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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Gaza Crisis 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday PM Ehud Olmert sent a message 
to a number of world leaders that Israel wants to see a diplomatic 
move through Egypt that would lead to a cessation of arms-smuggling 
into Gaza, before the Gaza operation enters its third phase.  The 
Jerusalem Post and other media quoted PM Olmert as saying yesterday 
that the Security Council Resolution passed on Friday calling for an 
immediate cease-fire in Gaza was a source of embarrassment for 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who helped prepare it but 
ultimately was ordered to back down from voting for it and abstain. 
Media also cited OlmertQs claim that the blow delivered to Hamas is 
Qunprecedented. 
 
All media quoted Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh as saying yesterday in a 
televised speech that his organization would cooperate with 
initiatives for a cease-fire and an opening of the crossings in 
Gaza.  However, Haniyeh said that Hamas would also continue to fight 
against the Qoccupation forcesQ of Israel.  An Israel Radio 
commentator noted that Haniyeh did not use the term Qcease-fire, 
which is widely cited in the Israeli media. 
 
Major media quoted President Bush as saying yesterday that QIsrael 
has a right to defend herself.  I am for a sustainable cease-fire. 
And a definition of a sustainable cease-fire is that Hamas stops 
firing rockets into Israel.... The choice is HamasQs to make.Q  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that some in Israel are wondering whether 
BushQs support for Israel during these last years has been only 
rhetoric.  Israel Radio said that presumptive Secretary of State 
Hillary ClintonQs Senate confirmation hearings will give an 
indication of the Obama administrationQs foreign policy intentions. 
 
Israel Radio reported that an IDF officer was wounded in a 
booby-trapped house.  Media reported yesterday that one IDF soldier 
was injured seriously and three others lightly by friendly fire. 
 
Israel Radio reported that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will 
come to the region today in an effort to promote a cease-fire.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted Western diplomatic sources as saying that 
Turkey is playing a key role in the talks because Hamas -- due to 
its tensions with Egypt -Q currently has more confidence in Turkey 
than it does in Egypt. 
 
The media reported that yesterday the Knesset Central Elections 
Committee (CEC) disqualified Arab parties Balad (National Democratic 
Assembly) and United Arab List (UAL) from running in FebruaryQs 
elections.  The CEC overwhelmingly accused those parties of 
incitement, supporting terrorist groups, and refusing to recognize 
IsraelQs right to exist.  Major media assessed that the High Court 
of Justice is unlikely to uphold the ban. 
 
Maariv reported that Israel is active in two channels in efforts to 
plug the arms smuggling through the Philadelphi corridor: through 
Egypt and through the U.S./NATO.  The Jerusalem Post and other media 
reported that yesterday Defense Minister Director General Pinchas 
Buchris made an unplanned trip to Washington for talks with the 
Pentagon about a wide range of issues, including the Iranian nuclear 
threat and the ongoing IDF operation.  Buchris will also ask the 
Americans for technical information on a rapid-fire cannon it is 
interested in purchasing to protect strategic installations from 
Qassam rockets. 
 
HaQaretz and Yediot quoted the American human rights organization 
Human Rights Watch as saying this week that Israel is making illegal 
use of phosphor bombs in Gaza.  Israel Radio quoted IDF 
Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi as saying before the 
KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the IDF only 
uses internationally accepted weapons. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited Attorney General Menachem MazuzQs warning 
that Israel was preparing for a wave of international lawsuits 
related to IDF operations in Gaza. 
 
Maariv and The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF intends to set 
up a field hospital for Palestinians. 
 
Israel Radio and other media reported that this morning shots were 
fired at Israeli border policemen from across the Jordanian border. 
The radio cited JordanQs denial of the incident. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday, mounting their fifth 
attempt to enter the Free Gaza group -Q an organization of 
pro-Palestinian activists that opposes the ongoing blockade of Gaza 
-Q departed Cyprus, carrying humanitarian supplies, doctors, 
lawyers, and 16 journalists from international news organizations. 
Reporters from Sky News-TV, the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeeera-TV, and 
SpainQs El Mundo newspaper are among some of the boatQs 
media-affiliated passengers.  The Jerusalem Post also blasted what 
it said was universal negative media coverage of the Gaza operation, 
particularly by TIME Magazine and The Miami Herald. 
 
Leading media reported that thousands of people demonstrated in 
support of Israel on ManhattanQs 42nd Street on Sunday.  Media 
reported that scuffles broke out between Palestinian supporter and 
counter-demonstrators in Times Square. 
 
Maariv reported that academics in Ontario have decided to boycott 
Israel. 
 
HaQaretz reported that 300,000 illegal foreign workers are now in 
Israel, reaching the level attained before the large-scale expulsion 
early in this decade. 
 
Maariv and The Jerusalem Post quoted Russian politician Garry 
Kasparov as saying in a Wall Street Journal article that Russian PM 
Vladimir Putin is exacerbating IsraelQs conflicts with the Arabs and 
Iran in order to save Russia from an economic collapse that could 
jeopardize his status. 
 
Leading media reported that preliminary tests show that there is 
natural gas in the sandy layer beneath the sea floor at the Tamar 
offshore drill site, 90 km west of Haifa. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the America Israel Cultural Foundation is in 
danger of closing following the loss of $30 million of its endowment 
to the Madoff fraud. 
 
------------ 
Gaza Crisis: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QAs the days 
pass, there is growing concern that Operation Cast Lead is 
undergoing a process of politicization, and that the internal power 
struggles are undermining the ability of the transition government 
to reach an agreement. 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz: QI 
feel sorry for the people of Gaza, but I feel even sorrier for the 
civilian population of southern Israel, which has been bombarded by 
rockets for the last eight years. 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QInstead of seeking an 
exit strategy, [Olmert] is seeking a success strategy -- to continue 
to expand the military pressure. 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in Yediot Aharonot: QOf 
course Israel can win.... [But] we don't want to win.  Official 
Israel does not want to wipe out the Hamas government in Gaza. 
 
Security and intelligence affairs commentator Amit Cohen wrote in 
the popular, pluralist Maariv: QWhat might be construed as public 
differences of opinion or cracks in Hamas unity attests more 
accurately to the doublespeak, the double game that Hamas is 
playing. 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: Q[Egypt] 
must, finally, overcome its inhibitions vis-a-vis its own Islamists 
and take real action to stop arms trafficking.  Alternatively, it 
must allow an empowered multi-national military presence on its soil 
to do the job. 
 
Amnon Rubinstein, Law Professor at the Interdisciplinary Center and 
a former education minister from Meretz, wrote in The Jerusalem 
Post: QThe Security Council's decision was good for Israel and we 
foolishly missed it. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Danger of Politicization" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (1/13): QAs the 
days pass, there is growing concern that Operation Cast Lead is 
undergoing a process of politicization, and that the internal power 
struggles are undermining the ability of the transition government 
to reach an agreement.... Despite the excessive use of force, which 
is inflicting heavy losses and damage to the civilian population in 
the Strip, the operation is garnering a consensus among public 
opinion makers.  The government and most of the opposition supported 
the war against Hamas, and they expressed the widespread feeling 
among the public that this is an Qinvoluntary war,Q whose objectives 
are defined and agreed upon.  This pervasive mood, which has 
followed the combat troops and has eased the burden on the residents 
on the home front, has grown more potent in light of the readiness 
on the part of the decision-makers to disassociate the war from the 
election campaign and to put off criticizing their colleagues until 
quieter days prevail.  Only now a row has plowed through the barrier 
of silence, and the settling of political scores has begun on the 
backs of IDF soldiers and residents of the south, as if there were 
no tomorrow.  The shrill voices need to be cast aside in favor of 
the formulation of a responsible, sober policy, which will yield a 
cease-fire as soon as possible. 
 
II.  "Strong Nerves and Crocodile Tears" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz 
(1/13): QI feel sorry for the people of Gaza, but I feel even 
sorrier for the civilian population of southern Israel, which has 
been bombarded by rockets for the last eight years.... I feel sorry 
for the Color Red sirens that send our citizens on a mad dash for 
shelters, if there are any, in the hopes of finding cover within 15 
seconds.  I feel sorry about the homes that have been damaged, the 
cities that have been drained of their citizens and the schools hit 
by rockets that were miraculously empty at the time.... If Israel 
had not acted now, we would have woken up one morning to find 
missiles in Tel Aviv, special delivery from Iran via the Philadelphi 
tunnels.  Operation Cast Lead is not a reprisal raid but a defensive 
war meant to clip Hamas's wings before it surprises us with a 
Palestinian version of the Yom Kippur War.  It's not our fault we 
have a strong, well-run army and state-of-the-art weaponry.  What 
did Hamas think?  That we were going to sit around twiddling our 
thumbs forever?.... Operation Cast Lead is one of the most justified 
of Israel's wars, to use Ariel Sharon's turn of phrase.... The Hamas 
regime has lost its trappings.  It has been exposed as an empty 
vessel in the eyes of the people who voted it into power.  Its 
leaders are hiding, leaving the Palestinians in a lurch.  One day 
they will pay for it, I'm sure.  As for us, we have no objective 
reason to put pressure on the government right now. Despite the 
defense minister's cold feet, strong nerves are the army's ABCs, 
ensuring that every step is calculated with care and no irreversible 
mistakes are made as the reservists enter Gaza. 
III.  "OlmertQs Move" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (1/13): QFrom the first 
day of the operation the decision-makers, including Barak and Livni, 
have been troubled by the question of how and when do we finish this 
thing.  Olmert is now seeking to take a different route.  Instead of 
seeking an exit strategy, he is seeking a success strategy -- to 
continue to expand the military pressure.... [At a meeting with 
mayors of southern cities yesterday, Ehud Olmert] spoke about the 
Qiron fist of the Israeli people.Q  QWe will continue to strike with 
all our might,Q he promised.  QThe fighting spirit in the people is 
enormous.  The army is doing a wonderful job.  The Shin Bet is doing 
a wonderful job.  Now is the time in which willpower -- ours and 
theirs -- is measured.Q  Something has happened to him in between 
the speech that he delivered to the cabinet on the eve of the 
operation, a glum speech that was full of blood, sweat, and tears, 
and the stern and optimistic speech he gave yesterday.   At the end, 
the mayors learned what he truly felt.  QDonQt expect any thanks or 
appreciation for your work,Q he said.  QTwo years from now no one is 
going to remember.Q  Why two years, one of them asked.  Is there 
going to be another war in another two years? 
 
IV.  "Israel Doesn't Want to Win" 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker wrote in Yediot Aharonot (1/13): 
QTIME Magazine contended this week that Israel could not defeat 
Hamas.  As usual, TIME is wrong.  Of course Israel can win.  Hamas 
is not a mass national liberation movement of the Palestinian 
people: it is a tiny Islamic-fascist organization that forcibly took 
over a desperate region and turned it into the nightmare of an 
Islamic state.  Is there no efficient way to defeat Hamas?  There 
is.  For example, for every Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, 
bomb Hamas headquarters in Damascus.  For example, for every Qassam 
rocket at Israel, assassinate a Hamas leader, either a military one 
or a QcivilianQ one.  Israel put down the second Intifada not by 
bombing cities and neighborhoods and Palestinian refugee camps, but 
by the gradual and systematic assassination of those who led terror. 
 Back then, we wanted to win.  Now, we don't want to win.  Official 
Israel does not want to wipe out the Hamas government in Gaza.  Even 
though the entire world, including the Arab world, has given us 
permission to do this.  It even begged us to do this, on condition 
that an ocean of Palestinian blood not be spilled.  But we are 
disappointing them: We are both spilling an ocean of blood and not 
intending to win.  Perhaps because of the upcoming elections, who 
knows.... The Israeli leadership is making an historic mistake, 
which could be fatal.  This is a cancerous growth that has to be 
removed in time.... If we don't defeat Hamas now, but only Qrespond 
savagelyQ and take punitive action -- not with intent but in deed -- 
against the Palestinian civilian population, Israelis will be 
considered savages that have no place among civilized people, and 
Hamas will emerge the winner. 
 
¶V.  QSofter Tone, Same Content 
 
Security and intelligence affairs commentator Amit Cohen wrote in 
the popular, pluralist Maariv (1/13): QWhen Ismail Haniyeh began his 
speech yesterday, one might have forgotten that just a few hours 
before Hamas had threatened to derail the entire process.  Within a 
very short period of time the Hamas leaders presented conflicting 
positions.  While the delegation to Cairo, to which representatives 
from Gaza were also party, scornfully rejected the Egyptian 
initiative, the Hamas prime minister in Gaza, Haniyeh, announced 
that he embraced that initiative warmly.  But what might be 
construed as public differences of opinion or cracks in Hamas unity 
attests more accurately to the doublespeak, the double game that 
Hamas is playing.... If Hamas agrees to an unconditional cease-fire, 
the damage that will be caused to its image will set it back by 
years.  That is why Hamas, even though it is eager for a cease-fire, 
feels that it is more important for it to achieve a cease-fire from 
a position of power or, at the very least, to be in a position in 
which the Gazan public will believe the lie. 
 
 
VI.  QEgypt at the Crossroads 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (1/13): 
QHosni Mubarak's regime failed to make the cessation of smuggling 
its own priority.  While on the one hand, it didn't want Hamas to 
grow ever stronger, it didn't, on the other hand, want to be seen as 
collaborating with Jerusalem against Hamas.  Trying to have it both 
ways has now come back to bite the regime.  It inadvertently helped 
create the explosive situation that forced Israel into Operation 
Cast Lead.  Egypt is in a bind. Its own national interest isn't far 
from Israel's, yet it dare not inflame its domestic Islamist 
opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood, which is closely tied to Hamas. 
It is understandably loath to allow a free flow of Gazans -- who 
might have Brotherhood or Iranian ties and stir up more unrest 
inside Egypt.  Keeping the current situation on a low flame may 
strike Egypt as the least distasteful of a poor menu of choices. 
Yet it is a recipe for further bloodshed.  If the Philadelphi 
Corridor isn't permanently secured, another -- worse -- round of 
warfare is inevitable.  It would leave Hamas approaching Hizbullah 
in strength and posing an even greater risk of destabilization 
within Egypt.  Egypt stands at a fateful crossroads.  It must, 
finally, overcome its inhibitions vis-a-vis its own Islamists and 
take real action to stop arms trafficking.  Alternatively, it must 
allow an empowered multi-national military presence on its soil to 
do the job.  Either way, Egypt ought to desire the most effective 
supervisory mechanism, one it can oversee and coordinate, thereby 
cementing its status as regional leader. 
 
VII.  QSaying QNoQ Was a Mistake 
 
Amnon Rubinstein, Law Professor at the Interdisciplinary Center and 
a former education minister from Meretz, wrote in The Jerusalem Post 
(1/13): QLast Friday, the Security Council decided by a vote of 14 
for and one (U.S.) abstention on an immediate and durable cessation 
of hostilities. Almost instinctively, the Israeli cabinet said 'no' 
to the decision.   Had Israel accepted the decision, there would 
have been two possibilities: The Hamas would either accept it and 
cease its shelling or, alternatively, it would have ignored the 
decision and continue to target Israel's south.  In the latter case, 
the war would have continued, but the burden for its continuation 
would fall squarely and directly on Hamas, a criminal organization 
which is responsible for the war in the first place.  Israel would 
have improved her international standing, which was gravely hurt 
both in public opinion and among friendly governments who sponsored 
the decision.  On the other hand, had Hamas accepted the decision 
and would have stopped its rockets, this would have been a victory 
for Israel.  After all, it was for this purpose that the whole 
military operation came into being.  True: Hamas would have declared 
victory, but this would happen anyway.... Most important, the 
Council's decision gave Israel a good point of exit from the war. 
The head of IDF Intelligence described the situation in Gaza: QThe 
leadership is paralyzed; Hamas military arm evades battle and there 
are cracks in Hamas' position.Q  This may be an overstatement, but 
even if partially true, what better time for Israel to accept a 
cease-fire proposal and concentrate on arrangements and guarantees 
which would prevent the smuggling of arms from Egypt into Gaza?  One 
cannot think of a better, more opportune point of exit.  Actually, 
the Security Council's decision was good for Israel and we foolishly 
missed it. 
 
CUNNINGHAM