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P 281406Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002644 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Mumbai Terror Attacks 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Over the past two days all media highlighted the multiple terror 
attacks in Mumbai, in particular on the cityQs Chabad Hasidic 
headquarters, where up to 20 Israelis are being held hostage and 
four bodies were reportedly found.  HaQaretz reported that the 
Indian government is not interested in hig-profile security 
assistance from Israel.  HaQaretz reported that yesterday the 
Israeli defense establishment avoided stating explicitly if the 
attack on Chabad House was planned or accidental. 
 
Yesterday HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that the 
Jewish-American man who says he purchased the QHouse of Contention 
in Hebron moved in to live there on Wednesday, joining the 16 Jewish 
families already residing in the building and hundreds of activists 
who have come to prevent security forces from evicting the tenants. 
 
Yesterday major media reported that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz 
told PM Ehud Olmert on Wednesday that he is considering indicting PM 
Ehud Olmert in the Rishon Tours double-billing affair.  In reaction 
to this announcement Kadima chairwoman and FM Tzipi Livni called for 
Olmert to suspend himself, and according to HaQaretz Olmert angrily 
her of opportunism. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted several high ranking Israeli 
defense officials as saying on Wednesday that Israel should resume 
military operations against Hamas in Gaza when the cease-fire 
expires in three weeks to increase pressure on the terrorist group 
that could lead to a renewal of talks over the release of Gilad 
Shalit.  Israel Radio reported that last night thousands gathered 
outside PM Ehud OlmertQs residence, demanding ShalitQs release. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted that a boat has reportedly set 
sail from Libya for Gaza, significantly ratcheting up the challenges 
to IsraelQs naval blockade.  The daily quoted an Israeli diplomatic 
official as saying that Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi causes concern 
to Israel Qbecause he is not rational.Q  Yesterday Maariv reported 
that The IDF is preparing for the possibility that the Israel Navy 
might prevent the ship from reaching the Gaza coast. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that the UN asked for $462 
million on Wednesday to continue its assistance to Palestinians in 
2009 and demanded that Israel allow humanitarian aid into the area 
in spite of Palestinian rocket attacks.. 
 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday the Foreign Press Association held 
a news conference to protest the GOIQs ban on international 
journalists entering Gaza. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior Israeli diplomatic 
official as saying that the UN has an interest in downplaying 
HizbullahQs rearmament and activities in southern Lebanon because it 
wants Qindustrial quietQ in Lebanon. 
 
Yesterday HaQaretz reported that despite increased naval 
cooperation, questions remain on where Israel and NATO fit 
together. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that the already splintered 
Right will be split further, now that a new party calling itself 
Eretz Yisrael Shelanu (Our Land of Israel) announced that it will 
run in the upcoming national elections.  Yesterday HaQaretz reported 
that Likud members blasted party leader Benjamin Netanyahu on 
Wednesday for his campaign against radical right-wing Likud member 
Moshe Feiglin and his followers, which they said blows FeiglinQs 
support out of proportion. 
 
HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that Jerusalem Mayor-elect 
Nir Barkat has formed a city council coalition without the two major 
ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas. 
However, The Jerusalem Post quoted BarkatQs spokesman as saying that 
he will seek to add them in the near future.  Yesterday The 
Jerusalem Post reported that a delegation of American Jews from the 
New York-based Orthodox Union presented Barkat with a petition 
against any future division of Jerusalem as part of a peace 
agreement with the Palestinians.  The petition was signed by one 
million American Jews. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal 
Palmor as saying on Wednesday that the Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab 
al-YawmQs refusal to publish an advertisement promoting the Arab 
League initiative because it displayed the Israeli flag shows there 
is a Qlong way to go before we reach peace. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and HaQaretz reported that Pope Benedict XVI may 
visit the Holy Land next year (in May, according to The Jerusalem 
Post). 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported on a new initiative sponsored 
by the Interreligious Council, in Israel, Al-Qasimi College in Baka 
al-Gharbiya, the Nehemia Levtzion Center for Islamic Studies at the 
Hebrew University, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is 
looking at religion not as a cause of war, but a jumping-off point 
for peace. 
 
Yesterday Maariv reported that Welfare Minister Yitzhak Herzog is 
promoting an initiative to have thousands of people who were fired 
from high-tech firms hired to work for the Israel Military 
Industries. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday Secretary 
Condoleezza Rice downplayed reports that Iran fired a new rocket 
into space, and that she stressed AmericaQs heightened profile. 
HaQaretz reported that Israeli analysts told the daily yesterday 
that Iran has failed to launch a missile into orbit despite its 
claims to the contrary. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Knesset Member Avraham 
Ravitz (UTJ) announced that he as quitting politics after 20 years 
in the Knesset. 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: QThe only achievement for which Olmert and 
Bush can take credit is the destruction of the nuclear reactor in 
Syria.  All the rest ended in great disappointment. 
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv: QThe really terrible news is that in the battle 
against the hilltop youth and against the extreme right wing, we've 
already lost, big time.  Anarchy already reigns. 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QThe 
conflict between the Jewish people and the Palestinian Arabs has 
nothing to do with apartheid. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Swan Song for Two Lame Ducks" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/28): Q[President Bush and Prime Minister 
Olmert do not] have much reason to celebrate.  The Palestinian state 
is further away than ever, Iran is close to having nuclear weapons, 
the extremists in the Middle East are having a ball, and the 
moderate regimes are retreating.  Nothing came of the big speeches, 
the summit meetings and the trips back and forth.  The only 
achievement for which Olmert and Bush can take credit is the 
destruction of the nuclear reactor in Syria.  All the rest ended in 
great disappointment: the convergence plan, the Second Lebanon War, 
the Annapolis process, and the pressure on Iran. 
 
II.  "Anarchy Already Here" 
 
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv (11/27): QThe disputed house in Hebron will not be 
evacuated any time soon. Nor will Migron.  Nor will a number of 
other illegal outposts.  Israel, with its great army and security 
forces, is incapable, and mainly does not want, to clash with the 
extreme right wing.... And not a peep is heard from the political 
establishment -- because what do the politicians need this headache 
now for?.... There are, naturally, some successes.  The good news is 
that in the last two years, not a single new outpost was built, and 
those that were, were destroyed that same night.  But the bad news 
is that if the right wing bloc grows stronger in the next elections, 
as the polls forecast, [far-Right militant] Noam Federman's 
disciples will not need to threaten to attack IDF soldiers.  Nobody 
will dare demand that they uphold the rule of law.  The really 
terrible news is that in the battle against the hilltop youth and 
against the extreme right wing, we've already lost, big time. 
Anarchy already reigns. 
 
III.  "Hipocrita" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/27): 
QRather than blame the Arab and Muslim world which, between 1947 and 
2002, explicitly rejected the two-state solution, or blame the 
Palestinian Arabs whose polity to this day is divided over the 
possibility of coexistence, [UN General Assembly President Miguel] 
d'Escoto Brockmann blames... the Jews.  Then comes the Big Lie: 
QIsraeli policies in the Palestinian territories appear so similar 
to the apartheid of an earlier era, a continent away, and I believe 
it is very important we in the United Nations use this term," 
d'Escoto Brockmann said.  QWe must not be afraid to call something 
for what it is.Q  To state the obvious: The conflict between the 
Jewish people and the Palestinian Arabs has nothing to do with 
apartheid.  There is no system of racial segregation in the West 
Bank.  There is a state of de-facto belligerency between West Bank 
Palestinians and Israeli Jews.  Hamas-controlled Gaza seeks Israel's 
annihilation, not civil rights.  Jews are not colonizers in Judea 
and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank].  Nevertheless, Israel's government 
is ready to abandon much of the Jews' ancient heartland for peace 
with security.  As the padre speaks from the den of iniquity that is 
the General Assembly, we ask: QWhy do you see the speck in your 
neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?Q (Matthew 
7:3). 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
¶2.  Mumbai Terror Attacks: 
-------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
QIsraelis have long argued that no political grievance, no perceived 
injustice and no religious creed can ever justify waging war against 
civilians.... If any consolation can be derived out of the 
heartbreak in Mumbai, perhaps it will be that India will work ever 
more vigorously in international forums to isolate terrorists and 
the states that sponsor them. 
 
Intelligence writer Ronen Bergman commented in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QGlobal Jihad activity will put [Indian] 
stability, that model for the entire world, to an extremely hard 
test. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "In Cold Blood" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/28): 
QThe bloodbath reminds us that, though Muslim extremism is often 
traceable to some local grievance, it's in essence part of a larger 
conflict between civilizations. Islamists are violently affronted 
when Hindus, Jews, Buddhist or Christians are sovereign over a 
Muslim minority.... Israelis feel at one with the people of India, 
especially at times like these.  Both countries are modern 
incarnations of ancient civilizations.  We share common political 
values, overlapping security concerns and a growing commerce. 
India was established in 1947; Israel in 1948.  Both peoples 
rejected British rule, both faced Muslim opposition to their 
independence.... Israelis have long argued that no political 
grievance, no perceived injustice and no religious creed can ever 
justify waging war against civilians.  Others have sometimes made 
excuses for QresistanceQ movements.  If any consolation can be 
derived out of the heartbreak in Mumbai, perhaps it will be that 
India will work ever more vigorously in international forums to 
isolate terrorists and the states that sponsor them. 
 
 
 
II.  "Greetings from Al-Qaida" 
 
Intelligence writer Ronen Bergman commented in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/28): QWhat the media now erroneously 
call QAl-QaidaQ would have much better be dubbed QGlobal Jihad,Q a 
term invented in the Mossad in the mid-90s.  The Mumbai attacks 
prove that, seven years after 9/11, the enlightened world is far 
from having found an intelligence or operational solution to this 
problem.... India, a country in which a Muslim minority ... and a 
Hindu majority reside, succeeds one way or the others to feed over 
one billion mouths, despite repeated attacks on its leaders ... by 
extremists from the north and an attempt by Tamils in the south to 
achieve independence.  Global Jihad activity will put that 
stability, that model for the entire world, to an extremely hard 
test. 
 
MORENO