VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #1792/01 2271015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141015Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7992
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 4266
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0873
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 4602
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5055
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 4258
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 2599
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 5018
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1882
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0094
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 8869
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 6349
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 1266
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 5371
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7331
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 0271
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001792 
 
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: 
------------------------- 
 
All media repotted that yesterday Defense Minister Ehud Barak 
unleashed a fierce attacks against FM Tzipi Livni.  He was quoted as 
saying: "The Foreign Minister, with her background as it is, is not 
built to make decisions, not at three in the morning and not at 
three in the afternoon.  Being in the room when decisions are made 
does not make you fit and ready to make them."  Barak also 
criticized Livni's statements about UNSC Resolution 1701 being her 
top decision.  He called Kadima a "refugee camp."  Israel Radio and 
other media reported that last night Transportation Minister Shaul 
Mofaz and Livni presented a show of unity in response to BarakQs 
comments.  All media reported that yesterday Tzachi Hanegbi, 
Chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and 
head of Kadima's steering committee, endorsed Livni for the party 
chairmanship. 
 
Georgian President Mkhail Saakashvili was quoted as saying in an 
interview with Ha'aretz that Israeli military aid is still flowing 
into his country.  In an interview with Maariv, Saakashvili was 
quoted as saying that Israelis had a small part in Georgia's big 
effort.  However, Ha'aretz reported that Georgian Reintegration 
Minister Temur Yakobashvili told the newspaper that Israel has 
joined in the West's betrayal of Georgia, terming the GOI's decision 
to stop arms exports to his country a "disgrace."  Some 100 Georgian 
Jews have started the immigration process to Israel since the 
fighting began. 
 
Last night Channel 2-TV reported that yesterday Israel's Ambassador 
in Washington, Sallai Meridor, sent a scathing letter to Defense 
Minister and Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, accusing him of harming 
Israel's diplomatic mission in the U.S. during his most recent visit 
two weeks ago. The letter claimed that Barak refused to include 
Foreign Ministry officials in meetings with senior U.S. officials 
that dealt with "sensitive and important" issues.  Meridor said that 
Barak's decision limited the leverage of Israeli diplomats 
permanently placed in Washington because it made them seem detached 
from the leadership in Israel. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Defense Minister Barak as saying yesterday that the 
cease-fire deal with Hamas along the Gaza border has created 
conditions that facilitate the talks to free Gilad Shalit.  Barak 
was also quoted as saying that sanctions against Iran must be 
toughened.  The Jerusalem Post quoted Barak as saying that the U.S. 
has clearly stated that it opposes military action against Iran now. 
 The Jerusalem Post reported that the U.S. Department of Defense 
told the newspaper yesterday that reports that a large American, 
British, and French naval force is en route to the Persian Gulf to 
blockade Iran are untrue. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that PM Ehud Olmert has proposed to PA President 
Mahmoud Abbas that the "shelf agreement" the two sides are working 
on include an agreement for Israel to take in Palestinian refugees 
as part of "family unification."  Ha'aretz quoted sources in Israel 
and the U.S. as saying that Olmert proposed to Abbas that Israel 
absorb some 2,000 Palestinian refugees a year for 10 years, on a 
humanitarian basis and according to a formula to be determined in 
advance. 
 
Leading media reported that the IDF has closed an investigation into 
the death of a Reuters cameraman in Gaza on Aug 16.  The Jerusalem 
Post quoted Reuters as saying that it is "deeply disturbed" by the 
findings and that the army's conclusion could encourage further 
violence against journalists operating in war zones. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the Knesset's Economic 
Affairs Committee called on the PM to speed up the final approval 
process for 500 new apartment units in the ultra-Orthodox city of 
Beitar Illit, which is located less than a kilometer over the Green 
Line. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday a 16-year-old Palestinian was 
arrested at a roadblock south of Nablus after he was found hiding 
two pipe bombs and a pocket knife.  The media also reported on cases 
of violence in the territories. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Brenda Shaffer, a lecturer on Central Asia 
and the Caucasus region at the University of Haifa, as saying that 
it was likely that Russia would go along with sanctions against Iran 
now, but that if the West takes a hard line on the Georgia issue, 
then Moscow would likely respond by taking a tough line of its own 
on other issues, including being less cooperative with the West on 
 
Iran, 
 
Leading media reported that Jordanian border officials refused to 
allow a group of Israeli tourists carrying Jewish religious objects 
such as prayer shawls and phylacteries to enter their country on 
Tuesday, saying it was a "safety measure" to avoid potential terror 
threats. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying 
yesterday that the government plans to transfer ownership of the 
land on which the city's St. Sergius Church stands to Russia in the 
coming weeks. 
 
Last night Channel 10-TV reported that PM Olmert demanded $5,000 
after speaking at a fundraising event for an organization that runs 
the Sarel IDF volunteer program.  Eventually, the organization 
compromised on $2,000. 
 
Some media quoted Muhammad Bassiouny, who was Egyptian ambassador to 
Israel for 21 years, as saying last Saturday at the Alexandria 
Library that he had been an emissary of Egyptian intelligence. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------- 
¶1.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Israel's 
military option has not evaporated.... At the same time, Israel must 
allow diplomatic efforts to move ahead, lower the tone of the 
military threat, and understand that the dialogue with Iran is 
essential to an attempt to reduce its military motivation." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Diplomacy instead of Belligerence" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (8/14): "The 
warning conveyed by Washington to Israel not to attack Iran, and its 
demand of Jerusalem not to surprise it with such an attack, should 
not startle us.  The Bush administration, which during its two terms 
in office used the threat of war as a main strategy for curbing 
Ian's nuclear capabilities, has recently adopted a new policy that 
does not correspond with Israel's belligerent declarations.... 
Israel ... is liable to find itself in an inferior position in the 
face of European countries' diplomatic ambitions, the economic 
interests of China and Russia, and the American pressure for quiet 
in Iraq.  This requires Israel to maneuver wisely and cautiously so 
as not to render itself an isolated warmonger, and frm there a 
regional threat.  This is especially th case when it is clear that 
the region, Iran, an the great powers all understand that Israel's 
mlitary option has not evaporated and that faced wih an 
existential, genuine, and immediate threat,Israel will not take 
foreign interests into consideration.  At the same time, Israel must 
allow dilomatic efforts to move ahead, lower the tone of te 
military threat, and understand that the dialoue with Iran is 
essential to an attempt to reduc its military motivation." 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Veteran columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "Rebuilding deterrence must be a top 
priority.  And Kadima cannot be trusted with the job.  Its record 
speaks for itself." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"How Israel Became the Boy who Cried Wolf" 
 
Veteran columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (8/14): "[One of Israel's more flawed 
recent policies was] its nonstop threats that we would 'soon' lose 
patience and invade Gaza.  Since that never happened, Israel became 
the boy who cried wolf. It has lost any ability to make credible 
threats, as its enemies will consider them mere hot air.  Then, in 
June, the government capitulated completely, accepting a truce on 
Hamas's terms -- which [Shin Bet head Yuval] Diskin termed a 
'lifesaver' for the organization.... In short, rather than showing 
that peace pays better than terror, Kadima showed that terror pays 
better than peace -- thereby encouraging it.... The picture in the 
North is identical..... Since the [Second Lebanon] War, Hizbullah 
has tripled its rocket supply, to about 40,000, and now has 
virtually all of Israel in range rather than the North alone.  And 
again we did nothing.  Moreover, Hizbullah's rearmament enabled it 
to seize control of Lebanon's government this spring, further 
increasing its ability to threaten Israel.  But not content with 
mere inaction, Kadima actively undermined its chances of mustering 
effective diplomatic pressure against the smuggling via its indirect 
negotiations with Syrian President Bashar Assad.  For Assad, the 
benefits were immediate: After years of international isolation, he 
was welcomed back to the world stage.... Kadima inherited a country 
with a weakened but still extant deterrent posture and proceeded to 
systemically destroy it.  Now, rebuilding deterrence must be a top 
priority.  And Kadima cannot be trusted with the job.  Its record 
speaks for itself." 
 
MORENO