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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002468 
 
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.  U.S. Elections 
 
¶2.  Middle East 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media covered the last day of the U.S. electoral campaign.  The 
printed media predicted that Sen. Barack Obama would clinch the 
presidency.  This morning the electronic media reported that Obama 
had won the race.  Israel Radio reported that President Shimon Peres 
called to congratulate him.  The radio quoted FM and Kadima 
chairwoman Tzipi Livni as saying that Israel and the U.S. share many 
interests, and that the relationship between the two countries will 
not harmed.  Rev. Jesse Jackson told Maariv that the Jews share 
ObamaQs success. 
 
HaQaretz (English Ed.) led with IsraelQs worry about what the 
outcome of America's presidential election may portend for 
Washington's policy on Iran.  On most Israel-related issues, 
Jerusalem foresees no dramatic changes in U.S. policy, regardless of 
who is elected.  On Iran, however, it is worried that Democratic 
candidate Barack Obama will take a significantly softer line than 
the outgoing administration has.  During his campaign, Obama 
repeatedly said that if elected, he would begin a dialogue with the 
Iranian regime.  According to HaQaretz, Israel is also worried that 
President Bush will use his final two months in office to open an 
interests section in Tehran -- a move his administration has been 
discussing for months.  Over the last few weeks, Israel has sent 
high-level messages to Washington in which it expressed its 
objections to the proposal to open an interests section. However, 
HaQaretz quoted a senior Israeli government source as saying that 
Jerusalem still has no definite information about the plan. 
HaQaretz and the leading Internet news service Ynet reported that FM 
Tzipi Livni has warned whoever is elected U.S. President against 
increased international pressure on Israel, saying the country would 
not take "shortcuts" in the peace process with the Palestinians. 
"The world must support the process that is being conducted and not 
expect Israel to carry out shortcuts which would hurt its ability to 
safeguard its needs," Livni was quoted as saying ahead of a visit by 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and of Sunday's meeting of 
international peace mediators in Egypt.  HaQaretz and other media 
cited a statement made by LivniQs office as saying that she met 
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch to 
prepare for the Rice visit and a meeting of the Quartet.  Leaving 
today for a five-day trip to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and 
Egypt, Rice is due to hold talks with Israeli officials in Jerusalem 
tomorrow and with Palestinian officials in Ramallah on Friday.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted diplomatic officials as saying yesterday that 
Secretary Rice will likely present the next U.S. administration with 
her own parameters for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
 
The media reported that IDF Special Forces entered Gaza last night 
to blow up a tunnel dug by Hamas terrorists for the purpose of 
kidnapping Israeli soldiers.  Five Hamas militants were reportedly 
killed and three IDF soldiers moderately injured.   Electronic media 
reported that Palestinians fired rockets on Israel, up to Ashkelon. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh promised 
former Irish president Mary Robinson, while she was visiting Gaza, 
that Hamas will pass Gilad Shalit's family a letter from the 
kidnapped soldier, in response to the letter they sent their son a 
few months ago. 
 
Yesterday Israel Radio reported that Hamas officials voiced 
skepticism that the U.S. presidential election would result in a 
change in U.S. policy in the Middle East and towards the group.  The 
radio quoted a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhum, as saying that 
the choice between McCain and Obama is Qawful. 
 
Yediot reported that President Shimon Peres will speak after Saudi 
King Abdullah at the interreligious conference to take place in New 
York. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that PM Ehud 
Olmert and DM Ehud Barak have agreed to permanently move the 
residents of the unauthorized outpost of Migron to a permanent 
settlement -- Adam.  The Jerusalem Post quoted Rabbi YaQacov Yosef, 
the eldest son of Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, as 
saying yesterday during a visit to the unauthorized Federman Farm 
outpost on the outskirts of Kiryat Arba that those who destroyed 
Jewish homes will be barred from the world to come. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the PA told Arab 
residents of East Jerusalem not to vote in next weekQs municipal 
elections and that those who defied the boycott order would face 
punishment.  Maariv reported that Nir Barkat, the leading contender 
in the race for Jerusalem mayor, intends to dig a tunnel for a 
railway line under Mount Zion, which would endanger holy Christian 
sites.   Media reported on the municipalityQs project a few months 
ago. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited a new report released on Monday by the 
human rights organization Yesh Din that says that even though police 
reject the overwhelming majority of complaints by Palestinians 
against Jews, the state prosecution does not fulfill its obligation 
to oversee the police investigations or seriously investigate 
appeals against their decisions. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday Hizbullah official Nawaf 
Moussawi rejected the UN-demarcated Blue Line between Lebanon and 
Israel and laid claim to seven villages in northern Israel and 
Qmillions of square metersQ that it says belongs to Lebanon. 
 
Maariv reported that Jordan has rejected the Israeli plan for 
cooperation on the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal project.  A senior 
diplomatic source told MaarivQs business reporter that the 
Jordanians made it clear that they intend to pursue an independent 
project and are currently examining the possibility of digging a 
canal on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.  To that end, they 
contracted an American company to carry out the necessary tests. 
The Jordanian position came as a surprise to Israel and to officials 
in President Shimon PeresQs office. 
 
HaQaretz quoted a new Human Rights Watch report, which says that 
Georgia used defective Israeli-made cluster bombs during its war 
with Russia, which detonated in populated areas and killed Georgian 
civilians. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Labor, Likud, and Meretz agreed on 
Monday to vote against KadimaQs 2009 draft state budget. 
 
HaQaretz reported that former president Moshe Katsav and his family 
co-own land with the Gavrieli brothers, who have long been suspected 
of criminal ties. 
 
------------------- 
¶1.  U.S. Elections: 
------------------- 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QYesterday, 
the U.S. once again justified its title as leader of the free world: 
It concluded a campaign that is a worthy model for emulation. 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QQObamaniaQ was born in 
Damascus a moment before the Black candidate with a promising Muslim 
name (Hussein) entered the race. 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn QadvisedQ the winner of the 
presidential elections in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: 
QThe chances of obtaining an agreement [on the Palestinian track] 
are slim.... The Syrian track is less complicated than the 
Palestinian mess. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Democracy at its Best" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (11/5): QThe 
election took place in the shadow of a deep economic and social 
crisis, an army that has been unable to extricate itself from 
battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a worrying erosion of 
America's influence in the world.  The grim mood brought millions of 
citizens to the polls who in the past had waived their right to have 
an impact.  Whites and blacks, Jews and Muslims, all decided to give 
their votes to a candidate who is young, black and lacking in 
governmental experience.  Old people and young people, including 
residents of QRepublican statesQ par excellence, enlisted en masse 
to bring about change -- one could even say, a revolution -- in the 
White House and in Congress.  American democracy mobilized to rescue 
the U.S. from the serial disappointments of President George W. 
Bush's eight years in office.  We must hope that over the next four 
years, both major parties and both houses of Congress will help the 
new president rehabilitate the status of a superpower that remains 
unrivaled in its influence over the peace and welfare of all 
humanity, regardless of race, sex or religion.  Yesterday, the U.S. 
once again justified its title as leader of the free world: It 
concluded a campaign that is a worthy model for emulation. 
 
II.  "The Arabs Are Looking Froward to Obama" 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/5): QQObamaniaQ was 
born in Damascus a moment before the Black candidate with a 
promising Muslim name (Hussein) entered the race.  Bashar Assad 
viewed Obama as a QmiracleQ who might save him from the 
International Court of Justice (for the Hariri assassination), grant 
him a status and involvement in Lebanon, widely open for him the 
gates of the White House, stop attacks by the U.S. and Israeli 
armies on designated targets in his country, and bring him economic 
assistance that is much more urgent to him than receiving the Golan 
Heights.... What is almost certain is that at least one country in 
the Arab world will gain from ObamaQs victory: the royal House of 
Saud will become a key player.... Saudi Arabia, the power of which 
will increase, will be invited to mediate, fund, influence, enlist 
votes, and lead the fresh president by the hand.... [Editorialists 
in the Arab world] are suggesting that Obama nurture the leaders of 
the moderate nations, not intervene, and mostly erase the eight 
violent years of a president who drove an armored car that kept 
colliding with the Arab world Q- intentionally, arrogantly, and 
without apologizing. 
 
III.  "Advice for the Winner" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn QadvisedQ the winner of the 
presidential elections in the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz 
(11/5): QBush's Middle East problem was not a lack of ideas.  He was 
convinced that a Palestinian state was in AmericaQs interest, and 
his rhetoric went beyond that of his predecessors in terms of his 
commitment to the two-state solution.  But he had trouble backing up 
his ideas with action, and most of his initiatives soon evaporated 
in the face of Israeli and Palestinian determination to continue 
fighting.  Condoleezza Rice succeeded in convening the Annapolis 
conference, in somehow preserving the Palestinian Authority as a 
partner for negotiations, and in extracting an offer from Ehud 
Olmert to leave all the territories solely because she nagged both 
Israelis and Palestinians.  Therefore, do not let the sides wear you 
down with excuses.  Wear them down, with polite insistence....  The 
chances of obtaining an agreement are slim.  Good intentions and 
Q100 percent effortQ will not be enough to solve the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.... The Syrian track is less 
complicated than the Palestinian mess.... The problem with the 
Syrian track is that the status quo is convenient for both sides: 
Israel wants to stay in the Golan, and Syria fears domestic change. 
Only active American leadership, to move the process forward and 
support it through security arrangements and economic aid, can break 
this stalemate. 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QThose 
determined to wage war on a different plane -- imbued by the 
delusion that they are the last of the Jews -- must be socially, 
politically, and religiously isolated first and foremost by 
supporters of the settlement enterprise. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"13 Years Unhealed" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/5): 
QThirteen years after the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak 
Rabin, both the Left and the Right have embraced a single corrosive 
motto: QNever forget, never forgive.Q  If they persist, our Zionist 
enterprise is at risk.  The Left appropriated Rabin's memory, 
distanced it from the nation as a whole, and exploited it for 
partisan ends. Rabin's murder was held over the heads of everyone 
who opposed Oslo.  The Right closed its mind to the possibility 
that, maybe, just maybe, even if unintentionally, its leaders said 
things that contributed to the atmosphere which set the stage for 
the killing.  Time has not healed our nationQs wounds. Instead, 
we've spent the past 13 years locked into Qnever forget, never 
forgiveQ.... Let no one on the Right wince when security officials 
warn that an atmosphere is being created that makes another 
political murder possible.  No matter how passionately Israelis 
disagree, no matter how high the stakes, we absolutely must contend 
with one another exclusively within the political arena.  Those 
determined to wage war on a different plane -- imbued by the 
delusion that they are the last of the Jews -- must be socially, 
politically, and religiously isolated first and foremost by 
supporters of the settlement enterprise. 
 
CUNNINGHAM