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DE RUEHTV #1846/01 2321033
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P 201033Z AUG 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001846 
 
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WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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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: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Hayom cited the belief of officials in Jerusalem that 
President Obama intends to introduce the general outline of his 
political plan for the Middle East before the meeting of the U.N. 
General Assembly in New York in another month.  According to the 
daily, reports from Washington seem to indicate that Obama will want 
to capitalize on that dignified platform to set in motion the 
regional process he has spoken about in his speeches.  Israel Hayom 
says that it is not clear where Obama hopes that progress will be 
made following the first stage of his plan (mutual Israeli and 
Palestinian moves). 
 
Channel 2-TV quoted Vice PM and former IDF chief of staff Moshe 
YaQalon as saying during a meeting of QJewish Leadership,Q the most 
right-wing Likud faction, that Peace Now and the QelitesQ are a 
Qvirus.Q  YaQalon also blasted the U.S.  He was quoted as saying: 
QI, for one, am not afraid of the Americans.  I believe that the 
Jews have the right to live anywhere in the land of Israel forever. 
 The media reported that his remarks sparked controversy among 
Israeli politicians.  The media reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu 
has summoned YaQalon for clarifications.  Former Vice PM Haim Ramon 
told Israel Radio that YaQalon is the true representative of 
NetanyahuQs political views. 
 
HaQaretz, The Jerusalem Radio, and HaQaretz reported that the U.S. 
has harshly criticized new Israeli restrictions placed on foreign 
nationals entering the West Bank via the Allenby Bridge, calling the 
new regulations Qunacceptable.Q  A report on the restrictions 
appeared in HaQaretz last week.   HaQaretz reported that earlier 
this week, a senior official at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv met 
with the head of the Foreign Ministry's consular division, Yigal 
Tzarfati, for clarifications on the new procedure, by which 
passports are stamped at the bridge with a directive limiting the 
bearer to areas of the Palestinian Authority only.  The U.S. message 
reportedly was that such a procedure is harmful to U.S. citizens who 
come to the PA.  HaQaretz reported that U.S. diplomats asked 
Tzarfati what the reason was for the restrictions.  Leading media 
cited a note issued by the State Department saying: "We have let the 
government of Israel know that these restrictions unfairly impact 
Palestinian and Arab American travelers and are not acceptable.  We 
have repeatedly told the government of Israel that the United States 
expects all American citizens to be treated equally, regardless of 
their national origin or other citizenship."  The media reported 
that State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly reiterated the message. 
HaQaretz recalled that on August 14 the U.S. State Department 
renewed its travel advisory to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, 
drawing the attention of American travelers to Israel and the West 
Bank to the new procedure at the Allenby Bridge.   HaQaretz reported 
that Interior Ministry officials at the borders also advise people 
concerned by the measure not to come to Israel through Ben-Gurion 
International Airport or the Sheikh Hussein Bridge crossing with 
Jordan near Beit She'an, rather only through the Allenby Bridge, 
frequently after they had been refused entry through the other entry 
points.  HaQaretz quoted senior Foreign Ministry officials as saying 
that the Interior Ministry is behind the new procedures, and that 
the Foreign Ministry does not support it and does not understand its 
logic.  "It is unclear what good it is and how it can be enforced," 
a Foreign Ministry official was quoted as saying.  "All it does is 
damage Israel's image in its foreign relations," the official added. 
 HaQaretz has learned that a number of European embassies are 
planning to approach the Foreign Ministry to protest and seek 
clarifications.  HaQaretz quoted Interior Ministry spokeswoman 
Sabine Haddad as saying that the procedure is based on a decision by 
the interior minister and the defense minister from 2006 that "any 
foreign national who wants to enter the Palestinian Authority must 
have a permit issued by the army, and entry is permitted only into 
PA territory." 
 
The leading Internet news site Ynet reported that yesterday around 
20 right-wing demonstrators, some of them dressed in traditional 
Native American garb, protested opposite the American Embassy in Tel 
Aviv against what they called U.S. interference in IsraelQs domestic 
affairs.  The protesters carried signs comparing between the fate of 
Native Americans and the demand made on Israel to freeze settlement 
construction in the West Bank. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas 
and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are guarded by Israel's Shin Bet 
on some of their trips around the West Bank.  According to an 
agreement between Israel and the PA, a team from Shin Bet's VIP 
security unit accompanies Abbas and Fayyad whenever they are in Area 
C, meaning that part of the West Bank that is under full Israeli 
control according to the Oslo Accords. 
 
The media reported that Swedish Ambassador to Israel Elisabet Borsin 
Bonnier apologized for the article in Aftonbladet that claimed that 
IDF soldiers snatched body organs from Palestinians.  The Jerusalem 
Post noted that Rafi Barak, the Foreign MinistryQs senior Deputy 
Director-General, told Bonnier that Israel is QbotheredQ that the 
Swedish government has not publicly condemned the article. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that more than 70 international human 
rights groups are calling for an end to voting practices in the U.N. 
Human Rights Council that have allowed countries responsible for 
human rights violations to be elected. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that, for the first time, IDF troops 
will actively participate in an NATO operation in the Mediterranean 
Sea as part of the Active Endeavor maritime counter-terror 
operation. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Magen Dan outpost settlers alleged 
that the IDFQs forced removal of a caravan from their hilltop 
yesterday breached an agreement reached with the Elkana council to 
allow for its voluntary removal.  A spokesman for the IDFQs 
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories was quoted 
as saying that the people in Magen Dan Qwere warned many times that 
if they did not abide by the agreement, the caravan would be 
forcibly removed.Q  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the key 
witness against the residents of the southern Hebron Hills Mitzpe 
Ashhal outpost is a Hamas activist who is banned from entry to 
Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the four Labor QrebelQ Knesset 
members -- Ophir Pines-Paz, Eitan Cabel, Yuli Tamir, and Amir Peretz 
-- will launch a new political movement next month, laying the 
groundwork for what could eventually become a new party that would 
aim to replace Labor. 
 
Maariv quoted John Stork, the author of the Human Rights Watch 
report on IDF abuses during Operation Cast Lead, as saying that he 
no longer supports the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes in Munich. 
Maariv says that the article by its Op-Page Editor Ben-Dror Yemini 
on this issue made waves in human rights groups around the world and 
especially in the U.S. 
Yediot reported that FM Avigdor Lieberman intends to Qconquer 
Africa (i.e. emulate the success of then FM Golda MeirQs policies in 
the Q50s and Q60s) in his upcoming trip to five countries on the 
continent. 
 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday prominent religious Zionist rabbis 
published a manifesto opposing the proposed appointment to the 
Supreme Court of Beersheva District Court Judge Joseph (Sefi) Elon. 
They primarily objected to two decisions he made at the time of 
Israel's 2005 disengagement from Gaza.  HaQaretz quoted the judgeQs 
brother, right-wing politician Benny Elon, as saying that calling 
Joseph a leftist is nonsense.  Media reported that yesterday flyers 
against Justice Minister Yaakov NeQeman were distributed at a 
right-wing meeting.  NeQeman, who supports the appointment of Joseph 
Elon, was called the poodle of High Court of Justice President Dorit 
Beinisch. 
 
Leading media reported that the composite state-of-the-economy index 
rose 1.2% in July, extending the recent upturn that had stemmed 
nearly a year of declines, according to figures released by the Bank 
of Israel yesterday.  The figures confirm recent numbers that point 
to an improvement in the Israeli economy. 
 
The electronic media reported that the popular entertainer Dudu 
Topaz, who was indicted for plotting attacks on top media 
personalities, killed himself in his prison cell. 
 
Erratum:  An item in the August 19 morning media review read: QThe 
Jerusalem Post quoted the Association for Civil Rights in Israel as 
saying that the state has demolished some 130 houses in unrecognized 
Israeli Bedouin communities since 1967.Q  The date should have been: 
Qsince the beginning of 2007. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "The Boogie ManQs Virulent Virus" 
 
Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid wrote on page 
one of the independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (8/20): QWe have been 
told recently that the Qsextet forum,Q of which [Vice Prime Minister 
Moshe QBoogieQ] Ya'alon is a senior member, is a serious group that 
embodies endless depths of good judgment and balance.  Spare us 
these fairy tales... Even the bad old Netanyahu, with his Qthe Left 
has forgotten what it is to be Jewish,Q seems pretty normal next to 
them.  QI'm not afraid of the Americans,Q Boogie said there, in the 
closed meeting with [far-Right Likud] Jewish Leadership activists 
who crowned him their leader.  As a half-brained leader he is not 
afraid of Obama.  But we are very much afraid of Boogie.  This fear, 
which we haven't been able to shake off since we browsed through his 
autobiography, soared yesterday, leaving us scared to death.  But 
most terrifying of all is the thought that until not long ago he was 
the chief of staff, our army's supreme commander.  Now we know in 
whose hands Israel's security is entrusted. 
 
II.  "A Peace Horizon" 
 
Senior commentator Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz (8/20): QThe obvious 
revolution is economic. Trade between the Palestinian Authority and 
Israel has climbed 42 percent over the past year.... The hidden 
revolution is security oriented.... The military's dramatic lowering 
of its profile and reduction of friction did not lead to renewed 
terror.  Things are currently quiet there, very quiet.  The quiet is 
maintained by unprecedented cooperation between the IDF and the five 
Palestinian security branches.... The third revolution is in public 
awareness.... Arafat's death and Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip 
have freed the West Bank from Arafatism.... If Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu is booby-trapped by the settlers and if U.S. 
President Barack Obama follows in the footsteps of his Palestinian 
counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, an explosion would ensue.... But if U.S. 
special envoy George Mitchell develops a creative peace plan for his 
president, it may be possible to avoid past mistakes.  This new plan 
must be based on Fayyad and his way.  It must bring the Palestinians 
closer to a state in a decisive but realistic way.  Instead of 
dealing with the conflict's unsolvable theology again, it must 
establish a practical dynamic of hope.  Obama's challenge this 
autumn is to give the West Bank revolution a peace horizon, without 
pushing it backward to a reality of war. 
 
III.  "The Palestinian Position Is Important" 
 
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and 
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in Ha'aretz 
(8/20): QUnder the terms of binding international agreements, Israel 
has committed itself to recognizing the Qlegitimate rights of the 
Palestinian Arab nation.Q  Menachem Begin was the first to do this. 
For many Zionists, and not just those who were schooled in the 
ideological camp of Herut [LikudQs core movement], this was 
difficult.  In contrast to what is thought in extreme rightist 
circles, this is not tantamount to relinquishing the Zionist 
narrative, it is a willingness to accept the legitimacy of a 
competing narrative and to seek a compromise.  We only ask of the 
Palestinians that which we ourselves have done in the past.... The 
Palestinians fought the Jewish state, and if they truly and 
sincerely wish to forge peace, they must be willing to come to terms 
with the Jewish state, and to do so explicitly, without 
stuttering. 
 
IV.  "ItQs Time to talk to Fatah" 
 
Former diplomat and former Labor Knesset member Colette Avital wrote 
in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (8/20): Q[FatahQs] 
congress also endorsed the 2002 Arab initiative.  Interestingly, but 
not known to everyone, the initiative does not call for a right of 
return of the refugees.  Here too, my humble advice to all the 
skeptics is to read the text as formulated.  It clearly states that 
there should be a Qprincipled and agreed-upon solutionQ for the 
refugee problem.  Finding the dark side of things provides good 
pretexts to those who refuse progress.  The time has come for the 
Netanyahu government to renew the dialogue with the Palestinian 
Authority, led by the only pragmatic Palestinian movement, Fatah.  A 
stronger Palestinian leadership, with a broader basis of popular 
support and a flexible platform, now opens better opportunities for 
serious negotiations. 
 
¶V.  QObamaQs Main Man in the Middle East? 
 
U.S.-Israel relations expert Professor Eytan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan 
University wrote in The Jerusalem Post (8/20): QSeventy one senators 
politely wrote Obama on August 10 that he needs to better balance 
his strategy: they disagreed with his one-sided pressure on Israel, 
they praised the Netanyahu government for taking positive steps 
towards peace, and told Obama to obtain similar concessions from the 
Arab states.  Obama has been praising Mubarak but the Egyptian 
president will have to work much harder to gain credibility and 
support both in Israel and with the American public.  Obama's 
intention to formulate and announce yet another American blueprint 
for Arab-Israeli peace would be better served if he listened to 
American public opinion and to what seventy one senators wrote him 
just a few weeks ago.  While Mubarak and the officials are 
reinforcing Obama's failing outlook, the senators, including the 
most influential from his own party, advised him to rethink and 
revise his approach. 
 
VI.  QBetween the President and the General 
 
Arab affairs correspondent Smadar Perry wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QGamal Mubarak, an 
economist and a banker by training, and who for more than ten years 
has been an unremitting rising star in Egypt's governing party, has 
remained evasive.  If pressured, he has hinted, he will have no 
choice but to run in the race, with the goal of winning, and to 
continue to serve his people.  On the other side of the race, 
people-and particularly so officials in Washington and in the 
American media-have begun to speak about the veteran Mr. Mukhabarat 
[intelligence], General Omar Suleiman, as the next president of 
Egypt.  In the past decade he has taken under his purview the 
direction of Egypt's political-security policy (Israel, Fatah-Hamas, 
the Shalit deal, relations with the international intelligence 
community, as well as other covert and sensitive missions), and he 
has an impressive record. Official Israel, one ought to note, have 
been taciturn.  In closed conversations it is easy to see the 
preference of the entire intelligence community in the direction of 
the general.  The long-standing relationship, the close ties, and 
the cooperation that is achieved far from the public's eye, are all 
accredited to him.  Conversely, experts from the civilian 
institutions have recommended watching the ongoing preparatory 
process that Gamal has been undergoing.  Despite the fact that this 
is a troubling question, there isn't a clear answer.  When the 
subject at hand is the largest Arab state, out closest neighbor with 
which we signed our first peace accord, with a long list of shared 
enemies and interests-even if it is interesting and important, 
Israel cannot afford to take sides.  Nor can Israel afford to be 
taken by surprise. 
 
MORENO