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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
HaQaretz reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel 
to Washington on May 17 and meet with President Obama on May 18 or 
¶19.  The Jerusalem Post reported that the visit will take place in 
Qlate May.Q  The Jerusalem Post reported that Deputy FM Danny Ayalon 
told the newspaper that, despite media reports of disagreements 
between Israel and American officials over the new governmentQs 
attitude regarding preconditions for new renewed peace negotiations, 
Jerusalem has yet to formulate specific positions on these issues. 
Ayalon told IDF Radio that the government needed at least four more 
weeks to formulate its diplomatic policy, but that it should be 
ready by the time PM Netanyahu travels to Washington.  Maariv and 
other media reported that, until his meeting with Obama, Netanyahu 
will try to avoid holding state meetings with world leaders, in 
which he will be called upon to voice a position on the matter. 
Therefore, the PM has already requested that President Shimon Peres 
stand in for him at the AIPAC conference that is slated to be held 
at the beginning of May in Washington.  Netanyahu, who was scheduled 
to attend the conference, has postponed his participation.  In 
addition, Netanyahu has received invitations for meetings with 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan.  In 
these cases too, Netanyahu has asked Peres to meet with the two 
leaders in his stead, until he decides what foreign policy path he 
intends to follow. 
 
HaQaretz quoted a senior official in the PMQs Bureau as saying that 
Netanyahu will not make Palestinian recognition of Israel as a 
Jewish state a condition for renewing negotiations with the PA. 
"Netanyahu will sit down to negotiate with anyone who wants to 
without preconditions," the aide said.  The recognition of Israel as 
a Jewish state will still be vital to the peace process despite 
Netanyahu's clarification that it is not a precondition.  HaQaretz 
quoted one of NetanyahuQs aides as saying yesterday. "If the 
Palestinians do not recognize the Jewish state, this will make 
progress toward two states for two peoples difficult," the official 
said.  HaQaretz quoted an aide as saying that, in a meeting with 
Netanyahu, U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell raised the issue of 
two states for two peoples. Netanyahu told Mitchell that before he 
declares support for this principle, he needs to know the 
Palestinians' intent.  Netanyahu noted that in Israel the intention 
is two nation states, Palestinian and Jewish, but it is not clear 
this is what the Palestinians want.   HaQaretz quoted sources in 
Netanyahu's bureau as saying that in the talks held by Ehud Olmert 
and Tzipi Livni with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 
negotiator Ahmed Qurei, the Palestinians refused to recognize Israel 
as a Jewish state.  HaQaretz quoted a Netanyahu aide as saying: 
"This is a fundamental matter, because everyone is demanding two 
states for two peoples, we need to understand what states they mean, 
and we want to receive clarifications from the Palestinians on the 
matter when we meet with them." 
 
Leading media (banner in The Jerusalem Post) reported that, on the 
eve of the controversial QDurban 2Q UN conference on racism, 
President Obama lashed out at the language of its draft declaration, 
saying it showed "antagonism toward Israel in ways that were often 
times completely hypocritical and counterproductive."  Explaining 
the U.S. decision to boycott "with regret," Obama said in Trinidad: 
"Hopefully, some concrete steps come out of the conference that we 
can partner with other countries on to actually reduce 
discrimination around the globe, but this wasn't an opportunity to 
do it."  The Jerusalem Post reported that FM Avigdor Lieberman 
echoed Obama's remarks, saying that the Qfact that a racist like 
[Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad is the main speaker proves 
the true aim and nature of the conference."  Lieberman added that 
Israel could not ignore the fact that the Geneva conference was 
taking place on the eve of IsraelQs Holocaust Remembrance Day.   The 
media reported that yesterday Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the 
Netherlands, and Germany added their names to the small but growing 
list of countries that have opted to boycott the event.  Israel 
Radio reported that yesterday thousands ofpeople have attended the 
opening of a new Holocaut museum in suburban Chicago, with 
videotaped remarks by President Obama kicking off the event.  Obama 
said that when school children visit the Illinois Holocaust Museum 
and Education Center in Skokie, they'll learn there is no greater 
obligation than to confront acts of inhumanity.  Israel Radio 
reported that the GOI has decided to recall its Ambassador to Bern 
for consultations following AhmadinejadQs meeting with Swiss 
President Hans-Rudolf Merz. 
HaQaretz reported that Netanyahu met with DM Ehud Barak and FM 
Avigdor Lieberman yesterday in the Prime Minister's Office to 
discuss the situation in Gaza and the peace process.  Barak 
emphasized that Israel must present a regional peace initiative of 
its own including a framework for progress with the Palestinians, 
the Syrians and the other Arab nations. 
 
Maariv reported that Dr. Michael Oren, an expert in American 
politics and the Middle East, is NetanyahuQs favorite candidate for 
the Washington ambassadorship.  The newspaper reported that Oren 
holds right-wing views but that the U.S. SenateQs Democratic leaders 
 commend him.  Maariv reported that FM Lieberman vetoed Dr. Dore 
Gold and Zalman ShovalQs bids for the position. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted JordanQs King Abdullah II as saying on 
Friday before Jewish leaders in Washington that Arab countries need 
to take steps to encourage Israel to advance final-status 
negotiations with the Palestinians. 
 
The media reported that on Friday Palestinian demonstrator Bassem 
Abu Rahmeh was killed during a protest in the West Bank village of 
Bil'in, a flash point for confrontations between soldiers and 
anti-fence protesters.  HaQaretz quoted IDF sources as saying that a 
tear gas canister that killed him was likely fired in violation of 
orders.  On Saturday, a Palestinian man drove his Mercedes into two 
Israeli policemen checking motorists at a checkpoint outside 
Jerusalem.  The driver was arrested after he told police he targeted 
the officers.  The media reported that two Palestinian terrorists 
were killed in separate attacks in the West Bank on Friday. 
 
All media quoted Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer as 
saying yesterday that the worst of the economic crisis in Israel is 
still ahead and that one or two large Israeli firms might go 
bankrupt. 
 
 
HaQaretz reported that on Saturday Netanyahu announced that he has 
named former minister Natan Sharansky as his candidate for chairman 
of the Jewish Agency. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that it is launching a weekly edition in 
New York early this summer -Q a 48-page tabloid that will be carried 
in The New York Post every Sunday. 
 
All media highlighted issues related to IsraelQs Holocaust Martyrs' 
and Heroes' Memorial Day, which is commemorated tonight and 
tomorrow. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that yesterday DM Barak expressed more 
moderate views than PM Netanyahu and advocated a regional Israeli 
move that would involve Syria and the Arab world. 
 
HaQaretz reported that FM Lieberman has confirmed IsraelQs 
participation in a conference being organized in Moscow on the 
Middle East, which will take place in a few months. 
 
Leading media reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu is re-examining 
the handling of the Gilad Shalit case and will soon remove Ofer 
Dekel as special negotiator for bringing the abducted soldier back. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the U.S. administration and other foreign 
governments, including Turkey and a number of European countries, 
have asked Israel over the pat few days to prevent the eviction of 
Palestinian families who have been living for over 50 years in the 
East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the PA has asked U.S. Special Envoy Mitchell 
to use America's leverage with the Arab states to convince them to 
make good on their financial commitments to the PA, to the tune of 
hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for rebuilding Gaza. 
Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad was especially critical of the Saudi 
government, which pledged the largest amount at the Sharm el-Sheikh 
donor states' conference earlier this year. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that, facing soaring costs and American 
opposition to the integration of Israeli systems into the F-35 Joint 
Strike Fighter, the Israel Air Force is renewing specifications of a 
new and advanced model of the F-15 Eagle, which is claimed to have 
enhanced stealth capabilities. 
 
HaQaretz cited a World Bank report that is to be published today as 
saying that the water-supply regime used by Israel and the 
Palestinians must be changed.  The report notes that an average 
Israeli gets four times as much water as the average Palestinian, 
and warns that the PA water system is "nearing catastrophe." 
 
The media reported that Stanford University cancer researcher Ronald 
Levy received a prestigious award, the QArab Nobel PrizeQ in Saudi 
Arabia.  HaQaretz noted that he and his family -Q his wife is 
Israeli -Q entered the country with Israeli visas on their 
passports. 
 
Yediot and Maariv reported that today FM Lieberman will announce the 
appointment of Yossi Gal as director-general of his ministry. 
Yediot reported that FM Lieberman has decided to appoint Ismail 
Khalidi, an Israeli Bedouin who serves in the diplomatic corps, as 
his political adviser for the Middle East. 
 
Leading media reported that Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) 
made a conciliatory visit to the Israeli-Arab city of Umm el-Fahm. 
 
Leading media reported that former PM Ehud OlmertQs health is 
deteriorating.  He recently underwent tests at New YorkQs Memorial 
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning HaQaretz editorialized: QNext month, 
when Netanyahu goes to Washington, he will have to join Obama's 
impressive effort and say to his host clearly: Israel wants peace 
and is ready for peace now. 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented on page one of Ha'aretz: 
QA cool breeze seems to be blowing from Washington.... Netanyahu 
understands that he is in no position to present Obama with any 
conditions. 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in 
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post: QThe [U.S.] administration 
has yet to make significant direct anti-Israel actions or 
statements.... The biggest loser from Obama's policy, however, is 
not Israel but U.S. national interests.  Will there come a point 
when the administration realizes this and changes course? 
 
Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top 
diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: QWhat is done cannot be undone.  The principle of two 
states for two peoples is absolute and concrete.  Israel's sudden 
disavowal, in order to supposedly devise a different plan, does not 
inspire trust. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Peace Now" 
 
The independent, left-leaning HaQaretz editorialized (4/19): 
QHistory provides very few opportunities to utterly change political 
realities.  It seems such an opportunity has presented itself.  U.S. 
President Barack Obama's peace plan is giving Israel and the entire 
region a rare chance for real change; it must not be missed. In the 
plan, whose main points were reported by Akiva Eldar in HaQaretz on 
Friday, Israel will hold bilateral talks with the Palestinians and 
Syrians at the same time.  It is based on the Saudi peace plan, 
which offers Israel normalization with the Arab world in exchange 
for withdrawing from the territories and the establishment of a 
Palestinian state.  The United States, for its part, will offer 
Israel a security package to include a demilitarization of the 
territories and the stationing of a multinational force there for a 
few years. This is Netanyahu's chance to enter the history books; a 
right-wing prime minister who displays leadership and shows his 
people and country the way to peace, security and prosperity.  We 
must not fear the plan's great scope and boldness; peace can be 
achieved with both Syria and the Palestinians.  This is not the time 
to mention the difficulties that could block the path, it is the 
time to see the opportunities.  So next month, when Netanyahu goes 
to Washington, he will have to join Obama's impressive effort and 
say to his host clearly: Israel wants peace and is ready for peace 
now. 
 
II.  "Cool Breeze" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented on page one of Ha'aretz 
(4/20): QAfter the meeting between American envoy George Mitchell 
and Benjamin Netanyahu last Thursday, the Prime Minister's spokesmen 
said Netanyahu had demanded Palestinian recognition of Israel as a 
Jewish state.  Yesterday his bureau said this was not a 
precondition, but an assessment.  Without such recognition progress 
in talks would be difficult.  But won't the refusal of the 
Palestinians to recognize the unification of Jerusalem block 
progress, among other sensitive issues?  Netanyahu knows that the 
chances of a Palestinian leader conceding that Israel is the state 
of the Jewish people are zero.  He also knows that recognition of 
Israel as a Jewish state is a winning card at home even for the 
Zionist left.  But his statement made no impression on Mitchell. 
Netanyahu has not yet agreed to the concept of a two-state solution. 
 A cool breeze seems to be blowing from Washington with the 
invitation of Jordan's King Abdullah as the first Middle Eastern 
guest to the White House.  Netanyahu understands that he is in no 
position to present Obama with any conditions. 
 
III.  "The Confrontation Con Game" 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in 
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (4/20): QThere are many 
people eager to see U.S. President Barack Obama and his 
administration bash Israel, or predict that's already happened.  But 
the administration has yet to make significant direct anti-Israel 
actions or statements.  Despite rumors and speculation, at this 
point there's still no solid evidence.  While, obviously, things 
could change at any time, I expect this widely predicted conflict 
isn't going to take place.  An extremely important factor here is 
that in fact the PA and Hamas, not Israel, are the barriers to 
peace.  An Obama presidency would be far more dangerous if there was 
a PA determined to say anything to get a state, get the U.S. to 
pressure Israel to massive concessions, and then break its word. 
The same applies to a Hamas happy to pretend to abandon terrorism 
 
and genocidal rhetoric.  But that's not the case.  The PA will 
criticize Israel but offer nothing. It won't provide a moderate 
alternative program to Hamas, stop incitement, accept resettlement 
of Palestinian refugees in a Palestinian state, make any territorial 
concessions, or agree that a two-state solution permanently ends the 
conflict.  And it won't accept Israel as a Jewish state alongside a 
Palestine which -- according to the PA's own constitution -- is an 
Arab and Muslim state.... The biggest loser from Obama's policy, 
however, is not Israel but U.S. national interests.  Will there come 
a point when the administration realizes this and changes course? 
 
IV.  "Say It, Mr. Netanyahu" 
 
Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top 
diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (4/20): QWhat is done cannot be undone.  The principle of 
two states for two peoples is absolute and concrete.  Israel's 
sudden disavowal, in order to supposedly devise a different plan, 
does not inspire trust.  Clearly, Netanyahu did not wait until his 
election to formulate a position on the matter of the conflict 
between Israel and the Palestinians, and the request for an 
E 
extension in order to study the issue is not convincing.  It is 
difficult to understand what kind of foreign policy plan, which does 
not include the establishment of a Palestinian state, will be 
acceptable to the Palestinians, the Arab states and the world. 
Unfortunately, this does not sound serious.  Recently, Israel has 
gone so far as to demand Palestinian recognition of the State of 
Israel as a Jewish state, as a precondition for continuing the 
negotiations.  Israel is a Jewish state.  It is the Jewish state. 
It does not need the recognition of the Palestinians -- or of any 
other country.  According to the Roadmap, the final status 
negotiations are to end in the establishment of a Palestinian state, 
which must recognize Israel, as Israel has defined itself.  It will 
therefore recognize Israel as the state of the Jews.  The demand for 
recognition now is like creating a problem where none exists.  It is 
neither dignified nor believable.... Netanyahu's government 
rightfully rejected the Annapolis statement-inasmuch as it purports 
to deviate from the road map -- but it is incumbent upon it to 
quickly announce that Israel will implement the road map plan, with 
all its conditions.  Then, among other things, the Palestinian state 
will exist alongside Israel, which is -- as everyone knows -- the 
state of the Jews. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Giora Eiland, former Director of the National Security Council, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QIsrael 
will have difficulty living with a situation in which Iran can go, 
within several months, from being a state that controls nuclear 
technology to a state that has the bomb. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"What It Is Not and What It Is" 
Giora Eiland, former Director of the National Security Council, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (4/19): 
QThe Iranians believe that they will be able to make a deal with the 
new U.S. They will continue enriching uranium (supposedly for 
peaceful purposes), and promise only not to carry out an arms 
program.  Thus, Obama will be able to claim that he succeeded in 
preventing Ahmadinejad from obtaining nuclear weapons (and indeed, 
in all his speeches he has announced that this is his goal).  Iran, 
for its part, will receive de-facto recognition of its right to 
enrich uranium. In this case, even if Iran froze its nuclear-arms 
plan, it would be able to resume it and create a bomb within several 
months from that moment.  That is precisely the concern.  Israel 
will have difficulty living with a situation in which Iran can go, 
within several months, from being a state that controls nuclear 
technology to a state that has the bomb.  Therefore, the question 
that the Prime Minister of Israel should be clarifying in his 
upcoming meeting with the American President is this: When you claim 
that you will stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, are you 
referring, like the previous administration, to stopping it at the 
stage of enriching uranium, or have you given up on that subject? 
If Obama promises, as did his predecessor, that he intends to stop 
Iran from enriching uranium, that will be an important 
accomplishment.  But talk is not enough.  He must act immediately 
and form a coalition with Russia and China (in exchange for painful 
concessions in other areas).  If the administration contents itself 
with stopping Iran only at the stage of building a bomb, it will 
resign itself, for all practical purposes, to its ability to become 
a nuclear power.  That is the key question, and it is much more 
important than the artificial connection that has been made recently 
between Iranian nuclear capability and an agreement on Qtwo states. 
 Moreover, if that is the answer, then in 2009 the Israeli 
government will have to choose between two evils: to get used to a 
situation in which Iran will have nuclear arms in the end, or to try 
to prevent that from happening on its own. 
 
CUNNINGHAM