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P 211258Z JUL 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001570 
 
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.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Today most media focused on the third day of Morris Talansky's 
cross-examination by PM Ehud Olmert's lawyers.  Leading media 
reported that Talansky could not remember details of cash transfers 
to Olmert.   Ha'aretz quoted officials at the State Prosecutor's 
Office as saying that by the end of the day the "core of Talansky's 
testimony" had not cracked.  Yediot (today) and Maariv (yesterday) 
published transcripts of Olmert's main police probe, in which Maariv 
said Olmert admitted having received expense reimbursement in cash 
from Talansky. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe bannered (and other media cited) Secretary 
Rice's statement in an interview with CNN on Sunday that President 
Bush is leaving all options about Iran open, and that she refused to 
discuss the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran, saying this 
was only a "speculation." 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli defense officials as 
saying over the weekend that Israel is scheduled to renew 
Egyptian-mediated negotiations with Hamas this week for Gilad's 
release.  Today Ha'aretz reported that Hamas confirmed yesterday 
that the talks were on hold.  Today Ha'aretz reported that former 
U.S. President Jimmy Carter is trying to achieve a breakthrough in 
the negotiations over Gilad Shalit's release.  Under the deal, 
Israel would release several dozen prisoners as a 
confidence-building measure, including Hamas parliamentarians and 
ministers arrested after Shalit's abduction in June 2006.  In 
return, Shalit would be brought to Egypt, where his family would be 
able to visit him.  After this stage, negotiations for the release 
of more Palestinian prisoners and Shalit's return home would 
continue.  In a separate development, Ha'aretz quoted ministers who 
participated in cabinet deliberations on the matter yesterday with 
PM Olmert as saying that Israel will have to show greater 
flexibility in its negotiations with Hamas in order to free Shalit. 
The media quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying yesterday 
that he would like to see a news blackout on the negotiations for 
Shalit's release to increase the "chances of success."  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that Egypt is enraged over Hamas claims that 
it is not an honest broker.  On Sunday leading media quoted Hamas 
officials as saying that they will insist on the freeing of 1,000 
prisoners in exchange for Shalit.  Media reported that at a 
demonstration in Paris yesterday former Franco-Colombian hostage 
Ingrid Betancourt demanded Shalit's release.  Maariv bannered 
remarks made to the newspaper by outgoing head of the IDF Human 
Resources Directorate, Elazar Stern. He was quoted as saying that 
the price that Israel pays for releasing kidnapped soldiers is too 
high, and that it is a pity Israel does not learn from the U.S. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Israel has gathered and conveyed intelligence 
showing the increasing strength of Hizbullah in Lebanon to European 
defense ministries.  Similar information was delivered to the UN 
during a visit to New York a month ago by Brig. Gen. Yossi Baidatz, 
head of research at IDF Intelligence.  Ha'aretz quoted a political 
source as saying that Israel is very frustrated because the 
phenomenon of arms smuggling is not sufficiently addressed in 
relevant UN reports, including the most recent one three weeks ago, 
nor is it fully acknowledged in European capitals -- particularly in 
countries that are contributing contingents to the peacekeeping 
force in southern Lebanon. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post and other media reported that IDF Chief 
of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi left for the U.S. on Saturday for a week of 
talks -- with a focus on Iran -- with top U.S. defense and 
diplomatic officials. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday the Israeli human rights group 
B'Tselem released a video showing an IDF soldier shooting a 
Palestinian youth with a rubber bullet at short range, his arms and 
legs bound by a high-ranking Border Police officer.  According to 
B'Tselem, the shooting was witnessed by several other soldiers and 
officers, including the lieutenant colonel who bound the teen's 
limbs.  The organization allegedly demanded an investigation be 
opened into his role and that the soldier who fired the gun "be 
brought to justice."  The incident occurred on July 7, in the West 
Bank village of Na'alin, where Palestinians and leftists have 
increased their protests in recent months against the separation 
barrier in the town, and the demonstrations have at time culminated 
in violent clashes. 
 
Leading media reported that Barack Obama is scheduled to land in 
Israel today for a visit, which will include meetings with Israeli 
and Palestinian officials in Jerusalem and the West Bank.  Over 
dinner, PM Olmert plans to discuss Israel's military intelligence on 
the Iranian nuclear program and stress the importance of maintaining 
diplomatic pressure on Tehran.  Tomorrow morning, FM Tzipi Livni 
will accompany Obama on a tour, including a helicopter flight over 
the disputed areas with the Palestinians and a visit to the 
Qassam-stricken city of Sderot.  Later in the day, he will travel to 
Ramallah, where he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud 
Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. 
 
Yesterday Ha'aretz reported that last week the High Court of Justice 
upheld a ruling for the eviction of a Palestinian family from the 
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, whose house is owned 
by religious Jews.  The eviction spurred protest by senior PA 
officials, and diplomats from several consulates have already 
visited the house.  The Khurd family has lived in the contested 
building since 1956, when the area was under Jordanian control. 
After the area came under Israel's control in 1967, the Committee of 
the Sephardi Jewry and the Committee of the Knesset of Israel -- two 
religious bodies -- presented the Israeli authorities with various 
documents showing that they had purchased the area during the 
Ottoman rule.  Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted the PA's official 
news agency Wafa as saying that Israel is using rats to drive Arab 
families out of their homes in the Old City of Jerusalem.  The daily 
quoted Jerusalem Municipality spokesman Gidi Schmerling as saying 
that the report was "pure fiction," and had no connection to 
reality." 
 
Yediot quoted Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, the head of IDF Intelligence, 
as saying at yesterday's cabinet session that Israel's enemies are 
afraid of a flare-up during the summer.  However, Yadlin was quoted 
as saying that an action against Israel may be carried out, which 
the enemies believe will not lead to war. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday visiting British PM Gordon 
Brown demanded the end of settlement expansion. 
 
On Sunday Ha'aretz reported that real estate mogul Yitzhak Tshuva 
will go ahead with his plans to build a massive industrial zone in 
the Arava Desert irrespective of the Red Sea-Dead Sea canal. 
 
Major media reported that yesterday the cabinet unanimously endorsed 
the nomination of Professor Gabriela Shalev as Israel's first woman 
ambassador to the United Nations. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted the Israeli technology company 
NICE Systems as saying last week that Salt River Project (SRP), the 
third-largest public power public utility in the U.S., has selected 
NICE Smart Center solutions to help SRP manage and support the 
growth of its contact centers, which receive over 3 million calls 
per year. 
 
Yesterday Ha'aretz quoted National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin 
Ben-Eliezer as saying at the end of last week that Jerusalem is 
close to an agreement with Moscow that would secure natural gas for 
a planned pipeline project between Turkey and Israel. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Norway is investing half-a-billion Euros in 
Israel.  However, the newspaper cited the Bank of Israel as saying 
that the main cause of the shekel's strengthening is not foreign 
investments, but the slowing in Israelis' investments abroad. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "As long as 
the West Bank is dissected by innumerable roadblocks and closures, 
there is not much value in festive declarations about an 'economic 
Roadmap.'" 
 
Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote in 
Ha'aretz: "Obama has a good chance of being not just a president, 
but a world leader who wants to save himself from himself.  Can it 
not be that, for a change, what's good for the world will also be 
good for the Jews, and what's good for the Jews will also be what's 
good for the world?" 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Don't Waste the Money" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (7/21): "Since 
they are unable to substantively advance a diplomatic arrangement 
that will end the prolonged conflict in this region, visiting 
leaders have developed the habit of comforting the Palestinians with 
financial aid while compensating the Israelis by recognizing their 
right to live in security and comfort.  They add a rebuke about 
Israel's settlement policy and season it with a call to remove most 
of the roadblocks.... There is no better illustration of the 
international community's lack of effectiveness in the violent and 
poverty-stricken Middle East.  Yesterday it was the turn of British 
Prime Minister Gordon Brown to contribute to this depressing 
ritual.... At a meeting with President Shimon Peres, he announced 
his intention of initiating an 'economic Roadmap' for the Middle 
East, which would benefit regional development and stability.... As 
long as the West Bank is dissected by innumerable roadblocks and 
closures, there is not much value in festive declarations about an 
'economic Roadmap.'  Worse than that -- the reports about hundreds 
of millions of dollars that make their way into the PA's coffers 
increase the alienation between the political elite and PA staffers, 
who benefit from the donations, and the general public that spends 
its days at the roadblocks." 
 
II.  "Why Obama?" 
 
Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote in 
Ha'aretz (7/21): "When the candidate lands here tomorrow, a fog of 
ambiguity will still hover over his position.... Even if Obama is 
not elected president, his candidacy has already left a deep 
impression. It has changed the path of American policy.... Electing 
McCain means continuing the Bush-Cheney-Rice policy.  It means 
another four years of trouble: The futile war between the 
'enlightened ones' and the 'unenlightened ones' will continue; 
America's deterrent power will continue to dissipate; a peace 
agreement with Syria will be held off until the end of days, along 
with an Israeli-Palestinian deal; and the Arab League's peace plan 
will gather dust.  McCain is not as obtuse as Bush or as corrupt as 
Cheney, but he is their successor.  McCain has even removed himself 
from the international arena when it comes to environmental issues. 
Just this month, he supported Bush's plan to allow the greedy oil 
companies to continue to damage the ocean environment in sensitive 
regions that have rare natural resources.  Obama has a good chance 
of being not just a president, but a world leader who wants to save 
himself from himself.  Can it not be that, for a change, what's good 
for the world will also be good for the Jews, and what's good for 
the Jews will also be what's good for the world?" 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "We ought to 
welcome all attempts at substantive dialogue that can lead to a 
suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment activity in a way that 
provides enough reliable safeguards and supervisory measures.  At 
the same time, Iran's deceptive behavior and policy of buying time 
constantly warn against any efforts to pull the wool over our 
eyes." 
 
Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote on page one of the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "The big question for Jerusalem is 
whether this U.S. administration -- or the next -- is going to end 
up content simply bombing Iran with more talk, and confining its 
victories over it to the basketball court." 
 
Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Iran proclaims its red lines and its 
honor as a state with equal rights in the region.  Israel has an 
identical right -- among the rest by being, as Defense Minister 
Barak has said, the strongest power in the region." 
 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Talking and Suspecting" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (7/20): "A 
noteworthy development has emerged from the Geneva negotiations 
between European Union officials and Iran's representative to the 
talks on its nuclear program, Saeed Jalili.... Is this a turning 
point in American policy on Iran?  Undoubtedly, this is at the very 
least a new tactical approach by Washington.  Perhaps the U.S., with 
which Israel has spearheaded a tough, even aggressive brand of 
diplomacy against Iran in recent years, now seeks to demonstrate 
that it does not oppose efforts to freeze Tehran's nuclear program 
by way of dialogue.... Nonetheless, these positive signals cannot 
camouflage Iran's determination to attain the status of a nuclear 
power.  One cannot overstate that it was during the period when the 
voices of Iranian moderation were heard, when Hashemi Rafsanjani and 
Mohammad Khatami occupied the president's chair, that Iran's nuclear 
program was allowed to develop with no interference from outside. 
We ought to welcome all attempts at substantive dialogue that can 
lead to a suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment activity in a way 
that provides enough reliable safeguards and supervisory measures. 
At the same time, Iran's deceptive behavior and policy of buying 
time constantly warn against any efforts to pull the wool over our 
eyes." 
 
II.  "Why Washington's New Playbook on Iran Is No Laughing Matter" 
 
Columnist Calev Ben-David wrote on page one of the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (7/21): "Any softening by Ahmadinejad of 
his usual belligerent rhetoric, or by other Iranian officials, is 
now going to be charitably explained by those who oppose any U.S. or 
Israeli military action toward the country as a hopeful sign of this 
new environment.... Tehran ....walked away from the Geneva meeting 
with, at the very least, a tie, if not an outright win.  That's 
because even Ahmadinejad can grasp the concept that projecting a 
kinder, gentler Iran in response to the new American initiative, 
while in substance actually conceding little or nothing, is the most 
viable strategy for a regime determined to press ahead with its 
nuclear dreams.  And if that is indeed the case, the big question 
for Jerusalem is whether this U.S. administration -- or the next -- 
is going to end up content simply bombing Iran with more talk, and 
confining its victories over it to the basketball court." 
 
III.  "The Secret Incentives" 
 
Former Mossad director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/20): "Incentives [offered to Iran by 
the United States and Europe] have never been made public.... 
Washington is prepared to discuss 'expanded security commitments' to 
Iran.  The meaning of this is clear: recognition of Iran's 
status....  as a regional power and the establishment of a permanent 
debate with it about the future of the Middle East.... [Regional 
topics] are close to Israel's heart.  If this new move gathers 
speed, the Israeli government will necessarily make clear that it 
will cooperate with the policy of its greatest friend and ally -- 
provided it is reserved an official seat near the table where its 
security and future are discussed.  'Coordination, 'reporting,' and 
so on, are not enough.  Iran proclaims its red lines and its honor 
as a state with equal rights in the region.  Israel has an identical 
right -- among the rest by being, as Defense Minister Barak has 
said, the strongest power in the region." 
 
MORENO