VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #0344/01 0401155
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091155Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0428
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 4983
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 1580
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 5442
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5788
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 5017
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 3488
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 5807
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2644
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0857
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 9570
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 7067
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 2017
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 6073
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 8104
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH PRIORITY 0901
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 1360
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000344 
 
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.  Israeli Elections 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media highlighted the election campaign on its last day.  All 
media quoted PM Ehud Olmert as saying yesterday for the first time 
that he endorses Kadima chair Tzipi Livni.  HaQaretz reported that 
Livni is appealing to the left, as Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu 
is wooing rightists: Maariv reported that Netanyahu does not rule 
out appointing Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman defense 
minister.  Livni does not rule out including Lieberman in her 
government.  All media quoted Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef as 
saying that a vote for Lieberman strengthens Satan.  President 
Shimon Peres told Israel Radio his morning that he denounces 
incitement against Israeli Arabs.  Yesterday The Jerusalem Post 
cited the results of a survey that found that twice as many Knesset 
members are likely to pick Netanyahu over Livni for prime minister. 
 
Israel Radio quoted the official Egyptian newspaper Al-Gumhuriya as 
saying that a truce agreement will be reached in 48 hours.  HaQaretz 
quoted Egyptian sources as saying yesterday that Hamas has acceded 
over the past few days to the Israeli demand to link the opening of 
the border crossings to the release of Gilad Shalit.  This allows 
progress toward a cease-fire, by creating a connection between the 
opening of all crossings by Israel, completion of a prisoner swap 
and Shalit's release.  Israel Radio quoted a Turkish mediator as 
saying in the international newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi that Israel 
is prepared to release all prisoners wanted by Hamas, except four of 
them.  Yediot reported that Egypt is pushing for a deal to release 
Shalit before Olmert leaves office. 
 
Netanyahu was quoted as saying in an interview with Makor 
Rishon-Hatzofe that the regional conflict will not end without the 
neutralization of the Iranian threat. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted former Deputy National Security Advisor 
Elliot Abrams as saying yesterday at JerusalemQs Shalem Center that 
the Obama administration is unlikely to continue the press for 
democracy and freedom in the Middle East that was a mainstay of the 
Bush administrationQs policy in the region. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad as 
saying on Saturday that no Israeli politician is offering a 
Qreasonable solution. 
 
The media reported that yesterday two rockets were launched at 
Israel from Gaza.  On Friday the IAF bombed smuggling tunnels in 
southern Gaza in response to rocket launchings.  The air force again 
hit Hamas targets last night. 
 
Over the weekend major media quoted Turkish prosecutors as saying on 
Friday that they were investigating whether Israeli leaders should 
be prosecuted for crimes against humanity over the recent IDF 
offensive in Gaza. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior IDF source as saying 
that the recent rise in the price of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) 
are holding up the signing of a contract between the Israel Air 
Force and Lockheed Martin. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted police and rescue officials as saying that 
an American student studying in Jerusalem was attacked and 
moderately wounded early yesterday morning by three Arab teens after 
he got lost in east Jerusalem. 
 
All media reported on a political argument regarding the necessity 
of building a new, 650-million shekel (around $162.5 million) 
building to house the prime ministerQs office and lodgings. 
Yesterday 14 ministers voted in favor of the construction. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a poll released yesterday by 
the right-wing grassroots group Mattot Arim, which shows that more 
right-wing voters have yet to decide whom to vote for than left-wing 
ones. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a poll conducted by the 
Palestinian Center for Public Opinion after Operation Cast Lead and 
published last week: 
- 56% of Gaza residents and 48.3% of Palestinians in the West Bank 
and east Jerusalem believe that Hamas is leading them in the wrong 
direction. 
- The popularity of Fatah among Palestinians now exceeds the 
popularity of Hamas, in contrast to a November 2008 poll. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QThe Prime 
Minister, at the beginning of whose term Shalit was abducted, has a 
moral obligation to bring the soldier home before he transfers 
leadership of the country to his successor. 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QIs it 
truly in keeping with Jewish compassion to purchase the freedom of 
one beloved captive at the almost certain cost of unleashing fresh 
acts of terrorism on our buses, in our cafes and malls, and on our 
roads -- violence that would send many more innocents to their 
deaths? 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "A Necessary Deal" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/9): QDespite 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's efforts yesterday to lower expectations 
of an agreement to exchange hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for 
kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, it seems the parties are indeed 
close to bridging the gaps that have blocked the deal, as was 
reported in HaQaretz over the past few days.... But there is no 
doubt that the list will include hundreds of terrorists who were 
responsible for attacks in which many Israelis were murdered.  That 
is the price of Shalit's return after almost 32 months of 
captivity.... The deal raises a number of concerns.  There is the 
fear that at least some of the terrorists freed will go back to 
initiating and organizing attacks against Israel.... The answer to 
these fears is that Israel is strong enough to take the risk, 
especially after showing its ability to strike successfully at Hamas 
in Gaza.  Another question involves the timing of the prisoner 
exchange -- close to the elections and a change of government in 
Jerusalem.... In any event, the Prime Minister, at the beginning of 
whose term Shalit was abducted, has a moral obligation to bring the 
soldier home before he transfers leadership of the country to his 
successor. 
 
II.  "Misguided Compassion" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (2/9): 
QDo Olmert, Livni, and Barak really intend to free Hamas's top West 
Bank terrorists?  The masterminds of the Hebrew University and 
Sbarro [Pizzeria] bombings?  The engineer of the Passover massacre 
in Netanya?  What will they say to those who risked their lives to 
capture these fiends in the first place?  Moreover, the troika 
purportedly plans to parlay Israel's capitulation to Hamas into 
another gesture to Qhelp Abu Mazen,Q this time by freeing one of the 
main arsonists of the second Intifada, Marwan Barghouti, and wiping 
away his culpability for the slayings of dozens of Israelis.  We all 
want Gilad Shalit back home.  The question is one of price and 
consequence. Is it truly in keeping with Jewish compassion to 
purchase the freedom of one beloved captive at the almost certain 
cost of unleashing fresh acts of terrorism on our buses, in our 
cafes and malls, and on our roads -- violence that would send many 
more innocents to their deaths? 
 
---------------------- 
¶2.  Israeli Elections: 
---------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QNo matter the outcome 
of tomorrowQs election, it is clear that the political establishment 
no longer meets the needs of the country and society. 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QIf [the Iranian and Syrian 
issues] are trivial matters during an election campaign, why do they 
assume such importance after or even before the election?  Maybe 
[the candidates] are just fooling us. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  QTalk to Me in Recordings 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/9): QPerhaps the 
significant story of these elections is not Avigdor Lieberman, but 
rather the Israeli voter.  Just a few weeks ago, everyone was 
happily bathing in the pool of national consensus created by the 
operation in Gaza.  How strong we are, everyone said, how united we 
are.  Now it becomes apparent that underneath this joyful power 
hides a frightened people, wishing for someone strong and forceful, 
who will miraculously fend off the peopleQs enemies, real and 
imagined.  None of the established parties has succeeded in buoying 
itself, in these elections, on a wave of grassroots support, the 
kind of support that gave rise to ObamaQs victory in the United 
States.... People feel justifiably that these are untimely 
elections.  They were born in sin, by ousting a prime minister on 
the basis of investigations that had not matured, and are ending in 
a political tangle that will lead to an even more questionable 
government....  No matter the outcome of tomorrowQs election, it is 
clear that the political establishment no longer meets the needs of 
the country and society.  The challenges have grown, both on the 
Iranian issue and in economics, while the establishment has grown 
dangerously weaker.  QShe is out of her league,Q the Likud said 
about Livni: This sentence could be said with the same conviction 
[adjusting for gender] about Netanyahu, Barak, or Lieberman.  The 
larger they are on the billboards, the more they are dwarfed by the 
countryQs problems. 
 
II.   QObama Is Too Much for Them 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (2/8): QA question that 
desperately begs an answer is how the next prime minister will 
respond to the possibility of direct dialogue between Iran and the 
United States.... The differences between Washington and Jerusalem 
do not concern the essence of the threat.  Obama's America also 
believes Iran is no Switzerland and Syria is not Mexico.  The 
dissension is over how to neutralize the threat. Can anyone among 
them truly appreciate the new American policy as an opportunity and 
not just a threat, and ensure that Israel is not sliding into a 
collision course with the administration?  It is precisely this 
question, which pertains to Israel's very existence, on which the 
candidates are mum.... Has any one of them said anything recently on 
Iran?  Did any one of them speak substantively on dialogue with 
Syria?  If these are trivial matters during an election campaign, 
why do they assume such importance after or even before the 
election?  Maybe they are just fooling us. 
 
 
CUNNINGHAM