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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002089 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu, PA President Mahmoud 
Abbas, and President Barack Obama will meet this week, despite U.S. 
Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell's failure to put 
together a package that would enable the launching of full-blown 
negotiations between the sides.  (YediotQs banner sums up the 
situation: QThere Is a Summit, But No Expectations.Q)  In a surprise 
announcement, the White House said on Saturday night that the three 
would meet on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly 
meeting in New York.  The meeting - the first time Netanyahu will 
meet with Abbas since becoming prime minister in March - will take 
place immediately after Obama holds separate sessions earlier with 
Netanyahu and Abbas.  The meeting will take place even though 
Netanyahu did not announce a total settlement freeze, a condition 
the Palestinians had set for the talks.  The Jerusalem Post said 
that the summit will take place at a particularly important time for 
Obama, who is keen -- according to observers in Jerusalem -- to go 
to the U.N. General Assembly and the G-20 meeting of the heads of 
the world's leading economies with an achievement, rather than a 
stalemate, in the Middle East diplomatic process.  According to 
those assessments, once Obama invited the parties to talks, neither 
could refuse.  The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli officials as saying 
that Jerusalem was not surprised by the invitation.  HaQaretz quoted 
a senior source at the PMQs bureau as saying yesterday that the 
Palestinians were the ones who "folded" after they refused a meeting 
with Netanyahu.  "They made militant statements but in the end they 
will come," the source was quoted as saying.  However, HaQaretz 
reported that sources at the PM's bureau acknowledged that the 
meeting is expected to only be a photo opportunity and will not lead 
to a resumption of the peace process. 
 
The media quoted Netanyahu associates as saying that the PM will 
deliver a QdramaticQ speech to the U.N. General Assembly on 
Thursday.  Maariv assumes that his address will focus on the Iranian 
nuclear threat, the Goldstone report, and the peace process. 
 
Leading media reported that the IDF and the U.S. militaryQs European 
Command are about to hold a joint missile defense exercise -- the 
biennial Juniper Cobra. 
 
Leading media reported that the U.S. is increasingly viewing the 
Goldstone report on Operation Cast Lead as one-sided.  Statements by 
State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly and the U.S. Ambassador to the 
U.N., Susan Rice, are cited. 
 
The media quoted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as saying in an 
interview with CNN that was released yesterday that President Shimon 
Peres told him in Sochi in August that Israel would not launch an 
attack on Iran.  Medvedev described such an attack as "the worst 
thing that can be imagined."  Leading media reported that Zbigniew 
Brzezinski, who was National Security Advisor to President Jimmy 
Carter, has advised President Obama to order Israeli planes to be 
shot down if they are found to be flying over Iraqi airspace on 
their way to attack targets in Iran. 
 
The media reported that over the weekend two rockets were fired at 
Israel from Gaza and that yesterday IDF troops killed two 
Palestinians who allegedly tried to place a charge along the 
border. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that leading Democratic and Republican 
congressmen expressed outrage following a report in MondayQs 
Jerusalem Post that Saudi Arabia has been violating its promise to 
Washington to stop enforcing the Arab League boycott of Israel. 
 
Media cited the Swedish Government as saying that the newspaper 
Aftenposten did not violate the law when it published a report on 
organ-harvesting by the IDF. 
 
Maariv printed the results of a survey conducted among the Kurdish 
population of northern Iraq by a polling institute in Irbil: 
- Are there historical relations between the Kurdish leadership and 
Israel?  Yes: 87.5%; no: 2.6%; undecided: 9.9%. 
- Do relations with Israel have a role in accelerating the 
establishment of a Kurdish state?  Yes: 66.9%; no: 11.8%; undecided: 
21.3%. 
- Is it preferable for relations between Kurds and Israel to remain 
secret?  No: 60.4%; yes: 21.3%; undecided: 18.3%. 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  "Why?  Obama" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (9/21): QThis is not a meeting, not even 
half a meeting.  The event that will be held tomorrow in New York is 
a joke at the expense of an American president, who dabbled in 
Middle East politics and suffered the consequences.... The Americans 
discovered that they wanted an Israeli-Palestinian agreement more 
than the leaders of the two sides wanted it.  This is the tragedy of 
the two peoples: Both Netanyahu and Abu Mazen prefer to live at the 
moment with the current situation, rather than risk making decisions 
that will exact a heavy political toll from both of them.  Neither 
of them is Ben-Gurion, Begin or Rabin.  They are leaders who think 
 
small.  When a U.S. president encounters such a brick wall, he has 
two options: Either distance himself from the sick bed (this is what 
Bush did throughout most of his term); or try to impose his opinion 
(this is what Carter did, and what Clinton tried to do).  Obama did 
not choose the first option or the second option.  He could have let 
Netanyahu and the Arab leaders, including Abu Mazen, sweat.  They 
are all dependent on the United States, its money, its defense aid, 
its action against Iran.  But instead of letting them sweat, the one 
who perspired was Mitchell.  He also didnQt try to impose his 
opinion.  He read the polls, which showed a drastic drop in the 
confidence he enjoyed in Israeli public opinion and in Jewish public 
opinion in the U.S.  He could have appealed to public opinion in 
Israel over NetanyahuQs head.  Repeated discussions were held on 
this in the White House, but no decision was made.  The Israelis, 
who for 16 years were pampered by affectionate presidents in the 
White House, did not receive from Obama the love to which they had 
become addicted.  True, he sent a greeting for the Jewish New Year. 
But he sent a similar greeting to the Iranians.  He is cool.  There 
is great charm in his cool, his self-control, and his easygoing 
manner.  But the U.S. President is not Brad Pitt or George Clooney. 
He is supposed to bring results. 
 
II.  "The Abu Mazen Riddle" 
 
Veteran journalist and television anchor Dan Margalit wrote in the 
independent Israel Hayom (9/21): QIt is true that the 
Netanyahu-Mitchell talks did not lead to a full understanding, but 
the differences of opinion that remained were mere trivialities. 
Everything was ready to be finalized, except for Abu Mazen.  The man 
who has adopted the habit of thwarting at the last moment any final 
agreement -- remained true to form.  He heard about the 
understandings that were close to an agreement on the 
Netanyahu-Mitchell axis, and instead of a substantive answer left 
for a round of talks in Jordan and Egypt, and after making 
aggressive statements, surprisingly consented to a three-way summit 
without any construction freeze.... If the high-echelon meeting in 
New York leads to a continuation -- then the political negotiations 
have extricated themselves from the unnecessary condition of a 
construction freeze, as a factor delaying the very discussions on 
the content of the final status arrangement; and if after tomorrowQs 
conversation, the negotiations continue to tread water where they 
have stopped since Obama and Netanyahu came to power in their 
respective countries -- then an important gesture has been made for 
nothing.  Is Abu Mazen interested in real negotiations?  It is not 
only his conduct at Camp David in 2000 and on the Jerusalem-Ramallah 
axis in 2008 that raises questions and surprise, but the question 
also arises whether he believes that without the authority to 
represent Gaza as well, he actually has no mandate from his people. 
The curtain will rise tomorrow, and we will start to know. 
 
 
 
III.  "NetanyahuQs Courage" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (9/21): QTrue 
to the tradition of lowering expectations, the White House announced 
the purpose of the meeting between the three leaders [Obama, 
Netanyahu, and Abbas] will be to Qlay the groundwork for renewed 
negotiationsQ on Middle East peace.... On the eve of the Jewish New 
Year, Netanyahu called on Abbas to Qshow courageQ and explain to his 
people that the conflict must end, and with it Palestinian claims on 
Israel.  The Prime Minister must demand the same of himself.  He, 
too, must show courage and tell his people, his party, and his 
political partners that a peace agreement on the basis of dividing 
the land into two countries is distinctly in Israel's interest, and 
that securing that interest would require Israel to pull back from 
most of the territory it occupied in 1967 and to dismantle most 
settlements.  Netanyahu's support for a demilitarized Palestinian 
state was an important move, but was not enough.  As long as he 
makes demands of the other side, while being ambiguous about his own 
level of flexibility and commitment to opinions he has voiced in the 
past, he will perhaps be able to hang on to his seat, but will steer 
the country down a dead end.  Now it is Netanyahu's turn to show 
courage and achieve a breakthrough for a settlement with the 
Palestinians.  This is his mission. 
 
IV.  "Warning, Summit Ahead" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (9/21): QThe summit's success will not be 
measured by the extent of the settlement freeze Obama obtains from 
Netanyahu.  Even the Palestinians recognize that a few hundred more 
homes in Ma'aleh Adumim or Pisgat Ze'ev will not make a difference 
in a long-term solution of the conflict.  For the summit to avoid 
becoming another forgettable footnote in the history of the peace 
process, the participants must return home with a full translation 
of the slogans voiced in Cairo by Obama into the language of action. 
 Obama doesn't have to reinvent the wheel.  All he needs is to 
update the Roadmap timetable, which long ago became U.N. Security 
Council Resolution 1515.  The Roadmap says that in 2005 the parties 
will reach a permanent solution that will end the occupation that 
began in 1967.  It also says the agreement will include a negotiated 
settlement on the status of Jerusalem and an agreed, just, fair and 
realistic solution to the refugee issue.  Two Israeli prime 
ministers, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, negotiated with the 
Palestinians on all these issues and even reached some 
understandings.  As President Shimon Peres (who is now pushing the 
two sides to deal, as a first stage, only with the issue of borders) 
says, you can make an omelet with eggs but no one can make eggs out 
of an omelet. 
 
¶V.  QAbbas Has Most to Lose 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote on page one 
of HaQaretz (9/21): QThe summit serves, first and foremost, to 
provide the Obama administration with a much sought photo-op.... 
Still, it's hard not to wonder about the manner in which the U.S. 
administration (and even more so Abbas himself) conducted itself 
over the past few weeks.  Abbas stands to lose most from the summit. 
 He stressed to the Palestinian public at every opportunity that 
there is little point to a tripartite summit before there's an 
agreement on a construction freeze, especially in East Jerusalem.... 
The hands of the U.S. administration are not particularly clean. 
The State Department envoys assured the Palestinians that Washington 
was on their side this time, and was not going to yield to the 
Israelis.  Only in the last few weeks did Abbas's people in [his 
headquarters] the Muqata find out the White House was, in fact, very 
understanding of the Israeli demand not to freeze construction in 
the settlements altogether, and to leave Jerusalem out of the 
debate.  Abbas was apparently prepared to forgo his dignity rather 
than replace Netanyahu as the bad boy in the peace process.  He 
understands that no political bounty is likely to come out of the 
meeting, and that he himself is undertaking a considerable risk. 
 
VI.  QThe Stumbling Block of that Arab Initiative 
 
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University Professor of Political Science and 
former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, wrote in Ha'aretz 
(9/21): QIn the wake of a September 12 op-ed in the New York Times 
by Prince Turki al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, it seems possible to 
decide which of these interpretations is valid.  The prince is in 
great part the moving spirit behind the Arab initiative.... He ... 
represents the moderate Saudi view.... There is no ambiguity: The 
settlements are not open to negotiation; Israel must evacuate them 
first.  Turki al-Faisal adds that while all of Israel's neighbors 
would like peace, QThey cannot be expected to tolerate what amounts 
to theft, and certainly should not be pressured into rewarding 
Israel for the return of land that does not belong to it.Q  It may 
be possible to ignore the rhetoric (Qwhat amounts to theftQ), but 
the message is clear: The Arab initiative does not speak of 
negotiations.  It demands that Israel first withdraw from all the 
territories (including East Jerusalem) -- involving the evacuation 
of more than a quarter million Israelis -- and only than will 
negotiations on the normalization of relations and on the refugees 
begin. This is truly not a serious proposal.  It does not matter how 
peace-hungry Israelis interpret the Arab initiative.  We have been 
given an authorized interpretation by one of the people behind it. 
The initiative should not be ignored, because it includes an Arab 
declaration of willingness for peace, but its meaning should not be 
mistaken.  At this stage it is not calling for negotiations, but 
rather unconditional acceptance of the Arab position, and that is 
also its main stumbling block. 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
"All Reports Lead to Tehran" 
 
Columnist Boaz Bismuth, who was IsraelQs Ambassador to Mauritania 
between 2004 and 2008, wrote in the independent Israel Hayom (9/21): 
QIran, not Afghanistan, now is at the focus of the international 
communityQs interest -- a fact that is not by itself negative as far 
as Israel is concerned.... On September 24 the Security Council will 
discuss imposing stricter sanctions on Iran.  On Wednesday, Obama is 
supposed to address the General Assembly for the first time -- 
before Ahmadinejad.  They are not supposed to shake hands (it should 
be hoped.)  Confused?  It looks like we all are. 
 
MORENO