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P 131048Z MAY 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001058 
 
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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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.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Pope Benedict XVI in Israel 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
HaQaretz reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to promise 
during his meeting with President Obama at the White House on Monday 
that Israel will remove all restrictions to the movement of 
foodstuffs into the Gaza Strip.  Meanwhile, four senior EU officials 
sent a letter to FM Avigdor Lieberman and DM Ehud Barak, calling on 
them to immediately and permanently open the crossings into the Gaza 
Strip for humanitarian aid. 
 
Noting the chaotic passage process involving the proposed 2009-2010 
budget, the media reported that the government approved it this 
morning, 26-4 (the Shas ministers), with a 6.5% across-the-board. 
The media reported that the defense and finance ministries, as well 
as IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and the Union of Local 
Authorities, sharply criticized the proposal. 
 
Major media quoted IDF Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin as 
saying yesterday before the KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and Defense 
Committee that Tehran is very close to obtaining the technology 
necessary to build nuclear weapons, but that the chances are very 
low that IsraelQs enemies Swill start a major war on its borders. 
Yadlin: Slim chance of war.  HaQaretz quoted Yadlin as saying that 
Egyptian efforts have failed to curb arms smuggling to Gaza. 
 
Media reported that two mortar shells were fired last night at the 
western Negev.   The Jerusalem Post reported that, fearing an 
increase in infiltration attempts by terrorists along the border 
with Egypt, the IDFQs Southern Command recently began constructing a 
barrier along a 40-km stretch of the border near Gaza -- between the 
Kerem Shalom Crossing, at the southwest corner of the Gaza Strip, 
and the Israeli border town of Nitzana to the south. 
 
All media cited the results of an IDF probe that the Canadian-born 
IDF soldier killed during a raid in the West Bank town of Bir Zeit 
was killed by a bullet fired by this companyQs deputy commander. 
 
HaQaretz reported that police detained its correspondent Amira Hass 
as she left Gaza, where she had been living and reporting for the 
past few months.  Hass was arrested and taken in for questioning 
immediately after crossing the border, for violating a law 
forbidding residence in an enemy state. 
 
HaQaretz quoted visiting Pope Benedict XVI as saying yesterday that 
he is committed to true, durable reconciliation between Jews and 
Christians.  Media reported that Israeli criticism of his Yad Vashem 
speech surprised the Vatican.  This morning leading media reported 
that the Pope called for a sovereign Palestinian homeland after 
arriving in Bethlehem at the start of a one-day visit to the West 
Bank. 
 
Channel 10-TV reported that restrictions on journalists and official 
attempts to influence coverage during the Gaza conflict led to 
IsraelQs Partly Free status on the U.S.-based NGO Freedom HouseQs 
annual Freedom of the Press Index.  HaQaretz reported that Israel 
ranks eighth on the list of 52 so-called "electronic police states," 
according to a report prepared by the U.S.-based company 
Cryptohippie, which develops data security products.  The list of 
"electronic police states" is led by China, followed by North Korea, 
Belarus, Russia, and then England, Wales, the U.S., and Singapore. 
The report defines an electronic police state as a country that uses 
technology to record, organize, search, and distribute evidence 
against its citizens. 
 
Leading media reported that the Health Ministry announced yesterday 
that passengers arriving in Israel from the U.S. and Canada who have 
a fever will undergo a medical examination upon arrival to determine 
whether they have swine flu.  Until now, only passengers arriving 
directly from Mexico were subject to the ministry directive. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that last week Leslie Cunningham, the 
wife of the U.S. Ambassador, hosted the Lions of Judah, an 
organization that empowers Ethiopian immigrant women through 
projects that help them to realize their potential.  Mrs. Cunningham 
was quoted as saying: QI love the fact that the Lions of Judah is an 
organization of women empowering women. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
E 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
In a QletterQ to President Obama, Eldad Yaniv, a former adviser to 
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz: QYou can get into a fistfight with Israel and leave it 
bleeding, but you can't force peace down its throat.  If you want 
Netanyahu to yield, you have to find the key to the hearts of the 
Israeli public. 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in HaQaretz: Q[Netanyahu] 
is going to Washington with the support of the public and the 
politicians.  The trust he will gain in the future will depend on 
the results of his meeting with Obama. 
 
Europe correspondent Nadav Eyal wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv: QNetanyahu, ostensibly the master of PR, is failing to pick 
up the frequency on which the Western leadership is currently 
broadcasting. 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Letter to Obama" 
 
In a QletterQ to President Obama, Eldad Yaniv, a former adviser to 
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (5/13): QThen-prime minister Yitzhak Shamir thwarted 
[George H.W.] Bush and Baker's plans, and Netanyahu could do the 
same.  You can get into a fistfight with Israel and leave it 
bleeding, but you can't force peace down its throat.  If you want 
Netanyahu to yield, you have to find the key to the hearts of the 
Israeli public.  Remember when during your last visit to Israel, 
Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni took you on a helicopter tour to show you 
how narrow the country is?  Do you still remember the Yad Vashem 
Holocaust memorial and Qassam-stricken Sderot?  They are at the 
heart of our narrative, just as much as the nuclear reactor in 
Dimona is.  That's the essence of the Israeli paradox.  The same 
Israelis who enabled Netanyahu's rise in the last elections also 
want peace and security.  For that reason, they agree with you that 
Jerusalem needs to be divided, and a Palestinian state must be 
created.  They, just like you, dream of peace.  But these Israelis 
feel you are shaking the earth under their feet.  Suddenly you've 
got your hooks on our nuclear reactor, making overtures to Hamas, 
and bowing to the Saudi King.  These Israelis think you might take 
us for suckers.... Show Netanyahu and us a plan whereby the Arabs 
get their state, the Palestinians forgo the right of return to 
Israel, and the land and Jerusalem is divided in two.  But get us 
guarantees of security and recognition from 57 Muslim countries.... 
Offer us such a deal, and you we will earn our admiration. Israel 
will follow you with the conviction of [elite IDF] Sayeret Matkal 
commandos who followed [Ehud] Barak in the dark of the night, when 
he was their commander. 
 
II.  "Is It Him or Is It Us?" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in HaQaretz (5/13): Q[Prime 
Minister NetanyahuQs] maintenance of the cease-fire with Hamas in 
the Gaza Strip, and the Yesha Council of Jewish Settlements in the 
TerritoriesQ leaders' criticism of him for Qcontinuing the freeze on 
settlement activityQ only serve to bolster the still unproven belief 
that he has become more moderate.... But until proven otherwise, 
this seemingly centrist positioning is an illusion.  Netanyahu's 
views are much closer to those of Lieberman than those of Barak, and 
the extreme right has decisive weight in the coalition -- even if 
one assumes that Lieberman is a pragmatist who is prepared to 
compromise, since that still leaves Shas, Habayit Hayehudi [the 
Jewish home,] and most of the Likud Knesset members.... Nonetheless, 
Netanyahu looks like he is in control and enjoying his comeback, 
while keeping any boorish behavior in check.  He is going to 
Washington with the support of the public and the politicians.  The 
trust he will gain in the future will depend on the results of his 
meeting with Obama. 
 
III.  QNon-Starter 
 
Europe correspondent Nadav Eyal wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (5/13): QEvery international leader who has recently spoken 
on the Middle East issue has emphasized the establishment of a 
Palestinian state.  It is important to understand that this is a 
joint effort: Merkel, Brown, Obama, Sarkozy, they are all 
coordinated and repeating the same words intentionally.  The target: 
Netanyahu.  The Israeli message is not getting through because 
Netanyahu, ostensibly the master of PR, is failing to pick up the 
frequency on which the Western leadership is currently broadcasting. 
 Talk of Qself-governmentQ sounds like colonialism for beginners, 
like a proposal to establish a protectorate modeled after the 
Bantustans.  Rhetoric focused on Qimproving the Palestinians' living 
conditions,Q which completely ignores their national demands, is 
perceived as paternalistic arrogance stemming from a sense of 
superiority.  Simply put, Netanyahu gives the impression that he 
thinks the Palestinians can be bribed -- that they have no existence 
as a people, and no right to self-determination.  They are natives 
who need protective development, under the auspices of an Israeli 
empire, which will toss them a few glass beads.  In substantive 
terms, this is an outmoded approach. The assumption that improving 
the Palestinians' economic and social situation will lead them to 
abandon ideas of national self-determination is fundamentally 
flawed.  On the contrary, the history of the 20th century shows that 
improving the economic situation is often a critical catalyst for a 
national liberation struggle.  Economic stability that creates a 
strong middle class and a sector of educated young people serves as 
an effective recipe for a revolution.  Netanyahu surely knows all 
these historical lessons; after all, he is the son of an eminent 
historian. 
 
IV.  QSmelling Weakness 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/12): QThe first 50 
days of NetanyahuQs government passed without exciting external 
events -- neither Qassam rockets nor terror attacks nor a dramatic 
turnabout in the economic situation.  All the governmentQs disasters 
came from within.... The man who formed the government is also the 
man who decides its budget.  Many of our prime ministers turned 
their own survival into the main thing, from a certain point.  This 
is happening to Netanyahu too soon: Only 50 days in power, and not 
much is left: No plan, no vision and no ambition, save the ambition 
to survive.  The man who turned Qif they give, theyQll receiveQ into 
his political motto very soon reached the point where he is giving 
and giving, so long as power is not taken from him.  It is sad. 
Nikita Khrushchev, who ruled the Soviet Union 50 years ago, said 
about President Kennedy after their meeting in Vienna in 1961 that 
Kennedy was Qtoo intelligent and too weak.Q  He was wrong about 
Kennedy, but until he realized his error, the Soviet Union and the 
United States were on the brink of world war.  Netanyahu should pull 
himself together.  It is not only his 30 ministers who are 
scrutinizing him.  So are friends and enemies, from Washington to 
Tehran. 
 
-------------------------------- 
¶2.  Pope Benedict XVI in Israel: 
-------------------------------- 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: QThe Pope's 
visit shows that there is no real dialogue between Israel and the 
Vatican, and that it is difficult to erase centuries-old wounds. 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot: QNot, Heaven forbid, that the Pope's unfortunate 
speech should not have been criticized -- but is that all there is? 
What about his other statements, the respect he has shown us? 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "A Missed Opportunity" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (5/13): QOne 
word unsaid can sometimes be more damaging than thousands of words 
uttered.  This is what happened two days ago during Pope Benedict 
XVI's speech at Yad Vashem.  The thorough preparations for his visit 
to Israel ... evaporated as if they did not exist thanks to a speech 
that was missing one word -- QsorryQ.... Benedict is not as attuned 
an internationalist, capable of rallying the masses, as his 
immediate predecessor, John Paul II, was.  His organizers should 
have made more of an effort in understanding the audience which the 
pontiff addressed.  His important statements condemning 
anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial lost their potency because of his 
lukewarm remarks at Yad Vashem.  The Pope's visit shows that there 
is no real dialogue between Israel and the Vatican, and that it is 
difficult to erase centuries-old wounds.  It is clear that 
logistical preparations for such a visit are not sufficient, and 
that it is vital to conduct diplomatic dialogue over the content of 
the public aspects of the visit, so as to prevent mishaps and ensure 
a successful trip.  On his trip to Africa, Benedict set off a storm 
by what he said.  In Jerusalem he set off a wave of disappointment 
by what he did not. 
 
II.  "We've Gone Too Far" 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot (5/13): QWe do not have many friends in the world, 
and the Vatican has never had its picture taken next to the image of 
 
Benjamin Zeev [Theodor] Herzl.  It took decades of hostility until 
the Vatican, following the Oslo Accords, agreed to establish 
diplomatic ties with us.  The Vatican wields influence over more 
than one billion people in the world, whose opinion of us is 
important to us.  Not, Heaven forbid, that the Pope's unfortunate 
speech should not have been criticized -- but is that all there is? 
What about his other statements, the respect he has shown us?  For 
quite some time, it appears that we have lost a sense of proportion 
in almost every area of our lives.  Perhaps we can return to our 
senses?  A bit, just a bit.  Full disclosure: This writer was 
involved to a certain degree in the preparations for the Pope's 
visit to Israel. 
 
CUNNINGHAM