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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000830 
 
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 
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.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz quoted U.S. sources as saying yesterday that President 
George Bush is likely to visit Masada during his visit to Israel 
next month.  The newspaper reported that PM Ehud Olmert would escort 
Bush to the site.  Yediot reported that Bush would like to address 
the Knesset and meet Israeli youth. 
 
Israel Radio quoted a senior Palestinian source in Ramallah, who is 
involved in the negotiations with Israel, as saying that since 
Annapolis, Israel has conceded less than it did at Camp David in 
¶2000. 
 
All media led with the two incidents along the Gaza border 
yesterday: The killing of an elite-unit Druze soldier in a clash in 
the Khan Yunis area in the morning, and of two Israeli civilian 
employees at the fuel depot at Nahal Oz, near the Karni crossing, in 
the afternoon.  The media reported that the depot was not secured by 
the army and that several Palestinians warned of the attack.  Two of 
the four Palestinian terrorists were killed in the exchange of fire 
with IDF troops immediately after striking Nahal Oz.  Although 
Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees, along with a group 
linked to Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility, 
Israel -- in particular Defense Minister Ehud Barak -- blamed Hamas. 
 Leading media quoted GOI sources as saying that the terrorists will 
continue their attempts to kidnap IDF soldiers or take over Israeli 
communities.  Israel Radio quoted Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Dan 
Gillerman, as saying that the attack took place while Israel 
supplies fuel to Gaza.  The radio reported that PA sources demanded 
that Israel continue supplying fuel to Gaza, while Hamas applauded 
the action. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that PM Olmert has not been invited to a regional 
summit at Sharm El-Sheikh, contradicting reports he would 
participate in the event.  Ha'aretz quoted U.S. sources as saying 
yesterday that the summit would be attended by President Bush, 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni 
Mubarak, and Jordan's King Abdullah II, and that it is intended as a 
U.S.-Arab meeting.  Citing AP, Ha'aretz reported that President 
Bush, Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Rupert Murdoch are among 
those expected to attend the May conference organized by President 
Shimon Peres. 
 
Yediot reported that PM Olmert's bureau has announced that due to a 
full schedule,  Olmert will be unable to meet with former U.S. 
President Jimmy Carter, who arrives in Israel on Sunday.   Ha'aretz, 
The Jerusalem Post, and Israel Hayom cited a Fox News report 
broadcast yesterday that Carter will meet Hamas leader Khaled Mashal 
in 10 days during a visit to Damascus.  Ha'aretz reported thQ 
Carter's press secretary confirmed he was planning on visiting 
Damascus but denied he had any intention to meet with Mashal. 
"President Carter plans to visit Damascus next week but we are still 
formulating details and will issue a press release next week," she 
was quoted as saying.  Ha'aretz and Israel Hayom quoted former U.S. 
ambassador to the UN John Bolton as saying: "Going to Damascus and 
meeting with Mashal at this time is terrible timing and shows a lack 
of judgment on Carter's part." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Swedish FM Carl Bildt angered 
Israeli officials yesterday when, in an interview with a Swedish 
radio station, he made a direct comparison between Hamas and 
opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. 
 
The Jerusalem Post presented the results of a recent questionnaire 
compiled by the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center and 
presented to the three U.S. presidential candidates: Democratic 
candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton back active diplomacy 
begun by the Bush administration to facilitate Israeli-Palestinian 
negotiations, while Republican candidate John McCain would take a 
"more hands-off approach." 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu as 
saying yesterday at an international conference entitled "Russia, 
the Middle East, and the Challenge of Radical Islam": "Iran will be 
the first nuclear state in history against which deterrence won't 
work, even if the deterrent is nuclear."  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that yesterday, in an interview with the newspaper, Lars 
Kunchel, spokesperson for the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Bern, 
blasted the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for not telling the truth 
in an ad campaign claiming that a 25-year, multi-billion dollar 
Swiss Iranian energy deal -- a deal to which the Swiss state "was 
not party" would contribute to international terrorism.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted ADL Director Abe Foxman as saying that 
"Switzerland is hiding behind legalities." 
 
Yediot reported that the number of Israelis immigrating to the U.S. 
has declined.  Only 1,831 green cards were issued to Israelis in 
2007 -- the lowest number in a decade. 
 
Visiting Polish PM Donald Tusk was quoted as saying in an interview 
with Israel Radio that at the end of this year his government will 
begin compensating -- to the tune of 5% to 20% -- Jews and others 
for material losses sustained during World War II and under the 
Communist regime.  Yediot and The Jerusalem Post reported that 
President Peres will visit Poland next week. 
 
Globes and other media reported that the GOI's long-term liabilities 
reached 1.28 trillion shekels (around $356 billion) at the end of 
2007, while its assets totaled 319 billion shekels (around $88.7 
billion).   The Finance Ministry report adds that the 2007 cross 
budget totaled 325 billion shekels (around $90.35 billion) and 
budget usage was 96%. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited a poll commissioned by the Washington-based 
Joshua Fund, an evangelical organization: Eighty-two percent of 
American Christians say they have a "moral and biblical obligation" 
to support Israel, and half say that Jerusalem should remain its 
undivided capital. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It tugs the heartstrings of some people 
in Gaza that people have something to eat and they are doing 
everything to sabotage even this minimum." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
Palestinian leadership adamantly places 'resistance' -- read: 
killing Israeli civilians and soldiers -- over providing food, 
shelter, and the prospect of a better life for its people." 
 
Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "Israel needs to respond as if [a 
thwarted] kidnapping had been a success....  But there is no chance 
of Israel responding forcefully." 
 
Veteran journalist and anchor Dan Margalit wrote on page one of the 
independent Israel Hayom: "After the uprooting of Gush, Katif Israel 
has absolutely no right to show any understanding for the 
continuation of terror from Gaza." 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: "[Peace Now] bound together (justified) resistance to the 
occupation of the Palestinians and (invalid) faith that the 
Palestinians are allies." 
 
Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in Ha'aretz: "[Peace Now] 
undermined many people's confidence in the righteousness of the 
Zionist enterprise, and even in the Jewish state's right to exist in 
the Land of Israel [i.e. Israel, including the territories]." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Mustn't Spoil the Party" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (4/10): "The American President is on his 
way here, with birthday presents in his bag. These are valuable 
gifts that Israel has been wanting for a long time and has been 
working hard to get.  Uncle Sam expects, in return for the gifts, 
that Israel give him something akin to a document of understandings 
with the Palestinians.  So there must be no rifts today with the 
PA.... [But] yesterday's terror attack ... shows that Palestinian 
terror has gone up a rung.  Whereas up until now it would use the 
civilian population as a human shield from where it would fire 
Qassam rockets and act against Israel, now it is also turning this 
population into a hostage.  It uses its suffering for political 
achievements.  Palestinian terror in Gaza is willing to cut off fuel 
supplies and attack the crossings to stop goods from entering in 
order to further the pictures of suffering.  After all, there is no 
real economic siege there.  Every day for the last three months 90 
trucks filled with food and other goods have been arriving.  The 
Sufa crossing [to the southern Gaza Strip] did not stop for even a 
single day during these months -- despite the intelligence warnings 
of terror attacks. It tugs the heartstrings of some people in Gaza 
that people have something to eat and they are doing everything to 
sabotage even this minimum." 
 
II.  "Murder at the Border" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (4/10): 
"The Palestinian leadership adamantly places 'resistance' -- read: 
killing Israeli civilians and soldiers -- over providing food, 
shelter, and the prospect of a better life for its people.  And it 
has ruthlessly exploited any and every vulnerable target where 
Israel tries to partner with Gazans for their own benefit -- 
including joint industrial zones, supply depots and border crossings 
-- to carry out such killings.... Thousands upon thousands of tons 
of humanitarian aid have been transferred by Israel to an entity 
that is at war with us -- a state of war unaffected, indeed often 
intensified, by Israel's 2005 removal of all vestiges of its 
civilian and military presence in Gaza.  Israel insistently 
maintains this aid supply, enabling an enemy government that targets 
our civilians to continue to rule, because, despite everything, it 
cannot bear to see ordinary Palestinians starving.  Israel does so, 
too, because that's what the civilized world expects from the only 
democracy in the Middle East.  But Israel must have its limits.... 
If all the international community is prepared to do is issue 
ineffectual denunciations of the 'cycle of violence' rather than of 
its instigators, and if it persists in equating Israeli retaliation 
with Palestinian aggression, it too will remain part of the problem. 
 The Quartet -- the EU, UN, U.S. and Russia -- should, rather, 
demand an immediate halt to Palestinian violations of Israel's 
border.  And it should firmly support Israel in conditioning ongoing 
assistance to Gaza on a halt to such attacks." 
 
III.  "No Understanding for the Continuation of Terror" 
 
Veteran journalist and anchor Dan Margalit wrote on page one of the 
independent Israel Hayom (4/10): "While Israel mourns its three 
terror victims who died around Gaza, it is worthwhile putting things 
in perspective: After the uprooting of Gush Katif, Israel has 
absolutely no right to show any understanding for the continuing 
terror from Gaza.  Winking by the government in this matter is 
totally forbidden.... But the responsibility for the chaos isn't 
[Hamas's] only.  IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi commented to 
[Agriculture Minister] Shalom Simhon that the pressure to ease the 
siege of Gaza, as a service to his farmers' economic interests plays 
into Hamas's hands." 
 
 
IV.  "There Is Going to Be Another Kidnapping" 
 
Military correspondent Amir Rappaport wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (4/10): "There is going to be another 
kidnapping in the Gaza Strip.  It will take another week or two, a 
month or two, and maybe even a year or two, but there is no doubt 
that if drastic action is not taken around the Gaza Strip, sooner or 
later the terror organizations, headed by Hamas, are going to take 
either Israeli civilians or soldiers captive.... If the [Israel 
Defense Forces] publicly spoke yesterday about the possibility that 
the terrorists intended to carry out a kidnapping operation, Israel 
needs to respond as if the kidnapping had been a success and not the 
way it did yesterday when supposedly 'just' one soldier was killed 
in a raid and two civilians were killed in the fuel depot.  But 
there is no chance of Israel responding forcefully.  The policy of 
'containment' that was in place prior to the Second Lebanon War, the 
policy of taking terror attacks in stride as long as the price paid 
wasn't 'intolerable' is now being applied to the Gaza Strip. 
Indeed, there aren't any simple solutions for this complex 
situation, but in any event the chances of the military echelon 
suggesting a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip right 
before Passover and the 60th anniversary celebrations right after 
that are low." 
 
¶V.  "A White Tent in the Square" 
 
Columnist Ari Shavit wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(4/10): "The visionary element in Peace Now was, and remains, an 
illusion.  It was a messianic illusion, a self-deception.  But, 
illusory slogan aside, there was also an incisive grasp of reality. 
It understood that occupation corrupts, that the settlements were a 
disaster, and that every effort must be made to divide the land 
between two nation-states.... Peace Now was an impressive 
movement.... [But it] never distinguished between the solid truth of 
the occupation and the shaky truth of the promise of peace.  It 
bound together (justified) resistance to the occupation of the 
Palestinians and (invalid) faith that the Palestinians are 
allies..... It was captivated by the PLO's charms, and Oslo's 
delusions, and finally became Yasser Arafat's hostage.  Then, when 
harsh reality struck at Camp David, Peace Now lacked the courage to 
face it and take stock.  It did not face the public and declare 
where it was right, and where it went wrong, and how it would update 
its peace message.  With this failure, Peace Now's moral authority 
crumbled, it lost political clout and finally it simply faded 
away." 
 
VI.  "War and Peace (Now)" 
 
Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in Ha'aretz (4/10): "Peace, which 
tops the list of [Peace Now's] objectives, is moving further away 
and the number of victims -- Jewish as well as Arab -- is rising. 
In addition, when the movement pinned the primary blame for the 
absence of peace on its own people, it sinned against truth, and 
against peace as well.  The ramifications of this sin are that it 
undermined many people's confidence in the righteousness of the 
Zionist enterprise, and even in the Jewish state's right to exist in 
the Land of Israel [i.e. Israel, including the territories].  The 
more this feeling of Jewish righteousness was undermined, the more 
the Arab, especially the Palestinian, sense of self-confidence 
blossomed.  For if the Jews blame themselves, as proven by Peace Now 
rallies (which a biased press greatly exaggerated, thereby 
strengthening the Arabs' feeling that time was on their side), then 
why move toward a peaceful solution?  It's better to wait until 
there's no more wind in the sails of the Zionist state and it 
collapses." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Conservative columnist Menachem Benn wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv: "The development of the Jewish-Christian connection is 
perhaps the most important occurrence in Israel-America relations 
over the past decades." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Jewish Ingratitude" 
 
Conservative columnist Menachem Benn wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (4/10): "The development of the Jewish-Christian connection 
is perhaps the most important occurrence in Israel-America relations 
over the past decades: From a base of support of five million Jews 
in the U.S., backing has grown to 50 million 'Christian Zionists' 
... but it looks as if the Jewish and Israeli publics have not yet 
internalized this entirely.... Two segments of society are trying to 
break the connection: the ultra-Orthodox and some conservative 
religious groups, who fear their missionary influence, and the 
Leftists, who fear the right-wing influence, because they are 
opposed to returning land and the establishment of a Palestinian 
state.... Reform [Judaism] leader Rabbi Eric Yoffie has called on 
Israel to boycott one of those key Christian organizations -- the 
one led by pastor and televangelist John Hagee, claiming that Hagee 
is opposed to a two-state solution.  This means that if you want to 
be a friend of Israel, you must believe in Palestinian statehood, 
otherwise you'll be ostracized." 
 
JONES