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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
On June 28, HaQaretz reported that Israel and Egypt are negotiating 
the terms of a new Gaza cease-fire.  The newspaper reported that the 
U.S. administration and the EU are making efforts to include Hamas 
in a broader diplomatic effort that would include a long-term 
cease-fire with Israel, reconciliation among Palestinian factions, 
and support for renewed negotiations with Israel on the basis of the 
Arab peace initiative.  Today the media reported that, at SundayQs 
cabinet meeting, DM Barak refuted reports of a breakthrough in the 
negotiations to bring Gilad Shalit home. 
 
Israel Radio reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a 
ministerial committee on settlement policy today before DM Ehud 
BarakQs departure to the U.S. to hammer out a deal on settlement 
construction.  Maariv reported that Barak will ask U.S. special 
envoy George Mitchell to let Israel complete already-started 
construction projects.  The Jerusalem Post reported that, the Givat 
Ze'ev settlement, located just northwest of Jerusalem, is about to 
experience its largest population boom in at least 10 years, and 
possibly since its founding in 1983.  The newspaper also reported 
that on Sunday, Barak denied reports that Israel had decided to 
freeze all Jewish building in the West Bank for three months, 
including natural growth, saying there had been no agreement on this 
yet in Jerusalem.  The media reported that on Friday in Trieste, the 
foreign ministers of the Quartet called on Israel to freeze all 
construction in settlements, including construction attributed to 
Qnatural growth.Q  Media reported that Netanyahu indicated on 
Saturday that he would follow suit.  FM Avigdor Lieberman was quoted 
as saying over the weekend in a Russian-language interview with 
Radio Reka (the Russian-language service of Israel Radio), to sum up 
his visit to the United States, the European Union and Canada: QI 
donQt understand the AmericansQ obsession about the settlements. 
In the interview Lieberman said that his meeting with Secretary of 
State Hillary Clinton had not been easy but had nevertheless borne 
fruit.  QWe had a lot of issues on the agenda and we managed to 
formulate a joint position on all of them,Q he was quoted as saying. 
 QWe reached an agreement on all of the principal clauses, barring 
one point, which, of course, pertained to the construction of the 
settlements in Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank].Q Lieberman 
noted that with the exception of the settlement issue, the United 
StatesQ position vis-`-vis Israel was far more positive than what 
might otherwise be surmised. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is set to annonce 
a plan to freeze demolition orders on around70% of unauthorized 
construction in the east of he city.  The municipality would also 
negotiate cmpensation terms with families evicted from the 
emaining 30% of unauthorized housing..  The plan rpresents a 
departure from earlier statements, inwhich Barkat spoke out against 
illegal constructon by Palestinians in East Jerusalem. 
 
Makor Rishn-Hatzofe highlighted a comment made by U.S. Ambassador 
to the UN Susan Rice yesterday that the legitimacy of the Iranian 
government, while questioned by the people of Iran, is not the 
critical issue for the U.S. goal of preventing Iran from developing 
a nuclear capability 
 
The media reported that yesterday President Shimon Peres left for 
visits to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. 
 
All media (banners in Yediot and Maariv) reported that the Deputy 
Director of Mossad -- QT,Q a friend of PM Netanyahu -- is quitting 
the service, following the PMQs decision to extend by one year the 
tenure of Mossad Director Meir Dagan.  The deputy director 
traditionally succeeds the director. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Netanyahu associate and former ambassador 
to the U.S., Zalman Shoval, consulted officials in Washington on 
NetanyahuQs behalf and that he received the impression that the U.S. 
administration is interested in resolving the settlement issue. 
 
Former Deputy U.S. National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams said on 
Friday night in an interview with Israel TV that, all the denials 
notwithstanding, there were agreements between Israel and the United 
States regarding natural growth in the settlements.  Abrams also 
said that the agreement contained a number of principles: There 
arenQt going to be new settlements; no financial incentives will be 
given so that people might move to settlements; construction will be 
carried out only inside the construction lines of the existing 
settlements; and there will be no confiscation of Palestinian lands. 
 Abrams explained: The idea was that if you build inside the 
settlements, or if you build vertically and not outwardly, that 
wonQt have any impact on the final status arrangement negotiations. 
Regarding Secretary of State Hillary ClintonQs position, Abrams 
said: QIt is true that there wasnQt a contract.  All of the 
understandings were oral in conversations between Bush and 
Sharon.... Apparently, the problem is that not all of the oral 
agreements were passed on properly to the new administration. 
 
HaQaretz reported that, during their meeting in Paris last week, 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked PM Benjamin Netanyahu if he 
should seek the assistance of Syria and Qatar to speed up the talks 
for releasing Gilad Shalit.  Sarkozy said France could ask the 
leaders of the two Arab countries to seek Hamas's consent for either 
a sign of life from Shalit or permission for a visit by the Red 
Cross.  According to HaQaretz, Sarkozy also told Netanyahu that 
during the Olmert administration he had contributed to exchanges on 
the Shalit affair through his ties with Syrian President Bashar 
Assad and the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa.  Both Arab leaders 
have regular contact with Damascus-based Hamas politburo chief 
Khaled Mashal.  Sarkozy also told Netanyahu that the release of 
Shalit, who has been held in Gaza for three years now, is "key to a 
change in the situation in the area."  But Sarkozy also stressed 
that "you will have to release prisoners, otherwise there will be no 
deal."  Israel Hayom reported that, during his meeting with 
Netanyahu, Sarkozy sharply criticized Tzipi Livni for not joining 
the government, especially after NetanyahuQs Bar-Ilan University 
policy speech. 
 
HaQaretz reported that MK Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor) is forming a 
Knesset lobby for evacuating illegal West Bank outposts, in the wake 
of the U.S. administration's demand that Israel stop settlement 
construction and evacuate outposts.  Pines-Paz was quoted as saying 
that the lobby will track the outposts' growth and expansion, raise 
public awareness about the issue, and call on MKs to support the 
cabinet in measures against the outpost residents.  This morning, 
electronic media reported that the state told the High Court of 
Justice that DM Barak has approved the construction of 50 housing 
units in the settlement of Adam to relocate evacuees from the 
unauthorized outpost of Migron.  The state also agreed in principle 
to build 1,450 units at Adam.  The leading news Web site, Ynet, 
reported that the Yesha Council of Jewish Settlements in the 
Territories backs the position of the state, while the far Right 
claims that this is a Qhoney trap.Q  The media cited the LeftQs 
anger over the development. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu told the cabinet 
yesterday that, if Hizbullah is included in the new Lebanese 
coalition, Lebanon will be held responsible for HizbullahQs 
actions. 
 
HaQaretz reported that, ahead of a meeting between President Obama 
with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev next week, Israel has 
began an international effort to pressure Russia not to complete the 
sale of S-300 air defense missiles to Iran.  HaQaretz quoted a 
diplomatic source in Jerusalem as saying that in recent weeks there 
has been noticeable deterioration in RussiaQs position regarding the 
arms sale. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that, according to a group of American 
university professors who yesterday concluded an academic exchange 
program here, sponsored by the Yitzhak Rabin Center, unwavering 
support for Israeli policy has eroded dramatically both on American 
college campuses and within the U.S., as a whole. 
 
The media reported that, in an expected move, Knesset Member Haim 
Ramon, a former vice premier, is expected to announce his 
resignation from the Knesset today after serving as an MK and 
minister for 26 years (first in the Labor Party and later in 
Kadima).  The veteran lawmaker is leaving the parliament to become 
the chairman of the Kadima Council, the opposition party's most 
important body, following an agreement with Tzipi Livni, the party 
chairwoman. This will enable him to continue his input to the 
political agenda while going into private business. Ramon's 
departure paves the way for Kadima activist Yulia Smolov-Berkovich 
to enter the Knesset.  In another development, MK Shaul Mofaz 
(Kadima) told IDF Radio yesterday that Livni is not fit to make 
decisions. 
 
The media reported that on Saturday, Vice PM Silvan Shalom announced 
the creation of a pilot project -- in agreement with Jordan and the 
World Bank -- to test the feasibility of the Red-Dead Canal project, 
designed to both provide drinking water and rescue the Dead Sea. 
The projectQs prospects are not clear. 
 
Yesterday Maariv reported that IsraelQs chances of joining the OECD 
are growing. 
 
Maariv reported on the opposition of Arab member states of UNESCO to 
the recognition by the international organization of the Canaanite 
Gate in Tel-Dan (Upper Galilee) as a world heritage site.  Those 
countries claim that Israel occupied the area during  the Six-Day 
War. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Agreements Need to Be Kept" 
 
Dov Weisglass, who was former prime minister Ariel Sharon's top 
diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (6/28): QOn May 16, 2003, in the course of meetings in 
Israel and in Washington regarding the Israeli reservations about 
the Roadmap, an agreement was reached that there would be no 
construction in the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria and Gaza 
[i.e. the territories], with the exception of construction within 
the existing line of construction.... The current position of the 
U.S. administration on this issue is embarrassing, to understate 
matters.... Indeed, there was an agreement that was documented (at 
least in the Israeli records) and was publicly discussed. And this 
needs to be remembered: oral agreements are agreements that need to 
be kept as well, provided there is tangible evidence to demonstrate 
their existence.  Furthermore, it is well known in contract law that 
any agreement can be canceled or changed in the event of a radical 
change in the circumstances that reigned at the time of its signing. 
 That is not the case here.  Nothing substantive that would justify 
the cancellation of the agreement has occurred in the past six 
years.  The administration's denial is not only unjustified and 
unfair, it is also unwise.  The Israeli-Arab conflict is rife with 
suspiciousness.... And since agreements need to be kept, Israel too 
needs to remove any doubt about its commitment to the Roadmap.  The 
obligation to keep commitments applies to Israel as well. 
 
II.  "Speak to Us with Sticks" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (6/29): QLeaders of the international 
community and the Arab world are the only ones capable of convincing 
the average Israeli that only a QsuckerQ would miss out on the great 
opportunity for a Jewish state within the improved 1967 borders, on 
resolving the bulk of the Palestinian refugee problem, ensuring 
normalization with the Arab world, and receiving security guarantees 
from the West.  Obama appealed directly to the Muslim QUmmaQ, 
bypassing the radical Islamists; the time has come for him to 
directly address the Israelis, bypassing their leadership.  In doing 
so, it would be best to first present them with the cost of refusal, 
before Netanyahu manages to convince them that Obama is not a 
partner. 
 
III.  "Seeking Palestinian Unity" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (6/29): QU.S. President Barack Obama, for his 
part, already established in his Cairo speech that Hamas could have 
a proper role in the peace process if it recognizes Israel. He thus 
opened a political door for the organization, as well as a window 
for dialogue with the United States.  Hamas politburo leader Khaled 
Mashal's speech last weekend shows that his organization is not 
ignoring the outstretched hand or Syrian encouragement, and seems 
ready to make real moves toward reconciliation.  Israel can no 
longer ignore the region's spinning political kaleidoscope and 
continue to adhere to positions that are not conducive to advancing 
the peace process.  If Israel erred when it allowed the Palestinian 
Authority elections to be held in 2006, it made more mistakes by 
refusing to recognize Hamas's elected government and later by 
alienating the Palestinian unity government.  This boycott, which PA 
President Mahmoud Abbas took part in, generated Hamas's takeover of 
Gaza and the split between Gaza and the West Bank, which blocked any 
attempt to move the peace process forward.  Israel has learned that 
one Palestinian hand is not enough to conduct negotiations, let 
alone sign an agreement.  Israel must make clear that, like Obama, 
it is ready to talk to a united Palestinian government -- about 
releasing abducted soldier Gilad Shalit, but also about a 
comprehensive peace move. 
 
IV.  "The World according to Fayyad" 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in 
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (6/29): Q[In a June 22 
presentation, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad] predicts a 
Palestinian state within two years.  Yet he has no way to make this 
happen except to prove that the real reason the peace process hasn't 
succeeded is the misconception Qthat it is always possible to exert 
pressure on the weaker side in the conflict, as if there is no limit 
to the concessions that it could offer.Q  In other words, the reason 
why peace has not been achieved is because the PA had to make all 
the concessions.  The truth, of course, is the exact opposite. 
Israel withdrew from most of the territory, allowed 200,000 
Palestinians to come in, cooperated in the establishment of security 
forces, agreed to large-scale subsidies for the PA, and so on.  And 
what concession did the Palestinians make?  They said to 
international audiences -- though not in their own media, mosques, 
schools or internal statements -- that they accepted Israel's 
existence and sometimes, but far from always, stopped some terrorist 
attacks -- when it suited them.  Doesn't Fayyad see the irony in his 
words?  He views Israel as the weaker side in relation to the West 
and thinks those other countries will force it to make concessions 
without limit.  By feeding the PA's false belief that the West will 
pressure Israel into giving it a state in the borders it wants, 
without concessions, restrictions or even implementation of past 
promises, the U.S. and European governments are doing a very 
effective job in sabotaging any possibility for peace. 
 
CUNNINGHAM