VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2479/01 3120659
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070659Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9057
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 4590
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 1193
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 4972
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5392
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 4609
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 2999
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 5374
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2228
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0453
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 9188
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 6677
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 1607
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 5690
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7665
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH PRIORITY 0518
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 0752
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002479 
 
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: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank, November 6-7, 2008 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Yediot, HaQaretz, and Israel Radio cited a statement issued by PM 
Ehud Olmert after a phone conversation between him and 
President-elect Barack Obama that the two "agreed on the need to 
continue to advance the peace process, and this, while safeguarding 
the security of Israel".  The statement said that Obama and Olmert 
also "spoke about the long friendship between the United States and 
Israel and the need to preserve and strengthen this friendship." 
HaQaretz reported that a message from Obama will be delivered 
tomorrow at the 13th central commemoration for Yitzhak Rabin in Tel 
Aviv.  The Jerusalem Post reported that QIsraeli-linkedQ Rep. Rahm 
Emanuel has accepted the position of White House chief-of-staff. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Israel and the PA are to announce on Sunday 
their commitment to continuing talks on the core issues in 2009 
after President-elect Barack Obama takes office.  The parties have 
agreed to negotiate based on the principles determined at last 
November's Annapolis conference. HaQaretz quoted outgoing Secretary 
of State Condoleezza Rice as saying yesterday during her visit to 
Israel that the U.S. would remain a true friend of Israel.  Leading 
media quoted Rice as saying that the Bush administration will not 
reach an agreement. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Iran has congratulated Obama over his 
election.  The newspaper hinted that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is sending 
the U.S. the message that Iran expects change in U.S. policy. 
HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted FM Livni as saying yesterday 
that that Obama should not talk to Iran just yet, warning that such 
dialogue could project weakness- - a first sign of disagreement with 
the incoming American administration. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday the IDF Northern Command 
concluded a large-scale exercise that simulated a double 
conflagration with Syria and Lebanon. The Jerusalem Post quoted GOI 
sources as saying that, in any future conflict with Hizbullah, 
Israel will likely cite the ShiQite groupQs increasing influence 
within the Lebanese cabinet as a legitimate reason to target 
LebanonQs entire infrastructure. 
 
Yediot reported that President Shimon Peres and Saudi King Abdullah 
may meet at next weekQs interreligious conference in New York. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the IDF has asked the Shin Bet security 
service and the police to provide it with information on left-wing 
figures active in the West Bank so it will be easier to issue 
restraining orders against them.  Since the IDF does not gather 
intelligence on Israeli citizens, the GOC Central Command depends on 
evaluations by the Shin Bet prior to signing restraining orders.  So 
far, such orders have only been issued against extreme right-wing 
activists suspected of subversive activities. This time, the army 
has focused on a number of activists protesting the security fence, 
those who help Palestinians harvest their olives, and others.  This 
is apparently the first time left-wing activists have been the 
possible target of such orders. 
 
Maariv cited the concern of senior Likud officials that Netanyahu 
may be eclipsed by LikudQs Qnew start.Q  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe 
reported that Kadima Knesset Member Zeev Elkin has moved to the new 
right-wing party. 
 
Maariv devoted an entire section to the sufferings and ascension of 
the African-American community. 
 
 
 
 
------------------------ 
Secretary Rice to Israel, West Bank, November 6-7, 2008: 
------------------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: Q[Tzipi Livni] people's main argument is that 
Netanyahu's stances at his campaign opening, like refusing to 
negotiate over Jerusalem, place him on a collision course with the 
new Democratic administration in Washington. 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
QWhatever his game plan, if [Obama] wants to help foster the 
normalized relations Israel seeks with its Arab neighbors his 
administration will first have to sideline the region's number-one 
obstacle to peace [Iran]. 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: QA new 
government should arise in Israel, which will also allow the U.S. 
President and the new [Israeli] prime minister, in particular if 
this is Benjamin Netanyahu, to embark on a new course. 
 
HaQaretz editorialized: QOur trigger finger should relax.  It 
endangers the people of Sderot. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
I  QThe Obama Effect 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/7): QBarack Obama won't be much occupied 
with the Israeli elections, but his image will influence the 
campaigns of the prime ministerial candidates.  Each will try to 
spin the mood of the American upheaval to his or her advantage and 
try to tap into some QObama effectQ. Livni has the advantage of 
being fresh and unique, as a woman and the youngest contender.  But 
as number two in Ehud Olmert's cabinet, she can hardly represent 
Qchange.Q  She has the same problem John McCain had -- everyone 
knows she was Olmert's rival, as McCain was George W. Bush's, but 
they still represent the same party and the same way.  The Foreign 
Minister believes that her support for a Palestinian state and the 
continued negotiations for a final-status agreement will ensure good 
working relations with Obama.  QI've talked to Obama twice ... and 
he seemed to accept Israel's principals [vis-a-vis the peace 
process]," she said on the radio yesterday.   A Livni aide adds: 
QBibi [Benjamin Netanyahu] may talk with an American accent, but 
it's the outgoing Republican administration's accent.Q  Her people's 
main argument is that Netanyahu's stances at his campaign opening, 
like refusing to negotiate over Jerusalem, place him on a collision 
course with the new Democratic administration in Washington. 
 
II.  QObamaQs Agenda 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/7): 
QBut we think Obama can be smarter than his predecessors by homing 
in on this harsh Middle East peacemaking reality:  As long as the 
Islamic Republic of Iran remains on the ascendant, there will be no 
peace between Israel and the Palestinians, no way to bolster 
Palestinian moderates by chipping away at the rejectionists, no 
treaty with Syria, and no prospect of saving Lebanon.  So rather 
than going down the fruitless path taken by many of his 
predecessors, Obama might want to begin with a different set of 
assumptions.   Since 1979, the chief obstacle to peace in the Middle 
East has been Iran.  Break its stranglehold, and you pave the way 
toward progress on all peace-making fronts.   No one need convince 
Israel that peace with the Palestinians is in its interest.  Yet a 
deal that does not allow Israel to retain strategic settlement blocs 
will come back to haunt the friends of peace.  The Obama 
administration thus needs to embrace President George W. Bush's 2004 
letter to premier Ariel Sharon acknowledging that changes on the 
ground have made returning to the pre-1967 armistice lines 
unrealistic.  Yet this is not an argument against talking to Iran. 
What matters is what America talks to Iran about and the environment 
in which QunconditionalQ talks take place.... Clearly, Barack Obama 
is too smart, too pragmatic to genuinely expect that talk alone will 
convince a bellicose, fanatical, and messianic regime with imperial 
ambitions beyond our region to abandon its nuclear weapons program. 
Whatever his game plan, if he wants to help foster the normalized 
relations Israel seeks with its Arab neighbors his administration 
will first have to sideline the region's number-one obstacle to 
peace. 
 
III.  QNew Goals for the New President 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (11/7): 
QObama will certainly be ambitious on the issue of the Middle East, 
and Israel must prepare for the new age.  The correct way to do this 
is to disconnect from the line of diplomatic contiguity, disconnect 
from Ehud Olmert and Tzipi LivniQs Annapolis policy.  A new 
government should arise in Israel, which will also allow the U.S. 
President and the new [Israeli] prime minister, in particular if 
this is Benjamin Netanyahu, to embark on a new course. 
 
IV.  QRelax the Trigger Finger 
 
HaQaretz editorialized (11/7): QThe Egyptian-mediated cease-fire 
between Israel and Hamas faced one of its most serious challenges 
this week:. Ostensibly, it can be argued that Hamas is the side 
that broke the cease-fire by digging the tunnel and intending to 
abduct soldiers.  But was there a clear and immediate danger 
here?.... The cease-fire is an essential Israeli interest, no less 
than for Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.  Continuing it has its 
price and is not without risks, but at the moment there is no 
practical alternative. Periodic attacks are not a solution to the 
risks, certainly not for the long term. Our trigger finger should 
relax.  It endangers the people of Sderot. 
 
CUNNINGHAM