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Viewing cable 08TELAVIV2822, ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08TELAVIV2822 2008-12-17 11:51 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tel Aviv
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2822/01 3521151
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171151Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9632
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 4750
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 1350
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 5162
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5554
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 4775
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 3202
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 5548
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2389
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0614
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 9341
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 6834
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 1776
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 5843
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7832
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH PRIORITY 0672
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 1023
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY
UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002822 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that Israel welcomed the UN Security CouncilQs 
resolution passed yesterday, which endorsed the Quartet strategy on 
the Annapolis Israeli-Palestinian peace process.  The media had 
earlier cited IsraelQs reservations about the Annapolis process. 
HaQaretz reported that PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Israeli 
reporters in Ramallah yesterday that the PA will work with any 
government elected in Israel, but that it must stick with the 
Annapolis process and the Roadmap.  Leading media reported that 
Abbas pledged to thwart Hamas terror attacks in the West Bank after 
the end of the truce. 
 
Israel Radio reported that rockets continue to land in Israel. 
HaQaretz reported that Ahaz Benari, the defense establishment's 
legal adviser, recently told DM Ehud Barak that Israel should not 
use artillery fire to target rocket-launching militants in Gaza if 
the fire is aimed at populated areas.  HaQaretz reported that over 
recent days Hamas arrested members of smaller factions who launched 
rockets at Israel. 
 
All media reported that Kadima is holding its first-ever primary 
today.  Media expect low turnout. 
 
Leading media quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying that 
there will be no peace without the Sea of GalileeQs northeast 
corner.  HaQaretz reported that an Israeli diplomat told HaQaretz 
this week that Israel and Syria have both told Turkey that they are 
not currently interested in conducting another round of indirect 
talks.  The diplomat was quoted as saying that Damascus and 
Jerusalem explained that they are suspending the Turkish mediated 
negotiations due to the political uncertainty in Israel. Turkish 
officials were quoted as saying that they believed talks would be 
resumed after Israel gets its new leader.  The decision to shelve 
the process did not invoke much protest from the Foreign Ministry, 
where top diplomats have said they are unhappy with the way peace 
talks have allowed Syria to break out of its isolation, despite its 
 
classification as a state sponsor of terror. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a top-level German Foreign Ministry 
delegation arrived Tuesday for a day of discussions that included a 
new proposal from Berlin to step up sanctions against Tehran. 
 
Media reported that journalist/satirist Ori Orbach is holding 
contacts with the right-wing Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party. 
Media said that he has chances of being placed on the partyQs fourth 
or fifth slot. 
 
Citing the AP, HaQaretz quoted Dutch FM Maxime Verhagen as saying on 
Dutch Radio that he will boycott the QDurban IIQ UN racism 
conference if anti-Israel statements are not scrapped from draft 
texts being drawn up for the meeting. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and other media cited the results of a poll 
conducted between November 26 and December 7 by both the Palestinian 
Center for Policy Research in Ramallah and the Harry S. Truman 
Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at Hebrew University 
of Jerusalem according to which 66% of Palestinians support the Arab 
peace imitative that calls for a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 
borders, while only 36% of Israelis support the plan.  When it came 
to peace with Syria in exchange for the Golan, 63% of Israelis 
opposed evacuating the area. 
 
All media led with the accident of a tour bus carrying Russian 
travel agents near Eilat.  In the worst traffic accident in Israeli 
history, 24 were killed and 31 wounded. 
 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late Prime 
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot: QIf Obama decides to Qbreak the routine,Q Israel 
will have to brace for Qcomplex and thornyQ days in relations with 
the U.S. 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QWhile within 
the Green Line, the government is cutting welfare services, 
education, health and public housing, and shirking its 
responsibility to its citizens, in [Qsettler realmQ] Judea a 
glorious welfare state is flourishing. 
 
Former Meretz leader Dr. Yossi Beilin wrote in the independent 
Israel Hayom: QThe world is waiting for Obama, America is waiting 
for Obama, there is a sense that the troubles can be tolerated in 
the meantime -- because soon someone will come along who will know 
what to do. 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: QThe feeling in Jerusalem is that 
neither [Brent Scowcroft nor Zbigniew Brzezinski] will have any 
formal position, but will rather be in the capacity of Qwise elder 
statesmenQ whose advice would be sought after on an ad hoc basis. 
 
Columnist Michael Freund, who was an assistant to former prime 
minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote in The Jerusalem Post: QInstead 
of targeting Iran's illicit nuclear program, or Syria's nefarious 
regime, the outgoing U.S. President has inexplicably chosen to 
detonate a diplomatic device over the heads of all Israelis. 
 
Liberal columnist Alexander Yakobson wrote in Ha'aretz: QIf Benjamin 
Netanyahu forms the next government, the chance he'll be able to 
deal with the challenge presented by the [Saudi] peace initiative in 
a positive and creative way is just about zero. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
I.  "What Will Obama Do?" 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late Prime 
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot (12/17): QIf Obama decides to continue the path of 
his predecessors, a sigh of relief will be heard in the Oval 
Office.... But if Obama decides to Qbreak the routine,Q Israel will 
have to brace for Qcomplex and thornyQ days in relations with the 
U.S., with the latter holding a whip and the ability to do with 
Israel (almost) everything it fancies.  Now a tense Israel can only 
wait. 
 
II.  "His Mission Impossible -- The World Awaits Obama" 
 
Former Meretz leader Dr. Yossi Beilin wrote in the independent 
Israel Hayom (12/17): QWill [Obama] appoint a Middle East envoy? 
Will it be Dan Kurtzer?  Dennis Ross?  Richard Holbrooke?  Colin 
Powell, or even Bill Clinton?  Will four-five envoys be appointed, 
with a super-envoy over them?  Will the dialogue with Iran be held 
before the elections there, or only afterwards?  Will it indeed be 
Syria first or will he want to quickly reach an Israeli-Palestinian 
agreement?  The former staff of the Clinton administration are busy 
preparing foreign policy papers for the incoming president and 
secretary of state, even if they admit that Obama's main 
preoccupation will be the economic realm.  They believe in his 
ability to delegate authority to others and guide them in following 
a plan in which he believes. Only Obama knows.  The world is 
waiting for Obama, America is waiting for Obama, there is a sense 
that the troubles can be tolerated in the meantime -- because soon 
someone will come along who will know what to do.  Conversely, it is 
clear to everyone that there are no magic solutions to the 
deteriorating economy in the U.S, and around the world, to the 
Iranian nuclear program or to the leaders in conflict regions who do 
not believe in peace and will always find proper excuses to reject 
it.... The United States prays that this indicates the ability to 
perform an impossible mission, and the world prays along with it. 
 
III.  "Israel Watching ObamaQs Appointments to Find Out About the 
Course of His Mideast Policy" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (12/17): QJerusalem is carefully watching 
the posturing in Washington over top Middle East positions in the 
new administration. Hoping this will provide clues into 
President-elect Barack ObamaQs priorities.... QPeople like [Dennis] 
Ross are seen as tougher on Iran, [a Jerusalem] source said. QPeople 
like [Daniel] Kurtzer are seen as feeling that if you deal with the 
Israeli-Palestinian situation.  You could jump-start a dynamic that 
could change the Middle East and also have a trickle-down effect on 
IranQ.... The feeling in Jerusalem is that neither [Brent Scowcroft 
nor Zbigniew Brzezinski] will have any formal position, but will 
rather be in the capacity of Qwise elder statesmenQ whose advice 
would be sought after on an ad hoc basis.  [A U.S. official] said it 
was likely that Clinton would take what U.S. Condoleezza Rice had 
achieved in the Annapolis process and Qmake it her own. 
 
IV.  "BushQs December Surprise" 
Columnist Michael Freund, who was an assistant to former prime 
minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote in The Jerusalem Post (12/17): 
QWith just a month left to go before he leaves office, George W. 
Bush has decided to pull the trigger and drop a bomb on the Middle 
East.  Only instead of targeting Iran's illicit nuclear program, or 
Syria's nefarious regime, the outgoing U.S. President has 
inexplicably chosen to detonate a diplomatic device over the heads 
of all Israelis.  In a move that was said to have been Qpersonally 
ledQ  by Bush, diplomats from the 15 member nations of the UN 
Security Council convened for an emergency session on Saturday to 
discuss the text of a proposed resolution aimed at tying the hands 
of Israel's next government.  The draft resolution, which was slated 
to be passed Tuesday, calls on Israel and the Palestinians to 
continue to negotiate Qcore issuesQ such as dividing Jerusalem, even 
after the present Israeli and Palestinian governments leave office 
in 2009. Knowing full well that a new Israeli government, most 
likely headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, will take power in February, 
Bush prefers not to let the people of Israel decide their own fate. 
Instead, he is attempting to impose a diplomatic straitjacket on 
Israel's democracy by trying to compel the next government to 
continue with the largely futile process of negotiating with the 
Palestinian leadership.  This is Bush's December surprise, a last 
ditch and pitifully transparent effort on the president's part to 
salvage what little remains of his once grandiose plans to establish 
a Palestinian state. 
 
 
 
 
V.  QThe Flourishing State of Judea 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (12/17): QEven 
if the Ariel University Center is interested in inflating the story 
of the demographic and financial-social success of the settlements, 
one would have to be blind not to see how the State of Judea has 
been established alongside the State of Israel -- a golem that has 
turned on its maker.  And while within the Green Line, the 
government is cutting welfare services, education, health and public 
housing, and shirking its responsibility to its citizens, in Judea a 
glorious welfare state is flourishing.  That's because it is on the 
pockets of the collapsing middle class that are providing the 
settlers with wonderful infrastructure, a long school day, secure 
transportation to school and extracurricular activities, state and 
military security, extra social services personnel and other 
benefits.  Most settlers work for state institutions and enjoy tax 
breaks.  The declared standard of living makes no mention of the 
danger level in the face of terror attacks.  No wonder most of them 
are so content. 
 
VI.  QWhereQs the Israeli Initiative? 
 
Liberal columnist Alexander Yakobson wrote in Ha'aretz (12/17): 
QPresident Shimon Peres tried recently in his contacts with Arab 
leaders to formulate a positive and flexible position toward the 
Saudi peace initiative.  He praised the document, emphasized its 
positive foundations and called for negotiations based on it, 
without accepting all its sections in advance, including the 
problematic part on refugees.  This is exactly the position the 
Israeli government should have adopted, but such a clear position 
was never presented by the Kadima government.  If Benjamin Netanyahu 
forms the next government, the chance he'll be able to deal with the 
challenge presented by the peace initiative in a positive and 
creative way is just about zero.  That's another reason to worry 
about the political importance of the return of Netanyahu to 
power.... The lack of an Israeli peace initiative will turn the 
Saudi initiative in its present form into the Qonly game in town. 
Every hint of moderation and pragmatism in the Arab world must be 
answered in a positive way, without ruling out any proposals just 
because they contain problematic components, but also without a 
sweeping adoption of those principles and an attempt to deny their 
existence. 
 
CUNNINGHAM