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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Aftermath of Israeli Elections 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
HaQaretz quoted an Israeli government source as saying that 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to arrive in Israel on 
March 3.  The newspaper reported that National Security Advisor 
James Jones will come to Israel on February 24. 
 
Former Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams was quoted as 
saying in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that Netanyahu and 
President Obama will get along fine on a personal level, but that 
both leadersQ entourages and many external factors will determine 
the shape of their relationship. 
 
Leading media quoted deputy Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk as 
saying in Cairo that Egypt will proclaim an 18-month truce in two or 
three days -- a deal that would not include the release of Gilad 
Shalit.  Israel Radio noted that Israel has not responded to the 
report.  The radio cited the London-based Al-Hayat as saying that 
the Shalit issue will be solved in a few days. 
 
All media quoted the Central Elections Committee as saying yesterday 
that the final tally of Knesset seats remained unchanged after 
absentee ballots of soldiers, diplomats, and others were counted. 
The media reported that government coalition negotiations revolve 
around demands by Yisrael BeiteinuQs Avigdor Lieberman on civil 
unions, conversion, and the system of government.  Yediot reported 
that Shas would absolutely refuse to give a free hand for such 
legislation in the Knesset.  Israel Radio reported that United Torah 
Judaism agrees with Shas on these points.  HaQaretz said that it may 
not be possible to appoint Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor 
Lieberman as finance minister -- a possibility that had been 
discussed during the coalition talks of the past two days -- because 
the Tax Authority, which is part of the Finance Ministry, is 
involved in a criminal investigation of Lieberman.  Maariv (Ben 
Caspit) cited the possibility of forming a national unity government 
without Yisrael Beiteinu, which Likud MK Israel Katz denied in an 
interview with Israel Radio this morning.  Some media quoted 
associates of Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni as saying that the party 
should either lead the coalition or quit it.  HaQaretz quoted Livni 
as saying in consultations over the past two days that her party 
will not join a right-wing government comprising ultra-Orthodox 
parties.  However, HaQaretz quoted a senior Kadima official as 
saying that the party probably would eventually join Netanyahu's 
government and that it would demand the foreign and defense 
portfolios for Livni and Shaul Mofaz, or the foreign and education 
portfolios for Livni and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik. 
 
HaQaretz quoted a Turkish official as saying that Israel and Syria 
were about to announce that they would speak directly a week before 
the fighting in Gaza broke out, leading to Turkish PM Recep Tayyip 
ErdoganQs feeling of betrayal.  The source was quoted as saying that 
PM Ehud Olmert, Erdogan, and Syrian President Bashar Assad had held 
a four-hour, three-way telephone conversation during Olmert's visit 
to Ankara, and that they had mediated in crafting a joint statement. 
 The statement had been expected to include an agreement to adhere 
to the understanding reached with Yitzhak Rabin.  This stipulated 
that Israel would be prepared to withdraw from the entire Golan in 
exchange for permanent peace and security arrangements, as well as 
agreement on what the term normalization would mean for future 
peaceful relations. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and Israel Radio reported that relief measures 
will be instituted for Palestinians in the West Bank.  High-ranking 
IDF officers and leaders of the security organizations in the PA 
have agreed that the removal of roadblocks will continue, twelve new 
Palestinian police stations will be opened, and the operation of the 
security organizations will be expanded.  In order to strengthen the 
Palestinian economy, it has been decided to allow residents of the 
Arab sector to enter some of the cities in the northern West Bank 
and to increase the number of Palestinians permitted to work in 
Israel.  The number of permits that allow freedom of movement for 
Palestinian VIPs and members of its security organizations will also 
be increased. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted senior GOI officials as saying yesterday 
that Israel would prefer -Q if an international peace conference 
becomes inevitable -Q that it be hosted by Russia, not France.  The 
newspaper noted that Israel is not enthused at this time about any 
such conference. 
 
HaQaretz quoted U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair 
as saying this week in the U.S. Senate that Israel might enter a 
confrontation or a crisis this year with Iran.  Leading media quoted 
CIA Director Leon Panetta as saying last week in testimony on 
Capitol Hill that he has little doubt that Iran is seeking nuclear 
weapons. 
 
HaQaretz and other media reported that Israel warned Hizbullah this 
week that it will respond harshly to any attempt to down an IAF jet 
over Lebanon or to avenge last year's assassination of the 
organization's operations officer, Imad Mughniyah. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the European Union has decided to freeze a 
planned upgrade in its relationship with Israel until a new 
government is established and resumes the peace process with the 
Palestinians.  The EU is also demanding that the new government 
freezes settlement construction. 
 
The media reported that elected National Union candidate Michael 
Ben-Ari has appointed notorious far-Right activist Itamar Ben-Gvir 
as his media and legal adviser. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that medicine bottles, transferred to 
Gaza as humanitarian aid from Israel, were used by Hamas as grenades 
against IDF troops during Operation Cast Lead. 
 
Media reported that Pope Benedict XVI told American Jewish leaders 
at the Vatican yesterday that any denial or minimization of the 
Holocaust is Qintolerable. 
 
 
 
 
------------------------------- 
Aftermath of Israeli Elections: 
------------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: Q[NetanyahuQs] 
choice of coalition partners will tell us how he intends to lead 
Israel in the coming years. 
 
Popular liberal novelist Meir Shalev wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: Q[Netanyahu] and his people did every 
possible nasty trick to present [the election results] as a 
victory. 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized: QThe 
public has expressed its strenuous opposition to the Kadima 
governmentQs way and the Sharon legacy that it represents. 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: QThe Obama 
administration's interest in courting Iran and the Arab world places 
Jerusalem on a collision course with Washington.... [In any case] 
Israel's governments have little ability to influence how foreign 
governments treat it regardless of who forms those governments. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "NetanyahuQs Choice" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/13): 
QBenjamin Netanyahu will be Israel's next prime minister.  That is 
the conclusion required by the outcome of the election, which 
strengthened the rightist bloc.... During the campaign, Netanyahu 
said that the worst mistake of his previous term was his decision to 
form a rightist government rather than a coalition with Labor.  He 
surely remembers that the right-wing factions were the ones that 
brought his government down after he signed the Wye River Memorandum 
with Yasser Arafat.  Now, he once again faces the choice between an 
ideological government centered around opposition to territorial 
withdrawals and a government that would be more attentive to the 
international community.  Neither would be Netanyahu's dream 
government.  But his choice of coalition partners will tell us how 
he intends to lead Israel in the coming years. 
 
II.  "Coalition and Opposition" 
 
Popular liberal novelist Meir Shalev wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/13): QI hoped for a Kadima-Likud-Labor 
coalition that would leave Shas and Lieberman out.  Despite the 
differences and the slanders, there is no big discrepancy among the 
three parties.  They have the same security views and a similar 
economic perspective.  All have similar voters.  They begin to 
understand that Israel must talk to its neighbors and make big 
concessions on the way to an agreement  They start to grasp that the 
public should not carry the burden of all ultra-Orthodox and 
settlements.... Unfortunately, such a coalition will not emerge. 
 
Tzipi Livni already held a Qgood meetingQ with Lieberman, so did 
Netanyahu, and Shas has already prepared a list of  demands.  It 
was enough to listen to NetanyahuQs post-election speech to 
understand that there is no chance [for my hope].... This was the 
speech of a loser who only cares about his desire to rule and who is 
incapable of acknowledging the results.  He and his people did every 
possible nasty trick to present [the election results] as a 
victory. 
 
III.  "Hurry Up, Bibi!" 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (2/13): 
QThe conclusions to be drawn from this weekQs election are seeping 
through slowly.  It took almost twenty-four hours for the public and 
the opinion shapers to grasp the victory of the Qright-wing.Q  It 
will take time until the advantages of such a government become 
obvious.... A right-wing government must focus on national goals, 
not on survival meant to prevent the shaping of a center-left 
coalition.... An effective, cohesive coalition should also deal with 
the worsening economic crisis that is eating up IsraelQs economic 
activity.... The public has expressed its strenuous opposition to 
the Kadima governmentQs way and the Sharon legacy that it 
represents.  The components of the [incoming] government must 
translate this opposition into effective diplomatic and security 
policies. NetanyahuQs role will be to demonstrate leadership that 
will convince the coalition components to act in a restrained and 
responsible fashion.  In any case, he should not renounce the 
opportunity to put together the next government just because he does 
not view the votersQ verdict as perfect. 
 
IV.  "Enter the Netanyahu Government" 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist Caroline B. Glick 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (2/13): QThe 
Obama administration's interest in courting Iran and the Arab world 
places Jerusalem on a collision course with Washington.  Given the 
high priority the Obama administration has placed on appeasing Iran, 
its decision to end U.S. sanctions against Syria, and its intense 
desire to establish a Palestinian state, it is fairly clear that 
Israel cannot expect to enjoy good relations with Washington in the 
coming years without adopting policies that would endanger its 
survival.  It is common wisdom in Israel that the Israeli Left is 
capable of limiting the level of hostility directed against Israel 
from the U.S. and Europe.  Livni exploited this popular belief 
during the electoral campaign when she warned that a rightist 
government would destroy Israel's relations with Washington. 
Apparently convinced by her warnings, some voices in Likud argue 
that with Livni and Kadima in the government, the U.S. and the EU 
will think twice before adopting openly hostile policies. 
Unfortunately, this view is demonstrably false.... The generally 
ignored truth is that international hostility towards Israel is 
driven by factors extraneous to Israel.  Consequently, Israel's 
governments have little ability to influence how foreign governments 
treat it regardless of who forms those governments. 
 
CUNNINGHAM