VZCZCXRO8701
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1602/01 2470959
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 040959Z SEP 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5972
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAS-ZD/DACS-ZK//
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7846
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4818
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4666
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6159
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4585
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3164

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001602 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS BBG 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC 
CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD 
 
JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD 
LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
 
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (09/04): Negotiations Require a 
Commitment to Action 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
Al-Quds, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, and Al-Ayyam all report that Netanyahu 
has agreed on a partial halting of settlement activities for nine 
months -- excluding East Jerusalem.  Al Quds newspaper reports that 
Washington permitted construction work to continue in 2500 
settlement units.  Additionally, reports state that the halting of 
settlement activities was made in exchange for Arab promises to 
resume work in Israeli interest offices in the Gulf and North 
Africa. In related news, Al-Ayyam also leads with a story that 
states an agreement between the U.S. and Israel "is close." 
However, Israel's suggestion for a State with temporary borders was 
denied. All three dailies highlighted the press conference between 
President Mahmoud Abbas and French Foreign Minister Bernard 
Kouchner, where both parties claim to be ready to resume 
negotiations for final status issues, if Israel halts its settlement 
activities. 
 
Al Hayat Al Jadida and Al Ayyam report that the group Salafi Jund 
Ansar Allah wal Sunnah (The Salafist Movement of Loyal Soldiers of 
Allah and Sunnah) is claiming responsibility for the recent bombings 
that have targeted Hamas centers. According to the report, the three 
bombings targeted Ansar Mall and an area near the home of President 
Mahmoud Abbas' in Gaza (100 meters away from the mall).  The third 
bombing was in an undisclosed location. 
 
Al Hayat Al Jadida reports on its front page an interview with 
Arab-Americans condemning the Israel government's discrimination 
against Arab-Americans in Israel.  According to the report, this 
group of Arab-Americans requested to meet Secretary Clinton in order 
to condemn what they consider racism, and the long-standing 
discrimination against Arab-Americans in Israel and the Palestinian 
Territories. 
 
Al Quds and Al Hayat Al Jadida report on the opening ceremony of 
water wells in the South of the West Bank, Bethlehem and Hebron, 
claiming that the wells in the South of the West Bank now operate 
with a capacity of 41 thousand cubic meter daily. The stories also 
claim that these recent openings put an end to the issue of the 
stalled wells.  Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was quoted as saying 
that these projects are essential to end "the occupation."  Fayyad 
is also quoted inviting the people to gather around the PA and its 
leaders and to protect the PLO. ------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------- 
 
Al-Ayyam independent, Rajab Abu Siryeh, "September Exposes the Faith 
of Solutions!" (09/04):  "The days of the 23rd of September and the 
25th of September will decide the destiny of both the negotiation 
process between the PA and the Israeli government, and the internal 
reconciliation folder. However, the PA is going forward in 
installing itself on the ground, as an independent state project... 
When the final status issue negotiations failed to deliver a 
solution that announced a Palestinian State, they talked about 
enforcing the state's sovereignty and announced it from one side. 
But what happened after that from US President Bill Clinton's 
interference extended the deadline until the end of his term in 
n 
2000... resulting in the intractability in Camp David, and in the 
conflict between both sides (the second Intifada)." 
 
JERUSALEM 00001602  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
Mohammad Yaghi, Al-Ayyam independent, "Fateh and Hamas in a Waiting 
State" (09/04): "Obama might have better intentions than Clinton 
towards the region, but Clinton acquired unusual diplomatic skill 
and a big political ambition...  He could not get from Netanyahu 
more than the Wye River agreement, which was not executed anyway. 
Negotiations will create for Ramallah a state of movement that will 
fill the political vacuum that exists. But Ramallah knows too that a 
negotiation in the presence of Netanyahu on the top of the 
leadership pyramid in Israel is not more than a word that is a 
synonym to wait." 
 
 
MARCHESE