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DE RUEHTV #1783/01 2231351
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P 111351Z AUG 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001783 
 
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 
JOINT STAFF WASHDC FOR PA 
CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR 
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 
 
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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday, during a visit to MaQaleh Adumim, 
Interior Minister and Shas Party Chairman Eli Yishai publicly urged 
the government to finally build the controversial E-1 neighborhood, 
which would link Ma'aleh Adumim with Jerusalem.  Plans for this 
neighborhood have existed for years, but due to vehement opposition 
by successive American governments, construction has never begun. 
Yishai was quoted as saying that Israel should make every effort to 
convince the U.S. to allow construction in E-1. However, he 
continued, "there is no doubt that the new American administration 
is different from its predecessor," and "if there is no other 
choice, Israel must build in all the settlement blocs, and in E-1, 
on the basis of previous American commitments."  "Israel will do 
what it believes [is right]," he added.  "This is an existential, 
essential, national, and security need."   Knesset Speaker Reuven 
Rivlin (Likud) accompanied Yishai on his tour.  HaQaretz also 
reported that yesterday FM Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) met 
with 29 visiting congressmen from the U.S. Democratic Party and told 
them the President's goal of presenting his own peace plan in the 
coming weeks was unrealistic.  Any overly ambitious goal, such as 
trying to force an Israeli-Palestinian agreement by a predetermined 
date, will end in failure and even violence, he warned: The 
President should focus on interim steps, not deliver ultimatums. 
HaQaretz said that the aligned Rivlin-Yishai-Lieberman positions 
represent a serious internal opposition to PM Benjamin Netanyahu. 
Yediot and Maariv also commented that Lieberman and YishaiQs 
statements constituted a rightwards turn in the Israeli government. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday PM Netanyahu called Egyptian 
President Hosni Mubarak to discuss the Gilad Shalit affair.  Media 
reported that National Security Adviser Uzi Arad traveled to Cairo 
yesterday.  Israel Radio reportedthat NetanyahuQs diplomatic 
advisor Yitzhak Molco left for Cairo this morning.  Media quoted 
Palstinian sources as saying that Haggai Hadas, NetanahuQs point 
man on ShalitQs release, also went toCairo.  HaQaretz reported that 
yesterday Netanyau refused to comment on reports in the Palestinian 
 
press on progress in the negotiations over the release of Gilad 
Shalit.  Netanyahu was quoted as saying that while the Shalit matter 
was a constant priority, he did not want to elaborate. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that, in an interview with the newspaper 
yesterday, visiting U.S. House Majority leader Steny Hoyer praised 
PM Netanyahu, called for the PA to drop any preconditions to 
negotiations, and said that Congress differentiated between building 
in east Jerusalem and in the West Bank.   Hoyer, currently in the 
country leading a delegation of 29 Democratic legislators, also said 
the rhetoric coming out of the Fatah General Assembly in Bethlehem 
was "unfortunate."  The delegation is sponsored by the American 
Israel Education Foundation, a charitable organization affiliated 
with AIPAC. 
 
Israel Radio quoted a Hizbullah official as saying that Israel will 
not attack the organization during the first year of President 
ObamaQs term. 
 
Israel Radio reported on an apparent defeat of FatahQs old guard 
lost in favor of the middle generation (including Marwan Barghouti, 
Jibril Rajoub, and Muhammad Dahlan) in the elections to the 
movementQs Central Committee.  Official results will be made public 
tomorrow.  The radio reported that Qsome corrupt leadersQ still 
managed to get elected.  Israel Radio quoted Dahlan as saying that 
he would allow no one to negotiate with Israel unless a deadline for 
peace talks is announced in advance. 
 
Yediot and Israel Radio reported that yesterday 71 U.S. senators 
sent a letter to President Obama, demanding that he increase 
pressure on the Arab states to make normalization gestures towards 
Israel.  "We also hope that you will continue to press Arab leaders 
to consider dramatic gestures toward Israel similar to those taken 
previously by brave leaders like King Hussein of Jordan and Anwar 
Sadat of Egypt," the senators wrote.  The U.S. lawmakers also urged 
Arab leaders to end the Arab League boycott of Israel, meet openly 
with Israeli officials, boost trade relations with Israel, issue 
visas to Israeli citizens, and invite Israelis to take part in 
academic and professional conferences, as well as sporting events. 
Yediot also quoted them as writing: "We also believe that Arab 
states must immediately and permanently end official propaganda 
campaigns which demonize Israel and Jews." 
 
HaQaretz reported that dozens of Islamic terrorists have entered 
Gaza over the past year and are operating there in the framework of 
 
extremist organizations identified with the "Worldwide Jihad."  The 
terrorists are Sunni Muslims, many of whom have taken part in the 
fighting against American forces in Iraq.  So far, as much as is 
known, these terrorists have been involved in a relatively small 
number of attacks.  The Jerusalem Post reported that residents of 
towns along the Gaza border have been instructed to remain vigilant 
in case Hamas tries to infiltrate the communities to carry out 
terrorist and kidnapping attacks.  The warnings collected by Shin 
Bet focus mainly on terrorist threats along the security fence, as 
well as infiltrations into Gaza-belt communities. 
 
While Israel Hayom reported that Jews and non-Jews in the Boston 
area praised the activity of Consul-General Nadav Tamir, The 
Jerusalem Post reported that Jewish Russian immigrants in the area 
demand the recall of the Israeli envoy over his memo critical of 
NetanyahuQs policy vis-`-vis the U.S., but that mainstream Jewish 
groups support him. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Peace Now attacked DM 
Ehud Barak for attending a Torah dedication in the Muslim Quarter of 
the Old City of Jerusalem. 
 
Maariv reported that yesterday the Foreign MinistryQs appointments 
committee chose professional diplomat Daniel Nevo as IsraelQs next 
ambassador to Jordan. 
 
Yediot reported that today President Shimon Peres will lay the 
cornerstone of the first Arab QkibbutzQ in Israel Q QAlfanaraQ (The 
Lighthouse) -- near Karmiel in the Galilee. 
 
Maariv reported that the mother of Nafisa Banda, a 6-year-old girl 
who was run over and killed by an American Embassy vehicle in March 
this year, will be deported to Ghana, her native country. 
 
The business daily Globes and Israel Radio reported that checks of 
IsraelQs offshore natural gas resources made by its managing company 
Noble Energy reveal that the gas reserves in the Tamar drilling site 
off the coast of Haifa -- 207 billion cubic meters, including 178 
billion CM of Qproven reserveQ -- are 16% higher than the previous 
estimate.  Gideon Tadmor, the CEO of Yitzhak TeshuvaQs Delek Energy, 
which holds the license to the drilling, told Globes that the 
quality of the gas is excellent and that the target date for 
streaming it into the Israeli economy is 2012. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Tango that Went Wrong" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (8/11): QThe Obama administration 
has suddenly reduced its pressure on us.  What is going on?  Very 
simply, it takes two to tango, and something has gone wrong with 
this math.  While Israel has agreed to Qtwo states for two peoples, 
it is discovering that the other side has two governments for two 
peoples -- the Palestinians of Gaza and the Palestinians of the West 
Bank.  So where does Israel fit into this rift between two states 
for the same people?  A situation has emerged of two parallel lines 
that will never meet.  If they try to solve the problem via 
elections, Hamas will win, and then the whole plan to weaken radical 
Islam in this neighborhood will collapse.  But this impasse does not 
serve us, and it would be better for us to initiate a resumption of 
talks with Abbas alone, at the point at which they left off. 
Everything that is agreed on will be stored on the shelf, and will 
be brought back to the table on the day the Palestinian Authority 
subordinates Gaza to its rule again.  For God's sake, don't let them 
miss yet another opportunity. 
 
II.  "Nasrallah Miscslculating?" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (8/11): 
QThe more worrisome -- for now -- powder keg [besides Gaza] is along 
the border with Hizbullah-subjugated Lebanon.... Hizbullah seems 
intent on carrying out a mega-terror attack in Israel or the 
Diaspora ostensibly in retaliation for the 2008 liquidation in 
Damascus of Imad Mughniyah, the group's principal terror-master.... 
It is hard to know whether Lebanese internal political developments 
are contributing to Hizbullah's jingoism.  Lebanon elected a new 
parliament in June when Hizbullah supposedly suffered an electoral 
setback; yet the formation of a government is still far-off.  The 
ever-mercurial Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, has switched sides -- 
sort of -- from the Christian-Sunni March 14 Coalition to cast the 
fate of his people with the Shi'ites.  In August 2006, Hassan 
Nasrallah admitted that had he appreciated the ferocity of Israel's 
response to Hizbullah's aggression, he would have never sent his men 
across the border.  Now, with new weapons in-hand, Nasrallah may 
calculate that Israel will abjure hard-hitting retaliation, even for 
a mega-terror attack, in order to keep its population safe from 
reprisal bombardment in a third Lebanon war.  It would be too bad 
for us all if Nasrallah's destiny was to keep making the same stupid 
mistake. 
 
III.  QIsraelQs Threats to Lebanon Only Boost Hizbullah 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the Web site 
of Ha'aretz (www.haaretz.com) (8/11): QWhich Lebanon exactly does 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold responsible for every 
Hizbullah action?  Two months following the elections, Lebanon still 
has no government.... Any Lebanese government would be compelled to 
stand behind Hizbullah in the event that civilian installations are 
attacked by Israel.  The Syrian government, which has always been 
the address on which to assign responsibility, is behaving as if it 
is not involved in the domestic Lebanese arena to the point where it 
has even garnered praise from the U.S. and France.  This time, 
Damascus can once again evade the brunt of responsibility.... There 
is widespread agreement in Lebanon that an extraordinary set of 
circumstances whereby Hizbullah executes a massive, high-casualty 
terrorist attack would leave Israel little alternative but to 
attack.  Yet, in the present situation in which Hizbullah is 
carefully calculating its political moves in Lebanon, the assessment 
holds that it will choose to refrain from such an adventure. 
Hizbullah is now in a comfortable position in which Israel's threats 
bolster its arguments for continued armament as part of the Lebanese 
Qdefense alignment.Q  The Shi'ite militia views itself as a 
legitimate partner to the Lebanese Army. 
 
MORENO