VZCZCXRO3695
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1721/01 2601000
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161000Z SEP 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2792
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 7320
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4302
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4155
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5649
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4070
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2636

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001721 
 
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 (9/16):  DISCUSSING THE LEGITIMACY 
OF ABBAS AFTER JANUARY 9 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
The PLO denouncing of remarks by Hamas leader Khalid Mish'al 
concerning the end of Palestinian Authority President Abbas's 
legitimacy in January 2009, leads coverage in the three dailies. 
Citing a statement issued by the PLO's Executive Committee following 
its September 15 meeting presided over by Abbas, the reports 
highlight a sharp Committee response insisting that Hamas' stance 
has no legal basis.  The reports also spotlight the Committee's 
pessimistic view on peace negotiations, stating that there has been 
no real progress and that chances of forging an agreement before the 
end of the year are slim or none at all. 
 
"Every day that passes without an agreement with the Palestinians is 
one more day that we will regret," according to Israeli Premier 
Olmert, quoted on all front pages.  Highlighting his September 15 
remarks before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, 
the reports also quote Olmert expressing Israel's willingness to 
help solve the Palestinian refugee issue. 
 
The Palestinian Authority's (PA) announcement to allocate $23 
million for projects benefiting Bedouin communities in the Jordan 
Valley is front-page news in Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida. 
Quoting PA Minister of Information Riad Al-Malki after the PA's 
weekly cabinet meeting, the papers again report that the PA will 
fund the full salaries of government employees this month, in 
addition to paying half of all employee benefits. 
 
Citing an AFP report, Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida quote chief 
Palestinian negotiator Sa'eb Erekat confirming that Palestinian 
Authority President Abbas will meet with President Bush in 
Washington on September 25, not the 26th. 
In another front-page article, Erekat is reported saying that the 
September 16 meeting between Abbas and Israeli Premier Olmert will 
deal with four themes: Assessing the progress of ongoing 
negotiations; reiterating Palestinian opposition to any partial 
settlement or the postponement of any final-status issues; dealing 
with the implementation of the first phase of the Roadmap, including 
settlement activities; discussing the issues of Palestinian 
deportees, Palestinian prisoners and the "siege" imposed on Gaza. 
 
Al-Ayyam front-pages a story citing an Israeli radio report that an 
aide to Israeli Premier Olmert recently met with Hamas members from 
the West Bank.  Hamas member Nasser Iddin Al-Sha'ir denied meeting 
with Israeli officials and stressed that negotiations fall under the 
responsibility of the PLO and PA Presidency, according to 
reporting. 
 
A public opinion poll conducted by Ramallah-based Alpha 
International shows that 68% of those surveyed prefer to get their 
news from Al-Quds daily and Al-Jazeera. 
 
Turmoil in the global financial market and crisis in local real 
estate markets, including the collapse of the U.S.-based investment 
bank Lehman Brothers, receive front-page coverage in Al-Hayat 
Al-Jadida. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
¶1.  Under the title, "Required... Exit From Useless Debate", Al-Quds 
independent opines in its main editorial (09/16): "The debate over 
 
JERUSALEM 00001721  002 OF 002 
 
 
President Mahmud Abbas' remaining time in office is heating up over 
the issue of whether it will end on January 9 or at the end of the 
[Palestinian Authority's] Legislative Council cycle in 2010... this 
is not the issue at all... The division... is deepening despite all 
mediation efforts to date and those that will continue until Eid 
Al-Fitr.  Those [Hamas] who declare that they will not acknowledge 
the legitimacy of the President after January 9 must answer a basic 
question:  Do they acknowledge today the legitimacy of the President 
and the Presidency?  Are they prepared to respond and positively 
deal with the President and the Presidency?!  The answers are simple 
and clear:  Those who support national division are the same ones 
creating the destructive national crisis and the political vacuum. 
The only solution to any internal crisis is through the restoration 
of national unity... not through the stoking of disputes here and 
there that can only serve narrow factional and party goals." 
 
¶2.  Regular columnist in independent Al-Ayyam Rajab Abu Sarriya 
opines under the title, "Gaza Faces One of Two Scenarios" (09/16): 
"What Khalid Mish'al declared in Damascus [non legitimate President 
unless new elections held in January] clearly reveals, leaving no 
room for doubt, the unchanged Hamas position that does not seek nor 
desire... dialogue, at least in the next four months until 
presidential elections and before the truce with Israel ends... 
Mish'al himself announced a couple of weeks back that the only 
funder of his movement is Iran, thus completing the picture, as if 
saying to the Arab world who seek an end to Palestinian division... 
that we [Hamas] have no use for you [Arabs], you give us nothing. 
Gaza is now faced with one of two scenarios, either dialogue will 
actually begin, and end the division before the year is over ... 
Or, Egyptian attempts and Arab follow-up efforts will continue until 
both parties- Arabs and Egyptians- are forced to carry out their 
threats to publicly label Hamas a hindrance to dialogue... This 
would leave the door wide-open for President Mahmud Abbas to carry 
out his threats to declare Gaza a rebel region, disobedient to the 
legitimate central power... this will lead to a tight closure and 
complete isolation of the Gaza Strip." 
 
WALLES