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SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1. Mideast 
 
¶2. Iran 
 
Block Quotes Only: 
------------------- 
 
 
¶1. Mideast 
 
¶I. "A Fresh Spirit in Israel-Egypt Relations" 
 
Military commentator Alex Fishman wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (6/22):  "Suddenly it appears that weapons 
smuggling into Gaza can be stopped. From the moment that the 
Egyptian military intelligence commanders, under the leadership of 
Egyptian Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi, were replaced by 
officials of the General Intelligence under the command of Egyptian 
Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman a revolution has taken place in 
everything concerning weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip....  The 
volume of smuggling decreased, money exchangers and foreign agents 
were arrested, the Hamas military industry has been destroyed, and 
weapons are trickling rather than flooding into the Gaza Strip.... 
Defense Minister Ehud Barak's visit to Cairo yesterday was just one 
more example of this fresh spirit....   They have no one else to 
talk to in Israel. They have marked him [Barak] as their line of 
communication....  The Egyptians promised... the United States a 
Palestinian national unity government with Hamas and Fatah that will 
provide for the resumption of peace negotiations....  For example, 
Israel can promise to return to the tahdia and to gradually open the 
crossings....  If Israel is willing to pay Hamas on the matter of 
the crossings, progress will be made on the matter of the national 
unity government; if concrete progress is made on July 7 progress 
will also be made on the matter of Gilad Shalit; if progress is made 
on Gilad Shalit, it will be possible to discuss renewed peace 
negotiations, regional strategy and so forth.  Both sides, the 
Israeli and Egyptian, very much want to please the Americans...." 
 
II. "The Chances of Releasing Gilad are Slim" 
 
Yoaz Hendel, political commentator, wrote in the nationalist, 
orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe (6/22):  "Peace initiatives and quiet 
in the Gaza Strip come and go at the speed of seasons changing. 
Since Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, Egypt has become the dominant 
country in cooking up truces, with the main reason for this being 
its fear of the very easy connection between Hamas and the Muslim 
Brotherhood-the Egyptian opposition.... In the new format of the 
deal that Mubarak is now putting together, the Israeli limits 
regarding major prisoners are clear. On the other hand, Mubarak is 
also careful to show respect for Hamas with sweeteners that will 
make it easier for them to come down from their high limb.... In the 
meantime, Hamas has only displayed pragmatism regarding its own 
survival. As long as the sword does not threaten its neck, it is in 
no hurry to get anywhere. Although the situation in the Gaza Strip 
is difficult economically-the crossing restrictions that Israel has 
imposed elicit internal criticism even in the most pro-Hamas 
strongholds in the Gaza Strip-on the other hand, to this day no 
criticism has constituted a real threat to the stability of the 
Haniya government, only the IDF. Today Hamas is supposed to relay a 
new list of prisoners to Egypt. If the changes on the list are only 
cosmetic...then the chances of the security establishment supporting 
the deal are slim." 
 
 
 
¶1. Iran 
 
¶I. "Where is Everyone?" 
 
Senior commentators Ben Caspit and Ben-Dror Yemini wrote in the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (6/22):  "Tell us, where is everyone? 
Where did all the people who demonstrated against Israel's brutality 
in Operation Cast Lead, in the Second Lebanon War, in Operation 
Defensive Shield, or even in The Hague, when we were dragged there 
unwillingly after daring to build a separation barrier between us 
and the suicide bombers, disappear to?....    All the peace-loving 
and justice-loving Europeans, British professors in search of 
freedom and equality, the friends filling the newspapers, magazines 
and various academic journals with various demands for boycotting 
Israel, defaming Zionism and blaming us and it for all the ills and 
woes of the world-could it be that they have taken a long summer 
vacation?  Now of all times, when the Basij hooligans have begun to 
slaughter innocent civilians in the city squares of Tehran?  Aren't 
they connected to the Internet?  Don't they have YouTube?  Has a 
terrible virus struck down their computer?  Have their justice 
glands been removed in a complicated surgical procedure (to be 
re-implanted successfully for the next confrontation in Gaza)?  How 
can it be that when a Jew kills a Muslim, the entire world boils, 
and when extremist Islam slaughters its citizens, whose sole sin is 
the aspiration to freedom, the world is silent?... And where are the 
world's leaders?  Where is the wondrous rhetorical ability of Barack 
Obama?  Where has his sublime vocabulary gone?  Where is the desire 
that is supposed to be built into all American presidents, to defend 
and act on behalf of freedom seekers around the globe?  What is this 
stammering?...  The West remains indifferent.  Obama is polite.  Why 
shouldn't he be, after all, he aspires to a dialogue with the 
ayatollahs....  Being conciliatory is a positive trait, particularly 
when it follows the clumsy bellicosity of George Bush, but when 
conciliation becomes blindness, we have a problem....  There is a 
different Islam.  This is already clear today.  Even in Iran.  There 
are millions of Muslims who support freedom, human rights, equality 
for women.  These millions loathe Khamenei, Chavez and Nasrallah 
too.  But part of the global left wing prefers the ayatollah regime 
over them.  The main thing is for them to raise flags against Israel 
and America.  The question is why the democrats, the liberals, and 
Obama, Blair and Sarkozy, are continuing to sit on the fence.  This 
is not a fence of separation; it is a fence of shame." 
 
II."Turning Point for Iran?" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (6/22): 
"Whatever his original intentions, Mir Hossein Mousavi now 
represents something bigger than a "soft" alternative to 
Ahmadinejad.... In challenging Khamenei after he sanctified the 
election results, these counter-elites are exposing a serious split 
in the political system, undermining its legitimacy. They might 
still want to reform, rather than overturn, the system. But the 
people may have their own ideas. No one knows if there is any 
turning back after Mousavi put out the word that his followers 
should hold a general strike in case of his arrest. Plainly, the 
regime hopes that tear gas and bullets will dampen  the protesters' 
fervor. We shall see....Given its geography, resources and culture, 
Iran will remain a regional player no matter what. But when all this 
is over, will it still be a patron of Hizbullah and Hamas; the state 
champion of Islamic extremism, and the prime demonizer of Israel?... 
Over the weekend, Obama warned the regime that the world was 
watching, and urged it "to stop all violent and unjust actions 
against its own people." But for all his declared commitment in 
Cairo to reform and democracy, Obama has refrained from overt 
support of the courageous Iranian citizenry protesting - and dying - 
for precisely these things.  If Iranians prove ready to persist, 
their terrible sacrifices notwithstanding, the US and EU will have 
little choice but to press for new, internationally monitored 
elections - and, if this demand goes unanswered, to hold out the 
possibility of "de-recognizing" the regime. That would place Iran in 
the same position as Ukraine in 2004, during the Orange Revolution. 
That regime was isolated and, ultimately, forced from power." 
 
III:  "The Israeli Perspective" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (6/22):  "The debate in Israel over what is 
happening in Iran is shifting between two problematic poles: The 
media coverage, which suffers from overt dramatization...and the 
political establishment's observations, which are far too jaded. The 
sometimes violent conflict is not about the sons of light against 
the sons of darkness. To a degree,... it's a kind of family dispute: 
factions that were part of the regime inspired by the Islamic 
Revolution are now challenging its authority.... Even if the 
uprising is suppressed, we can conclude that Iran has changed over 
the past 10 days. But it's unclear if even a successful revolution 
can detach Iran from the influence of its radical religious 
establishment. ...Israel... has something to gain from each of the 
scenarios. If conservative rule prevails it will be at the price of 
a brutal suppression of the protests. The international community... 
is much more concerned about the crushing of democracy in Tehran. 
This... may bring about a much harsher approach by the United States 
and European Union if the dialogue over the Iranian nuclear program 
fails and the sanctions are intensified. At the same time, a victory 
by the moderates, committed as they may be to the nuclear project, 
might render Iran more open to the West and allow for understandings 
that will block the project, even if this is achieved at an uneasy 
price for the international community. Israel will then be more 
concerned about the conduct of the U.S. administration. The inaction 
demonstrated by President Barack Obama in the face of a taunting 
North Korea, as well as the gap between the passionate speeches and 
hesitant conduct on the ground, is disconcerting." 
 
IV: "Standing With the People of Iran" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (6/22): 
"Thirty years after the Khomeini revolution brought down the regime 
of the Shah and led the Islamic Republic to power, a new generation 
in Iran is now fomenting a shake-up, whose full scope, conclusion 
and ramifications are not yet known.... The difference between 
Ahmadinejad and his patrons, and Mousavi and his supporters, has 
been painted in blood in the streets of Tehran.... Khamenei's speech 
on Friday made it clear that the regime plans to fight for its life 
and will act to suppress the protests with a strong hand, but even 
if it does succeed, it will henceforth have to take the people's 
will into account. Economic sanctions that affect the well-being of 
the Iranian public, at the expense of the relentless development of 
nuclear weapons, could have a greater weight in the future. That is 
good news that lessens the danger of a military confrontation 
between Israel and Iran. And it is also a good reason for official 
Israel to stand aside, to refrain from declarations and to hope 
quietly for the victory of the Iranian people over its dictators." 
 
CUNNINGHAM