VZCZCXRO4121
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1634/01 2470926
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 030926Z SEP 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2675
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAS-ZD/DACS-ZK//
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7301
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4283
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4136
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5630
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4050
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2617

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001634 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS BBG 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR ABRAMS 
CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD 
 
JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD 
LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (9/03): DEBATING THE ROLE OF ARAB 
SECURITY FORCES 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
Previews of the upcoming Syrian-French-Turkish summit capture front 
page headlines in all dailies.  Citing international wires, Al-Quds 
and Al-Ayyam report that the September 4 summit will be held in 
Damascus on the topic of regional peace, especially, indirect talks 
between Israel- and Syria.  The papers also report that both French 
and Syrian presidents confirmed separately to the press on September 
2, that Syria, France, Turkey and Qatar will attend the summit. 
 
All front pages carry news from a September 2 Israel Radio broadcast 
that Israeli Premier Olmert told Israeli leaders that now is the 
best time for Israel to conclude a peace agreement with the 
Palestinians.  According to the report, Olmert's comment came during 
a September 2 meeting with Israeli Minister of Defense Barak and 
Israeli Foreign Minister Livni.  According to Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, 
which leads with the news, Olmert proposed ceding 93.5% of the West 
Bank and 6.5% of the Negev to the Palestinians. 
 
Quartet Envoy Tony Blair's September 2 meeting with chief 
Palestinian negotiator Ahmad Quray is front page news in all 
dailies.  Al Quds leads with a photo of the two officials smiling in 
Quray's Abu Dis office, under a picture of Jerusalem.  During the 
meeting, Blair reiterated his opposition to continued Israeli 
settlement expansion and stressed the need for tangible improvements 
"on the ground", including an end to Israeli occupation and a "real 
chance" for Palestinians to establish their own democratic state, 
according to reporting.  For his part, Quray reiterated Palestinian 
opposition to postponing or excluding discussion on any of the final 
status issues, the papers note. 
 
Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida run the full text of U.S. Consulate 
General Jerusalem's press release on Consul General Walles' 
announcement of $8.86 million in USG assistance to UNRWA to address 
budget shortfalls.  Al Quds runs the text on page 3 with a picture 
of Walles at the Shu'fat refugee camp where he made the September 2 
announcement.  Local news websites also picked up selected parts of 
the press release and all media note that total U.S. contributions 
to UNRWA for 2008 have reached nearly $157 million. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
¶1.  Independent Al-Quds runs an editorial entitled, "A Dangerous 
Legal Precedent" (9/03): "According to news reports, an American 
court has issued a ruling to impose a heavy fine on the Palestinian 
Authority for the 1996 killing of an Israeli-American by Hamas. 
This has established a (new) legal precedent... what we should do 
now is bring cases of Palestinian victims [of Israeli violence] 
before the courts around the world.  There are plenty of Palestinian 
victims who are American citizens.  This might be the most effective 
way to respond to these cases being filed by the families of Israeli 
victims.  It would be good to raise a Palestinian voice, which has 
been silent until now, to express the pain of bereaved Palestinian 
families." 
¶2.  Independent Al-Ayyam runs an editorial by daily columnist Jawad 
Al-Bashiti entitled, "What is missing in the proposal to make it 
attractive!" (9/03):  "If the goal is simply to establish new 
Palestinian security forces that can provide security for the Gaza 
Strip, there is no need to send Arab security forces there.  Such 
Palestinian security forces can be trained in Egypt or any other 
Arab country and then sent to the Gaza Strip, including the Rafah 
crossing.  However, if the goal is... to revamp the security forces 
 
JERUSALEM 00001634  002 OF 002 
 
 
and systems in a professional way, devoid of politics, and that goal 
is difficult to achieve without the help of Arab security forces, 
then there is also a need to send Arab forces to the West Bank as 
well..."