VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #1954/01 2401117
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271117Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8194
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 4316
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0921
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 4656
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5105
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 4310
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 2657
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 5072
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1933
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0148
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 8917
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 6398
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 1316
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 5419
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7381
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 0338
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001954 
 
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 
 
¶2.  Muslims in European Society 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying 
during a press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas 
in Ramallah yesterday: "The settlement activity is not conducive to 
creating an environment for negotiations.  Yet negotiations go on." 
The Jerusalem Post reported that during a press conference with FM 
Tzipi Livni, Secretary Rice said about settlement activity: 
"Anything that undermines confidence between the parties ought to be 
avoided."  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted American sources in Rice's 
entourage as saying that from the standpoint of the U.S., there was 
no difference between massive and limited construction in the West 
Bank, and it made no distinction -- at least for now -- between the 
settlement blocs that the U.S. acknowledges will stay in Israel's 
hands, and the rest of the areas that in their estimation will be 
turned over to the Palestinians.   These sources also took care to 
emphasize that in President Bush's letter from April 14, 2002 to 
prime minister Ariel Sharon, in which the U.S. recognized the Jewish 
population centers in the West Bank, they assert that leaving these 
population centers in Israel's possession required Palestinian 
consent, and could not be a unilateral step.  Israel Radio cited the 
London-based newspaper Al-Hayat as saying that Abbas asked Secretary 
Rice to put the results of the negotiations with Israel in writing, 
and to submit the document to the next U.S. administration, so that 
the talks would not begin again from scratch.  According to the 
report, the parties to the negotiations have reached agreement on 
certain issues, but the work was broken off due to the domestic 
political crisis in Israel.  Israel Radio reported that senior 
Palestinian officials told the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that the 
Palestinian side had reached the conclusion that the U.S. 
administration is not currently capable of obligating Israel to stop 
activity in the settlements and does not possess the levers to move 
Israel from its positions.  The Jerusalem Post reported that PM Ehud 
Olmert and Secretary Rice discussed the situation in the Caucasus 
 
and its implications for the Middle East. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Defense Minister Ehud Barak told EgyptQQQ&QQQxst 
meeting, and that it would have representatives from five Arab 
countries.  Khashaan was quoted as saying that the committee will 
gather information and prepare files against Israeli war criminals, 
and on the basis of these files, complaints would be submitted to 
the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The Palestinian 
Minister declared that the committee would act in every possible way 
to bring the criminals to justice, including applications to courts 
in Israel. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Deputy DM Matan Vilnai as saying that all of 
Israel is being targeted by missiles -- from the North and from Iran 
-- but that measures are being taken to lessen the threat and that 
Israel is coordinating  with the U.S. on the issue. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a panel of parliamentarians plans 
to head to the abandoned Shedma army base in Gush Etzion (southern 
West Bank) today to weigh in on an IDF plan to hand portions of it 
over to the Palestinian town of Beit Sahur southeast of Bethlehem 
for a medical center and a park.  The newspaper quoted right-wing 
MKs as saying that the site must not be handed over to the PA. 
Israel Radio and IDF Radio reported that two right-wing activists 
were ordered out of the West Bank for fear that they may interfere 
with the Palestinian olive harvest, which begins in about two weeks. 
 The security forces tried to serve a third right-wing activist with 
a similar order, but he refused to open his door.  In response to 
the orders, right-wing activists in the West Bank told IDF Radio 
that the ground would burn. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and other media cited studies according to which 
the Hebrew press's coverage of the Kadima leadership race has been 
biased in favor of FM Livni.  The Jerusalem Post also reported that 
yesterday Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann ordered the party 
registrar, Alon Bachar, to use all legal means at his disposal to 
prevent Likud voters from voting in the September 17 Kadima 
primary. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that yesterday police detained Prof. Jeff Halper, 
an Israeli activist who had sailed to Gaza to challenge Israel's 
blockade of the coastal region.  They accused Halper, who also holds 
U.S. citizenship, of violating a ban on Israelis entering Gaza 
 
Ha'aretz cited figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics 
that in 2007, Chinese exports to Israel surpassed Germany's for the 
first time. The U.S. remained first in exports to Israel: $8.1 
billion in 2007, compared with $6.2 billion the year before.  In an 
unrelated development, leading media reported that the Histadrut 
Labor Federation has proclaimed a labor conflict: Israel's ports 
will come to a standstill in two weeks. 
 
Major media reported that Israeli crime kingpin Yitzhak Abergil 
faces charges of murder, drug dealing, and money laundering in the 
U.S. 
 
For the past few days, almost all extensive lead stories were about 
the disappearance of Rose Pizem, a four-and-a-half-year-old girl. 
Police now suspect that her stepfather, who is also her biological 
grandfather, was involved in her murder, and that her mother was an 
accomplice to the crime. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "According to a Peace Now report, settlement 
construction doubled in the first five months of the year compared 
to the same period last year.  The Bush administration is not exempt 
of responsibility for this." 
Far-left columnist Kobi Niv wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: 
"We repeatedly choose, like a broken automaton, the impossible, 
impractical, non-existent option.... Why do we behave so 
irrationally?  What are we waiting for?  To be beaten some more so 
that then we understand?" 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Faulty Pleasant Approach" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (8/27): "The U.S. administration believes its 
role is to encourage Israel and the PA to reach an agreement and 
contribute to creating the conditions for the change to take place. 
But it does not believe in forcing its views on the two sides.  This 
is an enlightened, pleasant approach, but in the Mideast jungle it 
is terribly out of place.... The Israeli-Palestinian process has 
held a secondary position on the President's daily agenda.  Therein 
lies Bush's big failure: Eight years is enough time for the most 
powerful country in the world, even when it is busy on other fronts, 
to take steps to loosen the Israeli-Palestinian entanglement, which 
Washington considers a focal point for instability in the region, if 
not the world.  This mission was not carried out: The United States 
allowed Israel and the Palestinians to engage in a bloody struggle, 
even though they sought its involvement (according to public opinion 
polls, at least on the Israeli side).... This was blatantly 
highlighted this week: According to a Peace Now report, settlement 
construction doubled in the first five months of the year compared 
to the same period last year.  The Bush administration is not exempt 
of responsibility for this." 
 
II.  "It Is We Who Understand Only Force" 
 
Far-left columnist Kobi Niv wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv 
(8/27): "The very fact that [the] cease-fire [with Hamas] exists and 
is more or less honored, ought to teach us a few things.... It is 
certainly possible to reach agreements with this government and to 
maintain these agreements on a long-term basis of reciprocity, and 
strict compliance.  Secondly, not only is there someone to talk to 
in Gaza, there is also something to talk about.  The fact is, the 
current cease-fire in Gaza was proposed by the Gazan 'Hamas 
government' several months back already.  And Israel, which turned 
it down for many months, eventually capitulated, as usual, under 
Palestinian force, in this case, because of the Qassam rocket fire 
that continued at Sderot and the Gaza periphery communities, and was 
forced to accept the cease-fire against its will.  In other words, 
the Palestinian government headed by Hamas, in Gaza, not only has 
the ability that Fatah and its governments never had, to reach 
agreements and to keep them.  It also has concrete and practical 
suggestions for arrangements between us and them, unlike the empty 
'peace agreements' supposedly being forged between the Israeli 
government, which doesn't even want to implement them, and 
Palestinian wheeler-dealers who have no ability to implement 
them.... There are, in fact, two real options facing us.  One, a 
real cease-fire, which can be reached and can be kept, for 20 years, 
between us and the elected Palestinian government.  The second is a 
'peace fantasy' between us and a Palestinian ghost team that 
represents no one and that is incapable of wielding its authority 
over a dog.  And oddly enough, between the first and tangible option 
and the second non-existent one, we repeatedly choose, like a broken 
automaton, the impossible, impractical, non-existent option, the one 
that cannot be implemented under any circumstances.  Why do we 
behave so irrationally?  What are we waiting for?  To be beaten some 
more so that then we understand?" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Former Ambassador to the U.S., former Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and former Minister of Defense Moshe Arens wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The probability that ballistic rockets will 
be used against the Israeli civilian population is at this time 
almost a certainty, and the results would be devastating.  That 
situation needs to be changed while there is still time." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Civilian Population Is in Danger" 
 
Former Ambassador to the U.S., former Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and former Minister of Defense Moshe Arens wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (8/27): "Our Prime Minister may be on his way 
out, but he does not miss a chance to make superfluous public 
statements.  During his visit to an IDF installation last week he 
announced to the people of Israel that in the next war Israel's 
major cities will be subjected to rocket attacks.  This is not 
foreordained, but unless the government does something to prevent 
this severe danger to Israel, his vision is most likely to become a 
reality.  But what has the government been doing to prevent this 
danger?.... The Israeli leadership has been fully aware of the 
change in the region's strategic balance that the acquisition of 
nuclear weapons by Iran would entail.  The probability that Iran 
would use a nuclear weapon against Israel is very low, but the 
results could be catastrophic.  The probability that ballistic 
rockets will be used against the Israeli civilian population is at 
this time almost a certainty, and the results would be devastating. 
That situation needs to be changed while there is still time." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
¶3.  Muslims in European Society: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late Prime 
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot: "Mohammed is buying Europe.... Today the Muslim 
population is 'squeezing' Europe, and Israel indirectly." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Tainted Continent" 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late Prime 
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot (8/27): "In expensive [European] department stores, 
wealthy Muslim shoppers demand that other customers move out; they 
buy half the store, sometimes for hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
Mohammed is buying Europe.  Why should this interest us and why is 
it important for us?  We have to grasp the idea that money buys 
(almost) everything, particularly Europe's conscience.  How long 
will Israel play the chords of values, the moral of the Prophets, 
the Bible, and the Holocaust?  Perhaps not during this generation, 
but certainly in the next one, urope might become a subsidiary of 
the African contries and the Middle East.  Thus an assumingly 
arginal phenomenon that started with the beginningof the economic 
miracle in post-World War II Eurpe -- the steep decrease in birth 
rates and the hortage of workers -- became increasingly more 
problematical during the '80s.  Today the Muslim popuation is 
'squeezing' Europe, and Israel indirecty.  Ladies and gentlemen, 
this is 'tainted' Euroe!" 
 
CUNNINGHAM