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DE RUEHTV #0924/01 1141012
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P 231012Z APR 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000924 
 
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.  Arrest of Ben-Ami Kadish 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading electronic media cited a report published today by the 
Syrian news agency Sham-Press that PM Ehud Olmert has relayed 
messages to Syrian President Bashar Assad affirming that he would 
agree to a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan in return for 
peace.  According to the report, the message was passed on by 
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  Ha'aretz says that Sham-Press is 
an independent Syrian news agency affiliated with the Damascus 
regime, and that it is believed to be a relatively credible source 
of information.  Ha'aretz's web site reported that the Prime 
Minister's Office would not respond to the story.  Israel Radio 
cited serious condemnations by the Likud and Kadima MK Zeev Elkin of 
Olmert's reported concession.  Speaking on the radio, Meretz leader 
Yossi Beilin said that peace with Syria would be a "dramatic change" 
for Israel. 
 
All media led with yesterday's arrest of the American Jew Ben-Ami 
Kadish, 84, a former U.S. Army mechanical engineer, on charges that 
he spied for Israel over 20 years ago.  The Jerusalem Post reported 
that the charges cited nuclear information transfer to Jonathan 
Pollard's handler from 1979 through 1985.  Israel Radio reported 
that Kadish was apprehended following a phone conversation between 
him and his handler "Yosef (or Yossi) Yagur."  (The media quoted the 
FBI as saying that the two handlers are the same man.)  Media quoted 
State Department Spokesman Tom Casey as saying: QI would simply say, 
just as a general matter, that 20-plus years ago during the Pollard 
case, we noted that this was not the kind of behavior we would 
expect from friends and allies, and that would remain the case 
today.Q  Yediot quoted Kadish's wife, Doris, as saying after the 
federal Manhattan court hearing that the Israeli Embassy in 
Washington refused to assist Kadish, since he is not an Israeli 
citizen.  Leading media quoted PM Ehud Olmert's bureau and the 
Foreign Ministry as saying that they knew nothing about the affair. 
However, Yediot cited the concern of Israeli diplomatic circles that 
relations with the U.S. could be harmed.  Major media quoted 
Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan, who recruited Pollard, as 
saying that he was not aware of the Kadish case.  The question of 
the timing came up in various media.  Several media commented that 
some members of the U.S. administration might not be happy with 
efforts to release Pollard. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted senior defense officials as saying that 
Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is planning a trip to 
Israel next week to present the cease-fire proposal he has brokered 
with Hamas.  The Jerusalem Post quoted the officials as saying that 
the negotiations have picked up speed in recent days, and that PM 
Olmert will need to make a decision.  Ha'aretz reported that at this 
time Israel is not responding to the Egyptian mediation bid.  Maariv 
reported that Hamas will reply to the offer within two days. 
Leading media quoted PA Information Minister Riyad Al-Malki as 
saying yesterday that Egypt's mediation efforts, which include much 
joint activity with Hamas, are directly harming Israeli-Palestinian 
talks. 
 
Headlining "Hillary Clinton's Balance of Terror," Maariv reported 
that the Democratic presidential candidate told the newspaper that 
if she is elected president, the U.S. will punish Iran if the latter 
attacks Israel.  Clinton was quoted as saying that the U.S. must 
return to the balance of terror like in the Cold War.  Clinton would 
not respond to Hamas's declaration following former U.S. President 
Jimmy Carter's visit to Damascus.  The Jerusalem Post wrote that 
former NATO commander Wesley Clark's support for Clinton might be a 
liability with Jewish voters.  The Jerusalem Post reported that Sen. 
Barack Obama has enlisted former Ambassador to Egypt and Israel 
Daniel Kurtzer to his campaign. 
 
Leading media reported that two rockets were fired from Gaza 
yesterday.  One of them struck a house in Sderot. 
 
Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that yesterday the State 
Department announced the appointment of Robert Danin as head of Tony 
Blair's professional team.  Ha'aretz reported that Danin is Jewish, 
has relatives in Israel, and is held in high esteem by Israel's body 
politic. 
 
The media reported that yesterday Israel reopened the Sufa and Erez 
crossings into Gaza, allowing some 60 trucks to enter with 
humanitarian supplies. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted PA officials in Ramallah as saying 
yesterday that PA President Mahmoud Abbas will tell President Bush 
at their meeting tomorrow that this is the last time to reach an 
agreement -- a framework agreement and not a declaration of 
principles. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Roadmap monitor Lt. Gen William M. 
Fraser is leaving the country. 
 
Ha'aretz, The Jerusalem Post, and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying yesterday that the 
 
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Bush administration explicitly warned Carter against meeting with 
Hamas.  Rice contradicted Carter's assertions that he never got a 
clear signal from the State Department. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post printed an AP story that Al-Qaida's 
deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has blamed Iran for spreading the 
theory that Israel was behind the 9/11 attacks.  In an audio tape 
posted on the Internet, Zawahiri insisted al-Qaida had carried out 
the attacks on the U.S.  He accused Iran, and its Hizbullah allies, 
of trying to discredit Osama Bin Laden's network. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a new grassroots effort to unify 
the religious Zionist parties might end up in the formation of one 
single list for the new Knesset that would include dovish Meimad MK 
Rabbi Michael Melchior and far-Right (formerly Kach) activist Baruch 
Marzel. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Russia has asked Israel for clarifications 
about its sales of UAVs to Georgia. 
 
 
 
----------------------------- 
¶1.  Arrest of Ben-Ami Kadish: 
----------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "Not so long ago the Americans forced us 
to sack the director general of the Defense Ministry, and isolated 
other senior officials from access to information.  Appropriate, 
measured but forceful Israeli handling of this affair should make it 
clear to them that we will not let it happen again." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The ironic side of 
this affair is also related to the initial talks held over the past 
year on the possibility that Israel and the U.S. would sign a 
defense pact in order to express the overwhelming support of the 
U.S. for Israel." 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, wrote in Yediot Aharonot: "This is an old 
story, but from our past in Israel we have already learned that 
extremely old stories can topple governments in Israel and be 
scorched in the political consciousness for generations." 
 
Veteran journalist Hemmi Shalev wrote in the independent Israel 
Hayom: "The affair will only slightly, if at all, cloud Israel's 
relations with a very friendly U.S. administration.... Conversely, 
the affair will supply valuable ammunition to various 
anti-Semites." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "No Need to Panic" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (4/23): "Senior Israeli officials who know 
the Pollard affair well are warning that it would be very worthwhile 
that this time, if the allegations are true, Israel should not 
behave like a banana republic or a protectorate.  It would be very 
desirable that this time, also because the case has been dug out of 
the archives, that we should not capitulate, nor panic, nor do 
things which we will regret for generations.  It is worth recalling 
that it was Israel that incriminated and handed over Pollard. 
Without the material that was sent from here after he was caught, 
the man would be free today and our relations with the United States 
would also have been healed.  So we panicked, probably not without 
reason.  Today there is no reason for this, at least according to 
the information which we possess at the moment.  Israel has to 
remember that in spite of everything it is considered a sovereign 
state.  Not so long ago the Americans forced us to sack the director 
general of the Defense Ministry, and isolated other senior officials 
from access to information.  Appropriate, measured but forceful 
Israeli handling of this affair should make it clear to them that we 
will not let it happen again." 
 
II.  "Spoiling Bush's Celebration" 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (4/23): "A senior 
Israeli political source said last night: 'It is an embarrassment 
that someone in the law enforcement agencies in the U.S. decided to 
cause George Bush.'   Embarrassment, because in the coming weeks, 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush and his wife 
 
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Laura will arrive in Israel in order to celebrate with Israel the 
60th year of its founding, and the alliance that the two countries 
have [forged].... The Americans also know that Israel has learned 
the lesson from PollardQs handling and from its attempts in the 
distant past to learn about weapons systems and technological 
know-how that the Americans refrained from giving it..... We can 
presume that at the current stage ... officials in America think 
that the U.S. intelligence community is warning Bush against 
considering pardoning Jonathan Pollard towards the end of his term. 
Even after 25 years, these systems do not forgive those who 
succeeded in outsmarting them.... The ironic side of this affair is 
also related to the initial talks held over the past year on the 
possibility that Israel and the U.S. would sign a defense pact in 
order to express the overwhelming support of the U.S. for Israel. 
And now, someone has come along and decided to spoil the expected 
celebration, and to say: Before you celebrate, tell us what else you 
tried to steal from the American nation." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
III.  "The Eternal Price to Pay" 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, wrote in Yediot Aharonot (4/23): "This is 
all we needed.The current new-old story has no connection -- none! 
-- with the Jonathan Pollard affair, but the people who dredged up 
yesterday's story would do anything to link the two stories.... What 
 
suddenly set off the Americans, who remembered a story that was 
nearly 25 years old?  Well, in various branches of the U.S. 
administration, there are circles who are displeased by the special 
relations between Washington and Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.  These are 
mainly people whose criticism of these special relations is not 
listened to, and they have it in for us.... To sum up: This is an 
old story, but from our past in Israel we have already learned that 
extremely old stories can topple governments in Israel and be 
scorched in the political consciousness for generations." 
IV.  "Embarrassment for the Jews, Celebration for the Anti-Semites" 
 
Veteran journalist Hemmi Shalev wrote in the independent Israel 
Hayom (4/23): "It is difficult to understand what caused the 
Americans to suddenly wake up and take the skeletons out of the 
closet, after twenty-odd years of restraint, but two possible 
explanations were given yesterday by people in the know:  Firstly, 
this is a diversion intended to shift attention from the emerging 
failure of the Justice Department and the FBI to prosecute senior 
AIPAC lobbyists Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, whose trial, in an 
ironic and very inconvenient timing, is scheduled to begin next 
Monday in Virginia.  The second explanation, even more intriguing 
and even more threatening, is that Kadish's exposure is only a 
by-product of a large-scale, ongoing American investigation aimed at 
revealing the 'senior Israeli mole' whose existence has been 
suspected by the Americans since the Pollard affair.... However, the 
affair will only slightly, if at all, cloud Israel's relations with 
a very friendly U.S. administration, which was not the target of 
Kadish's espionage acts in any case.  Conversely, the affair will 
supply valuable ammunition to various anti-Semites, who last night 
already voiced cries of joy and 'we told you so' on their rapidly 
multiplying web sites.  At the same time, it will greatly embarrass 
the American Jews, particularly those who fill sensitive posts in 
branches of the administration and the military." 
 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Likud Knesset Member and co-chair of the U.S.-Israel Joint 
Parliamentary Committee on National Security Yuval Steinitz wrote in 
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Intelligence errors are 
unavoidable.  What is troubling regarding the new National 
Intelligence Estimate is that it is not a matter of pure error, but 
an unreasonable repression of the threat -- precisely like the case 
of Little Red Riding Hood." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Repressing the Iranian Threat" 
Likud Knesset Member and co-chair of the U.S.-Israel Joint 
Parliamentary Committee on National Security Yuval Steinitz wrote in 
the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/23): "American 
intelligence ... saw the Iranian Wolf prior to 2003.... What seems 
to have happened, according to the [National Intelligence Estimate] 
report, is that Iranian efforts to develop the bomb mechanics 
recently dropped off the radar screens of U.S. intelligence (as 
opposed to the focus on the fissile material which lies at the 
center of the nuclear project).  And since not all the parts of the 
project are visible any longer, the ability to determine the 
presence of the wolf, according to the new standards set, also 
dissipated.  The way American intelligence has conducted itself on 
this matter constitutes a thrilling example for what is described as 
the 'pendulum effect' -- which is causing the intelligence 
assessments to shift between an 'overestimate' pole and an 
'underestimate' pole. Overestimation, as occurred in Iraq, draws 
criticism and underestimation is carried onto the next case, and the 
other way around..... Intelligence errors are unavoidable.  What is 
troubling regarding the new National Intelligence Estimate is that 
it is not a matter of pure error, but an unreasonable repression of 
the threat -- precisely like the case of Little Red Riding Hood." 
 
JONES