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P 040637Z MAR 09
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TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Secretary Clinton to Israel, West Bank, March 2-4, 2009 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Yediot reported that yesterday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 
told her Israeli hosts that she Qfeels at homeQ in the country.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted her as saying that no nation can idly stand by 
while attacked.  All media reported that yesterday Secretary Clinton 
stressed before her Israeli interlocutors that the Obama 
administration is committed to a solution of two states for two 
peoples, which she described as "inevitable."  HaQaretz reported 
that yesterday Secretary Clinton was critical of the "economic 
peace" plan of PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and said that an 
economic initiative without a political solution had no chance to 
succeed.   Conversely, The Jerusalem Post reported that Secretary 
Clinton told Netanyahu that the U.S. does not want to be tied to 
"old formulas" in moving the diplomatic process forward.  Netanyahu 
described the meeting as "important, deep and very good."   The 
Jerusalem Post quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Clinton made 
clear that the U.S. had certain goals in mind for the region, but 
was willing to look at various ways of reaching them and was not 
married to any particular formula, especially since there was a 
recognition that the formulas of the past had failed.  Clinton said 
during a press conference after meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi 
Livni that a two-state solution is among those goals, however, The 
Jerusalem Post quoted, Zalman Shoval, a top foreign policy adviser 
to Netanyahu, as saying that the issue did not come up in the 
90-minute Clinton-Netanyahu conversation.  Also, according to 
Shoval, the matter of settlements was not raised, nor was the word 
"Annapolis" mentioned.  Netanyahu was joined in the meeting by two 
other key foreign policy advisers, Uzi Arad and Yitzhak Molho, and 
Clinton was accompanied by US envoy George Mitchell and American 
Ambassador James Cunningham. 
 
Later, Clinton met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.  HaQaretz 
reported that she said that Israel must do more to open the border 
crossings into the Gaza Strip to larger amounts of humanitarian 
assistance so that civilians there could get some relief. She also 
appealed for a broadening of the list of items that it considers 
"humanitarian aid," and called the humanitarian situation there 
problematic.  HaQaretz reported that the Secretary of State told 
Barak that it is important to be sensitive to the needs of the 
Palestinian civilians.  HaQaretz reported that, during her meeting 
with Netanyahu, Clinton said that it is important for Israel to 
consider whether the closing of the crossings may be more harmful 
than it is useful.  HaQaretz reported that Barak told Clinton that 
since the completion of Operation Lead Cast, 127,000 tons of food, 
medicine and equipment have been delivered through the crossings. 
He also said that more than 12 million liters of fuel was delivered 
to power the electric plant in the Gaza Strip. 
 
HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that the issue of IranQs 
nuclear armament dominated ClintonQs meetings.  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted Zalman Shoval as saying that Netanyahu stressing the time 
element, and saying that while he did not dispute the U.S. policy of 
engaging Iran, it was important to ensure that the Islamic republic 
not drag out the talks and secure nuclear arms in the meanwhile. 
Shoval also said that Netanyahu emphasized that a nuclear Iran would 
completely change the whole peace process equation in the region and 
that more and more moderate Arab states would -- out of concern for 
self-preservation -- move into the Iranian orbit.  Shoval was quoted 
as saying that this argument contrasted with one often heard in the 
U.S. that the key to neutralizing Iran was an Israeli-Palestinian 
peace deal.  Under Netanyahu's formulation, unless Iran's nuclear 
ambitions were stopped, the chances of any peace agreement would 
evaporate. The Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu is expected to 
travel to Washington for a meeting with President Obama shortly 
after forming a government coalition.  "We need to think creatively 
in order to move forward and create a different reality, both in 
terms of security and politically, and this is a common goal for 
both sides," Netanyahu was quoted as saying. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Ehud Barak urged Clinton to tighten 
sanctions on Tehran.  "In order for the sanctions to be effective," 
Barak said, "it is necessary to include Russia, India and China. 
Only that way would it become clear to the world in a short time 
whether sanctions and dialogue have a chance."  In parallel with 
support for sanctions against Iran, "Israel was not taking any 
option off of the table, and recommended to other nations to act in 
a similar manner," Barak said.  The Jerusalem Post quoted Clinton as 
saying at the press conference following her earlier meeting with 
Livni, that Israel and the US shared an understanding on Iran. 
Media quoted Clinton as saying that no one would be "confused" by 
the Obama administration's talk about engagement with Tehran.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted her as saying: QOur goal remains the same: to 
dissuade and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and 
continuing to fund terrorism."  HaQaretz reported that Clinton 
proposed a Qstrategic regional umbrella. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the former deputy chief of the Shin Bet 
security service, currently a visiting fellow at a research 
institute in the U.S., warned recently that Egypt's failure to stop 
the arms smuggling into Gaza from Sinai "almost ensures an eventual 
resumption of hostilities in Gaza.Q   The former security official 
published a paper on the subject in which he charged that "Egypt is 
averse to recognizing the severity of the issue." 
 
HaQaretz cited the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida as saying yesterday, 
quoting Palestinian sources, that Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy 
head of Hamas's political bureau, has received a letter from Gilad 
Shalit.  Al -Jarida said the letter, whose contents were not 
divulged, will be handed over to the Syrian foreign ministry. 
HaQaretz quoted a group advocating ShalitQs release as saying that 
Shalit's father, Noam Shalit, might speak with Secretary Clinton 
today. 
 
HaQaretz and other media reported that nine Palestinians were 
wounded yesterday in an IAF strike in southern Gaza, near Rafah, 
that was aimed at arms-smuggling tunnels and came in reaction to 
rocket fire from Gaza.  Six tunnels were damaged in the air strike, 
and the IDF said explosives in the tunnel caused a secondary blast. 
In a separate incident, IDF forces fired warning shots and two 
mortar shells at three armed militants spotted approaching the Gaza 
border fence yesterday morning, the army said.  It said they were 
planning to place explosives on the fence, but fled when the IDF 
opened fire.  In addition, Palestinians in Gaza fired two Qassam 
rockets at southern Israel last night. 
 
All media quoted Secretary Clinton as saying in Jerusalem yesterday 
that the U.S. will send two senior administration officials to 
Damascus this week to work on bilateral ties.  Maariv quoted a 
senior Israeli diplomatic source as saying than Netanyahu will not 
be able to dodge negotiations with Syria. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman 
is considering appointing attorney Dov Weisglass as his special 
envoy if Lieberman is appointed foreign minister.  Weisglass, who 
served as bureau chief to former PM Ariel Sharon and as Sharon's 
special envoy to the U.S., has been friendly with Lieberman for many 
years and also served as Lieberman's lawyer for a considerable time. 
 HaQaretz also reported that Lieberman is demanding that former 
ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon, an Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset 
member, be appointed deputy foreign minister. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu associates as saying that 
Netanyahu has given Labor Party leader Ehud Barak until next week to 
persuade his partyQs Knesset members to join the next government 
coalition before he give up on them and finalizes a narrow 
government of right-wing parties. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that, after years of being off limits, 
Haifa is enjoying once again being a port of call for the U.S. 
Navy. 
 
HaQaretz quoted British Secretary of State for International 
Development Douglas Alexander as saying in Washington that war 
crimes carried out by senior Israeli officials must be 
investigated. 
 
------------ 
BLOCK QUOTES 
------------ 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Journalist and author Gershom Gorenberg wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: QNetanyahu's marketing skills and his fluent 
English won't rescue him from the basic contradiction between his 
positions and those of the new administration.  In liberated 
Washington, neither will Congress save him. 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QQThe 
inevitability of working toward a two-state solution is 
inescapable,Q [Secretary] Clinton said.  It would be better for us 
all were she to make clear to Abbas that nothing is Qinescapable 
unless the Palestinians inject some pragmatism into their 
negotiating position. 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in an editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: Q[Secretary Clinton and 
other leaders] did not protest  about the absence of Israeli 
representatives [at the donors conference]. 
Far-left Palestinian affairs correspondent Amira Hass wrote in 
Ha'aretz: QSupport for Israeli policy -- this is the only way to 
understand the fact that other countries keep pouring in hundreds of 
millions of dollars meant to put out the fires set by this policy, 
without extinguishing the source of the blaze. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  QWhat Bibi Faces in Liberated Washington 
 
Journalist and author Gershom Gorenberg wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (3/4): QThe standard assessment says that 
after his return to power, Benjamin Netanyahu will have a tense time 
when he visits Washington -- just as he did during his first term 
when he faced a president who demanded that he advance a peace 
process.  That assessment isn't quite right -- because this time, 
Netanyahu is likely to have an even more tension-fraught time than 
he did in the 90s.  In his new term, he won't be able to count on 
Congress as a counterweight to the administration in his relations 
with America. Congress' attitude toward the Arab-Israeli conflict 
has begun to shift.  The conservative line of AIPAC, the veteran 
pro-Israel lobby, is no longer the only understanding of how to 
support Israel.  The principle of two states for two peoples has 
become conventional wisdom on the Hill, as someone with a close 
knowledge of Congressional discussions of foreign policy recently 
told me.  That's the same principle that Netanyahu refused to 
endorse during his talks with Tzipi Livni. Netanyahu's marketing 
skills and his fluent English won't rescue him from the basic 
contradiction between his positions and those of the new 
administration.  In liberated Washington, neither will Congress save 
him. 
 
II.  QClinton in Ramallah 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (3/4): 
Q[Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton urged the Palestinians Qto 
break the cycle of rejection and resistanceQ -- an unfortunate 
euphemism for anti-civilian warfare.  Perhaps, by speaking even more 
forthrightly in Ramallah today, she can help Palestinians reverse 60 
years of self-defeating rejectionism and encourage the kind of 
pragmatism that's historically been absent from the Palestinian body 
politic.  The U.S. has made a key contribution to building 
Palestinian institutions with the goal of making them accountable 
and transparent. Much, much more needs to be done.  As the security 
situation has allowed, Israel has been incrementally fostering 
conditions - ease of travel up and down the West Bank, for instance 
-- that enhance Palestinian dignity while massively improving the 
local economy.  Regarding the settlement issue, the maintenance of 
strategic settlement blocs Q Q1967-plusQ --  far from being 
Qobstacles to peace,Q actually make a deal palatable to Israelis, 
the manipulative lobbying by foreign-funded groups such as Peace Now 
notwithstanding.  QThe inevitability of working toward a two-state 
solution is inescapable,Q Clinton said.  It would be better for us 
all were she to make clear to Abbas that nothing is Qinescapable 
unless the Palestinians inject some pragmatism into their 
negotiating position. 
 
III.  QSawdust at Sharm el-Sheikh 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in an editorial of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (3/4): QEighty-one 
kings, presidents, prime ministers, and ministers appeared  at the 
conference convened by the Egyptian President at Sharm el-Sheikh. 
The conference discussed our affairs Q in neighboring Gaza.  Who was 
not invited?  Right, a representative of the Israeli government. So 
what, Israelis will say, who cares, who needs us?  Well, Secretary 
of State Hillary Clinton also attended the conference.  She is 
generally credited with the title Qfriend of Israel.Q  President 
Sarkozy, who is also blessed with that title, and other also did not 
protest  about the absence of Israeli representatives. 
 
IV.  QThe Israel Donors Conference 
 
Far-left Palestinian affairs correspondent Amira Hass wrote in 
Ha'aretz (3/4): QThe $900 million pledged to the Palestinians in 
Sharm el-Sheikh should be seen as part of the regular American aid 
to Israel.  As an occupying power, Israel is obligated to assure the 
well-being of the population under its control.  But Israel is 
harming it instead, after which the United States (like other 
countries) rushes to compensate for the damage.  The Clinton and 
Bush administrations -- and Barack Obama appears to be following in 
their footsteps -- erased the phrase QIsraeli occupationQ from their 
dictionaries and collaborated with Israel in ignoring its 
commitments as enshrined in international law.  The billions of 
dollars that Israel receives from the United States for weapons and 
defense development -- which played a significant role in the 
destruction in the Gaza Strip -- are part of Israel's successful 
propaganda, which presents the Rafah tunnels and Grad rockets as a 
strategic threat and part of the Islamic terror offensive against 
enlightened countries. During the 1990s it was still possible to 
describe donations to the Palestinians as an expression of 
confidence and hope in Israel's readiness to free itself of the 
occupation regime it had created.  But not in 2009.  Support for 
Israeli policy -- this is the only way to understand the fact that 
other countries keep pouring in hundreds of millions of dollars 
meant to put out the fires set by this policy, without extinguishing 
the source of the blaze. 
 
CUNNINGHAM