VZCZCXRO4542
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #2000/01 3111214
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 061214Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3182
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 7390
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4370
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4223
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 5717
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4139
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2704

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002000 
 
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 (11/06):  SPECULATION ON 
PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA'S MIDDLE EAST POLICIES 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
The three papers lead with Barack Obama's election as U.S. 
President.  Al Quds states that the world welcomes him while Al 
Ayyam notes that, "change has come to America."  Al Hayat Al Jadida 
leads with comments by the King of Jordan and President of Egypt 
looking forward to Obama's contribution to solving the Palestinian 
question.  Palestinian Authority President Abbas sends his 
congratulations and comments about looking forward to working with 
the new U.S. administration from Hungary where he is making an 
official visit. 
 
Statements by Consul General Jake Walles made during the Consulate 
General Jerusalem's November 5 official election gala event in 
Ramallah, run on Al Quds' front page and on an inside page of Al 
Ayyam.  Walles noted that president-elect Obama is committed to the 
Middle East peace process and has visited Ramallah twice."  Al Quds 
adds that Secretary Rice will present the new administration with a 
document outlining, "general principles for solving the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict." 
 
Al Ayyam's front page runs a report that president-elect Obama has 
offered the post of White House Chief of Staff to Rahm Emanuel, a 
"former Israeli Defense Forces officer" from Illinois. 
 
All front pages run reports on the November 5 Israeli military 
strike on Gaza, noting that the action calls into question the 
ceasefire with Hamas.  The papers note that both Palestinian and 
Israeli officials have expressed concern that the five-month long 
ceasefire could be in jeopardy.  Palestinian officials considered 
the November 4 Israeli incursion into Gaza to be, "a scandalous 
violation of the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire," while Israel's 
Defense Minister defends the action as aimed at destroying a tunnel 
constructed to abduct Israeli soldiers.  The papers also report that 
Gaza groups fired off dozens of mortar shells and homemade 
projectiles at Israeli targets, injuring two women in Gaza. 
Finally, Hamas member Fawzi Barhum suggests, in the dailies, that 
Israel timed the November 5 attacks to coincide with the American 
presidential election, in hopes of keeping the action out of the 
spotlight. 
 
House demolitions and arrests by the Israeli military grab front 
page headlines in Al Quds and Al Ayyam, while front page photos of 
the bulldozers at work appear in Al Hayat Al Jadida and Al Ayaam. 
According to reports, Israel demolished two Palestinian homes in the 
central Gazan Strip and three Jerusalem-area houses and a public 
hall.  Israeli military arrested 17 Palestinians and injured 17 
others in Jerusalem on November 5, the reports detail. 
 
Al Quds' front page reports on the signing of a $30 million 
agreement between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and MIGA 
international to guarantee investments in the Palestinian 
Territories.  In related economic reporting, PA Prime Minister 
Fayyad is quoted on Al Ayyam's front page hoping to direct more of 
the PA budget to development projects, after making all outstanding 
payments to PA employees and the private sector. 
 
Al Quds' front page runs an update on inter-Palestinian talks in 
Cairo.  According to Fatah delegation chief, Nabil Shaath, talks 
will begin on November 10, with Palestinian Authority President 
Abbas, Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa and other Arab foreign 
ministers in attendance.  Any resulting agreement would be 
 
JERUSALEM 00002000  002 OF 002 
 
 
implemented after the Eid Al Adha holiday in early December. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------ 
 
1)  Al Quds' editorial runs under the title, "Obama made a 
miraculous victory:  Can he live up to the expectations?" (11/06): 
"The most important thing to us is his [Obama's] stand regarding the 
[Palestinian] issue, means to establish a Palestinian state and 
finding a solution to the conflict that has continued in the Middle 
East for many decades... We should not ask an American President to 
do what we ourselves are not doing.  We need to learn from the power 
of the Jewish lobby in America [how to leverage influence]... We do 
not want to have unrealistic dreams and illusions, but we do believe 
that the chances for change will be greater during Obama's term." 
 
2)  Mohamad Abdulla opines in Al Quds under the title, "Barack Obama 
won't stray from American strategic interests"(11/06):  "Obama will 
not be the sole decision maker in the American Administration, as 
there are lobbying organizations and apparatus that will restrain 
his actions and monitor his positions... at the end of the day, he 
will have to take positions and make policies that result from 
developments in the American and international arenas." 
 
Walles