VZCZCXRO2808
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #2240/01 3441508
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101508Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6940
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEADWD/DA WASHINGTON DC//DAS-ZD/DACS-ZK//
RUEAHQA/CSAF WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
RHMFIUU/CMC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC//POLAD//
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 7987
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4954
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4804
RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA 6292
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4723
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3327

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002240 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS BBG 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC 
CMC WASHINGTON DC FOR POLAD 
 
JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD 
LONDON FOR HKANONA AND POL - TSOU 
PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
ROME FOR MFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KMDR KPAL KWBG KPAO IS
 
SUBJECT: JERUSALEM MEDIA REACTION (12/10):  Abbas in Egypt and 
Knesset Passage of "Continuity" Bill Make Headlines 
 
------------- 
Main Stories: 
------------- 
-------------------------------------- 
Abbas Meets Mubarak in Sharm El-Sheikh 
-------------------------------------- 
 
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Abbas' meeting with Egyptian 
President Mubarak was the main story in all three dailies. 
Independent daily Al-Quds headlines Abbas' quote that the PA rejects 
Israel's settlement moratorium and regrets the U.S. retreat on 
settlement cessation.  In regards to the EU statement on Jerusalem, 
Abbas noted that although important it was less than what was 
originally proposed. 
 
Independent daily Al-Ayyam runs a headline reflecting Abbas' 
statement regarding national reconciliation, "The Ball is in Hamas' 
Court Now."  PA official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida quotes Abbas 
saying that agreement on the prisoner exchange deal has yet to be 
reached. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Continuity Bill Passes; PA Blamed for Lack of Progress 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
Dailies and Ma'an report that the Israeli Knesset passed a 
"continuity" bill on Wednesday to ensure that a measure calling for 
a national referendum on the Israeli withdrawal from occupied 
territories moves forward.  The proposed legislation states that any 
governmental decision to withdraw from the occupied Golan Heights 
and East Jerusalem requires a national, public referendum. 
 
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida and Ma'an report that Israeli Prime Minister 
Netanyahu accused the PA of rejecting peace negotiations as a means 
of avoiding concessions.  Speaking to his Security Cabinet 
yesterday, Netanyahu said, "It seems that the Palestinians have 
adopted a strategy of rejecting negotiations with Israel in order to 
avoid the demands of Israel and the international community which 
require compromises on their [PA] part." 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Local Media Largely Ignore Anti-Moratorium Rally 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
There was little coverage of the anti-settlement moratorium 
demonstration in local Palestinian media.  Independent daily 
Al-Ayyam and PA official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida both ran stories. 
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, which has the smallest circulation of the 
dailies, was the only local Palestinian paper that ran front page 
coverage of the demonstration.  Its article was placed below the 
fold, at the bottom of the page, and mainly consisted of a photo 
showing settlers holding banners that read "Stop the Freeze." 
Independent daily, and largest in circulation, Al Quds, did not 
cover the demonstration.  Independent Palestinian news outlet Ma'an, 
which prides itself in covering late-breaking news, posted only a 
headline (no accompanying article), "Thousands of right-wing 
Israelis protest settlement freeze in Jerusalem."   Al Jazeera 
International ran a brief photo spot on the demonstration. 
 
JERUSALEM 00002240  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
------------- 
EU Statement 
------------- 
 
In an exclusive interview with independent Palestinian news outlet 
Ma'an, Sweden's Consul General in Jerusalem, Nils Eliasson, 
downplayed reports that the final EU statement on the Middle East 
peace process had changed significantly from the original drafted 
authored by Sweden, saying,  "there are very few substantive 
differences between the two." 
 
PLO Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat is quoted in Ma'an welcoming EU 
conclusions on the status of Jerusalem.  In Erekat's opinion, "The 
EU has released a basic blueprint for the resumption of meaningful 
negotiations.  If these principles are translated into reality, 
negotiations should resume." 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Berlanty Denied Permission to Continue Studies 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
Ma'an reports that a three-judge panel from the Israel's Supreme 
Court ruled on Wednesday that Bethlehem University student Berlanty 
Azzam will not be permitted to return to the West Bank to finish her 
degree. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Fayyad Meets Italian Foreign Minister 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
In a joint press conference, in Ramallah, with Italian Foreign 
Minister Franco Frattini, PA Prime Minister Fayyad stated that the 
establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the lands 
occupied by Israel since 1967 is the only possible way to achieve 
peace.  Frattini emphasized that the EU is working closely with the 
United States to end the conflict and achieve peace in the Middle 
East. 
 
------------- 
BLOCK QUOTES: 
------------- 
1) Rasem Ebidat, writing in Al-Quds under the title "The New EU 
Statement:  Did it Bring Anything New?" believes that "We 
[Palestinians] should not be deceived by the EU statement ...what is 
important is not the statement but implementation of the ideas 
expressed in the statement." 
 
2) Al-Quds runs an editorial entitled "The EU Statement:  Is It for 
Archiving or Implementing?" that questions whether Europe is serious 
about its statement.  The writer opines that if the EU is serious 
about the conclusions it proposed in the statement then "...it [the 
EU] has to take serious measures and tangible actions against 
t 
Israel...We [Palestinians] need more than statements, we need 
actions." 
 
 
RUBINSTEIN