VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2021/01 2580610
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 150610Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3425
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 5960
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 2534
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 6550
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 6769
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 6017
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 4641
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 6863
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3637
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1852
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 0524
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 8037
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 3047
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 7029
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 9084
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH PRIORITY 1853
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 2775
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002021 
 
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: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Visit of U.S. Special Envoy Sen. George Mitchell to Israel, PA 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli diplomatic officials as saying 
yesterday that it was unlikely that todayQs meeting between PM 
Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace 
George Mitchell would lea to any declaration of a U.S.-Israel 
agreement o the settlement issue, but rather to a further 
"arrowing of the gaps" that might enable the resumpton of 
diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinins.  The officials 
stressed, however, that whethr or not Netanyahu, PA President 
Mahmoud Abbas, nd President Obama met on the sidelines of next 
eek's U.N. General Assembly was not up to Israel, since Jerusalem 
had already said it was willing to start talks immediately.  Rather, 
the officials said, the PA would have to decide whether it would 
come to the negotiating table even though Israel would not agree to 
a total settlement freeze.   The Jerusalem Post reported that 
yesterday the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying "a 
meeting has not yet been set to launch the diplomatic process." 
The bureau said that it was prepared for all eventualities, 
including the possibility of traveling to New York earlier, in the 
event that a meeting with Abbas was set.   The Jerusalem Post quoted 
an Israeli diplomatic official as saying that the search was still 
on for a framework that would enable the resumption of talks.  The 
official made clear that complete agreement on all issues was 
neither expected nor necessary, and said that what was needed for 
the meeting to take place was "enough common ground."  Mitchell, 
following his talks with Netanyahu, is scheduled to meet directly 
with Abbas and continue trying to forge that common ground.  Abbas 
has until now been adamant that he will not reenter negotiations 
until there was a total settlement freeze. 
 
The media reported that Netanyahu told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs 
and Defense Committee yesterday that there would be no absolute 
freeze, since the building already underway in the settlements -- 
some 2,500 housing units -- would continue, and that Israel would 
keep on building public structures such as schools, health clinics, 
kindergartens, and synagogues to enable normal life in the 
 
settlements to continue. 
 
HaQaretz reported that President Shimon Peres and lead Palestinian 
negotiator Saeb Erekat held a secret meeting last week in Jerusalem 
in an effort to ease the way toward a three way 
Netanyahu-Abbas-Obama meeting at the U.N. General Assembly on 
September 23.  Peres reportedly told Erekat to stop the PAQs boycot 
of talks with PM Netanyahu.  HaQaretz said that Erekat is AbbasQs 
point man with Israel and the U.S., following Ahmed QureiQs removal 
from the position of chief negotiator several months ago, due to 
Fatah infighting.. 
 
Yediot reported that on October 1, U.S representatives, headed by 
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, will 
hold a QhistoricQ meeting with official representatives of Iran. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the talks will involve the five 
permanent members of the Security Council, Germany, and Iran. 
Yediot also reported that yesterday the IAEA named Japanese diplomat 
Yukia Amano as its Director-General. 
The Jerusalem Post quoted senior defense officials as saying 
yesterday that increased intelligence-sharing among Israel, the 
U.S., and European countries has succeeded in exposing cargo ships 
carrying weaponry from Southeast Asia to Hamas in Gaza since the 
IDFQs Operation Cast Lead earlier this year. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday a Justice Ministry 
official told the KnessetQs Law Committee that Palestinians have 
filed 500 lawsuits against the state for physical injuries or 
property damage allegedly caused by IDF soldiers since the beginning 
of the second Intifada, and that many more such suits are expected. 
 
The media continued to highlight the death of Capt. Assaf Ramon and 
his burial next to his father, first Israeli astronaut Col. Ilan 
Ramon.  HaQaretz quoted IsraelQs Ambassador the U.S. Michael Oren as 
saying yesterday: "The heroism and tragedies of the Ramon family are 
reminiscent of those of the Kennedys. The Ramon family, like the 
Kennedys, demonstrated commitment to their state from birth, but all 
too often, this ends in tragedy."  The Israeli Embassy in the U.S. 
is mourning the Ramon's family loss, said Oren.  Media reported that 
the State Department also extended its condolences to Israel and to 
the family.  "The Ramon family will always have a special connection 
to the United States, because of what we endured together during the 
Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy," said a State Department 
spokesperson.  Media quoted a State Department spokesperson as 
saying: QWe offer our deepest sympathies to Rona Ramon, the Ramon 
family, and the people of Israel on the loss of their son, brother, 
and compatriot, Assaf.  So as the Israeli people mourn this terrible 
loss today, we in the United States mourn with them, and hope that 
the memory of Assaf's dedicated and honorable service to his country 
tempers their grief."  NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston also 
expressed its condolences, adding: "We will always consider Ilan, 
Rona, Assaf, Tal, Yiftach, and Noa to be a part of our office and 
the NASA family."   HaQaretz and Maariv quoted Steve Lindsey, chief 
of the Astronaut Office, as saying: "Many of us knew Assaf well.  He 
was a wonderful, mature young man who really stepped in to take care 
of his family after the Columbia tragedy.  He went on to follow in 
his father's footsteps and selflessly served his nation.  It was our 
privilege to know him and we will miss him."  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted a U.S. Embassy spokesman as saying that Special Envoy George 
Mitchell wanted to attend the funeral to express solidarity with the 
family and with Israel. 
 
Leading media reported that, in a newly released audiotape, al-Qaida 
leader Usama bin Ladin warned the American people over their 
government's close ties to Israel.  Media quoted a militant group 
claiming links to al-Qaida as saying yesterday that it was behind 
the rockets fired into northern Israel last week.  All media 
reported that yesterday commando troops in Somalia -- reportedly 
Americans -- killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan believed to be 
involved in the 2002 bombing in Mombasa that claimed the lives of 15 
people, including three Israelis, and in the attempted downing of an 
Israeli airliner on the same day. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Qanti-Semitic blogosphere and 
many Arab and Muslim media outlets are aflutterQ in recent days over 
accusations of an international Jewish conspiracy to kidnap Algerian 
children and harvest their organs.  According to the story, first 
reported by Algeria's Al-Khabar daily, bands of Moroccans and 
Algerians have allegedly been roaming the streets of Algeria's 
cities kidnapping young children, who are then transported across 
the border into Morocco.  From the Moroccan city of Oujda, the 
children are then purportedly sold to Israelis and American Jews, 
who then harvest their organs for sale in Israel and the U.S.  The 
organs are said to fetch anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000.  The 
source for the Al-Khabar report seems to be a Dr. Mustafa Khayatti, 
head of the Algerian National Committee for the Development of 
Health Research.  Khayatti reportedly claimed that several Jews were 
arrested in New York in connection with the trade.  He claimed 
Interpol knew of the situation and was leading the investigation 
into the abductions.   "The arrest of Jewish organ trafficking gangs 
does not mean that the danger has gone; top officials and 
specialists in this issue assert that there are other Jewish gangs 
who remain active in several Arab countries," Khayatti was quoted as 
saying.  Picking up on the Algerian report, the official Iranian 
news agency PressTV claimed that the Jewish group "is said to be 
connected to Israeli Rabbi Levi Rosenbaum, who was recently arrested 
in New Jersey for the direct involvement in importing human organs." 
  The report also ran without scrutiny on certain American news 
outlets, including the Web site of the California-based American 
Arab weekly Watan. 
 
Maariv reported that yesterday the International Monetary Fund 
published a report stating that the Palestinian economy is 
blooming. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that FM Avigdor Lieberman will leave on 
Monday on a four-day trip to Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro, 
countries never before visited by an Israeli foreign minister. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Maya Wind and Netta Mishly, two 
Israeli women who are refusing mandatory army duty, have kicked off 
a North American tour and plan to take their story to more than a 
dozen campuses in the next month.  The daily cited the worry of 
campus advocates that this will only fuel anti-Israel sentiment. 
 
The media reported that last night QHachsharat Hayishuv,Q the 
earliest Zionist economic enterprise (now owned by the Nimrodi 
family), celebrated its centennial. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Israel has dropped from 75th to 78th place in 
the index of economic freedom for 2009, published by the Free the 
World organization.  The newspapers highlighted poverty in Israeli 
society ahead of the Jewish High Holidays. 
 
Visit of U.S. Special Envoy Sen. George Mitchell to Israel, PA 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.   QTrying to Outsmart Obama 
 
Former Ambassador to the U.S., former Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and former Minister of Defense Moshe Arens wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (9/15): QObama has decided to take his 
position on Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West 
Bank] public, and though many things will surely happen during the 
next nine months, he is not likely to retract his position during 
that period.  In other words, even if Washington were to accept 
Netanyahu's compromise position, the confrontation will not have 
been avoided.  That being the case, Netanyahu must consider whether 
it is not wiser to face Washington on a matter of principle -- the 
right of Jews to live and settle in the Land of Israel [Israel, 
including the territories] -- rather than engage in a war of 
attrition over a compromise formula.  Anybody with experience 
representing Israel in the U.S. will tell him that there, you are 
better off fighting for a principle than trying to justify a 
compromise deal.... We know that we can ride out the disagreements. 
Israel's alliance with the U.S. is based not only on common ideals 
and values, but also on mutual interests, and even recognition of 
mutual benefits, despite the vast asymmetry in size between the two 
countries.  When it comes to our most basic rights -- the right of 
Jews to live in the Land of Israel -- the U.S. will defer to Israel. 
 That is, if we stand up for our rights. 
 
II.  QA Reduction, Not a Freeze 
 
The ultra-Orthodox HamodiQa editorialized (9/15): QIt is definitely 
not simple to say QnoQ to an American president who plans to 
establish a diplomatic agreement in the Middle East.  Despite the 
fact that his intentions are welcome, his actions are annoying. He 
believes that [his demand that Israel freeze construction in 
settlements] will benefit this country.  The measly compensation in 
the form of the construction of several hundred apartments is a poor 
joke, which Abu Mazen and the U.S. President have brushed off with a 
jeering smile. 
 
III.  QOn Secrets, Lies, and Panic 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in Ha'aretz 
(6/15): QWinston Churchill once said that during wartime the truth 
is so precious it is necessary to guard it with a wall of lies.  But 
no one has ever said that a person who is supposed to be working 
toward peace has to surround the truth in a wall of lies.  If 
Netanyahu's trip was so secret, why did they reveal that he had 
traveled at all?  And to whom did they reveal that he had traveled 
to Russia?  If this is such an important secret, why has there been 
such anguish at the Prime Minister's Office, instead of leaving the 
secret for the history books?.... A person [Netanyahu] who panics at 
the age of 50 is still a person who panics at the age of 60 -- even 
when it is about peace. 
 
IV.  QThe Price of Survival 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (9/15): 
QAssaf Ramon, following in the footsteps of his father but 
remarkable in his own right, represented a tradition of service and 
commitment that is vital to our very survival.  Israel has told the 
world: The Jews will not turn to others for their defense, and the 
Jews are not defenseless.  We have made that statement knowing there 
is no alternative and knowing the price, which can come in battle as 
in a training accident.... [His mother] Rona Ramon's pain is 
personal and indescribable, but it is also shared in part with all 
Israelis; her sacrifice was for all of us. 
 
CUNNINGHAM