VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #0757/01 0921007
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011007Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6103
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 3628
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0269
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 3885
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 4431
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 3641
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 1895
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 4387
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1262
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1708
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 8256
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 5737
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 0642
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 4766
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 6715
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 9444
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000757 
 
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.  Dutch Film on Islam 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The Jerusalem Post and other media reported that PM Ehud Olmert told 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as well as his Kadima faction on 
 
SIPDIS 
Monday that he would continue to allow construction in West Bank 
settlement blocs and East Jerusalem.  Ha'aretz reported that on 
Monday Israeli officials announced plans for 1,400 new homes in East 
Jerusalem and nearby settlements, just hours after Secretary Rice's 
departure.   Ha'aretz reported that on Monday, during a tour of the 
ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, Shas leaders 
said that PM Olmert had promised to  restart frozen construction in 
all the settlements near Jerusalem, and lift  the marketing freeze 
on 800 homes in Beitar Illit in the next few days.   In return, 
Maariv and other media reported that Shas helped quash a 
no-confidence vote in the Knesset.  Ha'aretz and other media also 
reported that Jerusalem's city hall announced on Monday that it 
would build 600 new apartments in Pisgat Ze'ev, a neighborhood in 
the capital's eastern sector. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Monday Defense Minister Barak softened his 
opposition to a plan to transfer control of the Gaza border 
crossings to  PA government forces.  Ha'aretz says that the change, 
made at the request Secretary Rice, is considered a major shift in 
Israel's policy..  Ha'aretz quoted a senior GOI source as saying 
that the change in Barak's position is probably also related to the 
discussions that Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's 
diplomatic-security bureau, is holding in Egypt on a "package deal" 
that would include a halt to rocket attacks from Gaza, containment 
of the arms smuggling into Gaza and reopening the border crossings. 
 
The Jerusalem Post that on Monday Secretary Rice (in Jordan) and PM 
Olmert (in a speech to the Kadima faction) downplayed the chances of 
an Israeli-Palestinian deal by May.  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted 
political circles following Israeli-Palestinian discussions and 
Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that the negotiations 
are very advanced. 
 
All media reported that on Monday afternoon a Palestinian man was 
killed by an Israeli civilian while trying to stab hitchhikers near 
the settlement of Shiloh.  Israel Radio quoted Palestinian sources 
as saying that last night two Hamas militants were killed and two 
others were injured in a clash with IDF troops in the central Gaza 
Strip. 
 
Yediot cited the Shin Bet's concern that exiled politician Azmi 
Bishara will recruit young Israeli Arabs for Hizbullah. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Barak has allocated 30 million 
shekels (around $8.5 million) to protect border communities. 
 
Yediot cited the belief of Druze sources in the Golan that 60 
students from the Golan studying in Damascus have received Syrian 
identity cards for themselves and their families. 
 
Maariv reported that the Foreign Ministry will not allow Prof. 
Richard A. Falk, the newly appointed UN Human Rights Council special 
investigator on Israeli actions in the territories, to enter Israel 
as a diplomat.  The paper wrote that Falk has compared Israel to the 
Nazis and supported suicide bombings. 
 
All media reported that squabbling in the Labor Party reached the 
boiling point at Monday's meeting of its Knesset faction, with a 
harsh exchange between party leader and Defense Minister Ehud Barak 
and his predecessor, MK Amir Peretz.  In an emotional outburst, 
Peretz accused Barak of being disconnected from reality and obsessed 
with being prime minister.  Barak responded by calling Peretz 
"pathetic."  Maariv reported that Barak told a few of his associates 
that he favors a union of his party with Kadima.  Maariv reported 
that Peretz supporters who collaborated with billionaire politician 
Arkady Gaidamak have been ousted from the Labor Party. 
 
Maariv reported that Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and his 
predecessor, Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, are backtracking from 
their support for a law that would regulate organ donations in 
compliance with Jewish law. 
 
The media reported that the carcinogenic substance dioxin was found 
on two more IAF F16-I fighter planes.  The Jerusalem Post reported 
that visiting Czech Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanova told the 
newspaper on Monday that the Czech Republic is in favor of Israel 
joining NATO in the face of Iran's continued race toward nuclear 
power. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Knesset members Yoel Hasson, Nadia 
Hilou, Moshe Kahlon, Shlomo Mula, and Ophir Pines-Paz recently met 
with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of a 
legislators' exchange organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater 
Los Angeles. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Bank Leumi outdid Bank Hapoalim in 2007 with 
a 3.3 billion-shekel (around $840 million) net profit.  All in all, 
the media reported that the banks netted a 9 billion-shekel profit. 
 
A poll commissioned by the Knesset's TV Channel and whose results 
were released on Monday reveals that 76 percent of Israeli Jews give 
some degree of support to transferring Israeli Arabs to a future 
Palestinian state. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a poll commissioned by the 
Washington-based Israel Project and conducted on March 18-20: Israel 
is not a top priority for U.S. voters, including Jews, and McCain 
backers are more likely to support Israel than their Democratic 
counterparts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Time is 
running out and the self-deception is continuing.  Not the 
Americans, but rather the Israelis will bear the results of this 
continued disorder." 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz: 
"Olmert's eagerness to achieve a kind of signed and sealed mutual 
defense pact with Bush before his term is up in exchange for a draft 
agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is not unreasonable." 
 
 
Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post: "As for the claims that the negotiations are moving 
forward ... as of now those are still shadows on a wall, only seen 
by those deep in a cave of their own making." 
 
Gilad Sharon, son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, wrote in 
the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Israel cannot 
depend on the term of any American president -- even the friendliest 
one." 
 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized: "With Damascus now assuming the 
Arab League presidency, it's hard to see the organization playing a 
constructive role in ushering in an era of peace and reconciliation. 
 Still, a good place to begin would be for Arab leaders to address 
Israel's concerns about their March 2002 proposal." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Fooling Ourselves" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (4/1): "Had 
Peace Now not published reports from time to time, it is doubtful 
anyone would have been aware of the continuing construction in the 
settlements.... During her visit this week, Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice said that henceforth the Americans would keep an 
eye on Israel's easing of conditions for the Palestinians in the 
West Bank.  For years the same old dance has been going on in which 
the Americans scold and the Israelis promise, as though the Israelis 
have decided to make every effort to thwart the solution that 
everyone knows is the only solution.  Time is running out and the 
self-deception is continuing.  Not the Americans, but rather the 
Israelis will bear the results of this continued disorder.  If there 
is any place forbidden for Israel to build even one more house, it 
is the West Bank, beyond the separation fence and anywhere it is 
clear to anyone with eyes to see that it is part of the Palestinian 
state.  Such a state is an Israeli interest of the highest order.  A 
new neighborhood in Ariel or Arab Jerusalem will not advance its 
establishment." 
 
II.  "Give and Take par Excellence" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz 
(4/1): "To sit with folded arms until the inauguration of the next 
U.S. administration would be a serious mistake for Israel.  The new 
 
administration will face three problems that demand immediate 
attention: withdrawal from Iraq, the economic crisis and the Iranian 
bomb.  So Olmert's eagerness to achieve a kind of signed and sealed 
mutual defense pact with Bush before his term is up in exchange for 
a draft agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is not 
unreasonable.... Can this work?  Is it all 'hawa,' [air] as they say 
in Arabic?  Is it all hot air? Is it political spin?  Those who want 
to know should keep their eyes glued on Shas.  At the moment, the 
silence from that corner says it all." 
 
III.  "Real Progress, or More Shadows on the Wall?" 
 
Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post (4/1): "The point that Plato [made in The Republic] 
is ... that all of us might be living in some kind of 'cave,' unable 
to gauge the authenticity of the images and words right in front of 
us.... If there really is progress being made between the two sides, 
the most concrete manifestations can be found in the easing of 
Israeli military restrictions for Palestinian civilians, concurrent 
with reported improvements in the conduct of the PA security 
apparatus in such places as Jenin.  Those are indeed encouraging 
steps, small as they may be for now.  As for the claims that the 
negotiations are moving forward, and there is still cause to believe 
a peace agreement will be reached by 2009 -- even a 'shelf 
agreement' that can be implemented at a later date -- as of now 
those are still shadows on a wall, only seen by those deep in a cave 
of their own making." 
 
IV.  "Negative Energy" 
 
Gilad Sharon, son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, wrote in 
the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (4/1): "Instead of 
making use of her time to explain to the world the blow being 
suffered by Israel through terror, the threats hovering over our 
heads, and the obligation to defend ourselves, the Foreign Minister 
is wasting her time in sterile talks with weak Palestinians who 
barely represent themselves.... The Foreign Minister is investing 
almost 100% of her energy in something which has virtually no chance 
of materializing.... Israel cannot depend on the term of any 
American president -- even the friendliest one.  Our fate cannot be 
shaped primarily  by the length of time left in the U.S. president's 
administration.  There must be a wider perspective." 
 
¶V.  "A Constructive Role for the Arab League" 
 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized (4/1): "Instead of reaching out, an 
Arab League in disarray has continued its hard-line, anti-Israel 
rhetoric.  That's easier than bridging internal gaps between Hamas 
and Fatah, and over Iraq, Lebanon, and Alawite-led Syria's 
ever-closer melding with the Persian ayatollahs.  [Arab League 
Secretary-General Amr] Moussa had to make the most of a summit 
 
SIPDIS 
boycotted by the kings of Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, 
as well as by Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Yemen's Ali Abdullah Salah. 
Hence his denunciation of invented Israeli 'war crimes' in Gaza, and 
perhaps also PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's incongruent plea for League 
intervention to save "besieged" Palestinians.  Comic relief was 
provided by Libya's Muammar Qadhafi, who helpfully pointed out that 
Arab leaders hate and conspire against each other.  With Damascus 
now assuming the Arab League presidency, it's hard to see the 
organization playing a constructive role in ushering in an era of 
peace and reconciliation.  Still, a good place to begin would be for 
Arab leaders to address Israel's concerns about their March 2002 
proposal." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------------------ 
¶2.  Dutch Film on Islam: 
------------------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "Radical Islam must be fought, but a racist, actually 
anti-Semitic, film only harms this battle." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"An Anti-Semitic Movie" 
 
Op-Ed Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (4/1): "[In the Dutch film 'Fitna'] Islamists march behind 
Hitler and plan a Holocaust not only for Jews but for heretics 
everywhere.... Most Jews in the world will not support the 
 
Jewish-jihadist stream.  In its good days, Kahanism won no more than 
one Knesset seat. But according to innumerable surveys, radical 
Islam has gained support in the Muslim countries and the Muslim 
Diaspora that can be called by a thousand names, but certainly not 
'marginal'.... [In Palestine] the majority voted for Hamas, an 
anti-Semitic movement and a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.... 
However, the film is misleading.  Jews lived under the wings of 
Islam for centuries.  Their lives were not a paradise, but they were 
not sent to ovens.... More importantly: Most victims of radical 
Islam are Muslims.  It is worthwhile looking at the numbers.  Many 
of them are trying to fight radical Islam.  Many reformists are 
brave women.  All of tnem are harmed by the movie, because it makes 
a crude, perhaps even racist, generalization.  It places Irshad 
Manji, the Canadian writer, in the same boat as bin Ladin.  Radical 
Islam must be fought, but a racist, actually anti-Semitic, film only 
harms this battle." 
 
JONES