VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #1607/01 2071024
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251024Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7689
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 4188
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0795
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 4503
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 4966
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 4180
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 2502
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 4938
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1794
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0006
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 8791
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 6271
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 1180
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 5293
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7251
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 0154
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001607 
 
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 Jerusalem Post quoted the Prime Minister's Office as saying 
yesterday that it has not signed off a Jordan Valley project that 
would create a new settlement in Maskiot, even though the Defense 
Ministry approved plans this week for a 20-home building project 
there.  The newspaper quoted an IDF source as saying that approval 
could now be retroactively granted for the modular homes illegally 
place there in November 2007 by families evacuated from the former 
Gaza settlement of Shirat Hayam.  Israel Radio quoted UN 
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as, urging Israel to heed the 
Quartet's call to "freeze all settlement activity, including natural 
growth, and to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001." 
 
Ha'aretz reported that this week the U.S. filed an official protest 
with Israel for harming Palestinians, including the eviction of the 
Palestinian Khurd (or al-Kurd) family from the Shimon Hatzadik 
complex in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. 
Ha'aretz quoted a diplomatic source as saying that that the Foreign 
Ministry responded that the decision to evict the al-Kurd family was 
made under civilian jurisdiction, so the state has no standing to 
intervene in a matter still being heard by the Supreme Court. 
Regarding harassment of Palestinians, Israel replied that the state 
regards this seriously and that law-enforcement officials are taking 
all necessary steps to prevent it and bring the perpetrators to 
trial.  The source was quoted as saying that Washington expressed 
surprise at criticism from Jerusalem that the U.S. administration is 
dealing with "localized incidents" such as the case of the al-Kurd 
family and students could not leave Gaza for studies abroad. The 
daily reported that the U.S. administration recently received 
detailed reports of increased activity by a settler organization in 
East Jerusalem working to increase the Jewish presence in Arab 
neighborhoods such as Sheikh Jarrah, Jebel Mukaber, Silwan, and the 
Mount of Olives.  Ha'aretz said that the U.S. Consulate-General in 
Jerusalem has been tracking new construction plans in those 
neighborhoods for the Jewish population and reporting on them to 
Washington. 
Leading media reported that yesterday settlers clashed with IDF 
troops and Palestinians in the aftermath of the evacuation of a 
structure at the unauthorized Adei Ad outpost in the northern West 
Bank.  The media quoted settlers as saying that this was part of a 
new policy to react harshly to any attempts by security forces to 
remove Jewish structures in the West Bank. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Deputy National Security Advisor for Global 
Democracy Strategy Elliott Abrams as saying on Wednesday at a 
private meeting with Jewish-American leaders that PM Ehud Olmert 
does not at this time have the political weight to bring about an 
agreement with the Palestinians and that Olmert and PA President 
Mahmoud Abbas will not accept any accord reached between the teams 
of FM Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei.  The radio 
noted that conversely Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has faith 
in the Livni-Qurei talks.  Israel Radio reported that in view of the 
stalled negotiations with Israel, the PA envisions three options: a) 
stopping the talks; b) proclaiming Palestinian statehood; or c) 
removing all PA institutions from West Bank cities. 
 
Israel Radio cited UNRWA as saying in a report issued yesterday that 
IsraelQs blockade of Gaza is a major factor in the increase in 
poverty there.  UNRWA said that aid granted to Gaza has failed to 
stop more than half of the population in the territory from sliding 
below the poverty line.  UNRWA was quoted as saying that conditions 
in the occupied West Bank, however, have improved, where the poverty 
level in 2007 dropped by nearly five per cent from the previous 
year, to 19.1 per cent.  UNRWA cited movement restrictions by Israel 
in the West Bank. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that yesterday Attorney General Menachem Mazuz 
criticized PM Ehud Olmert saying that he was deliberately 
obstructing the corruption investigation currently underway against 
him.  The media reported that the police made similar accusations. 
Major media reported that Olmert attacked the State Prosecutor's 
Office and the police, claiming they were out to topple him.  Media 
reported that Olmert will again be probed next Friday.  In another 
development, the media reported that Justice Minister Daniel 
Friedmann intends to split the attorney generalQs government and 
prosecution functions. 
 
Outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman was quoted as 
saying in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that UNIFIL soldiers 
assigned to maintain the cease-fire that ended the Second Lebanon 
War in the summer of 2006 are not carrying out their mandate and are 
potentially laying the groundwork for another round of violence 
between Israel and Hizbullah.  The Jerusalem Post also quoted a 
Beirut-based Western journalist as saying that Hizbullah is 
recruiting members for "resistance battalions" in southern Lebanese 
Sunni villages opposite the Sheba Farms. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the U.S. is preparing a new intelligence 
report on Iran's nuclear program, which is to be published in 
November. A GOI source was quoted as saying that the U.S. now 
believes that Iran is trying to produce a nuclear weapon, contrary 
to the National Intelligence Estimate's assessment that Iran had 
halted its military nuclear effort in 2003.  Ha'aretz reported that 
Israel is trying to alert the American intelligence community to 
Iran's nuclear ability and to have an impact on the report's 
contents.  Ha'aretz reported that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Gabi 
Ashkenazi warned yesterday in Washington that Israel would not rule 
out any course of action regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions, "We are 
all united in the view that Iran needs to be prevented from 
obtaining a nuclear weapon.  There is no doubt that diplomatic 
activity and sanctions are preferable, but we all understand -- we 
and the Americans -- that we need to prepare all options."  Ha'aretz 
reported that Barack Obama told Olmert that Iran should be given a 
chance to modify its nuclear program. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited reports that Israel and Syria's next round 
of talks will deal with issues such as borders, water rights, 
security, and the normalization of ties. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen awarded the Legion of Merit to Lt. Gen 
Gabi Ashkenazi for his contribution to the war on terror, his work 
for Israel's security ,and his contribution to improving the 
security dialogue between the U.S. and Israel. 
 
Major media reported that yesterday, for the first time since he 
became defense minister, Ehud Barak updated opposition leader 
Benjamin Netanyahu on security issues. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that "taking the protest against the 
Gaza blockade to a new level," two boats packed with foreign 
left-wing activists will attempt to sail from Cyprus to the sealed 
Gaza harbor in two weeks' time. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the inspection that the Federal Aviation 
Administration conducted this week in Israel exposed malfunctions in 
flight safety supervision.  The newspaper cited Israel's concern 
that the U.S. will restrict the activity of Israeli airlines. 
 
Ha'aretz and Yediot reported that yesterday the relatives of terror 
victims filed a 450-million shekel (around $129.1 million) 
class-action lawsuit against the PA, the PLO, and jailed Fatah 
leader Marwan Barghouti.  The plaintiffs, who filed the suit in the 
Jerusalem District Court, are the families of two Givat Zeev 
residents, who were killed some four years ago in two separate 
shooting attacks near their home. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Olmert will ask the government  to approve 
the cessation of the immigration of Falash Mura -- Ethiopians whose 
Jewish ancestors converted to Christianity. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that El Al has canceled several flights to the 
U.S. in July due to high fuel costs, and that Israir will end its 
New York flights in the winter for the same reason. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli combat veterans are 
preparing to train a Jewish paramilitary group ("Konenut") in rural 
New York. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "While 
Obama promises to dedicate himself, from the 'first minute' of his 
presidency, to solving the conflict, his apparent sanguinity over an 
Israel shrunk into the 1949 Armistice Lines is troubling." 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: "The 
embrace of the Democratic candidate does not reflect the longing for 
a different America, but a mood of surrender to totalitarian 
forces." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Obama's Whirlwind Visit" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (7/25): 
"While Obama promises to dedicate himself, from the 'first minute' 
of his presidency, to solving the conflict, his apparent sanguinity 
over an Israel shrunk into the 1949 Armistice Lines is troubling. 
Half the Palestinian polity is today in the clutches of the Islamist 
rejectionists in Gaza.  If the IDF precipitously withdrew, the other 
half, ruled by the 'moderate' Ramallah-based leadership, would 
quickly fall under Islamist control.  And that is something no 
American president would desire.  But he sounded definitive in his 
outlook on this immensely sensitive issue -- more so, indeed, that 
did McCain when we interviewed him in March -- even though he was 
making only his second visit to Israel.  He owes it to Israelis and 
Palestinians -- and to himself -- to return here for a deeper 
look." 
 
II.  "The Danger in the Adulation of Obama" 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (7/25): 
"At best, Obama reminds one of John Kennedy, but without Kennedy's 
definite values and the ideological resolve.... The embrace of the 
Democratic candidate does not reflect the longing for a different 
America, but a mood of surrender to totalitarian forces.  It means 
giving up the principled, resolute stance in defense of human rights 
and freedom.  Those yearning for an Obama-style presidency are the 
same as those enthusiastic about the prominent, insulting presence 
of Bashar Assad in Paris on the day of 'liberty, equality, and 
fraternity.'" 
 
MORENO