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DE RUEHTV #0912/01 1121034
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P 211034Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 1998
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 4473
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1346
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000912 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The weekend's major event was the Hamas strike on the Kerem Shalom 
crossing on Saturday.  Media characterized it as a "hit and grab" 
aimed at capturing and killing soldiers that was only thwarted by 
the quick instincts of a Bedouin IDF commander.  The attack, which 
left three Hamas gunmen dead and 13 IDF soldiers injured,  involved 
an armored personnel carrier that Israel had given to Yasser 
Arafat's forces.  Israeli forces killed an additional seven 
Palestinians in subsequent air strikes.  As a result of the recent 
Hamas targeting of the Gaza crossing, the media reports that Israeli 
has closed all of the crossings to reevaluate security arrangements. 
   The Jerusalem Post quoted defense officials as saying yesterday 
that Israel did not plan to alter an earlier decision to permit the 
PA in the West Bank to receive 25 APCs from Russia. 
 
Major media quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying yesterday 
during a meeting with Ba'ath Party officials that he has exchanged 
messages with Israel through a third party to explore the 
possibility of resuming peace talks.  Assad was quoted as saying: 
"Israel knows well what is accepted and not accepted by Syria." 
"Syria rejects secret [direct] talks or contacts with Israel... 
Anything Syria does in this regard will be announced to the public," 
Assad added.  Leading media reported that Assad raised the 
possibility of armed conflict with Israel.  Speaking on Israel Radio 
this morning, former Meretz head and former cabinet minister Yossi 
Sarid called on Israel to ignore President Bush's directive and 
engage in direct talks with Syria. 
 
Leading media reported that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has 
proposed a truce between Israel and Hamas.  Media cited a report in 
the Hamas newspaper Falastin, published in Gaza, that Carter 
proposed that Hamas unilaterally stop rocket fire on Israel and 
release Gilad Shalit in exchange for no more targeted assassinations 
of its leaders and the release of 400 prisoners.  Ha'aretz reported 
that Hamas rejected Shas cabinet minister Eli Yishai's offer of 
talks.  Israel Radio quoted Carter as saying this morning in 
Jerusalem that he could bring a letter from Shalit to his parents. 
Electronic media quoted Carter as saying that Hamas is prepared to 
accept Israel's right to "live as a neighbor next door in peace." 
Electronic media quoted Carter as saying that Hamas won't undermine 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's efforts to reach a peace deal 
with Israel.  He said Hamas is ready to accept a Palestinian state 
the West Bank and Gaza. 
 
Speaking on Israel Radio, MK Tzachi Hanegbi, Chairman of the 
Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that it was 
not possible for Israel to negotiate with Hamas amidst attacks like 
the one on Saturday. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the IDF decided to 
investigate the death of Fadel Shana'a, the Reuters cameraman killed 
in Gaza by Israeli tank fire on Wednesday.  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted the IDF as saying that its investigation would be reviewed by 
the Military Advocate-General. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that determined to help alleviate the 
country's water crisis, the Jewish National Fund is launching a "311 
Days for Israel" campaign that aims to raise $2 million during the 
month of May to build more reservoirs. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report that the 
Solomon Project, a Washington-based organization, has brought a 
group of influential liberal American bloggers to Israel to educate 
the "news media."  The Jerusalem Post reported that the UK's 
University and College Union will again consider a boycott of 
Israeli academic institutions. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Florida-based Lawrence Dermer, one 
of America's most successful songwriters and producers, is working 
on a new CD, "Israel@60." 
 
All media, except the ultra-Orthodox dailies, reported that theater 
persona Nissan Nativ passed away in Tel Aviv yesterday at 86.  Nativ 
was named winner of the 2008 Israel Prize earlier this year. Nativ 
was the founder of a renowned acting school, which held classes both 
in Tel Aviv and a Jerusalem 
 
Maariv reported that Haifa's Arabs are refurbishing the tomb of Izz 
Al-Din Al-Qassam (d. 1935), the spiritual father of Hamas's military 
wing. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Editor-in-Chief Amos Regev wrote on page one of the independent 
Israel Hayom: "Israel must now remove the constraints it placed on 
itself.... The target should be the elimination of Hamas as a 
fighting force." 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Hamas is becoming a strategic 
player among Arab countries, and is influencing Israel-Egypt ties." 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in Ha'aretz: "Former U.S. 
President Jimmy Carter's mission to see Damascus-based Hamas leader 
Khaled Mashal is placed in a particularly ludicrous light when, 
farther down in the organization, Hamas operatives set out to take 
more Israeli soldiers hostage." 
 
Military correspondent Yaakov Katz wrote on page one of the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: "After Bush leaves and the 
last of [Israeli Independence Day's] fireworks are lit, Israel's 
hands will be untied.  It will also already be the middle of the 
summer, which is a prime time for war." 
 
Zalman Shoval, a senior Likud member and former ambassador to the 
U.S., wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The 
body that effectively guarantees the continuation of Syria's status 
in Lebanon is  Hizbullah, which obeys Iran.  How conceivable is it 
to see President Assad take the risk of losing such leverage?" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "The art of concealment serves the ruling 
authorities well by hinting that great things are being done 
clandestinely, and therefore the public must allow the government to 
continue along the same road." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "A 'Restricted Conflict' Only Restricts Israel" 
 
Editor-in-Chief Amos Regev wrote on page one of the independent 
Israel Hayom (4/21): "Hamas's Saturday offensive, on Passover eve, 
should light a bright red light among Israel's political and 
military decision-makers.  For years politicians and senior military 
assumed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a 'restricted 
conflict', that is to say an asymmetrical conflict, in which the 
Israeli side -- a strong sovereign state with a large army -- deals 
with guerrilla and terror organizations in an asymmetrical conflict. 
 The strong side places constraints on its use of force, because 
this isn't an all-out war.  This is how the United States conducted 
its 'limited conflicts,' all of which failed.... Israel must now 
remove the constraints it placed on itself.  The IDF must be given 
the goal of eliminating Hamas and to materialize that goal in the 
only way befitting the strong side: an all-powerful ground offensive 
... that will kill the greatest possible number of terrorists and 
destroy the entire arsenal of rockets and explosives .  The target 
should be the elimination of Hamas as a fighting force.  Later, 
mediators could succeed in transferring the area to some 
international body: the UN, NATO, the Arab League, or Egypt.  Israel 
should not agree to the 'Lebanonization' of Gaza, because it would 
be followed by the West Bank's 'Lebanonization.'" 
 
II.  "One Stage or Many?" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/21): "[Hamas leaders] Khaled 
Mashal, who is based in Damascus, and Mahmoud al-Zahar, in Gaza, 
want a comprehensive deal to show a sorely needed political 
achievement.  However, the Prime Minister in, Ismail Haniyeh of 
Hamas, believes the issue of the crossings can be solved separately. 
 His aides say that he will agree to a cease-fire independent of the 
other demands, as long as it is bilateral.  Hamas is becoming a 
strategic player among Arab countries, and is influencing 
Israel-Egypt ties.  This is because Cairo wants a quick solution to 
the crossings so that its border with Gaza is not breached again. 
If this were to happen, it would make Egypt responsible for the 
Palestinians in the Strip.  But the crossings will not open without 
Hamas consent." 
 
III.  "An Important Success" 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in Ha'aretz (4/21): "Former U.S. 
President Jimmy Carter's mission to see Damascus-based Hamas leader 
Khaled Mashal is placed in a particularly ludicrous light when, 
farther down in the organization, Hamas operatives set out to take 
more Israeli soldiers hostage.  Carter's mission harmed his 
preferred presidential candidate, Democrat Barack Obama.  A few 
hours after the attack, Republican candidate John McCain lashed out 
at Obama for refusing to criticize Carter's meeting with Hamas, 
while Hamas operative Ahmed Yousef made headlines with the 
statement, "We like Mr. Obama and hope he wins the elections." 
Meanwhile, even President George W. Bush seems no longer to believe 
his own declarations about an Israeli-Palestinian agreement this 
year.  General William Fraser, who was appointed to oversee the 
implementation of the Roadmap after Annapolis, toured the region for 
a while, was insulted by Defense Minister Ehud Barak's cold 
shoulder, and left to seek results elsewhere." 
 
IV.  "Waiting for a Hot Summer in Gaza" 
 
Military correspondent Yaakov Katz wrote on page one of the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (4/21): "The assessment in 
the defense establishment is that attacks against the crossings as 
well as along the border fence -- like the one last week in which 
three ... soldiers were killed - will continue and possibly escalate 
in the coming weeks.  Despite this assessment and calls within the 
IDF to move from a 'defensive mode' of repelling Hamas from the 
border to an 'offensive mode' -- a widespread invasion into Gaza -- 
defense officials admitted over the weekend that the chances of a 
large operation were slim to none for at least two months.  This is 
mainly due to May's scheduled visit by U.S. President George W. 
Bush.  There are also the nationwide 60th anniversary celebrations. 
After Bush leaves and the last of the fireworks are lit, Israel's 
hands will be untied. It will also already be the middle of the 
summer, which is a prime time for a war. " 
 
 
¶V.  "So, Run to Damascus" 
 
Zalman Shoval, a senior Likud member and former ambassador to the 
U.S., wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot 
(4/21): "Further to the desire of some Israelis to view [Syria's 
President Bashar Assad] as a fleeing counterbalance to the 
Palestinian track, there is wishful thinking that if we reach a 
peace agreement with Damascus, the latter would at once disengage 
itself from Tehran.  This theory isn't borne out by reality  -- 
among other things because Iran acts for the minority, 
Shi'ite-related,  Alawite regime as an insurance policy against the 
threat of the Sunni majority.  Furthermore, the body that 
effectively guarantees the continuation of Syria's status in Lebanon 
is  Hizbullah, which obeys Iran.  How conceivable is it to see 
President Assad take the risk of losing such leverage?" 
 
VI.  "Hollow Interviews" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (4/21): "The series of holiday interviews 
given by the Prime Minister were meager in information and plentiful 
in promises, which in the meantime are without foundation. Iran will 
not have a nuclear bomb, Ehud Olmert intends to win the next 
elections, and a peace agreement with Mahmoud Abbas will be attained 
within a year.  The new method of government introduced by Ehud 
Olmert, under the inspiration of Ariel Sharon, is one in which more 
goes on than meets the eye.  The Prime Minister feels no obligation 
of public accountability, does not give interviews but delivers 
speeches instead, and reports to the Knesset so minimally as to 
offend its honor.  The art of concealment serves the ruling 
authorities well by hinting that great things are being done 
clandestinely, and therefore the public must allow the government to 
continue along the same road." 
 
JONES