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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002084 
 
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.  9/11 Anniversary 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media led with the killing of two IAF airmen yesterday evening 
when their Cobra attack helicopter crashed in the Galilee, 
apparently due to a technical failure. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the U.S. has delayed Israel's request for 
"bunker-busting" bombs and an air corridor to Iran.  The newspaper 
noted that this will make it more difficult for Israel to attack 
Iran.  Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that yesterday Israel 
categorically rejected Iran's demand that it be condemned over 
threats made by Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan and DM Ehud 
Barak.  In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israel's 
Ambassador to the UN wrote that Iran is the last country that can 
give Israel moral lessons. 
 
Israel Radio quoted U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem Jacob Walles as 
saying in an interview with the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam that 
Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to talk about East Jerusalem 
and the Dead Sea. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted senior diplomatic officials as saying 
yesterday that Israel wants a fifth round of indirect talks with 
Syria in Turkey, amid reports that the Syrians would prefer to 
postpone further negotiations until the spring. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Israel and U.S. officials 
were unable to say when Gen. James Jones will present to Secretary 
of State Condoleezza Rice his report on Israel's security needs 
after the establishment of a Palestinian state. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Shas leader and Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister 
Eli Yishai as saying that if FM Tzipi Livni and Transportation 
Minister Shaul Mofaz do not manage to form a government, there will 
be elections in March.  Yediot reported on extensive phony voter 
registration leading up to the Kadima primary. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted DM Barak as saying yesterday that an IDF 
operation in the Gaza Strip would have killed the negotiations over 
Gilad Shalit.  The newspaper also reported that Iran is pressuring 
Hamas to carry out a coup in the West Bank, seize power in the PA, 
and prevent an agreement between the PA and Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Palestinian sources as saying a 
Palestinian in his 20s was killed during an IDF operation in the 
Nablus neighborhood of Ras el Ein yesterday evening. 
 
Major media cited a report issued by the human rights organization 
B'Tselem that over the past few years Israel has added large tracts 
of land to settlements east of the security fence -- principally 
through acts of violence toward Palestinians.  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that yesterday B'Tselem and Hamoked: Center for the Defense 
of the Individual charged that in the past year, Israel has stepped 
up its policy of separating the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and 
forcing Palestinians registered in Gaza or wishing to visit Gaza to 
forego their right to live in the West Bank. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF has launched a car ID 
system to speed up roadblocks for settlers. 
 
Yom Leyom quoted former PA prisoners affairs minister Fares Kadoura 
as saying that he agrees that Jerusalem should not be divided, and 
that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is detached from the terrain and 
cannot bring peace. Kadoura took part in the recent Istanbul meeting 
between representatives of Shas and the PLO. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Gen. Antoine Lahad, the former commander 
of the South Lebanon Army, as saying that peace with Israel would 
end President Assad's regime. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday, during a conference on 
terrorism in Herzliya, Iraqi MP Mithal Al-Aloussi called to 
establish a joint intelligence network with Israel and the U.S. 
 
Ha'aretz quoted Shas leader and Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister 
Eli Yishai as saying that if FM Tzipi Livni and Transportation 
Minister Shaul Mofaz do not manage to form a government, there will 
be elections in March. 
 
Leading media reported that former justice Eliezer Rivlin, the 
Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, decided that it was not 
in his power to approve the candidacy of former Shas leader Aryeh 
Deri to the position of mayor of Jerusalem.  Yediot reported that 
Deri can circumvent the "moral turpitude" clause by turning to his 
friend President Shimon Peres or the High Court of Justice. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported on the opening performance of the Alvin 
Ailey dance troupe in Tel Aviv yesterday. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that musician Daniel Barenboim was attacked by 
extreme-right wingers in Jerusalem and had to use the services of a 
bodyguard. 
 
Maariv featured a story about Sam Rasool, who could be the first 
Palestinian-American to be elected to Congress. 
 
Maariv presented the results of a TNS/Teleseker poll: 
If Knesset elections were to be held today and Livni to head Kadima 
with the following parties running, for which party would you vote? 
Results in Knesset seats.  (In brackets: Maariv's August 26 poll): 
Likud: 29  (31); Kadima:25 (23);  Labor Party: 14 (12): Yisrael 
Beiteinu: 12 (12); Arab parties: 10 (10); Shas:9 ( 9);  National 
Union Party and National-Religious Party:8 ( 8); Meretz:4 (5); 
United Torah Judaism: 5 (6); Social Justice -- new party headed by 
Arkady Gaidamak: 2 (4); Pensioners Party:0  ; Green Party 2 (0). 
 
If Knesset elections were to be held today and Shaul Mofaz to head 
Kadima with the following parties running, for which party would you 
vote?  Results in Knesset seats.  (In brackets: Maariv's August 1 
poll): 
Likud: 29 (31); Labor Party: 18 (16): Kadima:17 (16);  Yisrael 
Beiteinu: 13 (11); Arab parties: 11 (10); Shas:8 (8 ); National 
Union Party and National-Religious Party:8 ( 8); Meretz: 5 (6); 
United Torah Judaism: 5 (6); Social Justice -- new party headed by 
Arkady Gaidamak: 3 (5); Green Party 3 (3); Pensioners Party:0). 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Washington correspondent Natasha Mozgovaya wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "The extent to which the next [U.S.] 
president will want to make his presence felt in the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict will depend on his willingness to put 
all his weight on that frail card [the peace process]." 
 
Meretz-Yahad Party Knesset Member Yossi Beilin wrote in Ha'aretz: 
"[Olmert's] successor will be making a big mistake if he or she 
treats autumn 2008 as a transition season.  Without an agreement of 
principles, winter 2009 could be one of the worst of our lives." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Seeking s Super-Policy" 
 
Washington correspondent Natasha Mozgovaya wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (9/11): "Israel's limited role in the Obama 
and McCain] campaigns is no accident.  This time as well, the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not going to be at the top of 
America's foreign policy agenda -- not any time soon, and not just 
because America is busy with other problems.  The population that 
will ultimately decide in favor of one of the versions of 'change' 
will rapidly be making demands in return.  Clinton ended his term by 
going all out in a last-ditch effort to reconcile Israel and the 
Palestinians, which made Bush uninterested in taking an active role 
in the Mideast peace process, for seven years.  This time, Bush, and 
primarily Rice, will try to leave the next president a peace process 
that is still alive, even if anemic.  The extent to which the next 
president will want to make his presence felt in the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict will depend on his willingness to put 
all his weight on that frail card." 
 
II.  "The Season for Decision Making" 
 
Meretz-Yahad Party Knesset Member Yossi Beilin wrote in Ha'aretz 
(9/11): "The first years of the Bush administration were one big 
missed opportunity with regard to the Middle East.... [Eventually], 
last November, he launched the Annapolis process that was supposed 
to lead to a final-status agreement within a year.  But the parties 
to the process failed to take up the gauntlet.... Olmert, who has 
undergone a great ideological change since his Knesset vote against 
the Camp David Accords 30 years ago, believed that the journey he 
made would enable him to persuade the Palestinian leadership to 
reach an agreement of principles.  But the rather small distance 
between him and Abbas was not bridged.  As a prime minister who has 
resigned, he cannot reach an agreement, but his successor will be 
making a big mistake if he or she treats autumn 2008 as a transition 
season.  Without an agreement of principles, winter 2009 could be 
one of the worst of our lives." 
 
--------------------- 
¶2.  9/11 Anniversary: 
--------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: "The war 
against Western civilization is real, but the enemy is not a 
conveniently homogeneous body." 
 
Columnist and historian Tom Segev wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "Seven years after that day in September, the 
attack is too distant for tears, too near for understanding." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Al-Qaida Lives. Kill It" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (9/11): 
"Bush's pledge to hunt down the 9/11 perpetrators ... went partly 
unfulfilled because America became sidetracked in Iraq.... Al-Qaida, 
along with the Taliban in which it incubates, has been rejuvenated. 
What to do?.... The war against Western civilization is real, but 
the enemy is not a conveniently homogeneous body. Putting al-Qaida 
out of commission will not achieve victory against a metastasized 
Islamist threat..... On this meaningful day, let us recall that the 
West is engaged in a war not against "terror," but against violent, 
expansionist Muslim extremism. The prospect of the forces of 
enlightenment prevailing will be immeasurably enhanced if the 
heteromorphic essence of the enemy is understood -- and if that 
enemy is confronted judiciously, and with perseverance." 
 
II.  "Seven Years Later" 
 
Columnist and historian Tom Segev wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (9/11): "Seven years ago today, it looked as 
though the world would never again be what it was before the attack 
on the World Trade Center.... But within 24 hours of the attack, I 
was also thinking about the greatness of New York City.... 
'September 11th,' as people now say in almost every language, also 
offered a good opening for a historical discussion on the decline of 
America.  The U.S. has lost its status as the sole superpower, and 
the recent economic crisis has brought about a situation whereby 
most Americans do not believe today that their children will live a 
better life than they have.  This is ostensibly the most profound 
expression of the loss of personal security that everyone attributed 
to the attack; after all, the need to remove one's shoes during the 
security check before boarding a plane has not really changed the 
American dream.  Nor is America sinking, of course.... Seven years 
after that day in September, the attack is too distant for tears, 
too near for understanding." 
 
CUNNINGHAM