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P 111139Z MAY 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001039 
 
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.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
¶2.  Pope Benedict XVI in Israel 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Maariv reported that PA President Mahmoud Abbas declined PM Benjamin 
NetanyahuQs invitation to meet with him.  The media reported that 
Netanyahu will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm 
el-Sheikh today.  Leading media expect the Egyptian leader to tell 
Netanyahu that Israel must restart the talks with the Palestinians. 
Yediot reported that Netanyahu will stress to Mubarak that peace 
between the two nations is stable.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
Netanyahu is keen on discussing Iran. 
 
Yediot quoted CBS-TV as saying that the alleged Syrian nuclear 
reactor bombed by Israel in 2007 has been replace with a biological 
and chemical plant.  The U.S. TV network based its report on 
American intelligence sources.  The media cited President ObamaQs 
letter to Congress that Syria was "supporting terrorism, pursuing 
weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, and undermining 
U.S. and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and 
reconstruction of Iraq," thus justifying the continuation of U.S. 
sanctions on Syria. 
 
All media reported that Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive in Israel 
this morning for what HaQaretz defines as a Qhistoric reconciliation 
visit.Q  The Jerusalem Post noted hat disagreements over the role of 
the late Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust could cast a shadow over 
the trip.  Yesterday President Shimon Peres invited Gilad ShalitQs 
family to meet the Pope at the PresidentQs Residence today. 
 
Major media quoted U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones as 
saying yesterday in an interview with ABC-TV that a two-state 
solution between Israel and the Palestinians could diminish the 
Iranian threat.  The Jerusalem Post reported that on Thursday Deputy 
FM Danny Ayalon rejected any such formulas. 
 
Leading media reported that PM Netanyahu might meet with Jordanian 
King Abdullah II before visiting Obama. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), a Qclose 
political ally of Obama and a stalwart Israel supporter,Q told the 
newspaper that the President is not on a collision course with 
Netanyahu.  Wexler was also quoted as saying that Saudi ArabiaQs 
Qfree rideQ is over. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the U.S. has set October as its target for 
completing the first round of talks with Iran on its nuclear 
program, according to confidential reports sent to Jerusalem. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted the Prime MinisterQs Office as saying 
yesterday that longstanding Israeli government policy regarding the 
development of East Jerusalem remains unchanged.  HaQaretz quoted 
the NGO Jerusalem Development Authority as saying that the GOI and 
settler organizations are working to surround the Old City of 
Jerusalem with nine national parks, pathways, and sites, drastically 
altering the status quo in the city. 
 
PM Netanyahu told a group of Russian-language reporters on Thursday 
that Israel will never withdraw from the Golan.  His comments were 
published on Friday on several Russian-language Israeli Web sites. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the Civil AdministrationQs planning bureau 
will hold a hearing today on a Peace Now demand that the planned 
route of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv railway be altered so as not to cut 
into privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank.  The planned 
route passes through 50 dunams (about 12 acres) of land belonging to 
several Palestinian villages. 
 
Israel Hayom quoted senior Israeli political officials as saying 
that PM Netanyahu would like to enlist Morocco to join the group of 
moderate countries that might help in the struggle against Iran and, 
in tandem, to help Israel reach an arrangement with the 
Palestinians. 
 
Leading media quoted Yonatan Bassi, former head of the Disengagement 
Administration (Sela), the body charged with assisting the Gaza 
settlers to get reabsorbed into the country, as saying yesterday 
that the evacuees from Gush Katif are chiefly responsible for the 
difficulties that befell them as a result of the disengagement from 
Gaza.  Bassi made the statement during a six hour deposition on his 
role and SelaQs conduct since the disengagement before a ministerial 
committee examining the disengagement. 
 
Leading media reported that Lebanon arrested five people over the 
weekend suspected of belonging to an intelligence cell transmitting 
information about Hizbullah to Israel, the most recent arrests in a 
two-month crackdown apparently aided by what HaQaretz and others 
said were American training and equipment.  HaQaretz reported that 
Israel has expressed reservations about American aid to the Lebanese 
army and security services, saying those organizations will 
ultimately be unable to contend with Hizbullah and that any aid is 
liable to serve Hizbullah's interests. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that last month, Attorneys-general from 
10 U.S. states defended IsraelQs recent offensive in Gaza, in a 
letter sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that later this month, five years after 
placing an order, the Indian Air Force will finally receive the 
first of three Phantom AWACS developed by Israel Aerospace 
Industries. 
 
HaQaretz quoted European legal experts as saying that 88 percent of 
prisoners held in Palestinian jails are held without trial. 
 
The media reported that the government debate over the budget now 
mainly revolves around defense items. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------- 
¶1.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: QThe repertoire of pressure available to the 
President of the United States is extensive and multifaceted.  It 
looks like we will have to learn about it the hard way. 
 
Columnist and former intelligence officer Amos Gilboa wrote in the 
popular, pluralist Maariv: QThis is an administration that in my 
opinion is still examining and putting out feelers, and may yet make 
a great deal of mistakes, but there is still enough room to 
influence it in shaping its policy. 
 
Visiting Professor of Political Science at Haifa University Avraham 
Ben-Zvi, an expert in U.S.-Israeli relations, wrote in the 
independent Israel Hayom: QHistory shows that ... the United States 
has not succeeded in shaping an infrastructure of internal support 
for such moves [against IsraelQs interests]. 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in Ha'aretz: QAfter more than 50 
years of investments in what is seen as Israel's insurance policy 
[nuclear ambiguity], it is possible to pay a little less in the 
coming era while reaping political dividends in the process. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "What Are We, Arabs?" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/11): QIn his first days at the White House 
[President Obama] has made clear that whether a two-state solution 
is acceptable to a Likud government or not, that is the only formula 
up for negotiation.  Moreover, according to Quartet envoy Tony 
Blair, the establishment of a Palestinian state is considered a U.S. 
national interest in Obama's eyes.  This means that pressure on 
Israel to end the conflict with the Arabs will certainly not disrupt 
efforts to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear program, and may even 
contribute to it.... The question is not whether Obama will pressure 
Israel; the pressure is already there.... The repertoire of pressure 
available to the President of the United States is extensive and 
multifaceted.  It looks like we will have to learn about it the hard 
way. 
 
II.  "Nothing Is Finalized" 
 
Columnist and former intelligence officer Amos Gilboa wrote in the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (5/11): QI doubt whether the Obama 
administration has indeed had the time to formulate a policy 
already, but some of its basic assumptions, which arise publicly in 
the policymaking process, are troubling and surprising.  Following 
are two of them.  The first is the double statement: QThe ability of 
the United States to stand against Iran depends on its ability to 
achieve progress on the Palestinian front, and resolving the 
conflict will enable progress in dealing with the Iranian threatQ; 
QFailure to make progress on the Palestinian issue will weaken the 
moderate Arab states in their battle against IranQ.... The real 
ability of the U.S. to cope with Iran with any success lies in 
organizing an operative coalition with Russia (as of now, no Russian 
willingness for this is evident) and with China.... The Iranian 
centrifuges will not be overly impressed by one kind of movement or 
another on the Palestinian front, or by one Israeli concession or 
another; and what is of primary concern to Saudi Arabia and Egypt is 
for the U.S. not to make any deal with Iran at their expense, and 
for it to take their side against Iran in all matters.... The second 
troubling basic assumption is the belief-the almost messianic 
belief, it should be said-that the magic solution is based on the 
idea of two states.  This, of course, is a highly important 
principle (and must always emphasize the state of the Jewish people 
versus the Palestinian people), but it is still not a policy.  Obama 
can whisper to Bibi to accept the magic formula, and Bibi for his 
part can pronounce the formula -- this will still not cause water to 
flow from the stone, and will not promote the solution.... So what 
will be the strategy and the policy (not the slogans) of Obama on 
the Palestinian issue, as well as the Syrian issue?  This is an 
administration that in my opinion is still examining and putting out 
feelers, and may yet make a great deal of mistakes, but there is 
still enough room to influence it in shaping its policy. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
III.  "DonQt Let Obama Worry You" 
 
Visiting Professor of Political Science at Haifa University Avraham 
Ben-Zvi, an expert in U.S.-Israeli relations, wrote in the 
independent Israel Hayom (5/11): QThe aim of QreassessmentQ [in 
U.S.-Israel relations], which was shaped in 1975 by Henry Kissinger, 
the Secretary of State in the Ford administration, was to force 
Yitzhak RabinQs government to agree to an IDF withdrawal to the 
SinaiQs Mitla and Gidi passes as the Egyptians would not give 
anything in exchange.... It turned out that the administrationQs 
efforts were unable to erode sympathy for Israel among the 
[American] public.... The interim agreement] included an American 
commitment not to recognize the PLO or negotiate with it  -- as long 
as the latter refuses to recognize Israel and accept Security 
Council Resolution 242, as well as commitments to Israel regarding 
procurement and energy.... History shows that ... the United States 
has not succeeded in shaping an infrastructure of internal support 
for such moves. 
 
IV.  QTsunami in a Test Tube 
 
Defense commentator Amir Oren wrote in Ha'aretz (5/11): Q[U.S. 
officials] expressed hope that sometime in the future -- in this 
case, the distant future -- when wolf and sheep cohabitate, Israel, 
India and Pakistan would join the NPT.  This was and remains a 
vision for the distant future, not an actual process with a 
timetable and threats of punishment in the event of noncompliance. 
[Ehud] Barak, who said [Assistant Secretary of State Rose] 
Gottemoeller had for the first time specified which countries ought 
to sign onto the NPT and that Israel was among them, did not do his 
homework as he should have. The excitement that gripped the Israeli 
establishment was a tsunami in a test tube, a tempest in a 
heavy-water teapot.... The importance that Obama places in moving 
toward that difficult goal of a nuclear weapons-free world provides 
Israel with a rare opportunity for launching a unilateral, 
nonbinding initiative: an independent decision, borne of sovereign 
calculations, whereby Israel slashes a considerable portion, say 
one-tenth, of the budget allotted to its nuclear research center at 
Dimona and the other bodies under the purview of the Atomic Energy 
Commission.  This would be a gift from Netanyahu.... The sanctified 
policy of ambiguity would not be harmed, and Israel would continue 
to champion a Middle East free of nuclear weapons Qtwo years after a 
comprehensive peace is reachedQ.... After more than 50 years of 
investments in what is seen as Israel's insurance policy, it is 
possible to pay a little less in the coming era while reaping 
political dividends in the process. 
 
-------------------------------- 
¶2.  Pope Benedict XVI in Israel: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QDespite the 
controversy he sparked, Pope Benedict XVI is a welcome guest. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
"An Opening for New Relations" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (5/11): 
QDespite the controversy he sparked, Pope Benedict XVI is a welcome 
guest.  His speech two days ago in Jordan at what is believed to be 
the Biblical Mount Nebo, in which he spoke of the "inseparable bond" 
between the Catholic Church and Jewish people and called for 
reconciliation between Jews and Arabs, was a worthy beginning to his 
journey in the Middle East.  We can hope that this tone, and not a 
shrill cacophony, will characterize his visits to Israel and the 
Palestinian Authority, which would serve as one more step in healing 
the rifts and strengthening the ties between Jews and Christians and 
between Israel and the Vatican. 
 
CUNNINGHAM