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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002164 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR NEA STAFF 
 
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DA WASHDC FOR SASA 
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JERUSALEM ALSO ICD 
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
 
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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 led with the deal reportedly brokered by Germany and 
Egypt, in which Hamas will give Israel tomorrow a video recording 
proving that Gilad Shalit is alive.  In exchange Israel will release 
20 Palestinian women from jail.  Fourteen of the women were indicted 
over Qassassination attempts.Q  The Jerusalem Post and other media 
quoted President Shimon Peres describing the swap as a Qsmall but 
important step.Q  Maariv and other media quoted Hamas as saying that 
ShalitQs release can be finalized by the end of the year. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday PLO Ambassador to the UN 
in Geneva Ibrahim Khraishi told the newspaper that the Palestinians 
Qhave enough votes" to get the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) to 
agree tomorrow to pass the controversial Goldstone Report on to the 
U.N. General Assembly in New York, and possibly on to the Security 
Council.   On Tuesday the council held a six-hour debate on the 
conclusions of the four-person UN fact-finding mission that 
investigated Operation Cast Lead.  The Jerusalem Post reported that 
yesterday Israel's Ambassador to the U.N. institutions in Geneva, 
Aharon Leshno-Yaar, admitted it was unlikely that Israel could stop 
the report from heading to New York.  The newspaper reported that 
yesterday PM Benjamin Netanyahu urged the ambassadors of Asian and 
Pacific Rim countries to block the report, saying Qthis is not 
politics as usual.Q  The PM was quoted as saying: QThis report will 
stop the peace process.  HaQaretz reported that Netanyahu rejected a 
call for an Israeli inquiry into Cast Lead.  HaQaretz cited DM Ehud 
BarakQs officeQs confirmation that the DM has asked former Chief 
Justice Aharon Barak to contribute to the legal battle against the 
report.  However, Ehud Barak was quoted as saying that he opposes an 
inquiry commission. 
 
The media reported that IranQs dialogue with the five permanent 
members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany will begin today in 
Geneva.  Yediot summed up the U.S. message to Iran as Qfreeze the 
enrichment; weQll freeze the sanctions.Q  Media reported that 
yesterday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested a third 
party enrich uranium for Iran.  Yediot quoted The Financial Times as 
saying yesterday that Iran has secretly developed nuclear warheads. 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday Iranian FM Manouchehr Mottaki 
arrived in Washington, where sources were quoted as saying that he 
is not expected to meet with U.S. officials. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday in Washington Israeli 
officials Yitzhak Molcho and Mike Herzog met with U.S. Special Envoy 
for Middle East Peace Senator George Mitchell.  The newspaper quoted 
Assistant State Department Spokesman Philip J. Crowley as saying 
before the meeting: QWe havenQt set aside anything.  We do believe 
that the Israelis, Palestinians, and other countries in the region 
need to take affirmative steps which create the conditions for a 
successful negotiation.Q   Crowley was also quoted as saying: QWe 
are also interested in getting to negotiations as rapidly as 
possible, as the President, the Secretary, and George Mitchell 
emphasized last week. 
 
Maariv and Israel Radio reported that Shmuel Polishuk, a senior 
member of the Nativ network, who holds an Israeli diplomatic 
passport, was interrogated in Moscow and then expelled by the 
Russian secret service FSB based on charges of spying.  Nativ used 
to be a secret Israeli organization that fostered emigration to 
Israel. 
 
Leading media reported that the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee has 
declared a general strike in Arab communities in Israel today to 
mark the anniversary of the October 2000 riots. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that yesterday 
Saudi Arabia denied a July report that it would allow IAF jets to 
fly over the kingdom during any strike on Iranian nuclear 
facilities. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that two leading U.S. Senators -- 
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) -- have introduced 
a bill (the Boycott Disclosure Act of 2009) aimed at strengthening 
WashingtonQs opposition to the Arab economic and trade embargo 
against Israel. 
 
HaQaretz quoted the organization Physicians for Human Rights-Israel 
as saying, after analyzing data collected by the World Health 
Organization, that Shin BetQs slow response to requests by 
Palestinians seeking to leave the Gaza Strip for medical care via 
the Erez crossing was the main reason that more than one third of 
such applicants missed their medical appointments between January 
and August 2009. 
 
Yediot reported that Israel fears the ecological implications of the 
nuclear reactor that Jordan will reportedly build at Aqaba. 
 
Maariv claims that Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, the IDFQs O/C Southern 
Command is taking over agricultural land without proper 
authorization.  The article is a follow-up to an investigative 
report published in the newspaper in December 2008. 
 
HaQaretz and Maariv reported that three Israel tourists have asked 
the Israeli Foreign Ministry to help them leave Samoa after the 
island was hit by a deadly tsunami on Tuesday. 
 
Major media quoted Israeli police as saying yesterday that, as part 
of a two-year operation spanning three continents, a number of 
reputed crime bosses have been arrested over the past few weeks for 
attempting to smuggle 108 kilograms of cocaine from Panama to 
Israel.  Two years of surveillance operations in Panama and France, 
as well as analysis of hundreds of wiretaps in those countries and 
Spain led to a raid on a warehouse in Panama where the drug was 
being stored.  One of the suspects broke under questioning and 
signed an agreement to become a state's witness.  The media reported 
that a key suspect in the affair is Zeev Rosenstein, who is serving 
his U.S.-imposed sentence in an Israeli prison. 
 
The Jerusalem Post, HaQaretz, and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited the 
results of the American Jewish CommitteeQs 2009 Annual Survey of 
American Jewish Opinion conducted August 30-September 17: 
- A majority of American Jews support military action against Iran 
to prevent the Teheran regime from obtaining nuclear weapons. 
Asked if they would support American military action, 56% of 
American Jews said they would, while just 36% opposed it.  An even 
greater number support Israeli military action against the Iranian 
nuclear program, with 66% in favor and just 28% against. 
- The survey found that a majority of American Jews oppose the Obama 
administration's recent policy of demanding a total Israeli 
settlement freeze, but this did not translate into support for 
keeping these settlements in the long term.  While 51% oppose the 
American freeze demand (though a substantial 41% agree with it), 
fully 60% said Israel should dismantle all (8%) or some (52%) of the 
West Bank settlements in the context of a permanent settlement with 
the Palestinians. 
- Despite any criticism, however, American Jews believe that 
Israeli-American relations were being handled well by the two 
countriesQ leaders. The Obama administration received 54% approval, 
compared to 32% disapproval, in its handling of this relationship, 
while Netanyahu garnered a slightly better ratio (59%-23%.)  In 
general, the vast majority of respondents believe U.S.-Israeli 
relations are strong, with 81% saying they were either "very" or 
"somewhat" positive and just 16% disagreeing. 
- Asked about the prospects for peace, three-quarters (approx. 75%) 
of the respondents expressed profound skepticism over Arab 
intentions, saying they agreed with the statement: "The goal of the 
Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the 
destruction of Israel."  Just 19% disagreed with this statement. 
Thus, it is perhaps not surprising that 51% do not believe there 
will ever "come a time when Israel and its Arab neighbors will be 
able to settle their differences and live in peace."  That pessimism 
rises substantially to 79%, when the Palestinian side of the 
equation is Hamas: just 17% think peace is achievable between Israel 
and Hamas.  But the pessimism is not reflective of their hopes. 
American Jews favor a Palestinian state, even "in the current 
situation," by a factor of 49-41%, through they are opposed (58-37%) 
to compromising on Israeli jurisdiction over Jerusalem. 
- The survey briefly delved into questions of identification.  Asked 
for their political affiliations, respondents revealed the expected 
overwhelming identification with the Left and Center. Fully 53% said 
they were Democrats, 30% Independent and just 16% Republicans.  As 
for religious affiliation, 27% said they were Reform, 24% 
Conservative, 9% Orthodox and 2% Reconstructionist.  But the most 
popular answer, at 36%, was "just Jewish."  Jewishness was important 
to the respondents, with 51% saying it was "very important" in their 
lives, 33% "fairly important," and just 15% responding "not very 
important."  This Jewish identification, however, did not 
necessarily translate into a feeling of connection with Israel. Just 
28% said they felt "very close," 41% "fairly close," and fully 30% 
were either "fairly distant" or "very distant" from the Jewish 
state. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
¶I.  "A Fitting Deal" 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (10/1): 
QYesterday's decision by the security cabinet to approve the 
Egyptian-German initiative to release 20 Palestinian female 
prisoners and detainees in exchange for a sign of life from 
kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit is not a balanced deal.  For a piece 
of information, Israel is paying in Qhard currencyQ -- people who 
were convicted or are suspected of hostile acts against its 
citizens.... Still, no step toward the release of the soldier who 
fell into the enemy's hands three and a half years ago will be an 
economical deal.  Israel has more than once paid a high price for 
its captured soldiers, and even for bodies and body parts of the 
dead.  This is not the first time it will have paid for information 
about a captured or missing soldier.... Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu called the decision to agree to the new initiative a 
Qconfidence-building measureQ in the indirect negotiations with 
Hamas.  It is reasonable to assume that documented proof that Shalit 
is still alive will encourage the government to go another step 
further and pay the set price to extricate him and end this painful 
affair. 
 
II.  "No Cause for Celebration" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (10/1): QIf indeed a 
tape should arrive here in which we see [Gilad] Shalit alive and 
well, we will be excited and glad with the family.  But as a nation, 
we must not forget that this tape only highlights the fact that Shin 
Bet and other security agencies have not succeeded in bringing 
information that would make it possible to rescue Gilad from 
captivity.  Three years, ten kilometers from home, and no one has an 
idea what his situation is, until Hamas does the German envoy a 
favor and releases a tape at an exorbitant price.  Why is it that 
when we are negotiating over receiving one soldier for hundreds of 
prisoners, we still have to pay interest in advance to receive a 
sign of life?  It is sickly logic.  We have become accustomed to 
being dishrags.... Meanwhile, the basic obstacles remain as before. 
The specific discussions on the terrorists slated for expulsion 
continue.  Each name is being examined, in an attempt to prepare an 
Qexpulsion packageQ for each one that will be acceptable to all 
sides.  If the current initiative, of building mutual trust, is 
indeed indicative of the intentions of the two sides, perhaps the 
deal for Shalit's release will be signed sooner.  And perhaps it 
won't. 
 
III.  "Cruel Paradox" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (10/1): QThe effort to bring Gilad Shalit 
back home is imprisoned within a cruel paradox.  On the one hand, 
Hamas needs an achievement desperately, given Abu Mazen's success on 
the West Bank.  On the other, if Israel exploits this situation and 
opts to close a deal, Hamas will become stronger, will become the 
only one that is capable of delivering the goods and making the 
Zionists capitulate, and might just win the elections once again. 
In a situation of that sort, Gilad Shalit will be back home, but all 
the moderates in the region will have been dealt a strategic death 
blow.  It will be a decision to lament over for generations to come. 
 Hamas' reign over the Palestinian people will be extended, perhaps 
into perpetuity, and we, as always, will be left with our longing 
for Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad.... We are now strengthening the 
extremists, the ones who regard our annihilation to be a religious 
imperative, and weaken anew the people with whom we can still 
talk.... A leader with endurance and patience could have redefined 
the rules and forced Hamas to climb off the high limb of its insane 
demands.  Now the deal is that much more unpalatable.  Netanyahu 
talks Right, but acts Left.  In the meantime, he is building a lot 
less than his predecessors did in Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West 
Bank] and appears poised to release a very large number of 
murderers.  The charts don't lie. 
 
 
 
IV.  "A Deceiving Quiet" 
 
Conservative columnist Nadav Haetzni wrote in the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (10/1): QOver the recent period we have been exposed to a 
wave of reports praising the dramatic change among the Palestinians 
under Abu Mazen.... But this is yet another deception campaign that 
incredibly fits the tradition of the Oslo spirit.... To find a fresh 
illustration that nothing has changed among the Palestinian 
partners, it is enough to pay attention to what has been happening 
over the past week around the Temple Mount.  All the riots that 
broke out there were produced by Abu Mazen and his men.  As Abu 
Mazen returned from Washington, Palestinian Authority spokesmen 
invented a new anti-Israeli libel that now accuses Israel of 
knocking down the mosques on the Mount.... The current libel is 
developing in exactly the same way Arafat, in his distress after 
Camp David, started what is called the QSecond IntifadaQ.... Here 
lies the challenge of the Netanyahu government, which must decide 
whether it is willing to play the game that Israel always loses, or 
whether the time has come to tear the mask of deception off the 
PalestiniansQ faces.  Abu MazenQs regime relies on IsraelQs 
bayonets.  The time has come to scatter all illusions surrounding 
it. 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"The Home Stretch" 
 
Senior commentator Ari Shavit wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (10/1): QThe basic facts have not changed: Iran is 
galloping toward nuclear weapons.... Nor have the strategic 
implications of the basic facts changed: if one fine day Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad announces he has a nuclear bomb, the world will be a 
different world.... And yet, something fundamental has changed: The 
events of the past week proved that with regard to Iran, the West of 
fall 2009 is different from the West of spring 2009.  The Pittsburgh 
declaration issued by Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Gordon 
Brown was merely the visible tip of the iceberg.  Beneath the water, 
the United States has been engaging in energetic and enthralling 
diplomacy for the last few months. Thus, if at the beginning of the 
summer it was still possible to wonder whether Obama had 
internalized the Iranian problem, today the picture is clear: very 
belatedly, the U.S. President [and the other Western leaders] are 
trying to impose a real diplomatic siege on Iran.  They are doing 
everything that can be done via diplomatic efforts to try to stop 
the catastrophic centrifuges of Natanz and Qom.  In this situation, 
there is no genuine fear of an imminent Israeli attack on Iran. But 
the fact that, for now, Israel is showing restraint and even 
lowering its profile should not mislead anyone. If the 
international community does not employ harsh diplomacy now, it will 
put itself in an impossible dilemma: an Iranian bomb or bombing 
Iran. And if that happens, the quartet of Obama, Sarkozy, Brown and 
Angela Merkel will bear personal responsibility -- not only for the 
emergence of a new Middle East, but for the emergence of a whole new 
world. 
 
CUNNINGHAM