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P 121049Z AUG 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001791 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR NEA STAFF 
 
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PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
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SIPDIS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  U.S.-Israel Relations 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio quoted Fatah members as saying that Israel should 
release jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who came in third in 
the movementQs Central Committee elections.  Media quoted Minority 
Affairs Minister Avishay Braverman (Labor) as saying: QIn light of 
the election results, we must consider releasing [Barghouti] in 
order to create a moderate and strong political leadership among the 
Palestinians.Q  Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Benjamin 
Ben-Eliezer (Labor Party) told Israel Radio this morning that he 
favors a QcourageousQ decision to release Barghouti.  In another 
interview with the radio, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat 
(Likud) said that Barghouti is a terrorist leader and that he should 
not be released.  Interviewed this morning, opposition and Kadima 
Chairwoman Tzipi Livni (on IDF Radio) and former (Kadima) Internal 
Security Minister Avi Dichter (on Israel Radio) vehemently opposed 
calls from both the government and Knesset for Marwan BarghoutiQs 
release.  The media reported that PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has 
emerged victorious from the vote, as almost all his preferred 
candidates won seats in the decision-making body.  The media noted 
that QmythologicalQ (Maariv) leaders from the Tunis generation -- 
Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) and Nabil ShaQath) -- were removed from the 
Fatah direction. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Israel has begun a quiet diplomatic campaign 
to learn the whereabouts of Guy Hever, a soldier who went missing 
from the Golan Heights 12 years ago.  The process began when Japan's 
Middle East envoy delivered a message to Syria for Israel.  HaQaretz 
says that it is not even clear if Hever is in Syria, but that the 
move represents a significant change in Israel's official policy in 
the case. 
 
Maariv quoted a senior Israel defense source as saying that Israel 
retains an actual military option to counter IranQs nuclear program 
-- even on its own.  Maariv and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe also reported 
that the U.S. administration is debating whether to invite Israel to 
the global nuclear security summit scheduled to take place in 
Washington in March 2010, due to IsraelQs ambiguity policy. 
Conversely, Maariv presumed that, should Israel not be invited, this 
would cause great tension between it and the U.S., and probably do 
nothing to reduce the criticism against Israel in the course of the 
conference. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that a delegation of Israeli security 
officials secretly traveled to Jordan last week in an attempt to 
assuage concerns that Israel plans to transfer Palestinians from the 
West Bank to the Hashemite Kingdom.  The purpose of the visit was to 
ensure that strategic ties between the countries are not harmed. 
The visit was scheduled as part of Israeli efforts to ease Jordanian 
concerns regarding a proposal that National Union Knesset Member 
Arieh Eldad made in the Knesset two months ago that Palestinians be 
given Jordanian citizenship. 
 
Major media quoted the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar as saying yesterday 
that senior Egyptian security officials will visit Damascus this 
week for talks with Hamas leaders on a prisoner exchange that could 
see the release of Gilad Shalit.  Israel Radio quoted the 
London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat as saying that some progress has been 
made in the talks with Hamas. 
 
All media reported that yesterday PM Benjamin Netanyahu visited the 
Hatzerim Air Force Base in the Negev and sat in the cockpit of one 
of the F-15 fighter jets, which experts believe would lead a 
possible Israeli attack on IranQs nuclear installations.  The media 
also quoted the PM as saying that Qthere are no winds of war 
blowingQ along the Lebanese border. 
 
 
Israel Radio cited Peace NowQs criticism about the construction of a 
new neighborhood in the settlement of Kochav YaQakov, near Ramallah. 
 The NGO says it was built on private Palestinian land.  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Binyamin Regional Council 
head Avi Ro'eh canceled a deal he had made with the IDF a day 
earlier to voluntarily evacuate three caravans at the unauthorized 
Bnei Adam outpost, backing away from a fight with right-wing 
activists and settlers at the site who oppose any compromise move. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that diplomatic sources told the 
newspaper yesterday that that Jerusalem and Washington are currently 
discussing whether the city of Ariel constitutes one of the 
E 
settlement blocs where -- under a compromise agreement being worked 
out -- construction that has already begun can continue. 
 
Major media reported that the Counter-Terrorism Bureau in the PMQs 
Office warned Israelis to exercise caution when traveling abroad 
during the Jewish holidays, due to the assessment that Hizbullah may 
try to attack Israeli citizens, and urged citizens in Sinai to leave 
immediately.  In issuing its report yesterday, which it does 
regularly before Jewish New Year and Passover every year, the bureau 
stated the bulletin "did not involve new warnings, but rather a 
current assessment."  It cautioned Israelis to be vigilant regarding 
anything unusual, and to refrain from traveling to Muslim countries 
subject to specific travel warnings.  These countries include 
Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt (including Sinai).  Particularly 
high-level warnings have been issued regarding Sinai. An estimated 
40,000 Israelis are currently there, most of them Israeli Arabs on 
vacation before Ramadan begins on August 20.  Other countries 
subject to travel warnings include Colombia, especially in light of 
specific information about the potential for attacks on Israelis 
providing security assistance to the Colombian government. 
High-level threats also have been issued for the Kashmir region, 
Mindanao in the Philippines, and parts of southern Thailand.  The 
Counter-Terrorism Bureau also recommends deferring unessential 
travel to Kenya (especially coastal areas), Bangladesh, Nigeria, and 
Tajikistan.  Despite the warnings, Israeli tour operators are 
organizing trips to Jordan, Morocco and Kenya, as well as other 
countries where the threat is deemed high. Arkia Airlines is 
offering a safari package to Kenya and Uganda.  Organized groups and 
individual Israelis visit Morocco regularly. 
 
Leading media reported that on Monday Israeli vacationers and Arabs 
were involved in a significant brawl on the Greek island of Rhodes. 
Fifteen Arabs attacked the Israeli group, which later struck back. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that playwrights presenting works as the 
New York Fringe Festival later this week will Qbring Israel and 
Jewish themes to the edge of the stage. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the left-wing rights organization 
charged in a report released yesterday that, seven months after the 
end of Operation Cast Lead, Gaza still lacks sufficient electricity 
supplies, sanitation, and health care for the civilian population. 
 
The Jerusalem Post printed a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report that 
seven Israeli left-wing rights groups wrote to President Obama 
supporting the role of former Irish President Nary Robinson as a 
recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which will be handed 
out today.  A number of major American groups, including AIPAC and 
the ADL, have criticized the choice of Robinson because they feel 
she did not do enough to stop expressions of anti-Israel and 
anti-Semitic hatred during the 2001 Durban conference on racism over 
which she presided as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
Rights. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday members of the extremist 
Westboro Baptist Church, Qknown for its anti-gay and anti-Semitic 
rhetoric,Q protested in front of several Jewish institutions in New 
York. 
 
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz was quoted as saying during an 
interview with Israel Radio yesterday that the Bank of Israel's 
decision to abandon its scheduled daily dollar purchases and to 
continue buying only on an as-needed basis is a step in the right 
direction.  "We have a real problem, and it is not caused by 
speculators.  It's caused by the dollar weakening all over the 
world," Steinitz said.  Steinitz confirmed that the central bank and 
the Finance Ministry have coordinated the matter. 
 
Maariv reported that former U.S. President George H.W. Bush has been 
invited to Israel for the cornerstone-laying ceremony of an 
Ethiopian Jewry heritage center in Rehovot.  The event will 
apparently take place in a monthQs time.  The newspaper noted that 
Bush has been deeply involved with the issue of Ethiopian Jews. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited the results of a survey conducted by 
pollster Dick Morris from July 22 to 24 among 500 American Jews who 
voted for Barack Obama.  The poll was sponsored by the Traditional 
Values Coalition, an evangelical Christian group. 
-  Some 58% think President Obama is doing a good job promoting 
peace in the Middle East. 
- However, 55% said that the President is Qnaive in thinking that 
the Palestinians would make peaceQ and that Palestinians Qwill just 
use the new land as a base to attack Israel like they did in Gaza. 
-  40% said they believe Obama is doing a good job in his effort to 
stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. 
 
-------------------------- 
¶1.  U.S.-Israel Relations: 
-------------------------- 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Diplomats Who Promote Our Mind-Set" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (8/12): QWhen 
Avigdor Lieberman was appointed director general of the Prime 
Minister's Office, after Benjamin Netanyahu was elected prime 
minister in 1996, Lieberman fired the office's legal advisor, 
telling him: QWe're looking for people who share our mind-set.Q  The 
public dressing down that Lieberman and Netanyahu (via Qsources in 
his bureauQ) administered to Nadav Tamir, the Consul-General in 
Boston, after the publication of an internal memo in which Tamir 
warned of a crisis in Israel's relationship with the United States, 
show that neither time nor changing professional positions have done 
anything to shift their attitude.  Our prime and foreign ministers 
still prefer Qpeople who share our mind-setQ and reject the 
existence of a professional civil service whose assessments differ 
from the politicians' orders and official propaganda.... Israel's 
representatives abroad are obligated to warn of diplomatic dangers, 
just as IDF Intelligence and the Mossad are obligated to warn of 
impending war.  Do the prime and foreign ministers also insist that 
the intelligence agencies adjust their assessments to the 
government's political views?  There was in fact a hint of this in 
the Prime Minister's demand that the head of the Shin Bet security 
service not offer assessments on diplomatic issues.  But there is 
great danger in neutralizing the professionals and turning them into 
mouthpieces for the parties in power.  Netanyahu and Lieberman must 
allow the professionals to do their jobs. 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "With All Due Respect" 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot (8/12): QThe vast majority of Israelis do not have a 
clue about where [the E-1 area] is and why it is important.  Well, 
it is located between the heights of Mt. Scopus and MaQaleh Adumim. 
It would mainly split the Palestinian population, prevent the 
creation of a bridge between the sides, and -- as far as the 
Palestinians are concerned Q isolate Jerusalem.  The Israelis know 
this and so do the Palestinians.  The Palestinians and the Americans 
cannot imagine allowing Israel to link Jerusalem with MaQaleh Adumim 
and create a metropolis.... [For almost two decades], the Americans 
have been adamant about this.... [Knesset Speaker] Ruby Rivlin, 
[Interior Minister] Eli Yishai, and others are aware of the truth: 
There will be no construction in E-1.  I almost feel like telling 
then: QGo ahead, build; weQll see you playing heroes with the 
Americans. 
 
II.  "Palestinian Street within AbbasQs Grasp" 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote in HaQaretz 
(8/12): QA week after the Sixth Fatah Convention opened, its 
chairman Mahmoud Abbas could finally sit back, relax and smile.  The 
QRaisQ is beginning to shine through as the undisputed winner.  Not 
only did he manage to convene the conference, an achievement that 
eluded his legendary predecessor Yasser Arafat, but the huge event 
went through almost without incident.... Abbas was unanimously 
elected to chair the movement, and the new leadership can boast some 
more popular, slightly younger faces.  Even if the QyoungstersQ are 
already past 50, they represent a cohort believed to be less corrupt 
and of impeccable patriotic record.  Many were jailed in Israel 
(Jibril Rajoub, Marwan Barghouti, Mohammad Dahlan, Hussein 
al-Sheikh) or were Fatah members in Lebanon (Mahmoud al-Aloul, 
Muhammad al-Madani, Jamal Muheisen, and others).  And there was 
another winner at the conference: Fatah itself.  The organization 
showed the Palestinian street that democracy was more than just a 
slogan.  Last Wednesday, Hussam Hader, a Tanzim activist from the 
Balata refugee camp, stood up at the conference hall and told Abbas 
that at this conference he was just as good as any other Fatah 
member, and therefore must let his critics speak.  Such conduct 
would not have been tolerated in Arafat's time. 
 
III.  "ObamaQs Patronizing Approach to Peacemaking" 
 
Contributor Gil Troy, a professor of history at McGill University on 
leave in Jerusalem, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem 
Post (8/12): QUnfortunately, so far, while Obama has improved his 
standing in the Muslim world -- and the world generally -- he has 
humiliated Israel, emboldened the Palestinians and failed to 
deliver.  His antics have made Israel look like a third-rate client 
state, and have fed the misimpression that it is the worldQs bad 
boy, the source of all Middle Eastern headaches.... Obama has to 
figure out how to reassure Israelis that the violence that resulted 
from the Oslo concessions and the Gaza withdrawal will not be 
repeated.  The President has to look at the agreements both Clinton 
and Ehud Olmert negotiated in their respective final days but could 
not sell to the Palestinians.  And he has to find some levers to 
push the Palestinians to compromise.  As a memoirist and orator, 
Obama has shown he is a great story teller.  Right now, the Israeli 
narrative focuses on the unfortunate realities of Palestinian 
rejectionism.  Unless and until Obama can figure out how to change 
that plotline -- with facts on the ground -- his present tactics 
will continue to embarrass Israelis, delight Palestinians, and make 
America look impotent. 
 
MORENO