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P 091121Z APR 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000824 
 
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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CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR 
COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD 
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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: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the U.S. is keen on holding a summit in Sharm 
el-Sheikh to coincide with President Bush's visit to Israel next 
month for the country's 60th anniversary celebrations.  According to 
the newspaper, Bush would like to use the event to follow up on the 
Annapolis conference and boost efforts to reach an agreement by the 
end of the year.  Ha'aretz reported that senior political sources in 
Jerusalem confirmed this development, which Ha'aretz and The 
Jerusalem Post reported was first revealed by Knesset Member Yossi 
Beilin at a press conference on Tuesday.  Beilin said that President 
Hosni Mubarak and Bush would host the summit, and will invite 
Jordan's King Abdullah, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian 
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.  Israel Hayom reported that 
Geneva Initiative Director-General made the announcement alongside 
Beilin.  According to Ha'aretz's Israeli sources, the American 
initiative is still in the early planning stages, but has been 
raised with Israeli officials.  Ha'aretz quoted sources in the Prime 
Minister's bureau as saying yesterday that "we have not received any 
requests for a summit, but if such a request is made we will 
consider it."  The Jerusalem Post quoted a U.S. Embassy official as 
saying that he saw "no indications whatsoever" that such an event 
was being planned. 
 
Leading media quoted the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Jazeera as 
saying that FM Livni will reportedly travel to Qatar in the near 
future where she is expected to meet with Syrian officials. 
According to the report, which was filed by the newspaper's reporter 
in Israel, the meeting will conclude two years of secret meetings 
between officials from Israel and Syria, whose purpose was to 
evaluate the chance of a peace agreement..  The report also said 
that Livni would raise the issue of Gilad Shalit.  This morning 
Israel Radio cited a Foreign Ministry denial of FM Livni's trip to 
Qatar. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke by 
telephone yesterday with Abbas and was briefed on his Monday meeting 
with Olmert. Abbas will visit Washington in 10 days time and meet 
 
 
President Bush.  Ha'aretz reported that the above mentioned summit 
proposal will be a central topic on his agenda.   Ha'aretz reported 
that the Israeli and PA negotiating teams, headed by FM Tzipi Livni 
and Ahmed Qurei, met in Jerusalem yesterday. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Syrian Deputy FM Faisal Mekdad as saying 
yesterday in an interview with the Syrian government-controlled 
daily Al-Thawra that Syria would be prepared for all possible 
scenarios as soon as the "language of understanding" with Israel 
over the peace process ended. 
 
Electronic media reported that an IDF soldier was killed and two 
others moderately wounded by Palestinian gunfire in southern Gaza 
last night.  Media quoted Palestinian sources as saying that a 
Palestinian was killed and two others wounded. 
 
All media, except the ultra-Orthodox papers, highlighted former 
Israel president Moshe Katsav's last-minute renouncement of a plea 
bargain on multiple counts of sexual misconduct.  In a much 
criticized move, prosecutors had let Katsav plead down the original 
rape charges to lesser sexual offenses that would have allowed him 
to avoid jail time.  The media quoted Katsav as saying that he 
intends to face the charges in court and will fight to clear his 
name.  Attorney General Menachem Mazuz responded by saying that the 
ramifications of this decision are clear and indicated that a new 
indictment including the original rape charges will be brought.  The 
trial will be the first for an Israeli head of state, past or 
present. 
 
Israel Hayom quoted Hamas's spokesmen as saying yesterday that a 
flare-up with Egypt was close because Hamas has not succeeded in 
reopening the Rafah crossing. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Olmert visited the Hebron area yesterday and 
met with IDF commanders. The PM stressed that "preserving security 
in the West Bank is very important in order to create an atmosphere 
that will support the diplomatic process."  Olmert toured areas 
where the IDF had removed some of the 60 roadblocks and dirt 
obstacles that had been set up in the West Bank, and said that the 
"matter of easing the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank is 
important because only this way will they be able to sense change on 
the ground, and that there is a chance that the peace process will 
succeed and that there is a reason to reject the extremists." 
 
All media quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying 
yesterday that his country will operate 6,000 centrifuges to enrich 
uranium.  Leading media quoted Olmert spokesman Mark Regev as saying 
that the world must stop Iran's aggressive nuclear development.  The 
Jerusalem Post cited AP as saying that Moshe Kantor, the head of the 
European Jewish Congress, urged European countries yesterday to 
cease doing business with Iran entriely, saying that current EU 
sanctions are 'Not sufficient at all." 
 
Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, who is in charge of the home front, was quoted 
as saying yesterday on Israel Broadcasting Authority-affiliated 
Channel 33-TV that the Israeli public is ready to deal with the 
threats facing it.  Media quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as 
saying that the home front's preparedness will lead to victory. 
Leading media reported that National Guard staff in U.S. Homeland 
Security watched the exercise in Upper Nazareth, which involved 
simulating a rescue effort from a collapsed building.  Ha'aretz 
quoted Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, as 
saying that he is interested in bilateral cooperation in the field 
of homeland security.  Media reported that an LBC-TV team from 
Lebanon also watched the Upper Nazareth drill and broadcast it 
live. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that President Shimon Peres expressed 
optimism yesterday about economic solutions for the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- which he staunchly believes will 
ease the way for political solutions -- during a meeting with 
ambassadors of EU member countries.  The Jerusalem Post quoted UN 
Middle East envoy Robert Serry as saying yesterday that 
international aid donors are looking to breathe fresh life into the 
gasping Palestinian economy when they meet with PA and GOI 
representatives in London next month 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit 
(Kadima) told hundreds of Peace Now members gathered in Tel Aviv 
last night to mark the group's 30th anniversary that Israel should 
open immediate negotiations with the Arab League on the basis of the 
2002 Saudi initiative. 
 
Yediot and other media reported that former Northern Command OC Gen. 
Udi Adam, who was forced to resign from that position during the 
Second Lebanon War, will be the next Director-General of the Negev 
Nuclear Research Center in Dimona. 
 
Israel Hayom cited the fear of Israel's Water Authority that the 
water crisis will worsen to the point of a dearth of drinking water 
in Israel by September. 
 
 
Leading media reported that Israeli historian Prof. Saul 
Friedlander, 75, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General 
Non-Fiction for "The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the 
Jews, 1939-1945." 
 
Ha'aretz reported that MKs Eliahu Gabbay (National Union - National 
Religious Party) and Shai Hermesh (Kadima) are sponsoring a bill 
proposal that would ban state funding of films that "could harm the 
foundations of Israel's existence."  Hermesh named a series of 
movies -- among which "Machssomim" (Roadblocks) (2003), "Paradise 
Now" (2005), and "Lemon Tree" (2008) -- that were partially financed 
by Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), which 
harvests minerals from the Dead Sea to make fertilizers and 
chemicals, has won a one-year contract to supply 1.1 million tons of 
potash to its Indian customers for $700 million.  The order 
represents a $355 per ton increase from previous agreements.  ICL 
said last Sunday it would expand its potash and phosphate output 
this year following rising demand for farm products, as China and 
India lead growing global food consumption. 
 
Leading media reported that American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson 
has resumed negotiations to purchase Maariv.  Adelson is the founder 
and owner of Israel Hayom. 
 
Yediot reported that famed American filmmaker Woody Allen will 
attend the 6th International Red Sea Film Festival in Eilat next 
month. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Tel Aviv University Professor of Economics Ariel Rubinstein, a 
signer of the 1978 'Officers' Letter' that gave birth to Peace Now, 
wrote in an editorial of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "It seems to me that Peace Now has overstated the cost of 
war and the benefits of peace, and underestimated the principled 
stance of rejecting the rule over another people." 
 
The ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized: "When a 'cold war' 
situation exists between states, any apprehension may light the fire 
of war, however unintentional." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Peace Now Turns 30" 
 
Tel Aviv University Professor of Economics Ariel Rubinstein, a 
signer of the 1978 'Officers' Letter' that gave birth to Peace Now, 
wrote in an editorial of the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (4/9): "Peace Now's focus on the occupation and the 
settlements has been no political whim, but the expression of the 
view that the Jewish people per se identifies with the occupied and 
the sufferers, and despises the occupiers and the oppressors.  To 
us, dominating another people is 'not kosher.'  This stance makes me 
recognize the failure of Peace Now.  We have not convinced the 
public that the topics close to our hearts are as important as the 
settlements ... are engraved in the hearts of the students of the 
Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and the settlers from Kedumim.  A part of 
Israeli society views us as a band of hedonists and defeatists, not 
as an ideological group.  It seems to me that Peace Now has 
overstated the cost of war and the benefits of peace, and 
underestimated the principled stance of rejecting the rule over 
another people." 
 
II.  "Sounds of War" 
 
The ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman editorialized (4/9): "Even though 
everybody knew that this was only an 'exercise,' the sirens that 
were sounded on Tuesday all over Israel instinctively caused anxiety 
for a few seconds.... When a 'cold war' situation exists between 
states, any apprehension may light the fire of war, however 
unintentional.  The other side reads the headlines, hears the 
voices, harbors suspicions, and speculates.  Thus its apprehension 
is growing.  After it has 'cooked in its own juices,' sometimes 
without any real justification, it considers waging a 'preventive 
war' in order to 'act ahead' of the other side, which in reality was 
not looking for war....  Let us not forget that the Middle East can 
be likened to sitting on a powder keg.  We must pray to the Creator 
that there is no violence in this Land." 
 
JONES