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P 021010Z JUL 08
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RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001413 
 
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.  Iran 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The electronic media reported that at noon today, a bulldozer driver 
went on a rampage in Jerusalem traffic and plowed his vehicle into 
cars and a crowded public bus near the old Central Bus Station and 
the headquarters of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.  Three 
persons were killed and an estimated 66 were wounded.   The 
bulldozer's Arab driver was shot dead. 
 
Media quoted a "senior American official" as saying that Israel is 
unlikely to feel the need to stage a military strike on Iran in 
¶2008.  His remarks came shortly after Pentagon officials were quoted 
as saying that Israel was likely to attack Iran by the end of the 
year.  Israel Radio quoted Deputy State Department Spokesman Tom 
Casey as saying yesterday: QItQs always amazing that there are lots 
of anonymous sources out there who profess to know the inner will of 
officials in other countries, Israel or otherwise.  I have 
absolutely no information that would substantiate that."  Yediot 
quoted a senior Western diplomat as saying that there is no 
consensus within the Israeli government in favor of an attack on 
Iran.  The official provided the example of Transportation Minister 
Shaul Mofaz's recent recommendation to take on Iran, which was 
criticized in the government.  He was quoted as saying that the gap 
between the U.S. and Israel regarding the time when Iran's nuclear 
policy will reach a no-return point, has greatly shrunk. Maariv 
quoted a senior Israeli defense source as saying that Israel's 
offensive plans toward Iran are critically set back.  Various 
journalists and experts assessed that the home front is not prepared 
for Iranian conventional or non-conventional attacks. 
 
Major media reported that the Cairo-based weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi 
reported that Hamas has agreed to an Egyptian request to transfer a 
video tape and a letter from Gilad Shalit. The weekly, affiliated 
with the government mouthpiece Al-Ahram, said that Hamas had agreed 
to the move to provide a sign of life in order to move the talks 
ahead.  Media reported that Israel denied the story. 
 
Major media reported that Israel reopened the Gaza crossings today. 
Yediot and Ha'aretz reported that arms smuggling into Gaza is 
increasing.  Ha'aretz reported that yesterday Deputy Defense 
Minister Matan Vilnai accused Egypt of not doing enough in the 
matter. 
 
Israel Radio quoted the Turkish Foreign Ministry as saying that the 
last round of indirect talks between Israel and Syria will take 
place in two weeks at the latest, after which direct talks will 
begin.  The radio quoted Ankara as saying that the results of Syrian 
President Bashar Assad's visit to Paris will determine the calendar 
of the talks and the level of representation of the parties. 
Ha'aretz reported that yesterday Syria's Deputy FM Faisal Mekdad 
referred to Druze residents of the Golan as Syrians, saying in an 
interview on Syrian TV that Israel will have to release all the 
Syrian prisoners it is holding if it is to reach a peace agreement 
with Syria.  The comment can refer only to Druze from the Golan, 
since there are no Syrian nationals in Israeli prisons.  In the 
interview, Mekdad described the prisoner exchange deal between 
Israel and Hezbollah as a "victory for the Arab people."  Major 
media reported that Syrian commentator Mustafa al-Hajj told Iranian 
television station Al-Alam that the Knesset's approval this week of 
a law mandating a national referendum or two-thirds parliamentary 
majority prior to a withdrawal from territory under Israeli control 
means that Israel is not interested in peace with Syria.  Leading 
media reported that initial examinations of human remains discovered 
on Monday in the Golan Heights indicate that they do not belong to 
missing soldiers Guy Hever or Majdi Halabi, or to missing Tiberias 
teen Dana Bennet. There is speculation that one of more of the three 
may have been kidnapped to Syria. 
 
All media reported that on the sidelines of the 23rd Socialist 
International Congress in Athens yesterday, Defense Minster Ehud 
Barak shook hands and spoke briefly with Iraqi President Jalal 
Talabani in what is believed to be to be the first public handshake 
between high ranking Israeli and Iraqi officials.  The two leaders 
were photographed in the company of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. 
Barak was quoted as telling Talabani jokingly in Arabic that when he 
was prime minister he had five ministers of Iraqi origin.  The 
gesture was immediately downplayed in both Iraq and Israel.  Some 
media reported that Talabani's offices issued a statement that said 
it was a "civilized social act" without special significance. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday UN Secretary-General Ban 
Ki-moon submitted the quarterly report on the implementation of UNSC 
Resolution 1701.  According to reports, the document does not accuse 
Hizbullah of violating the terms of the ceasefire, despite Israeli 
allegations that the Shi'ite militia has retaken its border 
positions and continues to amass rockets and other arms banned under 
¶1701.   Diplomatic sources quoted by IDF Radio assessed that the 
conciliatory tone of the report stemmed from the UN's desire to 
maintain political stability in Lebanon.   The report also states 
that both Israel and Syria have yet to address maps of the contested 
Sheba Farms area drawn up by a UN representative and submitted to 
the two countries over six months ago. 
 
Leading media reported that State Attorney Moshe Lador and Maj. Gen. 
Yohanan Danino, head of the police's Investigations and Intelligence 
Department decided not to reopen the criminal investigation into 
nonprofit organizations' funding of Ehud Barak's 1999 election 
campaign.  Channel 10-TV reported that Olmert PR consultant Tal 
Zilberstein, previously a close aide to Barak, backed Shmuel Levi 
financially for years.  Levi initiated the current probe into 
Barak's affairs. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted senior officials in the State Prosecutor's Office 
and the Israel Police as saying that inquiries made over the past 
week in the U.S. by Israeli law enforcement representatives are 
strengthening suspicions of fraud and other crimes against Olmert. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior American official as saying that 
President Bush is unlikely to pardon convicted spy Jonathan Pollard 
before he leaves office. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that U.S. Ambassador Richard Jones is to 
leave his post on July 11, some three years after taking up the 
position, and will be replaced by James Cunningham, whose 
appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week.  Cunningham 
is scheduled to arrive in Israel in mid-August.  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted American officials as saying that the fact that Cunningham 
was approved by a Democratic-controlled Senate indicated he would 
likely stay on for some time even if Barack Obama is elected 
president.  The newspaper reported that Ambassador Jones will host 
his last Independence Day, as he leaves the Foreign Service. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that in an effort to create more 
effective defense expenditure, the Defense Ministry has awarded the 
New York City-headquartered consulting firm McKinsey & Co. with a 
three-year multimillion dollar contract to create a 10-year 
streamlining plan for the IDF. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Google Earth now highlights 
locations linked to "Nakba - the Palestinian catastrophe."  The 
newspaper quoted Gerald Steinberg, political science professor at 
Bar-Ilan University and the head of NGO Monitor, as saying: "[Google 
Earth] is part of propaganda war, which [Israel] is losing."  The 
newspaper quoted Google as saying that "debate is healthy." 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday IDF Colonel Hasson Hasson 
became the first Druze appointed aide-de-camp to an Israeli 
president. 
 
Major media reported that yesterday in Kiryat Gat PM Olmert 
inaugurated Intel's largest plant in the world.  The factory, in 
which the American computer chip firm invested $3.5 billion, is 
expect to employ 2,000 direct-hire employees and 1,500 workers under 
contract.  Intel will eventually employ 6,800 people in Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a poll conducted by 
WorldPublicOpinion.org, managed by the Program on International 
Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland between January and 
May: 71% of Americans said that they wanted their country to take a 
neutral stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
 
--------- 
¶1.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "In contrast with the more 
distant nuclear threat, Iran has proven ballistic capabilities to 
hit strategic and civilian targets in Israel, causing huge 
casualties and enormous damage." 
 
Veteran journalist and anchor Dan Margalit wrote on page one of the 
independent Israel Hayom: "Had Israel led a tearful [Iran] policy in 
the world ... it might have tried to produce greater involvement in 
the West." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Saber Rattling Could Backfire" 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (7/2): "The belief that Israel 
will attack Iran before the year is out, and the major military 
drill over the Mediterranean last month, may indicate Israel's 
determination -- even if it has to act alone -- to defend against 
the strategic threat Iran has laid at its doorstep.  However this 
message, along with the threats Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz 
has made against Iran, must also be analyzed in light of Iran's 
abilities to respond to such an attack with a preemptive strike 
against Israel.... In contrast with the more distant nuclear threat, 
Iran has proven ballistic capabilities to hit strategic and civilian 
targets in Israel, causing huge casualties and enormous damage.... 
It is believed in Iran that continued threats, not to mention a 
direct attack, might only strengthen Ahmadinejad as the man who is 
standing strong against the West and Israel, and increase the 
feeling that nuclear armament is necessary.... Israel, which had to 
extricate itself from accusations that it dragged the U.S. into war 
in Iraq, will find it difficult to withstand pressure that it, and 
not Iran, is responsible for another rise in oil prices, perhaps the 
most dramatic to date, and the subsequent damage to global economy. 
The hike in oil prices following Mofaz's statements may be proof of 
this scenario.  Iran's nuclear threat has created an interesting 
anti-Iranian coalition that includes Arab countries along with the 
U.S. and Israel.  For the first time, Arab statesmen are saying that 
the Iranian nuclear threat against Arab countries is more concrete 
than the Israeli threat on them.  However, this coalition will have 
difficulty tolerating an Israeli attack on Iran, especially if that 
attack brings about an Iranian attack on nearby Arab countries." 
 
II.  "We Pushed Ourselves into a Corner" 
 
Veteran journalist and anchor Dan Margalit wrote on page one of the 
independent Israel Hayom (7/2): "Alongside the advantages inherent 
in Israel flexing its muscles, there are costs, too.  The first one 
is that Iran is entering a state of intense alert.... The second 
detriment is that boisterous Israeli public relations are causing 
damage to relations with enlightened Western nations.  Had Israel 
led a tearful policy in the world ... it might have tried to produce 
greater involvement in the West..... But now, if the Jews can defend 
themselves and prevent a new Holocaust ... they had better do so by 
themselves, and Israel's friends will be glad to watch 
sympathetically from the side." 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The 
assurance that from now on ... candidates will be ineligible for a 
Knesset seat if they conduct themselves precisely as [self-exiled 
former Knesset member] Azmi Bishara did strikes us as eminently 
sensible... and regrettably necessary." 
 
Contributor Prof. Carlo Strenger, a philosopher and psychoanalyst 
who teaches at Tel Aviv University and is a member of the World 
Federation of Scientists' permanent monitoring panel on terrorism, 
wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Deep down, we all 
know that causing suffering to millions of Palestinians in the West 
Bank because of the settlements that are deep inside the territories 
is morally indefensible.  And yet we let it happen." 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Bishara's Legacy" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (7/2): 
"What if, on the night of May 10-11, 1941, even as the Luftwaffe was 
blitzing London's Westminster Palace, a British MP was off in Berlin 
advising German leaders about how best to confront Winston 
Churchill?   Now fast-forward to another war, another time and 
another place: the summer of 2006.  Hizbullah gunners are bombarding 
northern Israel from Lebanon; soldiers have been killed, soldiers 
have been kidnapped.  Tens of thousands of Israelis are sweltering 
in shelters.  The country is at war.  [Then] Knesset Member Azmi 
Bishara, however, is off in Beirut, where, authorities suspect, he 
is helping Hizbullah evaluate Jerusalem's political and military 
strategy.  We say 'suspect' because Bishara fled Israel before he 
could be brought to trial.  It is thus altogether fitting that the 
law passed on Sunday by the Knesset -- that henceforth bars anyone 
visiting an enemy state for illegal purposes from running for the 
Knesset -- has been dubbed the 'Bishara Law'.... The assurance that 
from now on -- the law does not apply retroactively -- candidates 
will be ineligible for a Knesset seat if they conduct themselves 
precisely as Azmi Bishara did strikes us as eminently sensible... 
and regrettably necessary." 
II.  "Israel's Split Psyche" 
 
Contributor Prof. Carlo Strenger, a philosopher and psychoanalyst 
who teaches at Tel Aviv University and is a member of the World 
Federation of Scientists' permanent monitoring panel on terrorism, 
wrote in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (7/2): "Israel, as a 
society and as a country, accepts and respects the moral principle 
of universal human rights.  Deep down, we all know that causing 
suffering to millions of Palestinians in the West Bank because of 
the settlements that are deep inside the territories is morally 
indefensible.  And yet we let it happen: We go about our business 
trying to numb our conscience by saying, 'There is no partner' or 
'The roadblocks are needed to prevent terror attacks' or 'Look what 
happened when we left Gaza!  We left, and all we get is Qassam 
attacks!'  While the latter point has some validity, all polls show 
that most Israelis believe the settlements deep inside the West Bank 
jeopardize Israel's security rather than increasing it -- and the 
military experts agree.... There is only one way to stop the general 
malaise and curb the fear that Israel is built on quicksand.... I 
predict the paralysis will end once Israel gathers the political 
will to tell the settlers: 'We understand your pain and rage, but we 
made a terrible mistake in sending you into the West Bank.  Israel's 
moral and political survival depends on your coming back home.' 
Only when we wake up in the morning knowing that there are no more 
indefensible horrors to repress, no more young soldiers sent to do a 
job that will harm them for life, and no more Palestinian women 
losing babies because they cannot arrive at a hospital will we be 
able to tackle the huge problems inside our society.  The Israeli 
psyche needs to be liberated from unbearable guilt if we are to 
recover our resilience and our belief in our right to be here." 
 
JONES