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DE RUEHTV #0653/01 0801033
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P 201033Z MAR 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000653 
 
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 
 
 
Please note: Block Quotes only today. 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Iran 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
¶3.  Global Stock Market 
 
--------- 
¶1.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "In his 
last 10 months in office, Bush can still take concrete steps to 
restore and increase the momentum against the Iranian regime." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Ten More Months" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/20): 
"The looming threat from Iran has all but dropped off the American 
radar screen.  [In his Pentagon speech on Wednesday,] Bush referred 
to Iran twice in passing.... Bush is right and his critics are wrong 
on the debate over whether the removal of Saddam should be seen in 
the context of a wider war.  But by this same token, if the U.S. 
fails to prosecute that wider war -- the central challenge of which 
is to prevent the current Iranian regime from going nuclear -- and 
if this failure can be traced to the war in Iraq, then that war was 
a failure, too.... Put simply, winning in Iraq is no substitute for 
winning against Iran.  Indeed, winning against Iran is necessary for 
winning in Iraq, and elsewhere over the long term.... In his last 10 
months in office, Bush can still take concrete steps to restore and 
increase the momentum against the Iranian regime, momentum that was 
largely dissipated by the bizarre intelligence report issued by his 
administration at the end of last year.... Next, Bush could initiate 
actions in international forums to punish Iran for incitement to 
genocide and for supporting terrorism, in addition to its defiance 
on the nuclear issue.  Finally, Bush could meet with Iranian 
dissidents as a signal of stepped-up support for the Iranian people 
in their struggle to free themselves from a tyrannical regime that 
oppresses them and threatens the world.  All this would demonstrate 
that Bush meant it when he said that 'The United States of America 
will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us 
with the world's most destructive weapons.'  While even with all 
this effort he might not succeed in fulfilling this pledge on his 
watch, he will at least have given his successor a solid base from 
which to do so." 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "There's no pressure, and nor should there 
be.... There's a lever, the Americans always have a lever, but the 
complaints against Israel are too minor to justify its application 
and no likely result will considerably change the situation." 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the 
Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot: "Hamas has adopted a tactic that is considered 
acceptable in the Middle East, a tactic that we have never 
understood: the tactic of symbols." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "On the agenda is a fragile, almost 
desperate attempt to advance negotiations with the Palestinian 
Authority.... At this critical time, it is incumbent upon us to 
bring Meretz into the government." 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "When the dignity of civilians, the overwhelming 
majority of whom are innocent, is trampled into dust, we cannot 
expect the dignity of Israeli civilians to be upheld.  When a state 
loses the basic values of human dignity, it loses them when it comes 
to its own citizens as well." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Pressure?  What Are You Talking About?" 
 
Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/20): "A few weeks before the Annapolis 
summit in November, it was agreed that the renewal of the 
negotiations would be announced there.  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert 
thought that was all that was required of him; Rice thought 
differently.  She sought gestures to the Palestinians, and brought a 
list that included, among other things, nothing less than the 
release of 1,000 Palestinians.  Olmert and his aides were shocked. 
The Americans didn't back down.  Perhaps, Welch suggested, simply 
let the 1,000 longest-serving prisoners go?  Foreign Ministry 
Director General Aharon Abramovitch, former director general of the 
Justice Ministry, explained that Israel does not have the death 
penalty, which means that implementing Welch's suggestion would in 
effect mean releasing 1,000 murderers.  What moral justification is 
there for that, Abramovitch asked Welch.  That is the lazy routine 
of American 'pressure.'  There's no pressure, and nor should there 
be.... There's a lever, the Americans always have a lever, but the 
complaints against Israel are too minor to justify its application 
and no likely result will considerably change the situation." 
 
II.  "The Tactics of Symbols" 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the 
Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot (3/20): "We killed more than 100 terrorists, we say 
in wonder, how is that so many donQt see that what the IDF did in 
Gaza was a victory?  We killed over 100 terrorists, the IDF counts 
again, without realizing that we are broadcasting on a completely 
different frequency than the region in which we live.... Hamas has 
adopted a tactic that is considered acceptable in the Middle East, a 
tactic that we have never understood: the tactic of symbols.  It 
declared victory and held a march of thousands to celebrate and 
commemorate the event.  The very symbolism of the march created 
power, since the march makes it possible for millions of viewers in 
the world to feel that they are marching with Hamas, to feel a sense 
of identity and closeness.  Such a march creates an event of its 
own. Hamas put on a show.  An important rule: the symbol, the 
picture, the show, will always surpass words, and what we have are 
words.  The show will always touch the emotions, and in the race 
between the mind and the emotions, emotions will always win, and 
Hamas knows how to do the job.  Where is our visual show?  Where is 
our march?  We explain, we talk, but we have no symbols.  David 
Ben-Gurion was good at this. His very figure was a symbol.... Today 
we are led by analytic statesmen.  We scorn emotion, we consider it 
a weakness, something primitive, without realizing that in our 
region, a display of emotion, a show, an exhibit, a march, are a 
great advantage.  This can be compared to a television appearance. 
A person can be analytical and well-informed, but if he doesnQt know 
how to put on a television show properly, the viewer will be bored 
and he will not be invited back.  And indeed, sometimes I watch 
Israeli ambassadors or representatives in the world toiling and 
explaining drearily away, and find it aggravating." 
 
III.  "Bring Meretz into the Government" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (3/20): "Knesset Member Haim Oron's 
impressive victory in the internal elections for the Meretz party 
leadership once again raises the question of whether the party will 
join the coalition.... This is not the time for party 
considerations.  On the agenda is a fragile, almost desperate 
attempt to advance negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, 
which maintains unsteady control of the West Bank alone.  This 
option, for all its failings, is the only way open for the near 
future.  This opportunity, like others in the past, should not be 
missed.  Meretz's entry could breathe life into the government by 
liberating it from Shas's threats to dismantle it in the wake of 
diplomatic progress.... At this critical time, it is incumbent upon 
us to bring Meretz into the government." 
 
 
IV.  "Tibet Is Here" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv (3/20): "Imagine what an outcry would have arisen 
around the world, and in Israel too, if we had read a report saying 
that the Chinese army was staging Qlive exercisesQ with dogs on 
Tibetan residents, in order to check the dogsQ level of readiness 
for their missions....  This is the report that appeared this past 
Monday in Maariv: Dog trainers from the IDF Oketz ['Sting'] unit 
train their dogs at the roadblocks, causing unnecessary humiliation. 
 The IDF SpokespersonQs Office responded: The exercises are vital 
for maintaining fitness... Even under the threat of terror attacks, 
we must preserve our humane image.  Ours and theirs.  Not only 
because of the all-too-true clich that every such dog, which jumps 
into a car, tramples the food and rummages through the Koran, 
manufactures the next suicide bomber, but also because of the heavy 
price that we pay for this, with compound interest, within the 
borders of Israel.  When soldiers send a dog on a pair of elderly 
[Palestinians] over age 80 inside their home, and the dog tears off 
bits of flesh from these elderly people, while the soldiers stand by 
and watch, as was related this week on Israel TV's documentary 
 
program, let us not wonder afterwards that violence against the 
elderly in Israel has reached alarming proportions.  When the 
dignity of civilians, the overwhelming majority of whom are 
innocent, is trampled into dust, we cannot expect the dignity of 
Israeli civilians to be upheld.  When a state loses the basic values 
of human dignity, it loses them when it comes to its own citizens as 
well." 
 
------------------------ 
¶3.  Global Stock Market: 
------------------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior Editor and business correspondent Nehemia Shtrasler wrote in 
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "When the U.S. economy 
slumps, Americans buy less, and Israeli exports hurt.  The weak 
dollar is also hurting Israeli exports." 
 
 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Before the Showdown Begins" 
 
Senior Editor and business correspondent Nehemia Shtrasler wrote in 
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/20): "Israel's market is 
wide open.  Imports and exports are responsible for about 90 percent 
of Israel's gross domestic product.  That is a lot.  Not only does 
most high-tech export target the United States, this is also a main 
growth driver for Israel's economy.  When the U.S. economy slumps, 
Americans buy less, and Israeli exports hurt.  The weak dollar is 
also hurting Israeli exports.... Now is the time for cutbacks and 
reforms.  If a plan is presented to the public, it will understand 
that the moment the government reduces its expenses, it would also 
be able to reduce taxes.  The public will then not fear stepping up 
consumption and investments.  Thus the slowdown will be more 
moderate and the economy won't stop in its tracks.  Does [Finance 
Minister Roni] Bar-On have the political power to carry out such a 
plan? Will Olmert support him?" 
 
JONES