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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham as saying 
yesterday, in a lecture under the auspices of Tel Aviv University, 
that Barack Obama is Israel's "closest friend," contrary to what 
many Israelis seem to believe in recent polls.  He offered examples 
of this friendship, foremost among them the American 
administration's opposition to the Goldstone Report.  "From the 
inception of the Goldstone Commission we objected to its flawed 
mandate," Cunningham told the Israeli audience.  He said that 
America's bond with Israel had been clearly demonstrated by its 
"opposition to delegitimizing [of] Israel internationally" and its 
efforts to ensure "Israel is treated fairly in the United Nations." 
Cunningham urged Israel and the Palestinians "to relaunch 
negotiations without preconditions on the core issues of the 
conflict: security for both Israelis and Palestinians, borders, 
refugees and Jerusalem."   He insisted the U.S. was "eager to 
support the difficult decisions that must be made and the risks that 
must be run if peace is to come."  Responding to a question from an 
audience member if the U.S. had reexamined its initial assumptions 
about the conflict when it took office some 10 months earlier -- 
including a demand for an Israeli settlement freeze widely seen as 
contributing to a short-lived diplomatic rift between the two 
countries -- Cunningham admitted that American efforts to jumpstart 
negotiations through "finding the right context" had yet to bear 
fruit.  The administration "started out with several factors that 
were new and [which] we thought provided a different kind of 
opportunity to move rapidly into negotiations," Cunningham said of 
the American demand for a settlement freeze and the parallel call on 
Arab states to offer normalization gestures toward Israel.  That 
opportunity had not materialized, he admitted. 
 
Israel Radio also quoted Cunningham as saying in his address that 
Obama is Israel's "closest friend."  The radio reported that the 
Ambassador noted that the United States is committed to the 
existence, security, and prosperity of Israel as Jewish and 
democratic state.  Israel Radio quoted Cunningham as saying that 
there are misunderstandings between the two countries but that they 
can be overcome between friends. 
 
IDF Radio emphasized Ambassador CunninghamQs reiteration in his 
lecture that the U.S. is opposed to construction in the settlements. 
 The radio quoted British Foreign Secretary David Miliband as saying 
on Tuesday that Jewish settlement in the West Bank is an obstacle to 
peace.  IDF Radio noted that MilibandQs remarks came on the heels of 
Secretary of State Hillary ClintonQs comments in Morocco.  The media 
quoted Clinton as saying yesterday in Cairo: QOur policy on 
settlement has not changed.  We do not accept the legitimacy of 
settlement activity.  Ending all settlement activity current and 
future would be preferable."  Of the Israeli offer to restrain, not 
halt settlement construction, she said, "It is not what we would 
prefer because we would like to see everything ended forever." 
 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday Israel's Foreign Ministry issued a 
document to Israeli embassies and consulates around the world, 
instructing employees to utilize Israel's seizure of a ship carrying 
some 300 tons of weapons, believed to have been shipped by Iran and 
meant for Hizbullah, to direct international pressure toward Iran. 
Israeli diplomats were instructed to stress Iran's violation of U.N. 
Security Council resolutions forbidding it from supplying weapons to 
Syria or Hizbullah.  Major media quoted PM Benjamin Netanyahu as 
saying last night in a statement: "Those who needed further proof 
that Iran is continuing to supply weapons to terror organizations 
got it today."  Netanyahu added: QIran is sending these weapons to 
terror groups with the aim of hurting Israel and killing civilians. 
It is high time that the international community apply significant 
pressure on Iran to stop this criminal activity and support Israel 
as it defends itself against terrorists and their sponsors."  Maariv 
and Israel Radio quoted Syrian FM Walid Muallem as saying that 
QpiratesQ have commandeered a Qcommercial ship.Q  Israel Radio 
quoted Arab politicians and media as saying that IsraelQs action was 
a fabrication meant to coincide with the UNGA debate on the 
Goldstone Report. 
 
Ynet and Israel Radio reported that Sweden's Ambassador to the UN 
Anders Liden, representing the European Union, called on both Israel 
and the Palestinians to "take responsibility for the crimes 
perpetrated," stressing that any violation of human rights must be 
investigated.   Leading media reported that yesterday Israel's 
Ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, attacked both the Goldstone 
Report and the UN General Assembly (UNGA) as being "irreparably 
tainted" and "bending both fact and law."  The Ambassador also said 
the report, which accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during 
their war in the Gaza Strip in January, was "born in hate and 
prepared in sin."  "[The] report and this debate do not promote 
peace; they damage any effort to revitalize negotiations in our 
region," added Shalev.  The ambassador said the report ignored "the 
reality of terror" and the complexities of urban warfare against 
terrorists.  She also dismissed the Goldstone panel as "a 
politicized body with predetermined conclusions."  Shalev reminded 
the General Assembly that Israel had suffered eight years of rocket 
attacks from Gaza, which violated the human rights of Israeli 
civilians.  "[But] rather than discuss how to better stop terrorist 
groups who deliberately target civilians, this body launches yet 
another campaign against the victims of terrorism, the people of 
Israel," she said.  Time and again, Shalev charged, the report 
turned Israel's unprecedented efforts to save civilian lives against 
it, using them as proof that any civilian casualties were therefore 
deliberate.   Leading media reported that last night former 
Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Gillerman left for New York to assist 
IsraelQs efforts at the UNGA, at the behest of PM Netanyahu and FM 
Avigdor Lieberman.  The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday the 
Israeli human rights organization published details of 13 criminal 
investigations currently being conducted by the Southern District 
Military Police Investigations Unit. 
 
 HaQaretz reported that yesterday President Shimon Peres called PA 
President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss efforts to restart the peace 
process.  The daily quoted unnamed sources as saying that Peres 
asked Abbas to agree to resume negotiations with Israel and to meet 
with PM Netanyahu.  The media reported that Netanyahu told the 
security cabinet yesterday that Israel aims to resume talks shortly, 
despite obstacles such as the possibility of Palestinian elections 
in the near future.  He said the race is radicalizing the 
Palestinian Authority position on Irael and making it difficult to 
renew talks.  Media reported that yesterday Secretary Clinton met 
with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and asked him to pressure 
Abbas to resume negotiations with Israel.  Yediot reported that 
President Abbas is expected to deliver a QdramaticQ speech in 
Ramallah today.  The daily cited assessments in Ramallah that Abbas 
will announce that he will not run in the PAQs January elections. 
Yediot wrote that AbbasQ anger and disappointment over the American 
behavior surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are 
causing him to exacerbate personal steps.  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that yesterday the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb 
Erekat, warned that the Palestinians would not Qrule out other 
options if the peace process failed. 
 
Maariv reported that for the first time the GOI has included 
Islamist groups operating in Indonesia in its list of terror 
organizations. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the rift between the International 
Federation of Journalists and the National Federation of Israeli 
Journalists following the Israeli unionQs expulsion from the 
international group in June has been mended by an agreement reached 
at an emergency meeting held in Tel Aviv this week. 
 
Yediot hinted that members of the Israeli security forces could know 
the same fate as the 23 American intelligence agents who were jailed 
in Italy. 
 
Yediot printed an article by Tuvia Tenenbaum, an Israeli-born 
American journalist, who tells about his attendance of the Qatar 
Film Festival, where anti-Israeli films were shown. 
 
Yediot and Israel Radio reported that QObamaQs rabbi,Q Reform Rabbi 
Capers Funnye, who is Michelle ObamaQs cousin, is visiting Israel 
with 15 senior African-Americans from Illinois. 
 
All media reported on the Democratic losses in Virginia and New 
Jersey elections.  A Yediot headline reads: QA Year Has Gone [since 
ObamaQs Election], Everything Has Changed.Q  Maariv: QBeginning of a 
Makeover?  The DemocratsQ Losses. 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  QMofaz in the Footsteps of Sharon 
 
Senior commentator Ari Shavit wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (11/5): Q[Former Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz's basic 
assumptions are those of [Ariel] Sharon: On one hand, at this point 
in time, there is little chance of reaching a final-status 
agreement.  On the other hand, Israel must urgently effect a change 
that will produce a two-state solution.  The way to do this is via 
an interim solution -- an agreement that will create a Palestinian 
state in two years in about 60 percent of the territory of the West 
Bank.... Once 99 percent of the Palestinians are citizens of a free 
Palestine, the Israeli-Palestinian situation will look different. 
Once the evacuation-compensation law is implemented, Israel will 
gradually converge within its own borders.  Even if the conflict 
does not come to an end immediately, it will be stabilized. Just as 
in Sharon's vision, Israelis and Palestinians will live side by side 
in relative calm until peace arrives.... The plan that [Mofaz] has 
prepared is not flawless and is not free of risks.  But it is the 
most serious and practical plan any Israeli leader has prepared in 
years.  It is backed by Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres, and has a 
chance of interesting the Americans and the moderate Arabs.  The 
plan may also restore Kadima to its lost path.  Therefore, it is 
worth listening to the former chief of staff, and it would be 
appropriate to extend him credit with which to launch his 
initiative.  It would not be surprising if this move by Mofaz once 
again rearranges the shape of Israeli politics. 
 
II.  QThe Shield Was Confiscated 
 
Attorney Michael Sfard, legal advisor to the Israeli human rights 
group Yesh Din, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (11/5): QOver recent years Israeli human rights 
organizations have published particularly harsh reports [about IDF 
soldiersQ suspected law violations against Palestinians], but -- to 
this day -- there has been no significant criticism by an 
international professional legal body on this issue.  It is 
important to understand that serious local law enforcement, beyond 
carrying a moral ... obligation, is a shield from international law 
enforcement.  International law recognizes the superiority of local 
legal proceedings and grants them a preference over foreign or 
international investigation and judgment.  IsraelQs law enforcement 
systems have long enjoyed high esteem and a professional and 
independent imagine Q sometimes beyond what they deserve.... 
[Attorney General Menachem] Mazuz, who in the past rejected a demand 
by Israeli human rights organizations to conduct an external 
investigation into the Gaza events, supports it today.  He 
apparently grasps the mistake he made.  The IDF Advocate General, 
the Chief of Staff, and the Defense Minister, who oppose it, are 
pushing the IDF soldiers and themselves into the arms of the foreign 
legal systems. 
 
CUNNINGHAM