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DE RUEHTV #0602/01 0741025
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P 141025Z MAR 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000602 
 
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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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: 
------------------------- 
 
Maariv cited Israel's fears that General William Fraser's report of 
Roadmap violations might cause enormous diplomatic damage to Israel. 
 For its part, The Jerusalem Post reported that Fraser is not 
expected to rap knuckles over the obligations under the Roadmap and 
that the U.S. position is that he is meant to be a "coach," not a 
referee.  The Jerusalem Post quoted defense officials as saying that 
Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's 
diplomatic-security bureau, will tell Fraser that the "Palestinians 
have done  nothing to improve the security situation on the ground. 
How can we then be expected to move forward with our obligations?" 
The officials were also quoted as saying that Jerusalem and the 
major settlement blocs "are an integral part of Israel and we will 
continue to build there." 
 
All media reported that Qassam rockets and mortars rained on Sderot 
and other communities bordering the Gaza Strip as Palestinian 
militants responded to Wednesday's killing of four Islamic Jihad 
gunmen in Bethlehem.  Thursday's attacks broke a week of relative 
calm in the fighting.  The IDF has thus far has not responded. 
Ha'aretz reported that senior IDF sources told the newspaper last 
night that the lull in the fighting seemed to have come to an end. 
The media quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying on Thursday 
that Israel proved in Bethlehem that it will continue to "hunt and 
target every killer who has Jewish blood on his hands."  Ha'aretz 
quoted senior IDF sources as saying that even though Hamas does not 
appear to be responsible for Thursday's rocket attacks, it is not 
making any effort to restrain Islamic Jihad and prevent the 
bombardment.  Ha'aretz quoted the Prime Minister's Office as saying 
on Thursday that Israel holds Hamas accountable for every rocket 
fired by the different militant groups in the Gaza Strip.  (The 
Jerusalem Post quoted the IDF to the same effect.)   Israel Radio 
cited the concern of IDF sources that fire may be renewed from the 
West Bank village of Beit Jala into the Jerusalem neighborhood of 
Gilo.  Leading media quoted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as 
saying on Thursday the Israel had employed "inappropriate and 
disproportionate use of force."  He was addressing the Organization 
of the Islamic Conference in Dakar. 
 
Leading media reported that on Thursday PA President Mahmoud Abbas 
accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" in East Jerusalem by banning 
the building of Palestinian homes and cutting the city off from the 
occupied West Bank.   The Jerusalem Post reported that Fatah's armed 
wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, called on Abbas on Thursday to 
fire Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and open a "new page" with Hamas. 
 
Ha'aretz (Tom Segev) reported that in the fall of 2006, the U.S. 
deliberately fomented civil war that Fatah was supposed to win, with 
U.S. help.  The newspaper wrote that to this end, the U.S. supported 
Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, who had gained the trust of 
President Bush. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that in the face of Iran's race to 
obtain nuclear weapons, Israeli defense officials who will visit the 
U.S. next week plan to ask the Pentagon to reconsider its decision 
not to sell Israel the F-22 fifth-generation stealth fighter jet. 
 
All media led with the intervention of the Bank of Israel in foreign 
currency trade for the first time since 1997.  In response to the 
dollar's 3% fall against the shekel from a representative rate of 
3.48 shekels on Wednesday to 3.35 shekels on Thursday afternoon, the 
central bank bought dollars in a move to stop the dollar slide.  The 
Central Bank refused to reveal how many dollars were purchased, but 
the media report that it was between $50-100 million. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the fact that neither Syria, Iran 
nor Hizbullah have reiterated their initial reflexive accusations 
against the Mossad with any statement linking Israel to the 
assassination of senior Hizbullah operative Imad Mughniyah is 
raising questions in Jerusalem, as it may indicate that Syria may 
have "embarrassing" information linking the killing to the Arab 
world. 
 
The media reported that on Thursday the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva held a 
mass memorial service for its eight students who were killed by an 
East Jerusalem gunman last week.  Israel Radio quoted Rabbi Ya'acov 
Shapira, the head of the yeshiva, as saying that revenge was not 
part of the Jewish religious law. 
 
Israel Radio reported that a State Department report released on 
Thursday has observed that Jews worldwide are facing a new form of 
anti-Semitism.  "Anti-Semitism couched as criticism of Zionism or 
Israel often escapes condemnation since it can be more subtle than 
traditional forms of anti-Semitism, and promoting anti-Semitic 
attitudes may not be the conscious intent of the purveyor," the 
report was quoted as saying.  The report singled out a number of 
leaders, governments and state-sponsored institutions for fanning 
the flames of anti-Semitism, with Iran's President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad at the top of the list.  It also took to task the Syrian 
government, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, as well as the 
government-backed Venezuelan, Saudi Arabian, and Egyptian media. 
 
Leading media reported that for the first time in history vestiges 
of Jewish buildings dating back to the First Temple period have been 
excavated close to the Temple Mount.  Among the findings were 
pottery items and a seal bearing an inscription in ancient Hebrew 
characters: "Netanyahu ben Yoash." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that during a two-week visit to Israel, 
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz will meet with Israel's 
leadership, provide legal advice on anti-terror tactics, and teach a 
special seminar on the intersection of human rights and 
counterterrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the popular Internet social 
networking site Facebook has transferred the residents of the West 
Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim to "Palestine." 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Yael Dayan as saying on 
Thursday that the Prime Minister's Office was breaking its promise 
to transfer a state grant to finance apartments for African refugees 
in the city. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Israel's 
citizens are entitled to know what their government's policy is. 
Does it favor a cease-fire with Hamas?" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "[At this time] the 
Israeli side is unwilling under any circumstances to agree to 
Hamas's offer: an absolute cease-fire in the Gaza Strip in return 
for Israel stopping assassinations in the West Bank and in Gaza." 
 
 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "While 
the U.S. is busy counting outposts and settlements, and acting as if 
Israel is holding up the works, the real obstacles to peace lie 
elsewhere. So long as these real obstacles do not become the focus 
of Western policy, the "peace process" will continue to be a dismal 
failure." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "Olmert is not going to Damascus; he is not raising his arms 
and calling for unity; he is not invading Gaza.  He seems to know 
something that we don't." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Justify Your Policy" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (3/14): "Four 
Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants were shot dead on Wednesday in 
Bethlehem by an antiterrorist Border Police unit.  The four had been 
involved in major attacks against Israelis in previous years and 
were identified as being behind the dispatching of two suicide 
bombers and four car bombs.... The public has the right to know what 
precisely happened in Bethlehem, who authorized the operation, and 
to what extent, if at all, the few days of calm on the Gaza front 
were taken into account.... Israel's citizens are entitled to know 
what their government's policy is.  Does it favor a cease-fire with 
Hamas?  If so, is it possible to distinguish between the Gaza Strip 
and the West Bank?  Is one demand that Hamas restrain Islamic Jihad 
and other groups?  Is the intention to return to the situation of 
2005, in preparation for the Gaza evacuation, when the main fighting 
was between Israel and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, while the 
fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Strip was significantly 
curtailed?  Are negotiations between Hamas and Israel underway with 
Egyptian mediation, and who will be the arbitrator over who may be 
responsible for violating a deal?  The Prime Minister and Defense 
Minister are being opaque and patronizing in their refusal to 
explain their policy.  A government is there to serve its citizens 
and must delineate and justify its policy." 
 
II.  "Who Said Cease-Fire" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/14): "It would not be 
wrong to assume that when spring arrives, a decision will be made to 
embark on a ground operation deep inside the Gaza Strip will come to 
fruition.  And until that time, the Israeli side is unwilling under 
any circumstances to agree to Hamas's offer: an absolute cease-fire 
in the Gaza Strip in return for Israel stopping assassinations in 
the West Bank and in Gaza.  The IDF and the Shin Bet were given 
orders to prevent, at any cost, the manufacturing rockets of in the 
West Bank or the organizing of terror cells.  Even if the goals are 
reached, Olmert and Barak will not use Netanyahu's sweeping 
description, 'defeat.'  As for the assassinations [of four Islamic 
Jihad militants in Bethlehem], Barak said on Thursday, 'Anyone with 
Jewish blood on their hands is earmarked for death,Q and Tzachi 
Hanegbi [the Chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense 
Committee chose a somewhat different metaphor: 'These terrorists 
will not be taking retirement.'  At the end of the day, Olmert's and 
Barak's credo is not expected to lead to victory in the Palestinian 
conflict.  One can speak of long lulls, but ultimately, the solution 
will have to be found in dialogue.  The activity of the security 
forces -- effective as it will be -- will not spare us this.  In 
private talks, Barak said that if the Egyptians want to come up with 
a proposal of their own for a cease-fire, they should realize that 
under no circumstances will it apply to the West Bank.  They should 
also realize that their role will be to control the crossings and to 
prevent arms from being transferred.  With Hamas, he says, there 
will be no negotiations.  So who said anything about a cease-fire?" 
 
III.  "A Skewed Process" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/14): 
"Israel is reportedly bracing for a 'skewed' report from Lt. Gen. 
William Fraser on Israeli and Palestinian implementation of their 
Roadmap obligations.  What is likely 'skewed,' however, is not just 
one report, but the whole U.S. approach to achieving Arab-Israeli 
peace.... The U.S. makes no distinction between the respective 
distances Israel and the Palestinians are from making the two-state 
approach work, and instead looks for ways to criticize both sides no 
matter what, in an attempt to appear 'evenhanded'.... Pretending 
that Israelis and Palestinians are equally to blame for the lack of 
peace is not just misleading and unfair, it is actively harmful to 
the cause of peace, because it lets those who are obstructing peace 
off the hook.  Nor is this 'skewing' limited to the 
Israeli-Palestinian sphere.... [Non-radical Arab] states could, if 
they led the way rather than insisted on following, quickly tip the 
current Palestinian trend from radicalization to moderation.... In 
short, while the U.S. is busy counting outposts and settlements, and 
acting as if Israel is holding up the works, the real obstacles to 
peace lie elsewhere. So long as these real obstacles do not become 
the focus of Western policy, the "peace process" will continue to be 
a dismal failure. " 
 
IV.  "Neither Syria nor Anything Else" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (3/14): "Does Olmert really believe that he is striving for a 
peace agreement with Abu Mazen?  It is hard to believe.  Even Tzipi 
Livni does not believe in this.  So what does he want?  He may want 
to prove that he can do it on his own, and that Bib [Netanyahu] is 
afraid that it will be proven that he does not have a magic solution 
[to the Qassam rocket problem]?  Until those two prove themselves, 
it sill be too late.  This used to be the same situation during the 
final days of Olmert's predecessors -- Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud 
Barak -- who rejected feelers of national unity.  Only at the last 
moment, while they fell, both tried to hold on to the lifebuoy, but 
it was too little, too late.  Olmert is not going to Damascus; he is 
not raising his arms and calling for unity; he is not invading Gaza. 
 He seems to know something that we don't." 
 
JONES