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DE RUEHTV #0126/01 0161122
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P 161122Z JAN 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000126 
 
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.  Gaza Crisis 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
HaQaretz and other media reported on feverish efforts to achieve a 
cease-fire by this weekend.  Israel Radio reported that Amos Gilad, 
the head of the Defense Ministry's political-security bureau, will 
again travel to Cairo today.  The cabinet has not yet discussed the 
conclusions of his visit to Egypt yesterday.  Israel Radio cited the 
international newspaper Al-Hayat quoting Gilad as saying in Cairo 
that Israel will not be able to pull out from Gaza if there is no 
permanent cease-fire.  Yediot and Israel Radio quoted Egyptian 
sources as saying that Israel has given a Qgreen light in principle 
to a cease-fire.  The Jerusalem Post quoted PA Representative to the 
UN Riyad Mansour as saying yesterday that the Palestinians will 
press for an international force if the cease-fire bid fails. 
Mohamad Nazal, Hamas politburo member in Damascus was quoted as 
saying in an interview with Nazareth-based Assennara that Hamas 
didnQt agree on all the items of the Egyptian initiative. He 
insisted that while [Hamas] does not refuse having international 
forces monitor the situation, they will not agree to a permanent 
tahdiya [truce] but rather a temporary one. 
 
All media reported that yesterday Israel assassinated Hamas Interior 
Minister Said Siam.  The head of HamasQs domestic security apparatus 
was also killed in the air raid.  Yediot reported that Hamas is 
calling for a painful revenge.  HaQaretz quoted Palestinian sources 
as saying that Israel has eliminated HamasQs QIranian phalanx. 
 
HaQaretz quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying that the spat with 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is over. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the U.S. has drawn up a document to demarcate 
the future borders between Israel and a Palestinian state. 
 
Leading media reported that in Washington during the weekend FM 
Tzipi Livni will sign a deal with the U.S. on preventing arms 
smuggling. 
 
On Wednesday Maariv reported that Israel is requesting an urgent 
answer from the U.S. regarding the feasibility of the Nautilus 
missile defense system, despite the fact that the Israeli defense 
establishment prefers the QIron Dome.Q  Over the past few days media 
reported that the U.S. has expressed interest in the QColor Red 
warning system installed in Israeli communities. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Fatah is cracking down on Hamas in 
the West Bank.  Dr. Saeb Erekat chief Palestinian negotiator was 
quoted as saying in an interview with Assennara that Fatah will not 
go back to Gaza on an Israeli tank or according to an Israeli 
agreement, and their only way is through a national Palestinian 
reconciliation. 
 
Yediot reported that President-elect Barack Obama intends to deliver 
a speech in an Arab capital, probably Cairo, during his first month 
in office. 
 
HaQaretz reported that two moderate leaders of Hamas-Gaza have 
accused the movementQs Damascus leadership of bringing a disaster to 
Gaza by deciding to break the period of quiet. 
 
Leading media reported that Israeli authorities have arrested 
Mauricio Segal, a dual Israeli-Argentine citizen, who offered Iran 
information in exchange for money. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the police have arrested an anarchist 
militant who threatened to murder DM Ehud Barak. 
 
Maariv reported that the 2008 inflation rate in Israel was 3.8% -- 
the third year in a row that it exceeded official expectations. 
 
Maariv presented the results of a TNS/Teleseker poll on voting 
intentions for the Knesset elections: 
In brackets: Maariv's January 8 poll): 
Likud 28 (29); Kadima: 26 (27); Labor Party: 17 (17): Yisrael 
Beiteinu: 14 (13); Shas: 9 (9); Arab parties: 10 (10); United Torah 
Judaism: 5 (6); Meretz: 5 (5); National-Religious Party-Jewish Home 
3 (4); National Union 3 (0). 
 
QHow would you rate [IsraelQs] military activity?Q  Very good: 
82.1%; good; 11.6%; average: 3.5%; bad: 0.9%; not good: 0.5%; 1.4% 
were undecided. 
QWhat should Israel do now?Q  Continue the fighting and expand it by 
bringing in more forces until the full elimination of [HamasQs] 
military capability: 53.1%; continue the fighting without expanding 
the operation at this time, while seeking a diplomatic arrangement 
that would guarantee the cessation of rocket fire: 36.1%; stop the 
fighting and seek a diplomatic arrangement: 7.9%; 2.8% were 
undecided. 
 
Results of the HaQaretz/Dialog poll: 
QHas the Gaza operation been a success or a failure?Q  Success: 78%; 
failure: 9%; 13% were undecided. 
QHas Israel used excessive force?Q  No: 82%; yes: 13%; 5% were 
undecided. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cites a McClatchy/Ipsos poll that found that 44% 
of Americans support IsraelQs use of force, in comparison to 18% who 
think HamasQs use of force is appropriate   And 57% think the latter 
is using excessive force -Q something only 36% believe Israel to be 
doing. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QThe U.S. administration in 
effect calling Olmert a liar, if not worse, is something new that 
does not bode well for our relations with the next president. 
 
Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote in 
Ha'aretz: QYou, Barack Hussein Obama, are our last chance, and if 
that too fades -- and evil is determined against us, all hope is 
lost. 
 
Shmuel Rosner wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv: QOn Middle 
East issues Dennis RossQs influence will apparently be as important 
[as Gen. Jim Jones] -Q perhaps even greater. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Olmert, Look for New Digs" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (1/16): QCondoleezza Rice has 
enough reasons to be angry with us for falsely promising to 
dismantle illegal outposts -- a promise that was never kept.  But if 
she felt deceived, at least she didn't say so publicly.  We have had 
dealings with hostile presidents, and some of our prime ministers 
didn't get along very well with presidents who were not fans of the 
Zionist movement.  But the U.S. administration in effect calling 
Olmert a liar, if not worse, is something new that does not bode 
well for our relations with the next president.... While criminal 
indictment looms in the horizon and everyone knows he will be out of 
a job after the February elections, Olmert's conduct these days is 
not totally free of personal motives.  What seems obvious now is 
that he is trying to push a policy that will erase the stain of his 
failure in the Second Lebanon War and allow him to go down in 
Israeli history as the great victor of the war against Hamas. 
 
II.  "Go Your Own Way" 
 
Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote in 
Ha'aretz (1/16): QYou, Barack Hussein Obama, are our last chance, 
and if that too fades -- and evil is determined against us, all hope 
is lost.  We are the prisoner who is stuck in a cell; without the 
help of others, we will never succeed in extricating ourselves from 
the bonds of our natural fear and the historical accounting.  And 
there are no QothersQ except for America, for which no substitute 
has been found, even in its time of weakness.  The Israeli 
politicians -- the singers of all the wars -- will try to feed you 
Qdirect negotiationsQ and Qwithout external pressureQ; these 
refrains are groundless.  Ask your advisers, Dennis Ross and Dan 
Kurtzer and Martin Indyk, and they will tell you.... In any case, 
you have no chance of being considered a friend of Israel for long, 
unless you become a lifelong slave of the next Israeli prime 
minister.  Look what happened this week to U.S. Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice, who faithfully stuck to former prime minister 
Ariel Sharon and incumbent Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.... That's 
what will happen to you when you don't agree to wag like a tail; you 
will also be interrupted in the middle of a meeting in Philadelphia 
and reprimanded, when you announce your intention of talking to Iran 
and Syria, and perhaps to Hizbullah and Hamas as well.  On the 
contrary, follow your own path and talk to them, talk to everyone, 
talk to anyone who is willing to talk.  For eight years they didn't 
talk, they only tried to educate the entire world using sanctions 
and the sword, and this is the result. 
 
 
III.  "Ross and Disengagement" 
 
Shmuel Rosner wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (1/16): 
QObamaQs Kissinger will be General Jim Jones: He will at least carry 
a similar title.  But on Middle East issues Dennis RossQs influence 
will apparently be as important -Q perhaps even greater.  Rumors 
about the appointment of the peace envoy to a position of the Obama 
administrationQs senior adviser on Middle East affairs was not 
sincerely welcome among some branches of the American left.  Too 
many Jews are busying themselves with the Middle East in this 
administration, fumed Roger Cohen of the International Herald 
Tribune Q- at times a harsh critic of Israel.... Last week some 
shadows went by in the friendly Obama-Israel skies as the news of 
the appointment of Richard Haass, one of the senior members of the 
administration of George H.W. Bush and one of the men of former 
Secretary of State James Baker, to the position of envoy in the 
Israeli-Palestinian peace process. 
 
---------------- 
¶2.  Gaza Crisis: 
---------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QThose 
who want to create a Palestinian state living peaceably with Israel 
could ... reasonably conclude that what Palestinians need foremost 
is some kind of trusteeship to help them create a civil society, 
accountable institutions, transparent government... and political 
socialization toward tolerance. 
 
Very liberal columnist Gideon Levy wrote on page one of the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QAll those who supported this 
war and all those who objected to it should unite in the cry, 
QEnough. 
 
Prominent liberal author A. B. Yehoshua addressed Gideon Levy on 
page one of HaQaretz: QPlease, preserve the moral authority and 
concern that you possessed, and your distinctive voice.  We will 
need them again in the future, which promises further ordeals on the 
road to peace. 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  QFatah to the Rescue? 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (1/16): 
QThough Fatah denounces Israel's battle with Hamas in the most 
venomous terms, the West Bank masses are said to be fuming that 
Fatah won't let them confront Israel directly. QThis will 
irreparably damage its standing in the eyes of Palestinians...Q an 
Arab expert told The Christian Science Monitor.  In other words, 
many ordinary Palestinians want Fatah to again lead them into 
another violent uprising -- despite the devastation a third intifada 
would bring down on them.  Never mind that the standard of living in 
the West Bank is better than it has been in years.  So the problem 
is not just a PA demonstrably incapable of reforming itself, or a 
politically toxic Hamas; it is, more fundamentally, much of the 
Palestinian political culture.  Those who want to create a 
Palestinian state living peaceably with Israel could, then, 
reasonably conclude that what Palestinians need foremost is some 
kind of trusteeship to help them create a civil society, accountable 
institutions, transparent government... and political socialization 
toward tolerance. 
 
II.  QStop the Madness 
 
Very liberal columnist Gideon Levy wrote on page one of the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (1/16): QSomeone has to stop this 
rampant madness.  Right now.  It may seem as though the cabinet 
hasn't decided on the Qthird stageQ of the war yet, [Israeli envoy] 
Amos Gilad is discussing a cease fire in Cairo, the end of the 
fighting seems close -- but all this is misleading.... Israel is 
arrogantly ignoring the Security Council's resolution calling for a 
cease-fire and is shelling the UN compound in Gaza, as if to show 
its real feeling toward that institution.... Whether or not we have 
accomplished anything in the war, now only the thirst for blood and 
lust for revenge speak out, together with the desperate longing for 
the Qvictory shotQ on the backs of hundreds and thousands of 
miserable civilians -- a picture that will never be achieved, even 
with another 100 assassinations of Hamas leaders, like Thursday. 
All those who supported this war and all those who objected to it 
should unite in the cry, QEnough. 
 
III.  QAn Open Letter to Gideon Levy 
Prominent liberal author A. B. Yehoshua addressed Gideon Levy on 
page one of HaQaretz (1/16): QAll we are trying to do is get 
[HamasQs] leaders to stop this senseless and wicked aggression, and 
it is only because of the tragic and deliberate mingling between 
Hamas fighters and the civilian population that children, too, are 
unfortunately being killed.  The fact is that since the 
disengagement, Hamas has fired only at civilians.  Even in this war, 
to my astonishment, I see that they are not aiming at the army 
concentrations along the border but time and again at civilian 
communities.  Please, preserve the moral authority and concern that 
you possessed, and your distinctive voice.  We will need them again 
in the future, which promises further ordeals on the road to peace. 
In the meantime, it would be best for us all -- we and the 
Palestinians and the rest of the world -- to follow the simple moral 
imperative of Kantian philosophy: QAct only according to that maxim 
by which you can at the same time will that it should become a 
universal law. 
 
CUNNINGHAM