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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002571 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
¶3.  Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
HaQaretz quoted President Shimon Peres as saying in London yesterday 
that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama proclaimed himself Qvery 
impressed with the Arab LeagueQs peace planQ when he discussed it 
with Peres during a brief visit to Israel four months ago.  HaQaretz 
reported that senior Saudi sources have called on Obama to turn the 
initiative into his Middle East diplomatic plan.  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted Peres as saying yesterday that making peace with Syria 
depends on whether it is prepared to rein in Hizbullah.  Israel 
Hayom reported that Peres hinted that Israel would return the Golan 
to Syria.  Israel Radio reported that yesterday Obama called 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and vowed to continue pushing 
Middle East peace efforts.  In their first conversation since the 
November 4 U.S. elections, Obama also reportedly reiterated his 
strong support for a Palestinian state living alongside Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli officials still fear that 
President Bush will open an American interests section in Tehran, 
despite the strong message the U.S. official Stuart Levey carried to 
them this week that the outgoing administration intends to stay the 
course of isolating Iran diplomatically. 
 
Israel Hayom wrote that the governmentQs emergency economic plan 
might not provide an answer to the crisis. 
 
Leading media reported that the IDF is gearing up to forcibly 
evacuate the so-called "House of Contention" in Hebron, presuming 
its Jewish residents continue ignoring a court order to vacate the 
premises within three days. The deadline expires at noon today. 
Media reported that yesterday Knesset Member Nissim Zeev (Shas) 
moved into the building. 
HaQaretz reported that PM Ehud Olmert is expected to call several 
senior defense officials today to discuss the possibility of pulling 
out of the northern part of the border village of Ghajar and 
relinquishing control to UN forces. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that top Israeli defense and political 
officials are increasingly concerned that Germany might sell 
Dolphin-class submarines to Egypt. 
 
Yesterday HaQaretz quoted President Peres as saying on Monday that 
when Barack Obama asked him, during a conversation, what he could do 
for Israel, he replied: QBe a great president of the United 
States. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Hamas's military wing announced Tuesday it 
was "prepared for a confrontation with Israel" and for the end of 
the cease-fire with Israel.  However, political sources said the 
cease-fire was expected to go on.  The newspaper reported that over 
the past couple of days, Hamas has tried to rein in the other 
Palestinian factions and restrict rocket fire. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Mirzan Hassan Dinnayi, a former 
adviser to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, told the daily yesterday 
that religious extremism is the biggest threat facing Iraq today and 
that it could ultimately see the war-torn country emptied of 
minority populations. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and HaQaretz quoted the Iranian news Website 
Jahan News, which is affiliated with the Iranian intelligence 
community, as saying on Monday that Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian 
blogger who has visited Israel twice over the past three years, was 
arrested in Tehran upon his return from Canada.  The Iranian 
blogger, who also holds Canadian citizenship, reportedly admitted to 
being involved in espionage for Israel. 
 
HaQaretz, The Jerusalem Post, and Israel Radio reported that Israeli 
officials reacted angrily to comments made yesterday by UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights Navanathem Pillay, in which she called 
for an immediate end to its blockade of the Gaza Strip, which she 
said breached international and humanitarian law.  The Jerusalem 
Post reported that yesterday PA officials n Ramallah accused Hamas 
of staging the latest blackouts in Gaza in a bid to win sympathy and 
incite the Palestinian public against Israel and the PA. 
 
Israel Hayom reported that yesterday Michigan Governor Granholm, an 
Obama associate, visited HaifaQs Carmel Hospital to promote the 
establishment of a joint vascular development center between the 
hospital and Michigan counterparts 
 
Leading media quoted former IDF chief of staff Moshe YaQalon, who 
joined Likud yesterday and might become defense minister if Likud 
wins the elections, as saying that the Qpath of withdrawals must 
stop. 
 
HaQaretz, Israel Hayom, and The Jerusalem Post reported that 
yesterday a Cairo court ruled against an Egyptian government 
resolution to sell natural gas to Israel, and issued an injunction 
halting the supply. However, HaQaretz quoted legal sources in Egypt 
as saying that the court did not put a timeline on its ruling, and 
meanwhile the gas continues to flow. 
 
Leading media reported that the dollar continued to strengthen 
yesterday, gaining 1.25% to close at 3.964 shekels.  The dollar is 
up 7% since the beginning of November, but only 3.2% for all of 
2008, after losing ground over most of the year.  Since its lowest 
point in July, the dollar has gained 24%. 
 
-------------------------- 
¶1.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Columnist Elliot Jager wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post: QOf course I worry that Obama may be bad for Israel. 
 But will he be worse than Richard Nixon, who allowed Israel to 
slowly bleed during the 1973 War so that Henry Kissinger could start 
from a more advantageous bargaining position? 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"On Obama Q What, Me Worry?" 
 
Columnist Elliot Jager wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post (11/19): QOf course I worry that Obama may be bad for 
Israel.  But will he be worse than Richard Nixon, who allowed Israel 
to slowly bled during the 1973 War so that Henry Kissinger could 
start from a more advantageous bargaining position?.... Will Obama 
be worse the George Bush Sr., whose secretary of state, James (f-ck 
the Jews) Baker, gave out the White House switchboard number during 
1990 Congressional testimony, telling Israel: QWhen youQre serious 
about peace, call us.Q  Worse than old Bill Clinton, who helped 
engineer Oslo, which begot the second Intifada and 1,000 Israeli 
dead?  Will Obama be worse than George W. Bush who was the first 
president to explicitly make the creation of a Palestinian state 
U.S. policy?  As if Palestinian society is now ready for the 
responsibilities of statehood.... so please excuse me if I donQt get 
all bent out of shape -Q at least not before he even takes office - 
at the prospect that Barack Obama will give Israel a hard time.  One 
other thing: No U.S. president can be reasonably be expected to be 
more Qpro-IsraelQ than Israel itself.  If our next government canQt 
build an internal consensus on where our borders should be, or what 
IsraelQs red lines are, on which settlements we keep and which we 
would give up for real peace -Q thatQs our problem.  DonQt get me 
wrong.  I am not saying Obama wonQt give us some tough innings. 
What I am saying is that weQd play a better game if we knew what we 
wanted and pulled together.  And Obama might then hear what weQre 
saying -Q instead of a cacophony of conflicting voices. 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post: QApplying the pressure [on IsraelQs nuclear program] 
... will achieve the exact opposite of their intended outcome, 
unless a miraculous way will be found with which Iranian plans will 
be tamed. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Pressuring Israel to Suspend Nuclear Activity Will Not QBuild 
ConfidenceQ" 
 
Correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post (11/19): QA world free of nuclear weapons is a 
desirable thing.  A Middle East in which no country will be touting 
nuclear weapons would also be a positive development, providing the 
countries involved live generally peacefully and do not try to 
destroy one another.  The Institute  for Science and National 
Security in Washington, which deals with such matters regularly, has 
a new paper that Israeli media were quoting this week with ... 
enthusiasm.... The paper, one must admit, does include a 
controversial recommendation: QThe Obama administration should make 
a key priority of persuading Israel to join the negotiations of a 
universal, verified treaty that bans the production of highly 
enriched uranium for nuclear explosives, commonly called the Fissile 
Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT).  As an interim step, the United 
States should press Israel to suspend any production of fissile 
material for nuclear weapons.  Toward this goal, the United States 
should change its relatively new policy of seeking a cutoff treaty 
that does not include verificationQ.... HereQs the problem: Where 
[David] Albright and co-author Andrea Scheel see a plan that Qwould 
establish international confidence in the peaceful nature of Middle 
Eastern nuclear programs,Q Israel will see a plan concocted by 
people who failed to deal with a neighborhood bully and turned their 
attention to other places as to avoid a necessary confrontation. 
This is not establishing Qconfidence in the peaceful nature....Q Q- 
but, rather, establishing disbelief in the ability of the 
international community to deal with aggressors.  In fact, applying 
the pressure that the authors seem to want will achieve the exact 
opposite of their intended outcome, unless a miraculous way will be 
found with which Iranian plans will be tamed: It will make Israel 
even more suspicious, and much less prone to give up on whatever 
capabilities it might have to defend itself.  And rightly so. 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶3.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
 
Veteran journalist Hemmi Shalev wrote in the independent Israel 
Hayom: QMaybe more than any Likud recruit, YaQalon is a multipurpose 
electoral asset. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Multipurpose Asset" 
 
Veteran journalist Hemmi Shalev wrote in the independent Israel 
Hayom (11/19): Q[Moshe] YaQalon is the second chief of staff to join 
the Likud, after Shaul Mofaz.  As Netanyahu has it, he represents 
the Qold Land of Israel.Q  Maybe more than any Likud recruit, 
YaQalon is a multipurpose electoral asset; alongside Benny Begin, he 
drags votes from the Right due to his opposition to disengagement 
and to Qfurther withdrawalsQ; together with Dan Meridor, he holds a 
image of pure politics and clean hands, as a counterweight to Tzipi 
Livni; and especially with (former IDF Northern Command commander 
Yossi Peled and even [former police commissioner] Assaf Hefetz. 
But, more than they, he also pulls votes from the hawkish Right. 
This is the same crucial reservoir of ten mandates that was known in 
America as the QReagan Democrats. 
 
CUNNINGHAM