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P 131038Z MAR 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000589 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The media reported that at a Labor Party forum on Wednesday Defense 
Minister Ehud Barak hinted that fighting in Gaza may again flare up. 
 He was quoted as saying: "We will see worse things before we reach 
the next stage of the calm."  All media reported that on Wednesday 
evening an anti-terrorist unit of Israel Police killed four wanted 
Islamic Jihad activists from Bethlehem, including the group's 
leaders in the city, senior militant Mahmoud Shehada.  Shehada had 
sent the car bomb that killed the daughter of then National 
Religious Party chairman Yitzhak Levy in Jerusalem in November 2000. 
 Major media reported that overnight Islamic Jihad launched Qassam 
rockets at the western Negev. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that tension between Jerusalem and Washington is 
intensifying over Israel's foot dragging in the removal of 
roadblocks  and outposts in the West Bank.  The Americans are 
complaining that Israel is not keeping its promises to improve the 
day-to-day life of West Bank Palestinians. Ha'aretz quoted a senior 
Israeli official said Friday's scheduled tripartite meeting could be 
difficult, as Gen. Fraser is expected to present a report of Roadmap 
violations likely to be critical of Israel.   On the other hand, the 
official noted, the Palestinians can expect criticism over last 
week's terror attack in Jerusalem and other issues related to the 
war on terror.  "Real tension has developed with the Americans, and 
if there are no steps on the ground we will find ourselves in big 
trouble," the Israeli source was quoted as saying.  He added that in 
the eyes of the Americans and of other members of the international 
community, a "gap has developed between the Israeli-Palestinian 
negotiations on the core issues and events on the ground."  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted senior GOI officials as saying on Wednesday 
that Israel is bracing for what is reported to be a "skewed" report 
from Fraser on Israeli and Palestinian implementation of Roadmap 
obligations.  Ha'aretz reported that on Wednesday Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice spoke again about violations of the road map, 
specifically mentioning that Israel's recent announcements of new 
construction plans in East Jerusalem and the West Bank were 
"unhelpful" to the peace process.  Ha'aretz reported that Tony Blair 
is also unhappy about Israel's activities on the West Bank and its 
failure to take steps to improve Palestinian civilian life. He was 
quoted as saying as much to Ehud Barak during their meeting on 
Wednesday.  Ha'aretz reported that while Blair is still optimistic 
about his mission, many of the projects he is championing face 
obstacles, largely due to opposition from the Israeli military 
establishment. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Defense Ministry Director-General 
Pinhas Buchris will travel to the U.S. next week to try to interest 
the Pentagon in the Israeli-developed Iron Dome missile defense 
system and to explore procuring the Skyguard laser system to protect 
Sderot from Qassam rockets.  The Jerusalem Post and Makor 
Rishon-Hatzofe cited the Defense Ministry's belief that Iron Dome is 
better than the Nautilus system. 
 
Israel Radio quoted FM Tzipi Livni as saying in a speech at Harvard 
University that the decision to allow construction in the 
settlements did not help the negotiations with the Palestinians, but 
that these were private construction plans and not of great 
consequence.  Livni noted that the GOIQs policy was not to expand 
settlements, and added that in a peace agreement, Israel would be 
asked to dismantle more settlements.   The radio reported that Livni 
spoke on the phone to Republican presidential candidate Senator John 
McCain and Democratic presidential contender Senator Hillary 
Clinton. 
 
All media highlighted the spectacular fall of the U.S. dollar 
against the shekel. 
 
Leading media reported that on Wednesday street notices posted by a 
group of rabbis identified with the extreme right called on Jews to 
avenge their enemies "measure for measure."  Israel Radio reported 
that the terrorist who killed eight yeshiva students last week was 
quietly buried last night.  Major media reported that the police 
have started to check whether it is possible to raze the terrorist's 
house.  The media quoted Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter as 
saying that he wants the house demolished. 
 
Mel Levine, one of Senator Barack Obama's closest advisors and a 
former congressman from Los Angeles, was quoted as saying in an 
interview with The Jerusalem Post that Obama would be great for 
Israel. 
Leading media reported that on Wednesday dozens of demonstrators 
shouting that Israel should be wiped off the map protested against 
President Shimon Peres' visit to Lyon, France, 
 
Yediot ran a feature about the growing dissent among young Israeli 
Arabs. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday senior 
Foreign Ministry officials denied any decision to boycott the 
Qatari-based Aljazeera-TV due to biased coverage.  Earlier on 
Wednesday Deputy Foreign Minister Majalli Whbee told IDF Radio that 
the ministry had decided to embargo the station, which he accused of 
"untrustworthy reports" and of incitement to terror. The media 
quoted Walid al-Omari, Aljazeera-TV's bureau chief in Israel, as 
saying that he had received no official notice from the Foreign 
Ministry and accused Israel of trying to intimidate the station.  He 
was quoted as saying that Israel "speaks of democracy but persecutes 
the media and restricts its freedom of speech and movement." 
 
Major media reported that two policemen from Ma'aleh Adumim are 
suspected of abusing a Palestinian detainee. 
 
Yediot reported that early this week, in his testimony in the libel 
suit against him, Israeli-Arab film director Muhammad Bakri admitted 
that "Jenin, Jenin," his controversial movie about Operation 
Defensive Shield, received funding from then PA culture minister 
Yasser Abed Rabbo.  Bakri added however, that the PA did not 
influence the film's content. 
 
Yediot and Ha'aretz reported that Microsoft has acquired the 
Ramat-Gan start-up Kidaro for $80 million. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Israel and the Palestinians will not reach a 
proper implementation agreement under a timetable that has been 
determined for a political reason -- the Bush administration's 
reason." 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of Ha'aretz: "Israel 
apparently does not have the time or space to accept Palestinian 
mistakes in the West Bank." 
 
Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "When the current security situation is 
examined at a time when there is still talk of calm, one can 
understand the great cause for concern." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Three Whiners" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/13): "[Roadmap monitor Lt. Gen. William] 
Fraser will sit down at the table with a pair of whiners whose 
strength is in their weakness.  This one is not doing enough, that 
one is not doing enough.  This one says he cannot, the other says he 
is unable.  The time may have come, after so many years, to insist 
-- with both parties.  Let the Palestinians build their 
institutions, let them prove they can fight terror, let them 
dismantle the militias and find a way to neutralize Hamas.  Let 
Israel find the strength to remove outposts, restrain its coalition 
partners and meet its obligations.  This will not be a pleasant 
process for either the Israelis or Palestinians, but contrary to 
what is usually thought, the two whiners are not what prevents the 
necessary choice of such a path.  The problem is actually with the 
third whiner, the Americans.  Because such insistence on fulfilling 
all obligations will include the painful recognition of a fact the 
U.S. administration is not prepared for: Israel and the Palestinians 
will not reach a proper implementation agreement under a timetable 
that has been determined for a political reason -- the Bush 
administration's reason." 
 
II.  "Little Room for Mistakes" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one of Ha'aretz (3/13): 
"The fragile, indirect agreement the Egyptians brokered between 
Israel and Hamas over Gaza will meet its first test today.  The 
killings on Wednesday of five wanted militants by the Israel 
Police's anti-terrorism unit, in two incidents on the West Bank, is 
likely to spur Islamic Jihad into attempting retaliatory rocket 
attacks from Gaza into the Negev.  It seems we've been here many 
times before.... Hamas is demanding that the cease-fire include an 
 
 
Israeli commitment, in the long term, to stop arresting terror 
suspects in the West Bank.  Hamas's leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, 
raised the demand on Wednesday just a few hours before the incident 
in Bethlehem.  Israel rejects the demand out of fear it would give 
the terror organizations a free pass to plan attacks.  The fight 
against terror in the West Bank is constant.  When it leads to 
Palestinian casualties it can have immediate effects on events in 
Gaza.  Until Wednesday Hamas seemed to be imposing its will for a 
lull on the other factions in the Strip.  But Islamic Jihad, to 
which four of the five militants killed Wednesday belonged, has very 
different interests.  Iran, which controls Islamic Jihad with an 
iron hand and has significant influence over Hamas, apparently wants 
a renewed escalation of the conflict.... Wednesday's police 
operation dealt a blow to the PA's efforts to bolster its military 
status.  But Israel apparently does not have the time or space to 
accept Palestinian mistakes in the West Bank.  Every missed 
opportunity, intentional or not, in the PA's war against West Bank 
terror could end in another terror attack in Jerusalem." 
 
III.  "Danger on Three Fronts" 
 
Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (3/13): "When the current security 
situation is examined at a time when there is still talk of calm, 
one can understand the great cause for concern.... In practice, the 
understanding for calm is very fragile from the outset.... Hamas 
ostensibly won when it forced the IDF, as part of the agreement, to 
halt its operations inside the Gaza Strip as it had demanded for 
months, in exchange for Hamas stopping the rocket fire.  But Hamas 
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh made another demand last nightQfor 
Israel to also stop its operations against wanted men in Judea and 
Samaria.  He soon received a firm answer: Wednesday's operations in 
Bethlehem and the village Saida illustrate that from IsraelQs 
standpoint no understanding -- whether it exists officially or not 
-- applies in Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank].... The 
security establishment does not rule out the possibility that the 
terror attack at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and additional terror 
attacks that are liable to originate in Judea and Samaria could be 
linked to 'sleeper cells' set up in the territories by HizbullahQs 
1800 unit -- which is responsible for operating Palestinian 
terror.... The security establishment is certain that Hizbullah, 
with the help of Iran, is making supreme efforts to carry out 
'quality' terror attacks against Israeli targets in Israel and 
abroad.   A painful terror attack could lead to a sharp reaction on 
IsraelQs part, which could very quickly deteriorate into another war 
with Hizbullah.... Israel is becoming increasingly concerned about 
the Iranian project for developing a non-conventional warhead, which 
they would be able to install on a cruise missile that could strike 
any place in Israel.  The fear of this threat is particularly great 
since the defensive measures that have been developed by Israel so 
far against surface-to-surface missiles such as the Shihab -- the 
Arrow missiles that intercept any enemy missile at an altitude of 
several dozen kilometers -- are not effective against a missile 
cruising towards Israel at a low altitude." 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "The closer their political time comes to running out, the 
more opposition to Bush and Cheney's hostile policies toward Iran 
they encounter within their own security establishment." 
 
Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post: "Clearly, the Bush administration prefers that Iran 
believes the U.S. presence sitting right on its doorstep is less a 
reasonable fox, and much more a big bad wolf." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "One Admiral Too Many" 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (3/13): "The closer their political time comes to running 
out, the more opposition to Bush and Cheney's hostile policies 
toward Iran they encounter within their own security 
establishment....  [Admiral William] Fallon, who enjoyed the role of 
the voice of wisdom and dialogue in contrast to Bush and Cheney's 
saber-rattling, was one admiral too many.... . Just last week, 
Fallon testified before Congress about Iran and its damaging 
activities in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza.  The words were belligerent 
Bush style, but it was Fallon's placatory music, because the dispute 
is not about the diagnosis, but rather the treatment.   Fallon also 
fell out with his subordinate, General David Petraeus, the commander 
of the forces in Iraq, and Petraeus, who turned failure into 
success, however relative, is the darling of Bush and McCain. 
Whoever falls out with them is seen as indirectly assisting the 
Democrats.  The Democrats are happy to lean on Fallon, but in line 
for practical politics as a senior retired officer is General Wesley 
Clark, who wanted to run but failed and became a Clinton 
supporter." 
 
II.  "The Message that Fallon's Farewell and Cheney's Arrival Sends 
to Tehran" 
 
Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post (3/13): "Sending Dick Cheney to the region is 
certainly one way of rattling both the sabers and the Iranian cage 
-- as is removing from the scene the U.S. military commander 
[Admiral William Fallon] who reassured Esquire, and the rest of the 
world, 'I am the reasonable one,' when it comes to Iran.  Clearly, 
the Bush administration prefers that Iran believes the U.S. presence 
sitting right on its doorstep is less a reasonable fox, and much 
more a big bad wolf." 
 
JONES