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P 241130Z DEC 08
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002893 
 
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WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Major media led with a possible resumption of the cease-fire with 
Hamas.  HaQaretz quoted a senior Hamas official as saying in a 
published interview that his organization would be willing to renew 
its cease-fire with Israel without adding any new conditions. 
Yediot quoted senior security officials who say that they have 
discerned in the last two days what appears to be a change of heart 
in Hamas's attitude towards a possible truce, citing as evidence the 
decrease in rocket fire -- six Qassam rockets yesterday-out of the 
Gaza Strip.  However, over 60 missiles landed in Israel overnight 
and this morning.  HaQaretz reported that Israel, for its part, 
agreed to open the border today to allow food and medicine to enter 
Gaza, after days in which the crossings have been closed due to the 
ongoing rocket fire from Gaza.  Israel Radio reported that DM Ehud 
Barak ordered not to transfer the goods today because of a volley of 
rockets and mortar shells that fell on Netivot and the south of 
Ashkelon this morning.  The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak promised PA President Mahmoud Abbas 
that he will step his efforts to renew the cease-fire.  The 
newspaper also reported that Mubarak is expected to warn FM Tzipi 
Livni against a major military operation in Gaza when the two meet 
in Cairo tomorrow.  Maariv reported that cabinet ministers, former 
Shin Bet heads, reserve generals, and senior defense officials are 
calling upon the government to bring about the release of Gilad 
Shalit in any cease-fire negotiations. 
 
Media reported that three terrorists, who laid bombs at the 
Israel-Gaza border yesterday, were killed by IDF forces.  Israel 
Radio reported that In the Khan Yunis region in southern Gaza, two 
Hamas operatives were killed in the explosion of a bomb that they 
were preparing. 
 
HaQaretz quoted FM Livni as saying yesterday that Damascus must take 
concrete steps to ensure any peace deal signed by Israel is worth 
more than just the paper it is written on.  The newspaper also 
reported that senior State Department officials sent concerned 
messages to their Israeli counterparts in recent months regarding 
the negative effects an Israel-Syria peace deal could have on 
Lebanese sovereignty.  QDon't sell Lebanon to the Syrians," American 
officials reportedly wrote.  The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior GOI 
sources as saying yesterday that Turkey is keen on putting a 
Qmechanism" in place that would make direct Syrian-Israeli talks 
possible before the February 10 Israeli elections.  The source was 
quoted as saying that the idea was to have a framework up and 
working prior to the changing of the guard in the U.S. and Israel. 
 
Yediot and other media reported that Likud Chairman Benjamin 
Netanyahu is moving to an unrealistic spot on the Likud list Effie 
Eitam, a right-wing leader who has left politics, in exchange for 12 
million shekels (around $3.13 million) in his electoral budget. 
 
Maariv reported that, following the security forcesQ raid on farm of 
her father, Far-right activist Noam Federman, Yaska Federman has 
become the first right-wing conscious objector. 
 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday President Bush granted a pardonposthumously to Charles Winters, a non-Jewish Amerian who broke the 
law to supply aircraft to Jews ighting in Israel's 1948 War of 
Independence. 
Yesterday the leading Internet news service Ynet rported that an 
IDF soldier has been arrested forallegedly firing his gun during 
settler riots in Hebron. 
 
Globes reported that the American firm Hrmonic has bought the 
Israeli company Scopus, whch is developing systems to transfer 
digital video data, for $80 million.  Globes and Israel Radio quoted 
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. as saying yesterday that it 
completed its $7.5 billion buyout of the American generic drug 
manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QOutgoing 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's efforts to advance peace talks with 
Syria are praiseworthy -- even if they are unlikely to lead to a 
diplomatic agreement within the current government's few remaining 
weeks in office. 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QWhen it 
comes to bilateral relations between Israel and Syria, however, it 
is hard to lend credence to Olmert's efforts, especially with Israel 
in the midst of an election campaign. 
 
The ultra-Orthodox HamodiQa editorialized: QThis is about a prime 
minister with a legal hunchback, who lends a hand to an Arab leader 
who belongs -Q at least for now -Q to terrorist IslamQs Qaxis of 
Evil.' 
 
Senior diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in HaQaretz (12/24): 
QInstead of wasting time in futile polemics with Damascus, Israel 
can recommend arbitration. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Paving the Way" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (12/24): 
QOutgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's efforts to advance peace 
talks with Syria are praiseworthy -- even if they are unlikely to 
lead to a diplomatic agreement within the current government's few 
remaining weeks in office.  Olmert has managed to revive the Syrian 
track after eight years of stagnation, and will leave his successors 
an active negotiating framework, via Turkish mediation.  His 
achievement is particularly remarkable given Israel's two military 
confrontations in the north during his term: the Second Lebanon War, 
fought against Syria's ally Hizbullah, and Israel's bombing of a 
Syrian reactor in the summer of 2007.   In both cases, Israel 
enjoyed international support and Syria, seeking to extricate itself 
from its international isolation, was forced to swallow its pride 
after the destruction of its reactor and renew diplomatic contacts. 
Olmert also risked a disagreement with the administration of U.S. 
President George W. Bush, who opposes talks with the Syrians. In 
recent months, Olmert has made it clear that he will try to advance 
the diplomatic process until his last day in office.  Thus he has 
tried to preempt claims that as a resigning prime minister, he 
cannot legitimately conduct peace talks and must not Qtie the hands 
of the next governmentQ through understandings with the Palestinians 
or the Syrians.  Olmert is acting within his authority, and on the 
assumption that he will not obtain an agreement, his moves do not 
obligate his successors, but they will make it easier for them to 
enter the diplomatic process. 
 
II.  "The Assad-Olmert QDialogueQ" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (12/24): 
QWhen it comes to bilateral relations between Israel and Syria, 
however, it is hard to lend credence to Olmert's efforts, especially 
with Israel in the midst of an election campaign.... He should have 
stressed that irrevocable strategic concessions by Israel on the 
Golan could only be justified -- for the overwhelming majority of 
Israelis - in return for a true opening of genuine peaceful 
relations.  Last April, though, Assad said that he would not 
QimposeQ normalization with Israel on the Syrian people.  If Assad 
hasn't changed his mind about this, why isn't Olmert taking him to 
task?.... Even Arab observers are interpreting Assad's chatter about 
direct talks with Israel as intended to mislead President-elect 
Barak Obama into believing Damascus genuinely seeks peace.  If so, 
Assad is following a well-thumbed Syrian script  -- feigning 
moderation while stoking violence, unwilling to pay the price of 
peace yet anxious not to be ostracized for his intransigence. 
Assad's approach is already paying off with some EU countries. Our 
question is: Why should Ehud Olmert be smoothing his path? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
III.  "Diplomatic Coercion" 
 
The ultra-Orthodox HamodiQa editorialized (12/24): QThe energetic 
activity of the interim Prime Minster, to seal initial agreements 
with the Syrian ruler, is inconsistent with diplomatic integrity. 
If President Assad tries to receive from an interim prime minster 
what he knows he wonQt get from a permanent prime minister, there is 
no doubt that this is a diplomatic transgression.  Assad apparently 
knows the truth: This is about a prime minister with a legal 
hunchback, who lends a hand to an Arab leader who belongs -Q at 
least for now -Q to terrorist IslamQs Qaxis of Evil.' 
 
IV.  "Arbitration Now" 
Senior diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in HaQaretz (12/24): 
QNow is the time to consider a new path [on the Syrian track]. 
Instead of wasting time in futile polemics with Damascus, Israel can 
recommend arbitration.  The talks would last a few years, during 
which progress on other matters involved in a peace deal could be 
made and Syrian credibility tested.  Israel would then be portrayed 
as a country respecting international rule of law and win valuable 
public relations points. Syria's refusal based on the Qholding our 
groundQ rationale would present its president, Bashar Assad, as a 
refusenik of peace and Israel as righteous among the nations. 
International arbitration has a successful precedent in the 
Israel-Egypt peace process, in which the two sides transferred the 
issue of Taba to review.  Unlike the usual outcome today, the matter 
was resolved in Israel's favor.  In return for giving up the small 
town on the Gulf of Aqaba, which was never Israel's, it received 
territories in the central Negev and changes to the maritime border 
near Eilat.  And disputes over the exact border route did not 
disrupt the deal being signed or carried out. 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Barak Ravid wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning HaQaretz: QIsraeli officials are hoping that Barack 
Obama's presidency will Qrouse the world from its sleep. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Sanctions Are Not Working" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Barak Ravid wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning HaQaretz (12/24): QFor more than a decade, Israel has 
been trying to isolate Iran and push international sanctions against 
Tehran in a bid to keep it from going nuclear.  But now that Iran is 
slightly more than a year away from crossing the technological 
threshold that will allow it to become a nuclear power, according to 
IDF Intelligence, the sanctions appear to be dying.  The only point 
of light on the Iran issue is the drop in oil prices and the global 
financial crisis, say Israeli government officials. In addition to 
being disappointed with Russia's conduct regarding the missiles, 
Israel is also concerned about continued Russian assistance with 
Iran's construction of its nuclear facility in Bushehr, and Russia's 
indifference to the advanced state of Iran's nuclear program.... But 
Russia isn't the only country with unwelcome news.  Israeli 
officials were eager to hear details about Germany's reported plan 
for stronger sanctions against Iran, but when a German Foreign 
Office official arrived in Israel, he said it was only an idea so 
far, and wouldn't get off the ground for at least six months.  Worse 
still was the situation in Spain last week, where Foreign Minister 
Miguel Moratinos rolled out the red carpet for Mehdi Safari, Iran's 
deputy foreign minister for European affairs, and said Spain wanted 
to improve ties with Iran.  But for all the international 
indifference to Iran's nuclear aspirations, some Israeli officials 
are looking on the bright side.... Israeli officials are hoping that 
Barack Obama's presidency will Qrouse the world from its sleep. 
Despite some concern over the dialogue Obama is expected to hold 
with Tehran, Israeli government officials see the predicted failure 
of those talks as providing international legitimacy for far tougher 
steps against Iran. 
 
CUNNINGHAM