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P 180944Z AUG 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001832 
 
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 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The leading Internet news service Ynet reported that, Qin a subtle 
overture to the U.S.,Q PM Benjamin Netanyahu, DM Ehud Barak and 
Housing Minister Ariel Atias agreed upon a de facto moratorium on 
new building in the settlements.  According to the estimates of 
officials involved, the freeze will be in effect until the beginning 
of 2010. The objective is to provide an opportunity for a Mideast 
peace process to gain momentum in hopes that the new "waiting" 
tactic will allow international recognition of Israel's sovereignty 
in Jerusalem and the large settlement blocs. 
 
All media reported that yesterday four cabinet ministers pressed PM 
Benjamin Netanyahu to stand firm against U.S. pressure to freeze 
settlement activity, and urged him to continue to build in the West 
Bank.  Vice PM Moshe Ya'alon and Public Diplomacy and Diaspora 
Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, both from the Likud, even went as 
far as to advise Netanyahu to ignore Israel's previous commitment to 
the U.S. to remove 26 unauthorized outposts and said that some of 
those, as well as many of the other 79 could and should be 
legalized.  Their statements put them at odds with the Prime 
Minister's Office and the Defense Ministry, which said that when it 
came to the outposts, the law would be enforced.  The other cabinet 
ministers who toured West bank outposts and the evacuated settlement 
of Homesh were Interior Minister and Shas Chairman Eli Yishai and 
Habayit Hayehudi (The Jewish Home) party leader Daniel 
Herschkowitz. 
 
The media (lead story in HaQaretz) cited an interview granted by 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over the weekend to PBS.  Mubarak 
was quoted as saying that Egypt, aided by German intelligence, is 
working hard to secure the release of Gilad Shalit -- whom Mubarak 
dubbed Qour prisonerQ -- but that Israel has added Qterms and 
conditionsQ that are impeding progress.  The Jerusalem Post reported 
that, at a meeting with American Jewish leaders in Washington, 
Mubarak pointed to the issue of the repatriation of Palestinian 
security prisoners as a key sticking point, as whether they would be 
E 
returned to the West Bank, Gaza, or sent abroad has yet to be 
resolved.  HaQaretz quoted participants in that meeting as saying 
that Mubarak was Qsurprisingly positiveQ about the leadership of 
Netanyahu, DM Ehud Barak, and President Shimon Peres.  Mubarak 
reportedly said that the current Israeli leadership was committed to 
moving the peace process forward with the Palestinians.  Israel 
Hayom and other media expect Mubarak to clarify to President Obama 
that the normalization process between the Arab states will be 
possible only after the signing of a peace treaty. 
 
Israel Radio cited the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi that President 
Obama and Mubarak will today discuss a new initiative put forward by 
former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Secretary of State James 
Baker, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, which 
reportedly provides for a possible renunciation by Palestinians of 
the right of return in exchange for full compensation.  Israel Radio 
quoted the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram as saying that Jimmy Carter 
suggested that President Obama name him mediator between Israel and 
the Palestinians. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Monday, at the weekly PA cabinet 
meeting, PA President Mahmoud Abbas Qappeared to adopt a softer line 
than his Fatah factionQ when he said that Qnegotiations were the 
only way to achieve peace.Q  He added: QWe want peace based on 
international justice and legitimacy through negotiations. 
 
The media quoted former Arkansas governor and presidential hopeful 
Mike Huckabee as saying during a visit to Israel yesterday that the 
U.S. has taken too harsh a stance against Israel on the issue of 
settlements, hindering peace negotiations.  The media quoted him as 
saying: QIt concerns me that some in the U.S. tell Israelis they 
can't live where they want in their own country."  The Jerusalem 
Post reported that Eytan Gilboa, an expert on Israeli-American 
relations at Bar-Ilan University, told the newspaper yesterday: 
QHuckabee has the ability to show Obama that he doesnQt have 
bipartisan support for his policies toward Israel, and that if he 
wants to depart from tradition, heQs going to be opposed. 
 
Maariv cited the Foreign MinistryQs condemnation of a recent visit 
to Saudi Arabia of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) delegation.  Aviv 
Shiron, the MinistryQs Deputy Director-General, was quoted as saying 
that HRW is an Qorganization that receives contributions from a 
country that infringes human rights itselfQ and is hostile to Israel 
  On Sunday Maariv (Ben-Dror Yemini) revealed that John Stork, the 
author of the HRW report on IDF abuses during Operation Cast Lead, 
had publicly exported his support for the 1972 massacre of Israeli 
athletes in Munich and that he had befriended Saddam Hussein. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Izhak Melzer, the lawyer of Ouda 
Suleiman Tarabin, an Israeli Bedouin who has been imprisoned in 
Egypt nearly a decade in an alleged espionage case that has been 
shrouded in secrecy, has recently faxed a plea to President Barack 
Obama, asking him to intervene in the matter ahead of the 
PresidentQs meeting with President Mubarak.  The newspaper reported 
that Likud Knesset Member Ayoub Kara is also active in the case. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported on the joint U.S.-Israel-Turkey naval 
maneuvers in the Mediterranean. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the swift delivery by Israel of 
vital drinking water systems to Taiwan, in the wake of Typhoon 
Morakot, has drawn praise from Taiwanese and local media. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
 
-------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "While Obama Tarries" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (8/18): QThe 
battle with the U.S. administration over continued building in the 
settlements, and the failure to immediately dismantle illegal 
outposts, have become the focus of Israeli policy on the peace 
process.  This policy is misleading because it creates the false 
impression that a compromise on this issue would be enough to 
forestall further American pressure for progress in the 
negotiations.  This view has succeeded in gaining a foothold in part 
because the U.S. administration has tarried in drafting its own 
comprehensive diplomatic initiative, which would make clear to both 
Israelis and Palestinians where it is headed and how it plans to 
achieve its goals.... Barack Obama has an opportunity to clarify his 
intentions in his meeting today with the president of Egypt.  Hosni 
Mubarak, like the Palestinians and leaders of the other Arab states, 
is expecting to hear from the U.S. President about an action plan to 
extricate the region from the diplomatic deep freeze that 
characterized his predecessor's time in office.  These are the vital 
partners without whom the Arab peace initiative -- which Obama sees 
as a solid basis for advancing the process -- cannot get off the 
ground.  Without an orderly plan, plus American involvement to 
guarantee its implementation, the Arabs' willingness to harness 
themselves to the peace process will lapse. And the settlements will 
continue to expand. 
 
II.  "Better Not to Help Mubarak" 
 
Veteran journalist and television anchor Dan Margalit wrote in the 
independent Israel Hayom (8/18): QFrom the outset there wasn't any 
real balance between the Americans' demand to stop construction in 
the settlements and the demand that the Arab states extend a few 
good-will gestures to Israel on the eve of renewed negotiations with 
the Palestinians.  To have a medical clinic in [the settlement of] 
Beit El is a need, whereas having a route open to El Al planes over 
Saudi Arabia is a convenience.  But the U.S. is so important a 
player in the arena that Attorney Yitzhak Molcho is off to 
Washington once again for talks in an attempt to smooth matters over 
and to prevent a rift from forming in the relations between Barack 
Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu.  Obama's assessment was that the Arab 
gestures were a minor thing.  He bowed before the King of Saudi 
Arabia -- and returned without a gesture; now he is hosting Mubarak. 
 Once again, no gesture.  After there is peace, said the Egyptian 
President, there will be normalization.  Where are the gestures in 
the wake of the Israeli-Egyptian peace from 1979?  Nothing.  No such 
gestures were made.  Mubarak is dissembling.  But worse than that: 
even if he means what he says, his promises are not going to come 
true in the foreseeable future.  Either because the regime in Egypt 
(as well as in Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian Authority) 
will refuse or they will hide behind the hackneyed slogan of 'we 
can't because the extremists are threatening us.'  Mubarak's blunt 
statement in America might now shake up and motivate Israel's 
friends in the White House and on Capitol Hill, but almost as a 
rule, some unexpected incident pushes its way in and blocks the 
achievement from being made.... [Unfortunately, a statement made 
yesterday by Vice Prime Minister Moshe YaQalon] balances out the bad 
impression that Mubarak left on his American hosts. It plays into 
the hands of the radical Left in Israel. 
 
III.  "Again ThereQs No Partner" 
 
Business correspondent Nehemia Shtrasler wrote in HaQaretz (8/18): 
QThe Gaza withdrawal was the right decision.  It relieved us of a 
huge burden and could have been a significant step leading to a 
permanent peace agreement.  But the withdrawal was wasted because we 
carried it out negligently and poorly.  But maybe all this was 
planned in advance, because when al-Qaida people from Pakistan and 
Afghanistan take over Gaza, we will be able to say with full 
confidence that there is no one to talk to.  Then we can live by the 
sword until the end of days, because, in the words attributed to 
early Zionist leader Yosef Trumpeldor, Qit's good to die for our 
country. 
 
IV.  "Demilitarization Is Not Feasible" 
 
Gabriel Siboni, Director of the IDF Force Structure program at the 
Institute for National Security Studies, wrote in HaQaretz (8/18): 
QSpeaking at the conclusion of a course for senior officers at the 
National Defense College last month, the Prime Minister spoke of the 
importance of demilitarizing a future Palestinian state and stated 
that no one was interested in having a repeat there of what happened 
in Gaza and southern Lebanon.  He also stressed the need for 
international recognition of demilitarization.... But the threat 
against Israel has changed and what is required now is the 
crystallization of an up-to-date strategic concept according to 
which Israel can fix its future security mechanisms.... The coming 
months will be a test period for the Israeli government. The attempt 
to base an arrangement with the Palestinians on an archaic security 
discourse will merely intensify the danger rather than lessen it.... 
Israel is facing international pressure to reach an agreement 
quickly for the establishment of a Palestinian state.  The 
conditions the prime minister has posed for its establishment cannot 
prevent Iran and Hamas from trying to turn the QdemilitarizedQ West 
Bank into a missile base.  American defense will also turn out to be 
pointless, and past experience in Gaza and Lebanon has proven this. 
The desire to alleviate international pressure in the short run 
could cost us dearly.  It is difficult to see how it would be 
possible to achieve a sustainable agreement so long as Iran and 
Hamas are busy undermining it. 
¶V.  QDrawing Borders Is the First Step 
 
Gershon Baskin, Co-Director of the Israel/Palestine Center for 
Research and Information (www.ipcri.org), wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (8/18): QThe rumors floating around 
suggest that Obama's plan will aim to focus first on setting borders 
between the State of Israel and the future State of Palestine, now 
that Netanyahu has accepted the two-state solution.  Focusing on 
borders makes good sense, because once borders are agreed upon, 
Israel can continue its settlement activities in those areas that 
will be annexed to Israel and begin to construct new housing for the 
settlers that will have to leave their homes in areas that will 
become part of the State of Palestine.... Palestinians will never 
accept the possibility that Israel will control their external 
borders. Every offer made the Palestinians so far, including the 
latest Olmert Qtake-it-or-leave-itQ offer to Mahmoud Abbas fell on 
the Israeli demand to control access of Palestinians to the outside 
world.  No Palestinian leader will ever accept a Palestinian state 
which is a sovereign cage.  This too should be easy for Israel to 
understand because Israel would never accept having its outside 
borders controlled by someone else.  In fact, there is perhaps no 
better definition of sovereignty than this. 
 
VI.  QNo Second Thoughts 
 
Jonathan S. Tobin, executive director of Commentary magazine, wrote 
in The Jerusalem Post (8/18): QFriends of Israel, especially those 
Jewish Democrats who have been doing their best to ignore the White 
House's increasingly belligerent tone toward the Jewish state, would 
do well to note what happened with [Presidential Medal of Freedom 
recipient and former President of Ireland Mary] Robinson.  Obama 
honored a virulent enemy of Israel, someone who bore a great deal of 
responsibility for Durban, one of the most disgraceful episodes in 
the history of an institution -- the U.N. -- that is no stranger to 
disgrace.  And he has gotten away with it with hardly a scratch on 
his reputation.... What Obama and his advisers may take away from 
this incident is how easily they were able to dismiss a nearly 
universal Jewish dismay.... As Robert Malley, the former Clinton 
administration staffer who is a prominent critic of Israel, wrote in 
The New York Times last week, for either [Fatah of Hamas] Qto accept 
Israel as a Jewish state would legitimize the Zionist enterprise 
that brought about their tragedy.  It would render the Palestinian 
national struggle at best meaningless, at worst criminal.Q  Thus, 
the only possible purpose of the Obama initiative will be to attempt 
again to bludgeon Israel into making concessions to Palestinians 
that are uninterested in peace.... Far from serving as a warning to 
the White House to tread carefully in the future when it comes to 
Israel or the Jews, Mary Robinson's medal may turn out instead to be 
a trial run for far worse outrages yet to come from this 
president. 
 
MORENO