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TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
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Defense Secretary Gates, Special Envoy Mitchell to Israel 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Major media reported that U.S. Envoy for Middle East Peace George 
Mitchell arrived in Israel yesterday and meet with Defense Minister 
Ehud Barak as part of an ongoing effort to reach an agreement on 
construction in the settlements.  According to HaQaretz, the two are 
reportedly close to a deal in which Washington would allow a limited 
number of projects in advanced stages of construction to be 
completed, but Israel would freeze all other building for an as yet 
undetermined period of time.  At a brief press conference after 
their meeting, Mitchell insisted that the dispute over settlement 
construction was a Qdiscussion among friends,Q not a quarrel.  Barak 
vowed that Israel would do everything in its power to advance a 
regional peace agreement, but without sacrificing its Qvital 
interests.Q  The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the U.S. and 
Israel Qwent out of their way  to downplay friction.Q  The Post 
quoted PM Benjamin Netanyahu as saying at the weekly cabinet 
meeting, a few hours before MitchellQs arrival, that Qeven within 
the fabric of friendly relations between allies there are points 
over which there is not full agreement.Q  HaQaretz reported that 
sources well-versed in the talks told the daily that no agreement 
will be signed during this visit, but that the gaps have narrowed 
significantly.  They said that Israel, which initially opposed 
WashingtonQs demands, has softened its stance considerably, while 
the Americans are also making efforts to bridge the gaps.  HaQaretz 
cited IsraelQs claim that construction in the ultra-Orthodox 
settlements of Kiryat Sefer and Beitar Illit is too advanced to be 
stopped, and that the U.S. seems to be moving toward allowing these 
700 buildings to be completed.  HaQaretz also reported that Israel 
deems some nonresidential projects vital.   The Americans want to 
reach detailed agreements on everyone of these elements.  HaQaretz 
said that, unlike in the past, IsraelQs defense establishment has 
given the U.S. complete information on all West Bank construction 
projects, on orders from Barak. 
 
The Jerusalem Post said that QMitchellQs emphasis on a comprehensive 
peace, one that would include Syria and Lebanon, ran contrary to 
some expectations that the thrust of his efforts during this visit 
would be to reach an agreement on settlement construction to get the 
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the ground.Q  HaQaretz reported 
that, for the first time during the Obama administration, the 
Palestinians are expected to toe the line of the U.S.-Israeli 
understandings and that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is Qlikely to 
shake PM NetanyahuQs hand.Q  The media had reported that on Friday 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced, in a video hookup with 
Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad, that the U.S. had transferred $200 
million to the PA government. 
 
Today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will arrive in Israel, and 
National Security Advisor James Jones will follow tomorrow.  Both 
are expected to address a broader range of issues Mitchell has, 
including efforts to halt IranQs nuclear program and bilateral 
security cooperation.  Yesterday, Yediot Aharonot wrote that the 
U.S. envoysQ task is Qto make sure that Israel does not intend to 
attack the nuclear installations in Iran, and apply pressure to it 
to stop the construction in the settlements and in East Jerusalem. 
 
HaQaretz cited an IDF Civil Administration report covering the first 
half of 2009: There are now more than 300,000 residents living in 
West Bank settlements.  As of June 30, the settlements had 304,569 
residents, an increase of 2.3 percent since January. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday, in an interview with NBCQs 
QMeet the Press,Q Secretary Clinton implicitly urged Israel to give 
U.S. policy on Iran's nuclear program a chance to work. 
 
HaQaretz cited deep concern among senior IDF staff and defense 
establishment about the possibility of a serious incident along the 
Lebanese border in the near future. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the Israel Navy successfully test-fired an 
improved model of the Barak anti-missile system, launching a 
surface-to-air missile from a SaQar 5-type ship against a target. 
 
Maariv reported that yesterday Jews and Arabs clashed in the 
neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Jerusalem and Washington are 
sparring over construction of 20 housing units. 
 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that the source of at least 
some of the millions of dollars involved in alleged money-laundering 
by five of the rabbis arrested last week in the U.S. came from 
Israeli sources.   Yediot Aharonot reported that an American rabbi, 
Levi Yitzhak Rosenbaum, is suspected of having bought kidneys from 
needy Israeli citizens for tens of thousands of dollars and selling 
each kidney to patients awaiting transplants for $160,000. FBI 
documents say that Rosenbaum was assisted by physicians at hospitals 
in Israel.  Yesterday Yediot Aharonot reported that FBI officials 
confirmed to the newspaper that agency detectives are on their way 
to Israel.   Today the newspaper quoted Yitzhak Kakun, 
editor-in-chief of the Shas weekly Yom LeQYom, as saying that 
anti-Semitism was behind the arrests.  The mainstream media reported 
that Shas stands to lose many contributions from U.S. supporters 
belonging to the communities involved in the affair. 
 
The media reported that the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has recovered 
and is back at pre-Lehman collapse levels. 
 
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Defense Secretary Gates, Special Envoy Mitchell to Israel: 
----------------------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I. QAn American Week 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (7/26): QPrime 
Minister Benjamin NetanyahuQs most abject failure since returning to 
the premiership has been his shaky relationship with the U.S. 
administration, headed by President Barack Obama.... Three senior 
Obama administration officials will visit Israel this week.... The 
visits provide a good opportunity for a turning point in relations 
between Israel and the Obama administration.  Netanyahu must 
evacuate the outposts and agree to a settlement freeze in order to 
give a deal based on Qtwo states for two peoplesQ -- a principle in 
fact supported by the Prime Minister -- a chance.  The understanding 
taking shape between Israel and the United States over Iran -- an 
understanding manifest in the softened rhetoric employed by the 
Prime Minister -- ought to be strengthened and codified.  Yet, more 
than anything else, Netanyahu needs to welcome his guests as allies 
rather than representatives of a hostile administration angling to 
harm and humiliate Israel.  A change in his approach, as well as 
avoiding additional provocations and crises, will be the first 
critical steps in building a new relationship with the United 
States. 
 
II.  QAll-Clear Signal from the U.S. 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (7/27): QAfter both 
sides issued pugnacious statements -- Netanyahu on the continuation 
of construction in East Jerusalem and the Americans on the 
possibility that they might cut their economic aid to Israel -- 
there are growing indications that the parties have decided to pour 
cool water on the flames and continue their attempts to resume the 
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and between Israel 
and the Arab states.  The likely reason for this shift is that -- at 
least for the moment -- that Americans cannot point out a change in 
the well-known Arab attitude vis-`-vis Israel.  In other words: 
ObamaQs emissaries hear one single message in the Arab capitals: 
QAfter you wring from the Israelis concessions regarding all the 
territories, normalization with the Jewish state can be discussed -- 
not a minute earlier. 
 
III.  QAn Enemy, at Last 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in Ha'aretz 
(7/26): QIn light of the public brawling between Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama, we can expect to 
start seeing graffiti saying things like QAmerica, get out,Q QObama 
is an Arab,Q and QNeither a broker nor honest.Q  In the new Israeli 
debate, America is slowly beginning to be perceived as an enemy -- 
and the dispute is going personal.... The remedy lies in reviewing 
the facts.  Obama did not invent a new American policy. Nor can 
Israel rely on its demand that the Arab states normalize relations 
with Jerusalem: The obligation of normalization is conditioned on 
IsraelQs withdrawal from all occupied territory.  There is one 
thing, however, that the United States has changed: its diplomatic 
behavior, and its tone.  But it is truly difficult to complain about 
someone no longer willing to stand for the verbal contortions and 
the lies that Israel has been feeding Washington. 
 
IV.  QGive Us Substance, Forget the Polls 
 
Liberal columnist Dr. Gadi Taub wrote in Yediot Aharonot (7/26): 
QLeaders in foggy times as these don't need spin doctors.  Rather, 
they need a clear and courageous vision.  We need now to look ahead 
at the changing world and to tell the truth: construction in the 
settlements is dangerous foolishness.  The settlement outposts need 
to be uprooted with determination, either with or without 
sensitivity, either with or without a Qprice tag.Q  Then, one way or 
another, we are going to have to evacuate a majority of the 
settlements, either with an agreement or without one.  We need to 
say clearly that Obama is offering a real alternative and that we 
need to cooperate with him -- and not drag our feet and jeopardize 
our chance of separating from the Palestinians and our friendship 
with the United States, without which our soldiers have no weapons 
and we have no political support for our right to exist here as the 
Jewish nation-state.  There are positive examples of courageous 
leadership: Churchill, Ben-Gurion, Truman, and Rabin too.  But, 
really all one needs to do is to look at the pathetic Netanyahu and 
Barak to recall what happens when one's leaders lack vision and lack 
courage. 
 
¶V.  QNetanyahu Is Eating What his Predecessors Cooked 
 
 
Conservative columnist Nadav Haetzni wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (7/27): Q[Former foreign minister] Tzipi Livni certainly 
wants to forget that she recommended the adoption of the Roadmap -- 
provided it was lightly amended.... Good sense and basic decency 
obligate Livni and [former prime minister Ehud] Olmert to back 
Netanyahu and oppose the Obama administration.  The former ministers 
put Israel in this swamp.  They should be the first ones to rise 
against the Americans and blame them for breaching their 
commitments.  But there is no room in Israeli politics for decency 
and good sense. 
 
CUNNINGHAM