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DE RUEHTV #2520/01 3181135
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P 131135Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002520 
 
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.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported on a wave of layoffs in Israel, and quoted 
Finance Minister Roni Bar-On as saying that Qthe man in the street 
wonQt pay for the tycoonsQ ills. 
 
The media reported that yesterday the IDF killed four Hamas gunmen 
near the Gaza border.  One Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in 
the action.  Although Israel claims to remain committed to the lull 
(the tahdiya) with Hamas, the IDF has changed its tactics on the 
Gaza Strip border. In the past two weeks, IDF units have crossed 
into the Gaza Strip several times to strike at terrorists and foil 
potential attacks. A Hamas spokesman told HaQaretz that the group 
was not about to cancel the truce but intended to reexamine it.  In 
response to the Israeli strike, Palestinian militants in the Gaza 
Strip fired six mortar shells and two Qassam rockets at the western 
Negev, causing no injuries or damage.  HaQaretz reported that 
defense sources told the daily that the army is now authorized to 
act within what the IDF calls the "security parameter" -- a 
several-hundred-meter strip beyond the border fence.  The troops are 
allowed to act only against clear threats and with the approval of a 
senior commander. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that foreign journalists are furious 
over an IDF dictate that bars them from entering Gaza, which they 
say was imposed with no formal notice. 
 
The media reported that Iran has test-launched a new 
ground-to-ground ballistic missile with a 2,000 km range, which is 
capable of hitting Israel Q the QSijil.Q  HaQaretz and other media 
quoted Israeli experts as saying that the missile was entirely 
developed in Iran and that it attests to impressive technological 
capabilities.  Maariv reported that Israel and Germany are 
developing a system for identifying nuclear missiles. 
Leading media reported that yesterday President Shimon Peres told 
the UN General Assembly that the 2002 Saudi initiative represents a 
Qserious opening for real progress" on peace in the Middle East. 
Turning to the Arab leaders at the conference Q including Saudi King 
Abdullah -- Peres called for a renewal of the prophetic vision of 
peace and brotherhood.  Israel Radio noted that Arab leaders made no 
reference to peace progress in the Middle East.  Yediot reported 
that the Saudis turned a cold shoulder to Peres. 
 
HaQaretz reported that J Street, a moderate new pro-Israel lobby 
that backed Barack ObamaQs presidential campaign, is worrying 
leaders of American JewryQs established, conservative AIPAC lobby. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Jerusalem Mayor-elect Nir Barkat as saying 
that he plans to invite ultra-Orthodox parties to join his 
broad-based coalition. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak has refused 
to promise Knesset members negotiating with Meretz about forming a 
new center-left party that Labor would not join a government headed 
by Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu after the February elections. 
A senior Labor official told HaQaretz yesterday that the issue came 
up in talks conducted by Barak in the past two days aimed at 
preventing key Labor MKs such as Ami Ayalon, Ophir Pines-Paz, and 
Michael Melchior from joining the new Meretz initiative.  After 
Barak's meetings with Ayalon and Pines-Paz on Tuesday night and 
Wednesday respectively, it appears both are likely to remain in 
Labor. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Peace Now has petitioned the High Court of 
Justice against illegal digging and construction activity by the 
Israel Antiquities Authority, in cooperation with the right-wing 
association QElad-City of David,Q near the Western Wall and the 
Al-Aqsa Mosque 
 
HaQaretz reported that the state has petitioned the High Court of 
Justice over the IDF granting an incentive for law-breakers to take 
over Palestinian land in the territories.  A law dating back to 1858 
determines that land that was not visited by its owner for 10 years 
shall be confiscated.  Maariv reported that yesterday the High Court 
of Justice issued a temporary order banning further construction and 
settling in an outpost near the settlement of Beit-El.  The outpost 
is built on Palestinian land. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday the cabinet again rejected a 
decision to shield Israeli communities around Gaza. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday Syrian FM Walid Muallem 
suggested that IAF bombs may be the source of uranium traces that 
diplomats at the IAEA said were found at a suspected nuclear site. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday in Bethlehem a PA 
QmilitaryQ court sentenced a Palestinian security agent to death by 
firing squad after finding him guilty of QcollaborationQ with 
Israel. The sentence, and other ones pronounced early this year, 
must be approved by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who has thus far 
refrained from endorsing the verdicts. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Netanyahu is counting on the votes of Russian 
Israelis and that he will give three of its representatives three 
secure slots on the LikudQs Knesset list. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday in Nablus the IDF arrested 
Samer Zubahi Kassam Mabruk, a senior member of the PFLP, alongside 
with two other PFLP men. 
 
Leading media reported that the IDF has sentenced a soldier to 21 
days in jail for yawning during a recent memorial service for 
assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. 
 
Maariv ran a feature story about Dina Wein-Reis, an ultra-Orthodox 
woman moving between Israel and New York, who has embezzled money 
from over 500 American companies. 
 
Israel Hayom presented the results of a poll it conducted in 
cooperation with New Wave Research, showing the IsraelisQ voting 
intentions (in Knesset seats; figures in brackets show the current 
Knesset seats): 
Likud: 33 (12); Kadima: 28 (29); Labor Party: 11 (19): Shas: 10 
(12); Arab parties: 10 (10); Yisrael Beiteinu: 7 (11); National 
Union Party and National-Religious Party 6 (6); Meretz: 4 (5); 
United Torah Judaism: 5 (6); Green Party 3 (0). 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QThose 
concerned about the well-being of the people of Gaza should put the 
pressure where it belongs -- and tell Hamas to stop the violence. 
 
Yitzhak Bailey, who was adviser on ShiQite affairs in the Defense 
Ministry, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: QNow is the time 
to again point out the military and political advantages of 
returning fire.... It will change the increasingly contemptuous 
attitude toward Israel in the region.... It will help promote peace 
with the Palestinians. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Gaza QSiegeQ" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/13): 
QHere's what anyone who follows events in the Gaza Strip -- 
cursorily - might reasonably conclude: An Israeli Qsiege 
periodically leaves 1.5 million people hungry and in darkness. 
Innocents are Qcollectively punishedQ while the IDF capriciously 
QraidsQ Gaza killing Palestinians.... The truth is that Gaza's 
misfortunes are largely self-inflicted.  Hamas has made battling 
Israel its highest priority regardless of the damage this causes 
Palestinian society  -- its founding charter calls for the 
obliteration of the Jewish state.  Paradoxically, Hamas remains 
immensely popular.  In fact, some Israeli policymakers argue that it 
would be pointless for Israel to topple Hamas because the population 
is Hamas.... Plainly, Israel's Gaza strategy isn't working.  Olmert 
himself thinks a Qcollision with Hamas is inevitable.Q  Hamas has 
used the truce to further enhance its sophisticated subterranean 
supply lines.  Advanced weaponry is brought in; so too, is 
everything from tobacco and sheep to car parts -- all taxed by 
Hamas's Qtunnels administration.Q  So much diesel fuel has been 
flowing through pipelines under the Philadelphi Corridor that a glut 
on the market has reportedly been created.  Only cement and iron 
can't easily be smuggled.  What now?  Israeli defense officials do 
not want the cease-fire to fall apart.  At the same time, Jerusalem 
is not willing to allow a creeping escalation of Hamas violence.  If 
the Islamists end the cease-fire, the cost must be a relentless 
pursuit of their leaders so as to diminish the capacity of Hamas to 
govern.  Over the long haul, Israel simply can't tolerate an 
Islamist regime anywhere between the Mediterranean and the Jordan 
that is dedicated to its destruction.  Those concerned about the 
well-being of the people of Gaza should put the pressure where it 
belongs -- and tell Hamas to stop the violence. 
 
II.  "Five Reasons to Return Fire at Gaza" 
 
Yitzhak Bailey, who was adviser on ShiQite affairs in the Defense 
Ministry, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (11/13): QOne thing 
is already clear: closing the crossings as a punishment for one day 
or a few days is doomed to fail.  As refugees, the majority of 
Gaza's residents are accustomed to shortages and arew capable of 
managing with little.  Economic distress will not get them to raise 
their voices against the Qassam rocket fire.... Now is the time to 
again point out the military and political advantages of returning 
fire: It puts a quick end to the rocket fire phenomenon.... It will 
lessen the scope of the smuggling. It will remove the need for a 
ground operation.... It will change the increasingly contemptuous 
attitude toward Israel in the region.... It will help promote peace 
with the Palestinians.  A determined image of Israel will make it 
easier for the moderate Palestinians to make peace with it, and a 
display of Israeli capability in eradicating the fire by ourselves 
will also increase the belief of Israelis in the chances of reaching 
peace with security. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Military correspondent Yuval Limor, who holds a similar position on 
Israel TV, wrote in the independent Israel Hayom: QYesterdayQs 
Iranian announcement ... clarifies to those who wish to avoid the 
use of force that they will eventually have to use many times as 
much force in order to thwart the greatest threat currently menacing 
world peace. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
QA Finger in ObamaQs Eye 
 
Military correspondent Yuval Limor, who holds a similar position on 
Israel TV, wrote in the independent Israel Hayom (11/13): QThe 
Iranian announcement about a test of a dual-stage solid fuel missile 
should not worry Israel, if only because that announcement is not 
worrisome -Q on the contrary, the fact that this is a real and 
tangible threat is first and foremost meant to worry the Western 
world, which must wake up and at last understand what it is 
facing.... Barack Obama was elected just last week.  The 
administration in Tehran is already poking a finger in his eye. 
While Obama is moderately talking about a critical dialogue and 
Washington is encouraging the opening of an American interests 
section in Tehran, Iran is broadcasting business as usual.  One must 
hope that after the election turmoil in Israel and in the U.S. 
subsides, the West will succeed in establishing a clear and firm 
strategy vis-`-vis Iran with defined sticks.  YesterdayQs Iranian 
announcement shows that there is no choice, and clarifies to those 
who wish to avoid the use of force that they will eventually have to 
use many times as much force in order to thwart the greatest threat 
currently menacing world peace. 
 
CUNNINGHAM