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P 231339Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002530 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All major media today focused on Arab and international media 
reports of an impending deal between Israel and Hamas on the release 
of Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. In its early 
morning news program, Israel Radio reported on the issue of Gild 
Shalit that senior Hamas figures from Gaza and from outside the 
territories are scheduled to arrive in Cairo in order to decide on 
the deal for his release.  Israel Radio quoted Al-Arabiya in its 
report last night that substantial progress had been made on the 
deal.  According to the report, the German mediator gave Hamas a new 
list of prisoners that Israel was willing to release in exchange for 
Shalit. 
 
Sources in Hamas said that the deal would be carried out within a 
few days, if an agreement were to be reached on the matter of 
Israeli Arab and East Jerusalem resident prisoners. However, a Hamas 
source assessed that the deal would not be completed this week. 
Gilad Shalit's father, Noam, said last night that he had no new 
information regarding his son, since receiving the latest update 
last week. Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that he felt that 
unlike in the past, the Gilad Shalit affair was very close to a 
conclusion. Yediot Ahronot led with two front-page articles, by Alex 
Fishman and Sima Kadmon, about the implications of any such deal, 
while Ma'ariv repored that Noam and Aviva Shalit are scheduled to 
meet with the prime minister's special envoy, Hagai Hadas, in Tel 
Aviv today, after which they intend to go to the Knesset to persuade 
the powers that be to make the necessary concessions to release 
their son from Hamas captivity. 
Israel Hayom quotes President Shimon Peres as saying yesterday 
during a joint press availability with President Mubarak, in 
response to a question on settlement freeze, that Israel is not 
expanding settlements, not confiscating land, and not investing in 
infrastructure. He also said that the Government of Israel has 
already announced that it will not build new settlements once 
negotiations begin and that it will evacuate illegal outposts. 
On the same issue, Alex Fishman in Yediot Ahronot reported that 
Israel has begun preparing for the possibility of renewed 
negotiations, which would include a freeze of settlement 
constructions. The Ministry of Defense has already completed 
military orders instructing a full freeze of construction in Judea 
and Samaria, to be delivered upon negotiations' renewal. 
Israel Radio reported that Israeli minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer 
arrived last night in Turkey and is scheduled to hold a series of 
economic and political meetings today in Istanbul and Ankara. Upon 
his arrival in Turkey, Ben-Eliezer said that the relationship 
between Ankara and Jerusalem was under a cloud, but that it would be 
best to look ahead. 
 
On threats from Iran, Israel Radio reported that a high-ranking 
Iranian officer reacted dismissively to the possibility that Israel 
would attack nuclear facilities in his country.  He said that even 
if Israel's fighter planes should succeed in evading Iran's air 
defense system, their bases would be destroyed by surface-to-surface 
missiles before they would have a chance to land.  Iranian Defense 
Minister Vahidi said that Iran intended to develop its own 
anti-aircraft missile system in response to the delay in the supply 
of S-300 missiles promised by Russia.  The Iranian army and the 
Revolutionary Guard launched a large-scale exercise yesterday, 
practicing the defense of nuclear facilities against an air strike. 
 
 
 
Block Quotes: 
----------- 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
¶I.  "Shalit deal may be near, but nobody's talking" 
 
Military correspondent Amos Harel and Palestinian affairs 
correspondent Avi Issacharoff wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (11/23): "There are telling signs out there [of an 
impending deal for Gilad Shalit]... Another positive development is 
Saturday's announcement ... that rocket fire would end. It is 
doubtful that the timing of the announcement is coincidental... 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is backing [the deal], support 
from Defense Minister Ehud Barak is guaranteed ... Shas will follow 
its spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef ... Mossad chief Dagan and Shin 
Bet Diskin probably will oppose the move, but Chief of Staff 
Ashkenazi will back it. What is unusual is the role of military 
censorship: Compared to previous times, there is a near absolute 
blackout. The Censor says that preventing detailed reporting is not 
directed at public opinion and is merely to allow the negotiations 
to continue unhindered." 
 
II.  "Bibi Afraid Cabinet Won't Approve Deal" 
 
Senior diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/23): "Yesterday 
President Shimon Peres [said] "real progress has been made in the 
talks to release Shalit." ... It is safe to assume that Prime 
Minister Netanyahu is about to make one of the most dramatic 
decisions in his term ... when does a country capitulate to 
terrorism? From Netanyahu's perspective, [it is] a complete reversal 
on everything that he has ever preached in his books, speeches [and] 
political doctrine ... The question that Netanyahu and Defense 
Minister Barak have been deliberating over is who will approve the 
deal. People who witnessed Netanyahu's deliberation have spoken 
about a ministerial committee that will be comprised of members who 
will support the deal. Another possibility is to formulate a motion 
that will be put to a cabinet vote empowering Netanyahu to make the 
decision on his own. The above stems from Netanyahu's concern that 
he will be unable to muster a majority within his own cabinet to 
support the prisoner exchange deal. ... One thing is certain: 
international pressure on Netanyahu will mount to lift the siege on 
the Gaza Strip. No one will take seriously Netanyahu's arguments 
that no talks must be held with Hamas. The truth needs to be said, 
even if that truth is hard to swallow: releasing hundreds of 
Palestinian murderers will further entrench the Hamas regime in the 
Gaza Strip and will ultimately force the Netanyahu government to 
live with the consequences. It will be ironic to see that government 
take Shaul Mofaz to task for saying that talks could be held with 
Hamas "under certain conditions." 
 
III.  "What price Shalit?" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/23): 
"Arab press reports, echoed in Israel, claim that Gilad Schalit's 
long ordeal in Hamas captivity may be nearing its end... When it 
comes to Shalit, it's hard to know where the spin ends and the news 
begins... Plainly, Netanyahu is loath to have his government approve 
a lop-sided prisoner exchange that requires setting free some of the 
most dangerous terrorists Israel has ever encountered. Yet he may be 
telling himself that any such deal would be the absolutely, 
positively, honest-to-goodness, very last time Israel capitulates to 
Hamas or Hizbullah....An ill-considered prisoner deal could also 
bring down Mahmoud Abbas's already tottering Palestinian Authority 
in the West Bank....Too Bad Israelis can't look to Egypt to play a 
constructive role... Cairo is ready to disregard the [Quartet] 
principles for Hamas participation in a Palestinian unity government 
... turning a blind eye to Palestinian arms smuggling.... Mubarak is 
also doing everything possible to harden Abbas's heart, telling the 
Egyptian parliament Israel alone was to blame for the paralysis in 
the peace talks, called on Israel to stop "Judaizing" Jerusalem and 
demanded it reconcile itself to the Arabs' refusal to recognize its 
right to exist as a Jewish state ... As Much as we Israelis ache to 
see Gilad Schalit home ... the emotional blackmail of campaigners 
who say the country should do "anything" to achieve his release 
could unleash on our home front the very same sociopathic killers 
Israel's security forces worked so hard to capture in the first 
place. We urge the premier to leave no stone unturned in trying to 
bring Gilad home, while placing the national interest above all." 
 
IV.  "Prisoners With Blood Up to Their Ears" 
 
Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/23): "We are not talking about a deal 
in which prisoners with blood on their hands are going to be 
released in exchange for...Gilad Shalit. We are talking about 
prisoners who are drenched in blood up to their ears....We are 
talking about the release of a few dozen major terrorists who were 
sentenced to consecutive life terms for the most heinous terror 
attacks ever committed. The dilemma currently facing Prime Minister 
Netanyahu: is the State of Israel prepared to release murderers? 
People whose release will plant hope...and a message: you can murder 
Jews. In the end, someone is going to release you.... The second 
dilemma is: Is this the price that Israel needs to pay in light of 
the ineptitude of its security apparatus? The third dilemma is 
unique to the Netanyahu era. If masses of Palestinian prisoners are 
released Abu Mazen might as well resign. This deal will be an 
Israeli death sentence to the Abu Mazen government.... To compensate 
Abu Mazen...the Israeli government is going to have to think about 
releasing...Fatah prisoners on his behalf, expanding the territory 
under the PA's rule extensively, a dramatic cessation of 
construction in the settlements. And we haven't even begun to talk 
about how Israel will be perceived in the world and in the Arab 
world, about the blow to our own morale and another long list of 
dilemmas that Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers still have to 
face." 
¶V.  "Because There is No Choice" 
Political and parties columnist Sima Kadmon wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/23): "Aviva and Noam 
Shalit... will begin a battle, perhaps their last, to win over the 
hearts of the cabinet ministers. In the past number of days... all 
of us have been vacillating between skepticism and hope. But this 
time the sense is that things are different...the moment of truth 
has arrived. But what appears to be self-evident...is probably far 
from being such. Netanyahu is hardly at peace with himself. His 
concern is that the deal...will not be approved. The political 
sources said that Netanyahu is looking for a forum that will ensure 
him a majority. What is clear at present is that Netanyahu is about 
to make far-reaching concessions. What we already know is what the 
opponents are going to say: capitulation to terrorism; terms were 
dictated entirely by Hamas; Israel will have to lift the siege on 
Gaza; how the deal is going to weaken moderate Palestinians and 
strengthen extremists. Those are not arguments that can be 
dismissed. Netanyahu is going to need all the help he can get. It 
isn't going to be easy...but as soon as the prime minister throws 
his full weight behind the matter, he will be able to muster a 
majority. What will this do to Netanyahu? From being a prime 
minister who dodges making decisions, he will turn into a prime 
minister who made a major and difficult decision, but one that was 
correct and unavoidable. Bring him back home already." 
CUNNINGHAM