VZCZCXRO7053
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1280/01 2081104
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271104Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5552
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAS-ZD/DACS-ZK//
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7791
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4763
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4610
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6104
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4529
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3105

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JERUSALEM 001280 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS BBG 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC 
CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD 
 
JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD 
LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (07/27): Palestinians seek deeper 
US involvement in East Jerusalem 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
 
Al-Quds and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida lead with and Al-Ayyam carries front 
page news on US Special Envoy George Mitchell's visit to the region. 
The report covers Mitchell's visit to Syria on July 26, including 
his meeting with President Bashar Assad. Mitchell called on Arab 
states to take steps that will build trust with Israel and 
reiterated that the US is serious about achieving a comprehensive 
and lasting peace between Israel and the Arab states. Mitchell 
stated that the purpose of his visit to Syria was to discuss the 
prospects for achieving a comprehensive peace in the region and 
enhancing relations between the US and Syria. Mitchell noted that 
discussions with Assad were "very candid and positive." President 
Assad noted that Syria must regain control of its occupied 
territories in the Golan Heights in order to achieve comprehensive 
peace in the region, according to coverage. The political and media 
advisor to President Assad, Buthaina Shaban, noted that "the 
messages we continue to receive from President Obama prove how 
serious he is about opening a new chapter with Syria and achieving 
peace and security in the region." 
 
Al-Quds runs separate front page coverage of a report in the Israeli 
daily Haaretz that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly 
noted during a meeting with European Union foreign ministers last 
week that Israel and the US are very close to an agreement on a 
temporary settlements freeze. Per the report, a senior Israeli 
official tated that Secretary Clinton told the EU foreign ministers 
that she is "optimistic" about the possibility of reaching an 
agreement with Israel concerning settlements, noting that this would 
be the first time Israel has agreed to such a step. 
 
Al-Ayyam runs front page coverage on the Israeli Government 
endorsing the allocation of approximately NIS 25 million for the 
construction and development of settlements in the West Bank. The 
decision was made on July 26, before the arrival of US officials to 
the region, according to the report. 
 
All dailies report on "settlers" attacking and demolishing a 
Palestinian house located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East 
Jerusalem on July 26 with protection from the Israeli police. The 
police arrested Hatem Abdul Qader, the head of the Fatah Jerusalem 
Affairs Committee, and 11 foreigners who were protesting the attack. 
The police also blocked the press and a US Consulate General 
Political Officer from approaching the scene. The Grand Mufti of 
Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, noted following the incident that 
Jerusalemites do not need any more statements from the US, but 
rather they want the US to take serious measures and raise the issue 
in the UN Security Council, adding that "Palestinians will take 
notice how the US responds regarding Sheikh Jarrah." 
 
News on the Sixth Fatah Party Congress, scheduled to begin August 4 
in Bethlehem, receives front page coverage in the three dailies. 
Al-Ayyam quotes the head of the Fatah parliamentary block Azzam 
Al-Ahmad noting on July 26 that Hamas is requesting the release of 
all Hamas prisoners in the West Bank before it will allow Fatah 
members residing in Gaza to attend the conference in the West Bank. 
Al-Ahmad criticized this Hamas policy and noted that Fatah should 
not give in to this "blackmail." 
 
-------------- 
Weekend Stories: 
-------------- 
 
JERUSALEM 00001280  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
Sunday July 26: 
 
All dailies front page news that the US is intensifying its efforts 
to find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The efforts also 
aim to resume indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel. 
Reports note an announcement by a senior Palestinian official that 
U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones will meet with 
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday in 
Ramallah. The official, who spoke to AFP under condition of 
anonymity, added that Jones will meet with President Abbas and PA 
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on his first visit to the Palestinian 
territories since assuming office. The Palestinian official 
considered the visits by Jones and Special Envoy Mitchell a 
"confirmation of the American administration's great interest in the 
Palestinian question and the resolution of the Palestinian and 
Arab-Israeli conflict." 
 
Al-Quds runs front page news on the Israeli Central Court decision 
to give the owners of six houses in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of 
Beit Safafa one week to evacuate their homes and hand them over to a 
settler from the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba (near Hebron). 
The settler claims he purchased one of the homes in 1993 from an 
Armenian who moved to the United States. Homeowner Mohammad Salah 
told Al Quds newspaper that the family was surprised that the court 
decision called for the evacuation of all six homes, rather than the 
single home the settler claimed as his. Reporting notes that the 
decision was not based on this individual claim, but rather the 
Israeli desire to evacuate the area to expand the nearby Givat 
HaMatos settlement. 
 
Al Quds, Al Ayyam, and Al Hayat Al Jadida front page news on PA 
Prime Minister Fayyad's statement that the time of "disregarding 
court decisions has gone for good," confirming that all decisions 
and verdicts issued by the Palestinian High Court have been 
implemented. Fayyad said in a statement that "the independence of 
the judiciary, strengthening of its status and respect, and 
implementation of all its decisions is a red line that cannot be 
overstepped by anyone," and added "the PA, as it works diligently to 
build a state of institutions, reiterates its utmost desire to 
separate the three powers and to implement all court decisions." 
 
Saturday July 25: 
All dailies lead with news on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 
announcing the transfer of $200 million in direct support to the 
PA's budget. The announcement came during a signing ceremony held 
through videoconference with the participation of Secretary Clinton 
from Washington, DC, and Prime Minister Fayyad, PA Minister of 
Planning Ali Jarbawi, US Consul General Jake Walles and USAID 
Mission Director Howard Sumka from the Council of Ministers' 
headquarters in Ramallah. Dr. Fayyad stressed that the direct 
transfer to the Palestinian treasury is an indicator of 
international confidence in the Palestinian financial system and 
called on other donors to follow the same approach. Secretary of 
State Clinton said "I want to underscore how much we appreciate the 
steps and changes that your government has undertaken." She 
continued by expressing her support for the reforms that were 
started two years ago by President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, 
and urged other donors to fulfil their pledges of assistance, noting 
that the PA has "systems in place to ensure that donor funds are 
handled transparently and in an accountable manner." 
 
The dailies cite Israeli sources saying that the US warned the 
Israeli government not to implement the "E1" project to expand the 
 
JERUSALEM 00001280  003 OF 003 
 
 
Maale Adumim settlement, thus connecting it with Jerusalem. 
Palestinians and some Israeli organizations say that this would 
effectively divide the West Bank into two parts and isolate 
Jerusalem completely from the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu pledged during his election campaign to implement the 
project. Reports state that implementation of the project was part 
of the agreement that Netanyahu struck to include Foreign Minister 
Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beitenu (Israel is Our Home) party in his 
governing coalition. The US has expressed its opposition to the 
project and asked Netanyahu "to refrain from imposing facts on the 
ground until such time that an agreement is concluded that would 
settle the legal status of East Jerusalem." 
 
Al Quds front pages news on a senior PA official denying a July 24 
report published by an Israeli research center regarding the PA's 
risk of "collapse" and "bankruptcy" as a result of its continued 
financial crisis. The official, who spoke under condition of 
anonymity, accused the Israeli media of "seeking to cause damage to 
the PA's reputation and to portray the PA as fragile and unreliable 
for political and security considerations." While the official 
acknowledged that the PA has been suffering from a severe financial 
crisis for months now and urged donors to come through with their 
pledges of assistance, the official vehemently denied any risk of 
collapse or bankruptcy. 
-------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
-------------- 
1) Al-Quds independent daily runs an editorial under the title, "So 
that the International Community doesn't fail again" (07/27): "The 
peace process cannot be re-launched if the US does not cooperate 
with the international community and with the Middle East Quartet to 
implement the two state solution, including all of Israel's 
obligations (and mainly the cessation of settlement activity). It is 
time for Europe and Russia to play a vital role to support the US in 
its efforts to achieve peace in the region." 
 
2) Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul opines in Al-Ayyam independent daily under 
the title "What is the significance of extensive US diplomacy?" 
(07/27): "It is obvious that the US is not ready to waste more time 
like previous administrations ... Obama's administration will try to 
persuade Netanyahu of a settlement freeze and reduce restrictions 
imposed on the Palestinians ... The US diplomatic effort is not done 
at random, but is very well studied and planned and shows that 
President Obama knows what he wants from all the involved parties." 
 
 
WALLES