VZCZCXRO0334
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1385/01 2131120
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 311120Z JUL 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2330
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAS-ZD/DACS-ZK//
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7236
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4221
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4074
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5572
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 3990
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2555

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 001385 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS BBG 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR ABRAMS 
CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD 
 
JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD 
LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (7/31): Doubts that future Israeli 
PM will be able to deliver on peace 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's announcement that he has 
"committed mistakes" dominates the front pages of the three dailies, 
with above-the-fold stories and eye-catching headlines.  Al-Quds 
writes, "Olmert has reached the end of the political road; He has 
admitted that he has made mistakes and has announced that he will 
resign soon."  Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida quote Olmert as 
saying, "I will resign after the Kadima party has elected a new 
leader [in the September elections]."  Olmert's announcement was 
made during a TV speech broadcast on July 30. All dailies report on 
widespread speculation regarding Olmert's possible successor and 
cite a poll conducted in Israel and broadcast on Israeli TV on July 
30 that Benjamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party is 
considered the likeliest candidate.  In related coverage, all 
dailies provide brief biographies of Olmert's possible successors, 
including Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Benjamin Netanyahu, 
Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon, Minister of Transportation Shaul 
Mofaz, and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.  In related coverage, the 
official spokesperson of the Palestinian Presidency, Nabil Abu 
Rudayna, confirmed on July 30 in a phone interview with Al-Ayyam 
that Olmert's decision to resign is an internal Israeli matter and 
that Palestinians are focused on continuing the peace process. 
Al-Ayyam reports that a U.S. State Department spokesperson announced 
on July 30 that the U.S. stands ready to deal with any new Israeli 
government. 
 
Coverage in all the dailies highlights the visit of Palestinian 
Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to Tunisia on July 30 to 
attend the opening of the "Challenge" Conference of the 
Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD). The dailies report that that 
the Tunisian President, Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, praised the 
Palestinian people's struggle to obtain their rights during his 
speech at the conference on July 30 and carry quotes from Abbas' 
speech to Conference delegates.  Al Quds quotes Abbas that, "Egypt 
will invite the Palestinian factions to start a national dialogue 
which will end [Palestinian] in-fighting," while Al-Ayyam and 
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida quote him as saying that "we will continue our 
steadfastness, and will continue to resist, build, and negotiate, 
and peace will not be achieved if it is based on the logic of 
power."  In related coverage, all dailies highlight Abbas' remarks 
in an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat Al-Londoniyya 
newspaper published on July 30, in which he claims that the 
Democratic candidate for the U.S. Presidency, Barack Obama, told him 
that the Israelis are "crazy" if they do not accept the Arab 
initiative for peace. 
 
All the dailies carry stories about continuing Israeli actions in 
the West Bank and Jerusalem on July 30.  All the papers report that 
eight Palestinians were injured and one killed in clashes during the 
funeral in Ni'lin village, near Ramallah, of a 17-year old victim 
killed by Israeli soldiers.  All the dailies report as well that 
Israeli soldiers invaded Qabatya, near Jenin, and besieged the house 
of a Hamas leader, threatening to assassinate him. In Jerusalem, the 
dailies report that Israeli settlers were frustrated in their 
attempt to take over a house in Dahyet As-Salam near 'Anata city on 
July 30.  In related coverage in Al-Quds, the Sheikh Jarrah 
Neighborhood Committee is reported to have submitted copies of fake 
[Ottoman-era] documents, used by Israeli settlers to prove their 
alleged ownership of Palestinian lands [both in Sheikh Jarrah and 
elsewhere], to the Turkish Consul General in Jerusalem. 
 
JERUSALEM 00001385  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
Dailies report on developments in the Palestinian-Israeli 
negotiations in Washington. Al- Ayyam carries a prominent report of 
its phone interview with Palestinian Chief Negotiator Dr. Sa'eb 
Erekat, in which he announced that Condoleezza Rice informed both 
negotiating teams in Washington that she will visit the region on 
August 20 to hold talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Erekat 
added that they have agreed to try to achieve a peace agreement 
which will include all final status issues. 
 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
¶1. Independent Al-Quds runs its main editorial entitled, "The end of 
Olmert's era" (7/31): "Finally, the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud 
Olmert announced...that he is not going to run in the primary 
elections of the Kadima party [scheduled for September] ... What is 
important for the Palestinian people is that the peace process goes 
on and works effectively and away from the current orientations that 
undermine the rights of the Palestinians and use control, 
occupation, and domination to deal with the Palestinians regarding 
settlement activities..., peace negotiations... and house 
demolitions ... According to all the information and the opinions of 
observers, the last two years of Olmert's reign, especially since 
the end of the second Lebanese war, has witnessed political 
developments in the peace process.  There are two different 
explanations for these political developments, which include the 
Annapolis Conference, the Israeli promise to achieve a final peace 
agreement with the Palestinians by the end of this year, and the 
resumption of talks with Syria ... The first explanation is that 
Olmert has taken these large steps to lengthen the life of his 
government and to gain the support of Israeli public opinion. 
However, he was not serious [about the peace process], especially 
since the destiny of his government was in the hands of extreme 
parties that support settlement activities and even refuse to 
discuss the Jerusalem issue when negotiating with Palestinians. The 
second explanation is that Olmert could not deliver on these 
promises, which exceeded his capacity. The settlement expansion in 
the West Bank and Jerusalem, the ongoing establishment of the 
separation barrier, the Palestinian house demolitions in East 
Jerusalem, and the inability to fulfill the first item of the 
Roadmap, that of removing the settlements, prove that the capacity 
of the Israeli Premier to fulfill his promises is very limited ... 
The Palestinians, who do not care who will rule Israel, want the 
future Prime Minister to have the capacity, authority, and support 
of the Israeli street so that he can fulfill peace obligations, 
mainly, the complete military and settlement withdrawal from the 
occupied lands of 1967 in a peace framework in which the Palestinian 
national, governmental, and humanitarian rights are respected. 
However, there are lots of doubts about whether the incoming Israeli 
leadership...will be capable of achieving this target or working 
honestly towards achieving it." 
 
¶2. Independent Al-Ayyam prints its daily editorial entitled, "We 
can't but Egypt can..." (7/31): "The crisis of the Palestinian 
situation and internal relations regarding the accusations 
surrounding the Gaza beach explosion [which took place on Friday 25 
in the Gaza Strip and caused the death of 6 people, including one 
child] is considered dangerous. Hamas holds Fatah responsible for 
the explosion while the latter denies all involvement and considers 
[Hamas' reaction to] the incident as another Hamas revolution 
[against Fatah]... Egypt is responsible for everything that is going 
 
JERUSALEM 00001385  003 OF 003 
 
 
on [i.e. the increasing tensions and infighting]. Egypt is late in 
inviting the [Palestinian] factions to talks. Egypt is also late in 
stopping the collapse of Palestinian internal relations. The effects 
of the collapse will include Egypt as well because of its borders 
with the Gaza Strip. So, Egypt is the country that will be most 
negatively affected ... Egypt should make a move before the factions 
start arriving in Cairo ... Egypt's capacity to stop the current 
crisis will be an indicator of its success or failure in running and 
sponsoring the Palestinian dialogue." 
 
 
WALLES