U.S. administration. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that police on Tuesday stopped Waqf 
Muslim trust officials from performing unauthorized construction 
work on the Temple Mount. 
 
Leading media reported that a  U.S. missile strike on Monday 
eliminated Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was behind the November 28, 
2002 attack on the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, in which 15 
people, including three Israelis, were killed, and the failed 
 
shooting down of an Arkia airliner on the same day. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank, March 4-5, 2008: 
 
SIPDIS 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Instead of focusing on Iranian and Syrian 
efforts to take control of Lebanon, the [upcoming Arab League] 
summit will deal with the burring issue of the occupied territories. 
 Israel, not Hamas, will be forced to pay the bill." 
 
Veteran journalist and former justice minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid 
wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: "Talking with Hamas means 
breaking the international boycott being imposed on Hamas.... I 
believe that we have no choice but to hit them hard." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Democracies the world over need to internalize what is taking place 
here, to pin blame where it is due, and to condemn Hamas for its 
heartlessness toward its own people." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "Cooperation on environmental problems, as 
well as on water and health problems, should move forward regardless 
of the diplomatic negotiations." 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
 
¶I.  "He Who Pays Last Pays Best" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/5): "Since the Prime Minister's 
announcement that a two-state solution is an existential necessity 
for Israel, or in his own words, that without it 'Israel is 
finished,' then the price list [for Palestinians] has become more 
complex.... The Arab peace initiative, launched six yeas ago at the 
Arab League summit in Beirut and ratified in Riyadh last March, was 
aimed at isolating radical elements in the Arab and Muslim world. 
These same elements seek to exploit the escalation in Gaza in order 
to bury Israel's offer of normalized relations in exchange for 
withdrawal from the territories.  It would appear, however, that the 
leaders of Egypt and Jordan, when asked to report on the progress in 
the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, say that all 
of the outposts are still in place and that one rabbi, who heads a 
medium-sized party, has removed Jerusalem from the talks.  Instead 
of focusing on Iranian and Syrian efforts to take control of 
Lebanon, the [upcoming Arab League] summit will deal with the 
burring issue of the occupied territories.  Israel, not Hamas, will 
be forced to pay the bill." 
 
II.  If This Is War, then Let It Be War" 
 
Veteran journalist and former justice minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid 
wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (3/5): "Talking with Hamas 
means impicit recognition of Hamas.  Talking with Hamas means 
recognizing the effectiveness of the pressure they are placing on 
Israel.  Talking with Hamas means breaking the international boycott 
being imposed on Hamas.... I believe that we have no choice but to 
hit them hard.  If this doesn't work, so let's do it harder -- no 
conquest of Gaza, but bombarding it.... Some will say that this 
isn't worth the hefty price we're going to pay for tranquility.  I'm 
afraid we have no other choice." 
 
III.  "Hamas's Human Shields" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/5): 
"Hamas's brazen use of human shields is directly facilitated by the 
international community's reluctance to address the issue and 
denounce the premeditated endangerment of ordinary people.... By 
staying silent on this fundamental moral issue, the international 
community becomes an accomplice to bloodshed both among the directly 
targeted Israelis and the unintentionally harmed Gazans. Principled 
despite its vilified reputation, Israel wrestles with a wrenching 
quandary callously imposed upon it.  But Israel shouldn't be the 
only one to grapple with the ruthlessness of terrorists toward their 
human shields.  Democracies the world over need to internalize what 
is taking place here, to pin blame where it is due, and to condemn 
Hamas for its heartlessness toward its own people." 
 
IV.  "Apart from the Security Problems" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (3/5): "Dealing with the building waste is a 
measure of Israel's success in dealing with its environmental 
problems.  It should also serve as a test case for the joint 
treatment by Israel and the Palestinians of environmental 
problems.... Cooperation on environmental problems, as well as on 
water and health problems, should move forward regardless of the 
diplomatic negotiations.... The effort that has been made recently 
by Palestinian and Israeli experts, along with environmental 
organization activists, to formulate an extensive and detailed 
agreement on dealing with environmental problems as part of a 
comprehensive diplomatic agreement is also worthy of encouragement. 
The treatment of waste must become a key element in any future 
negotiations." 
 
JONES