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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000793 
 
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 
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CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR 
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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.  Israel: Netanyahu Government 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
¶3.  Afghanistan 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Electronic media reported that at noon today a terrorist carried out 
an attack at the settlement of Bat Ayin (Gush Etzion), armed with an 
axe.  A 13-year-old boy was killed and a 7-year-old boy was wounded. 
 The details of the assault are still unclear. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday President Obama called PM 
Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his new position and to 
reaffirm AmericaQs steadfast commitment to Israel and its security. 
Israel Radio reported that Netanyahu received an invitation from the 
President and that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with 
incoming Israeli FM Avigdor Lieberman and that they agreed to meet 
soon. 
 
All media led with FM LiebermanQs aggressive remarks at the handover 
ceremony from outgoing FM Tzipi Livni.  (Yediot bannered his 
Qstorming in.Q)  He emphasized that the new government is not bound 
by the Annapolis process.  Lieberman was quoted as saying: QIf you 
want peace, prepare for war.Q  Leading media reported that, after 
Lieberman ended his remarks, Livni told him: "You've convinced me 
that I was right not to join the government." The Jerusalem Post 
reported that Egypt will boycott Lieberman unless he apologizes for 
previous statements he made.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
Lieberman Qtried to get off on the right footQ with Cairo, praising 
it as an important stabilizing factor in the region.  HaQaretz 
reported that, speaking to the newspaper yesterday, Lieberman tried 
to tone down his rhetoric slightly.  "I am committed to the Roadmap 
of 2003 as approved by the Israeli cabinet," he said.  QI voted 
against it, but it is a cabinet resolution and I am bound by it." 
He added that the new U.S. administration itself no longer talks 
about the Annapolis process. "I propose following the Roadmap, phase 
by phase," he said.  "I recently went quite far with my remarks, 
even saying that I was willing to leave my home at the Nokdim 
settlement if there was a cabinet resolution on the issue, but we 
can't give all this up for nothing, and there must be reciprocity." 
HaQaretz quoted Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the U.S. National 
Security Council, as saying: "The President has said many times that 
we are committed to the establishment of a democratic Palestinian 
state living side by side with Israel in peace and security. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and other media reported that yesterday PA 
President Mahmoud Abbas and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa 
urged Netanyahu to accept the two-state solution.  Media quoted 
President Shimon Peres as saying at the changing of the guard 
ceremony that Netanyahu should accept the Arab peace plan as 
proposed by the Arab League in Beirut in 2002.  HaQaretz reported 
that the Netanyahu government could face EU sanctions over the 
two-state issue as early as this month. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying in an 
interview with The Financial Times that he does not believe that 
Israel will attack Iran this year.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
yesterday Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in the Middle 
East, told the SenateQs Armed Services Committee that when it comes 
to its nuclear activity, Tehran's "obstinacy and obfuscation have 
forced Iran's neighbors and the international community to conclude 
the worst about the regime's intentions."    He said that could 
cause Israel to take matters into its own hands. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli defense establishment officials as 
saying yesterday that Muslim political parties in India as well as 
Russian and American defense corporations are suspected of working 
behind the scenes to torpedo a $1.4 billion deal signed recently 
between Israel Aerospace Industries and India for the development of 
a missile defense system. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the PA issued yet another 
warning to Palestinians against selling their homes or properties to 
Jews, saying that those violating the order would be accused of 
Qhigh treasonQ -Q a charge that carries the death penalty. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the resignation of PA Prime 
Minister Salaam Fayyad may affect U.S. aid to the PA. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Israel welcomed the U.S. 
decision to seek a seat on the UN Human Rights Council in elections 
next month, even as some U.S. Jewish groups were wary of the move. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited the satisfaction of Israeli Arabs and 
minority rights activists over the choice of Labor MK Avishay 
Braverman as minister without portfolio for minorities.  However, 
the need for the post itself was questioned. 
 
HaQaretz and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Wafa Younis, a 
musician from northern Israel who founded a youth orchestra in the 
Jenin refugee camp, was arrested there on Tuesday by Fatah militants 
and sent back to Israel from the West Bank.  Last week the orchestra 
played for Holocaust survivors and elderly Arabs in Holon, news that 
ignited passions in Jenin. 
 
--------------------------------- 
¶1.  Israel: Netanyahu Government: 
--------------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Columnist and Channel 2-TV anchor Yair Lapid wrote on page one of 
the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QAt the very least, 
we ought to give Netanyahu a chance to fail before we declare that 
he has failed. 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote on page one of the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: QLieberman may have 
trashed Annapolis, but by saying that the Roadmap obligated him, he 
was at the same time accepting a two-state solution. 
The ultra-Orthodox HamodiQa editorialized: QEven if truth is wholly 
on LiebermanQs side, it doesnQt always have to be told, in 
particular to foreign nations and statesmen. 
 
Block Quotes: 
----Q----- 
 
¶I.  QGood Luck, Bibi 
 
Columnist and Channel 2-TV anchor Yair Lapid wrote on page one of 
the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (4/2): QI wonder 
what happens to a politician who has been given a last chance, and 
he reads time and time again in the newspaper that there is no way 
that he can succeed.  At the very least, we ought to give Netanyahu 
a chance to fail before we declare that he has failed.  Tom 
Stoppard, the playwright, once wrote: QIt's not the voting that's 
democracy, it's the counting.Q  The Netanyahu government might not 
be the government that I would have wanted, but there are good and 
experienced people in it (as well), and it was legally elected.  Our 
fate does not depend on whether we succeed in ousting it swiftly 
from office but, rather, on whether it is successful.  One of the 
necessary conditions for its success is that we sincerely wish it 
good luck, and that we truly mean it too. 
 
II.  "AvigdorQs Accent, ArikQs Voice" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote on page one of the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (4/2): QSomething [was] 
very much evident at the Foreign Ministry yesterday, and that was a 
return to the pre-disengagement polices of former prime minister 
Ariel Sharon.  What did Lieberman essentially say?  He said 
disengagement was a failure, as was Annapolis, as were all the 
generous concessions former prime minister Ehud Olmert said he 
offered the Palestinians over the past two years.  Lieberman said 
none of that moved peace any closer, but rather pushed it all 
farther away.   But he did pledge allegiance to the Roadmap, saying 
that this is a document that is binding on the government.  And what 
is the official name of the road map?  Interestingly enough, it is 
called QA Performance-based road map to a permanent two-state 
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Q  Lieberman may have 
trashed Annapolis, but by saying that the Roadmap obligated him, he 
was at the same time accepting a two-state solution, because that is 
where the Roadmap leads.  But, again sounding like Sharon, Lieberman 
said that the Roadmap must be adhered to by the letter, and it must 
be implemented phase after phase.  What this means is that 
negotiations for a final agreement are to take place at the end of 
the Roadmap, not at the beginning: not before terrorism is 
eradicated, not before Palestinian institutions are created, not 
before the Palestinians show real security capabilities.  Lieberman, 
in a move that does not seem to have been coordinated with Prime 
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, ditched the diplomatic framework of the 
past two years in favor of one adopted by Sharon in 2003. 
 
III.  "Superfluous Statements" 
 
The ultra-Orthodox HamodiQa editorialized (4/2): Q[IsraelQs] Jewish 
population voted in mass -Q much more than the parliamentary 
majority that includes minorities Q- against the Left.  But even if 
truth is wholly on LiebermanQs side, it doesnQt always have to be 
told, in particular to foreign nations and statesmen who donQt have 
a positive view of the Jewish community in the Holy Land. 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the 
Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot: QThis kind of [Israeli] attack in Sudan, if it took 
place, is an attack made in desperation, an attack of no choice, an 
attack by those left on their own. 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QOne cannot 
shake the impression that the swift probe [into Operation Cast Lead 
offenses] and its findings are part and parcel of the IDF's and 
Israeli society's campaign of psychological repression. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
 QNo Reason to Celebrate 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the 
Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot (4/2): QIf the report about the Air Force's bombing 
raid in Sudan is correct, then this is bad news, and it is 
completely unclear why anyone in Israel is rejoicing over it.  Here, 
the farther away a military operation is, the greater the joy.  Why 
is this bad news, despite the courage and daring involved in 
attacking distant targets?  Because it means that we did not 
succeed, either during Operation Cast Lead or after it, to 
accomplish anything in the international, diplomatic, or 
psychological-deterrence sphere that would prevent continued arms 
smuggling to Gaza.... This kind of attack in Sudan, if it took 
place, is an attack made in desperation, an attack of no choice, an 
attack by those left on their own.  There is a big difference 
between blowing up a nuclear reactor in Syria and bombing a convoy 
in Sudan.  There, it was a strategic attack, since constructing a 
nuclear reactor is an enormous amount of work, particularly when the 
eyes of the world are turned toward Syria -- but to take out another 
convoy?  Easy as can be.  This pinpoint destruction shows that a 
flood of arms is still flowing into the Gaza Strip. 
II.  "Repression Campaign" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (4/2): QThe 
rapid investigation of testimony from Operation Cast Lead veterans 
who told of the killing of civilians, vandalism of property, and use 
of phosphorus bombs in Gaza shows that the military justice system 
can act quickly under public pressure.... The defense establishment 
was quick to rejoice at the closure of the case and the conclusion 
that soldiers had told tall tales or embellished unfounded rumors 
that they had heard elsewhere.  The defense minister and the chief 
of staff repeated the cliched statement that the IDF is the Qmost 
moral army in the world.Q  It is difficult to accept this.  If the 
ranks of the combat units are filled with liars and exaggerators, 
then the IDF has a serious discipline, if not moral, problem.  One 
cannot shake the impression that the swift probe and its findings 
are part and parcel of the IDF's and Israeli society's campaign of 
psychological repression.... If the IDF aspires to be the most moral 
army in the world, it must Qlook the truth in the eye,Q in the words 
of Ehud Barak's election campaign, and genuinely and courageously 
probe the reasons for the killing of many QnoncombatantsQ during the 
fighting in Gaza.  It ought to punish those who deviated from their 
superior's commands and it must define rules of engagement that, 
above all, will ensure the protection of innocent individuals and 
their property. 
 
 
 
---------------- 
¶3.  Afghanistan: 
---------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: QObama will have to decide very 
soon which of [Iran or Saudi Arabia] will be able to help more 
effectively in the war in Afghanistan 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Great Satan Courts the Axis of Evil" 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (4/2): QAfghanistan is gradually 
getting out of control.... Iran is willing to cooperate with the 
U.S., but not without a price. After helping the administration of 
George W. Bush in the war in Afghanistan, and wielding its influence 
to advance the appointment of Karzai, it was dubbed a charter member 
of the Qaxis of evilQ in return. This time Iran is being more 
cautious.  In exchange for cooperation, it will demand a change in 
American policy toward it, beyond the Nowruz holiday greeting sent 
by Obama.  Iran, after all, has tremendous economic leverage in 
Afghanistan.... However, Saudi Arabia is Iran's rival not only in 
the Arab Middle East; it also competes with Iran over the sphere of 
influence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Iran is afraid that the 
dialogue with the Taliban will come at its expense.  Obama will have 
to decide very soon which of the two will be able to help more 
effectively in the war in Afghanistan, and mainly what the aims of 
the war are to be: stopping the Taliban or living with them in peace 
while giving up on the idea of a strong central government. 
 
CUNNINGHAM