VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2882/01 3581134
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231134Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9754
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 4768
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 1367
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 5193
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5572
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 4798
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 3222
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 5571
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2409
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0634
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 9358
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 6851
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 1795
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 5860
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7849
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH PRIORITY 0689
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 1060
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002882 
 
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.  FAA Downgrading of Israeli Aviation Status 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying yesterday, 
following PM Ehud OlmertQs talks in Ankara, that he believes direct 
peace talks with Israel are possible and that they will eventually 
take place.  Assad said that direct talks were necessary.  The media 
reported that Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Golan 
and stated that Israel would stay on the Golan regardless of what 
Olmert signs. 
 
The media reported that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called FM 
Tzipi Livni to Cairo to discuss renewing a cease-fire in Gaza.  She 
will travel there on Thursday.  The media quoted Hamas leaders as 
saying that a 24-hour cease-fire would go into effect.  A senior 
militant of HamasQs military branch told Maariv that this truce was 
over.  The Jerusalem Post quoted senior Israeli defense officials as 
saying that an operation will be launched against Hamas in Gaza even 
if the terrorist group heeds an Egyptian request and reduces its 
rocket attacks against Israel.  Maariv reported that DM Ehud Barak 
is considering responding with artillery fire at the areas from 
where Qassam rockets and mortar shells are launched.  HaQaretz 
quoted senior government sources in Jerusalem as saying that an 
international player they would not name is attempting to renew 
talks between Israel and Hamas about the cease-fire in the Gaza 
Strip.  The sources were quoted as saying that the contacts were 
currently at the level of initial feelers. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Bush administration appears to 
be using its final weeks to crack down on Iranian business interests 
in the U.S., freezing assets of a company suspected of indirectly 
supporting TehranQs nuclear program, and arresting Farshid Jahedi, 
the executive of a related charity. 
 
HaQaretz and The Jrusalem Post cited an AP report quoting RussiaQsstate arms export agency as saying yesterday that it is supplying 
Iran with defensive weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, but 
that they did not say whether they include sophisticated long-range 
S-300 missiles. 
 
Media reported that yesterday the Meretz central committee approved 
joining the new leftist party. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the UN Relief and Works Agency 
(UNRWA) in Gaza warned yesterday that more violence and the 
continued blockade are a Qrecipe for disasterQ in Gaza. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin 
Ben-Eliezer as saying in Jordan, at the latest Euro-Med conference, 
that Israel is a willing partner in signing a water management 
cooperation agreement. 
 
Israel Radio reported that British tax authorities have stepped up 
their examinations of goods from Israel to ensure that goods that 
originate in the settlements not be given a customs exemption.  The 
British envoy to the Middle East said in Jerusalem that Britain was 
also working in the EU to promote criteria for marking goods from 
the settlements. Britain is about to change its travel advisory to 
its citizens visiting the territories and to recommend that they not 
buy property in the settlements. The London government said that if 
a peace agreement were reached with the Palestinians or Syria, this 
was liable to cause losses to people buying such property.  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that Israel will not fight an advisory by 
the British against buying property over the Green Line. 
 
The media reported that the Kadima primaries my have been tainted 
with corruption, 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi 
Yona Metzger sent a letter to President Bush asking that he pardon 
convicted spy Jonathan Pollard before leaving office. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QAnyone who thinks it is 
possible to topple the Hamas regime -- if this is at all possible 
without occupying Gaza -- either does not want to listen to the 
IDF's assessments or is deluding himself. 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QSenior security officials underscored 
yesterday that the Egyptians were not engaged in mediating between 
Israel and Hamas in hope of renewing the tahdiya.  They said that 
the Egyptians were deeply insulted by Hamas. 
 
Security and intelligence affairs commentator Amit Cohen wrote in 
the popular, pluralist Maariv: QZahar must know that the terms that 
he is talking about aren't plausible at present.... That might be 
the reason why Hamas's official and declared policy contradicts 
Zahar's demands.  No one is seriously talking about renewing the 
agreement at present. 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in Yediot Aharonot: 
Q[Assad] is in a hurry, in words dripping with sweetness, to extract 
the QdepositQ from Olmert and get on the highway to office of the 
new president in the White House. 
 
Gilad Sharon, the son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, wrote 
in Yediot Aharonot: QWhat [Olmert] has achieved is shackle his 
successor....  He knows exactly how the public will remember him. 
 
Palestinian columnist Daoud Kuttab wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: QWhether or not the activities of 
regional leaders will ensure that the peace process is irreversible 
is hard to tell. 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Lightning and Thunder" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (12/23): QIf there is a solution 
to the Gaza problem, it is not going to come from hysteria and 
pressure, but through brainpower and deliberation.  With respect to 
these, no one can compete with Barak and his cold, razor-sharp 
judgment.... It is also important that Israel have international 
support for any action it decides on -- experience, after all, shows 
that an operation in the midst of a civilian population can bring 
the world's wrath down on us if women and children are killed. 
Anyone who thinks it is possible to topple the Hamas regime -- if 
this is at all possible without occupying Gaza -- either does not 
want to listen to the IDF's assessments or is deluding himself. 
Have the Americans already succeeded in uprooting the Taliban? 
Anyone who believes that going into Gaza for a limited operation is 
a trivial matter is deceiving himself and the public. Especially in 
light of Hamas' long-range rockets, which are capable of reaching 
... the outskirts of Beersheva.  However, there are many degrees on 
Israel's scale of responses, and in my opinion the decision to act 
has already been taken. 
 
II.  "The Clock Is Ticking" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (12/23): QQAll of the preparations leading 
up to military activity in the Gaza Strip are moving ahead as 
planned,Q said yesterday a high-ranking security official against 
the backdrop of what was cast by the Palestinians as a 24-hour lull. 
QAs far as we are concerned, the clock of military preparations has 
continued to tick as planned.  If Hamas truly maintains full quiet 
for at least 24 hours, only then will it be possible to begin to 
think about stopping that ticking clock.Q  QAs far as Israel is 
concerned,Q said the high-ranking source, Qno state of Qtahdiya 
[calm] was recorded yesterday.  Hamas failed even to meet its own 
conditions in order to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.  That is 
why the border crossings have remained closed and we won't allow the 
passage of the humanitarian convoy that was sent by the Egyptians. 
The Egyptian aid convoy was supposed to enter the Gaza Strip via the 
Kerem Shalom crossing, but a Qassam rocket landed near that border 
crossing yesterday, prompting an Israeli decision not to permit the 
border crossings to be opened.  The border crossings are not planned 
to be opened today either.  Senior security officials underscored 
yesterday that the Egyptians were not engaged in mediating between 
Israel and Hamas in hope of renewing the tahdiya.  They said that 
the Egyptians were deeply insulted by Hamas. 
 
III.  "The Zahar Show" 
 
Security and intelligence affairs commentator Amit Cohen wrote in 
the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/23): QThe terms [senior Hamas 
official Mahmoud] Zahar was talking about [yesterday] were never 
agreed to.  Hamas demanded that the blockade on the Gaza Strip be 
lifted.... The second issue cited by Zahar, to extend the truce 
agreement to Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank] as well, was 
something that Israel never agreed to.... Zahar must know that the 
terms that he is talking about aren't plausible at present.  He has 
already conceded publicly that the tension between Hamas and Egypt 
has reached new heights, and Israel has no intention of meeting its 
demands.  That might be the reason why Hamas's official and declared 
policy contradicts Zahar's demands.  No one is seriously talking 
about renewing the agreement at present. 
 
IV.  "The Goal: To Shackle the Next Prime Minister" 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in Yediot Aharonot 
(12/23): QThe goal is clear: the Prime Minister is soon leaving 
office and Assad is trying to extract from him something that will 
go down in the history of the negotiations as the QOlmert deposit. 
Such a formulation would obligate, so he hopes, the next prime 
ministerQNetanyahu or Livni. But the Golan is not AssadQs only 
interest: in the immediate short-term, his most burning interest is 
in ridding himself of the hump that has been on his back for three 
years now in the form of the international tribunal investigating 
the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.... 
Assad did not become a peace-seeker yesterday.  The Turkish 
steamroller pressured him to release a statement that would sound 
good to the ears of the new U.S. administration and get Olmert, upon 
his return from Ankara, to paint a positive picture of the Syrian 
presidentQs determination and tenacity.  And yet, nobody forgets for 
a moment that the Hamas leadership lives with him in Damascus and 
dictates reality in Gaza.  Assad does not intend to quell Hamas or 
to stop encouraging Hizbullah.  But he is in a hurry, in words 
dripping with sweetness, to extract the QdepositQ from Olmert and 
get on the highway to the office of the new President in the White 
House. 
 
¶V.  QDifferent Dreams 
 
Gilad Sharon, the son of former PM Ariel Sharon, wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot (12/23): QIt is unpleasant to attack someone whoQs already 
irrelevant, but there is no limit to OlmertQs cynicism.  What is 
this trip to Turkey and his pathetic attempts to get by force an 
agreement with Syria?  There wonQt be such an agreement. But what he 
has achieved is shackle his successor....  He knows exactly how the 
public will remember him.... Peace with Israel and the Golan do not 
really interest [Assad].  Olmert and AssadQs dreams are different, 
The former wants an embrace from Assad  -- a picture that would 
erase an embarrassing term.  What the latter wants is survive with 
his small Alawite sect as the head of their minority dictatorship in 
Syria. 
 
VI.  QIs the Peace Process Irreversible? 
 
Palestinian columnist Daoud Kuttab wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (12/22): QThe efforts of the Americans, 
Israelis, and Palestinians come as a way of ensuring that whatever 
government is elected by Israelis in February will not attempt to 
reverse the accomplishments already made.... For Palestinians and to 
a lesser degree Israelis, [last weekQs] Security Council Resolution 
was not very reassuring.  While important, statements by Qurei and 
even Olmert did little to provide hope and optimism for people who 
are fed up with words and public declarations.  The status of 
Palestinians, especially in regards to Gaza, is a much higher source 
of concern than any public statements.... Whether or not the 
activities of regional leaders will ensure that the peace process is 
irreversible is hard to tell. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶2.  FAA Downgrading of Israeli Aviation Status: 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QA failure of 
this magnitude entails ministerial responsibility, and it falls 
entirely on one man -- the current transportation minister, Shaul 
Mofaz. 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Mofaz Is to Blame" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (12/23): QThe 
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's decision to downgrade 
Israel's flight safety rating came as no surprise.... Successive 
Israeli transportation ministers, from Yisrael Kessar [in the 1990s] 
to Shaul Mofaz, have all treated the Civil Aviation Administration 
[CAA] and the Israel Airports Authority as convenient places to make 
political appointments, and have allowed the criminal neglect to 
continue.  They all heard the professionals' warnings about the 
CAA's haplessness, about the inefficacy of turning it into an agency 
with lots of money but very little power, and about the dangers this 
entailed.... The next transportation and finance ministers will have 
to quickly enact a thorough reform of the Civil Aviation 
Administration to rescue Israel from the developing-world 
classification into which it has cornered itself.  But a failure of 
this magnitude entails ministerial responsibility, and it falls 
entirely on one man -- the current transportation minister, Shaul 
Mofaz. 
 
CUNNINGHAM