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RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2115
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002315 
 
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 
 
Please note: There will be no Tel Aviv Media Reaction report on 
Tuesday, October 14, 2008, due to the Sukkoth holiday. 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All mainstream media reported that riots among Jewish and Arab 
residents erupted in the northern town of Acre (Akko) on the eve of 
Yom Kippur on Wednesday.  The riots, some of the worst the city has 
seen in years, began after an Arab resident of the Old City of Acre 
drove his car into a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in eastern 
Acre, where he said he lived.  Jewish teens at the scene said the 
Arab man was deliberately making noise and smoking cigarettes.  The 
teens attacked the man and shortly afterwards, a group of Arab teens 
arrived at the scene, igniting a riot.  Police faced off against 
hundreds of Jewish rioters who were chanting "death to Arabs" and 
trying to block the city's main thoroughfare.  The clashes resumed 
Thursday evening at the conclusion of the holiday.  The media cited 
diametrically opposed views about the riots, as expressed by 
right-wing Knesset members and Israeli Arab MKs. 
 
Maariv reported that a Hamas detainee had warned Shin Bet hours 
before the abduction of Gilad Shalit, but that the IDF claimed that 
the information lacked precision.  HaQaretz reported that outgoing 
PM Ehud Olmert has said in private conversations in recent weeks 
that it is a mistake to link the issue of Shalit's release to the 
cease-fire in Gaza.  According to the daily, Olmert has told 
officials in meetings on the matter that Israel must choose between 
moving ahead on Shalit's release by applying massive pressure to 
Hamas -- which might lead to a breakdown of the cease-fire and a 
renewal of Qassam fire on the Negev -- and a freeze on the Shalit 
release and quiet in Sderot and the communities close to Gaza. 
HaQaretz quoted sources close to Olmert as saying that as long as 
things are quiet, Hamas has no incentive to move ahead on releasing 
Shalit.  The sources have also criticized DM Ehud Barak, who pushed 
for a cease-fire at any cost, saying the cease-fire perhaps should 
have been delayed until progress was made on Shalit's release. 
The Jerusalem Post quoted the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera as 
saying that Imad MughniyahQs successor as HizbullahQs chief military 
commander is Muhammad Riza Zahdi, a.k.a. Hassan Mahdawi, who in the 
late 1980s served in the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. 
 
Major media reported that Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei 
Nesterenko suggested yesterday that Moscow will not sell advanced 
anti-aircraft missiles to Iran.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
senior diplomatic officials in Jerusalem expressed satisfaction at 
the news.   Makor Rishon reported that, as Israel is seeking an 
alternative to the dwindling Egyptian gas, Israel has suggested that 
Russia provide it with gas through a pipeline. 
 
The media reported that the first meeting between the negotiating 
teams of Labor and Kadima will take place today.  The media expect a 
rapprochement between the parties. 
 
Maariv reported that Shin Bet has decided to pardon Zecharia 
Zubeidi, the most famous wanted man in the territories. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the number of Israeli Arab recruits to the 
IDF has increased dramatically in the first nine months of 2008. 
The rise in the Bedouin recruitment rate is attributed to Bedouin's 
difficulty in finding well-paid jobs outside the military and 
problems with the local authorities.  The IDF has also improved its 
treatment of Bedouin army veterans and is helping them find 
employment.  The army refused to provide accurate figures, but the 
number of recruits is estimated to have increased by 50 to 100 from 
the beginning of the year, bringing the total number of recruits in 
2008 to some 300.  The rate of non-Bedouin Arabs' recruitment has 
also increased in recent years, and an officer in the IDF's Human 
Resources Branch said he hoped that by next year their recruitment 
figure will reach 350, equaling the 2003 rate.  Another significant 
increase in recruitment is expected next month. 
 
Yediot reported that the government will decide on Sunday to name a 
national site after the late cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi, who was 
assassinated by Palestinian activists in 2001.  Zeevi publicly 
advocated the transfer of 3.3 million Palestinians from the West 
Bank and Gaza to Arab nations. 
 
HaQaretz (Hebrew Ed.) bannered the collapse on Wall Street and 
reported that the U.S. administration is considering nationalizing 
banks. 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QThe 
most constructive step the next Israeli government can take -- once 
it is finally in place, and preferably before the next [U.S.] 
president is inaugurated -- would be to announce where Israel draws 
its Qred lines. 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: QOnly if Livni turns out to be a weak leader 
who has difficulty making decisions, and if she disappoints her 
supporters, will people perhaps go back to voting Labor. 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv: QThe world financial crisis is playing in [LivniQs favor]. 
It is impossible to continue playing around with [government] 
coalition contacts as if there were no collapse around them. 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: Q[Israel] must exercise its authority to 
maintain public safety and repair the [Church of the Holy 
Sepulcher], taking great care not to intervene or take a stand in 
the fundamental dispute between the [Ethiopian and Egyptian 
(Coptic)] churches. 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Four More Weeks" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (10/10): 
QThis American election was always bound to hinge on domestic, not 
foreign policy, issues.... That said, it remains hugely important to 
all Israelis that the next American president be personally 
empathetic and diplomatically supportive to our cause.  The Bush 
administration has requested $2.55 billion in security assistance 
for Israel -- part of a new 10-year $30 billion security package. 
Whatever the issue -- Iran, Hamas, or Hizbullah -- Jerusalem needs a 
friend in the White House.  Fortunately, both candidates define 
themselves as pro-Israel.  Frankly, we hope Obama clarifies his 
attitude toward borders and settlements to reassure us that an Obama 
administration would never pressure Israel back to the 1949 
Armistice Lines.  We'd also value hearing a similar message from 
John McCain.  Of course, we can't ask more of Obama or McCain than 
from our own government.  The world knows where the Palestinian 
Authority stands -- intransigently in our view -- on the issues of 
borders, refugees and Jerusalem.  So the most constructive step the 
next Israeli government can take -- once it is finally in place, and 
preferably before the next president is inaugurated -- would be to 
announce where Israel draws its Qred lines. 
 
II.  "Time Is Running" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (10/10): QThe global economic crisis is threatening to 
destroy the lifestyle to which we have been accustomed over the past 
decade.  On the other hand, it may hasten the formations of the 
Livni government -Q even with Likud.  If this goes on at the current 
pace, a focused call on Benjamin Netanyahu to harness attempts to 
draw water from the sinking ship could fall on attentive ears.... 
The world financial crisis is playing in [LivniQs favor].  It is 
impossible to continue playing around with [government] coalition 
contacts as if there were no collapse around them, and to leave the 
Israeli economy to the mercy of [Finance Minister] Roni Bar-On Q- 
with all due respect. 
 
 
 
III.  "Requiem for the Labor Party" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (10/10): QThe Labor Party is fast advancing 
toward the end of its historic role and its descent from Israel's 
political stage.... The Ashkenazim and the rich who fled Labor 
because of Amir Peretz into the open arms of Kadima and the 
PensionersQ Party have meanwhile fallen in love with Livni and do 
not want to return.  Labor has nothing to offer them.... In the 
Israel after Olmert's resignation, Barak is the one who can anoint 
kings, and he has to coose between Livni and Netanyahu, between the 
inxperienced star and the ideological rival.  Whichever way he 
chooses, he will be able to remain defese minister, but he will 
sacrifice his party.  Lbor has only one chance left to be saved 
from poitical burial.  Only if Livni turns out to be a wek leader 
who has difficulty making decisions, and if she disappoints her 
supporters, will people perhaps go back to voting Labor. 
 
IV.  "Saving Christianity from Itself" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (10/10): QIsrael's responsibility for the 
holy places in Jerusalem sometimes involves it in disputes and power 
struggles between religious communities.  There is no better example 
than the centuries-old dispute between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church 
and the Coptic Church over the control of the Deir al-Sultan 
Monastery on the roof of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City.... Due 
to the [material] risk to the lives of the monks and visitors and 
the danger to one of the world's holiest sites, the government must 
not neglect the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  It must exercise its 
authority to maintain public safety and repair the building, taking 
great care not to intervene or take a stand in the fundamental 
dispute between the [Ethiopian and Egyptian (Coptic)] churches. 
 
CUNNINGHAM