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TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Major media quoted PM Benjamin Netanyahu as saying yesterday at an 
economic conference that the 10-month moratorium on new housing 
starts in the West Bank is a one-time, temporary deal, and that 
building will begin anew once this period ends.  Meanwhile, IDF 
Civil Administration inspectors spread across the West Bank for the 
second row to enforce the building freeze declared last week.  Since 
Monday, the inspectors have visited 90 settlements and handed out 64 
stop-work orders.  Media reported that settlers have blocked 
inspectors.  Yediot bannered: QThe Battle over the Freeze. 
 
HaQaretz cited a classified report drafted by European consuls in 
East Jerusalem and Ramallah that slams Israeli policy in East 
Jerusalem and recommends that the European Union take steps to 
strengthen the Palestinian Authority's status in the city.  It also 
advises taking various measures to protest Israeli policy in the 
city as well as sanctions against people and groups involved in 
"settlement activity" in and around it. 
Due to the sensitivity of the annual document, the E.U. has never 
before published it and in previous years Israel pressed the E.U. 
hard not to do so, for fear the publication would further undermine 
the European public's already negative view of Israel.  HaQaretz 
quoted senior Israeli Foreign Ministry officials as saying that this 
year's report "left a harsh impression" in Brussels and helped 
Sweden promote its plan to have the E.U. formally recognize East 
Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.  The report accuses 
both the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality of 
working deliberately to alter the city's demographic balance and 
sever East Jerusalem from the West Bank.  It says that both bodies 
assist right-wing organizations, such as Ateret Cohanim and Elad, in 
their efforts to implement this "strategic vision," especially 
around the Holy Basin area.  These organizations buy houses in Arab 
neighborhoods and make "attempts to implant further Jewish 
settlements into the heart of the Muslim Quarter."  The 
municipality, the report continues, discriminates against the city's 
Arab residents with regard to building permits, health services, 
education, sanitation, and more. 
 
Israel Radio reported that diplomatic officials in Jerusalem have 
accused a number of E.U. states, in particular Sweden, of attempts 
to create facts on the ground and thwart U.S. mediation efforts 
through the reported initiative to make Jerusalem the capital of two 
states.  HaQaretz reported that yesterday opposition head and Kadima 
chair Knesset Member Tzipi Livni wrote Swedish FM Carl Bildt, asking 
him to cancel his initiative to change the status of East Jerusalem, 
which he is reportedly bringing to the E.U. institutions for 
approval. 
 
HaQaretz reported that last year set an all-time record for the 
number of Arab residents of East Jerusalem who were stripped of 
residency rights by the Interior Ministry. Altogether, the ministry 
revoked the residency of 4,577 East Jerusalemites in 2008 -- 21 
times the average of the previous 40 years.  In the first 40 years 
of Israeli rule over East Jerusalem combined, from 1967 to 2007, the 
ministry deprived only 8,558 Arabs of their residency rights -- less 
than double the number who lost their permits last year alone.  Thus 
of all the East Jerusalem Arabs who have lost their residency rights 
since 1967, about 35 percent did so in 2008. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday clashes erupted in the Sheikh 
Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem between demonstrators and 
counter-demonstrators, after a group of Jews announced their 
intention to move into a house in the neighborhood.  The entry of 
the Jews into the home follows a court order ruling that the Arab 
al-Kurd family, which lives in a portion of the house, had no right 
to occupy an addition that they had built onto the house. 
 
Israel Radio quoted the London-based Al-Hayat as saying that Israel 
has agreed to release Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti as part of the 
QShalit dealQ -- provided Barghouti is not allowed back into the 
PA. 
 
Various media reported that PM Netanyahu may have thwarted the 
nomination of former Consul-General in New York Alon Pinkas to the 
position of ambassador to the U.N. 
 
Maariv reported that Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset Member David Rotem, 
the Chairman of the KnessetQs Constitution, Law, and Justice 
Committee, intends to have a basic law passed that would define 
Israel as a Jewish state. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the Israel Air Force has been debating the 
need to procure the V-22, a Boeing-made transport aircraft capable 
of vertical take-off and landing.  The V-22 flew for the first time 
in 1989 but technological development was slow and only in the last 
three years was it placed in operational squadrons. On combat 
missions, the V-22 was included for the first time in operations in 
Iraq and Afghanistan.  The drawn out development process and 
technological difficulties with the tilt-rotor system made the 
aircraft considerably more expensive than originally planned; its 
current price stands at $65 million. 
 
Maariv reported on a massive departure of Israeli Defense Ministry 
officials from the service.  The newspaper quoted a defense source 
as saying that the tension inside the ministry is due to the State 
ComptrollerQs Report that criticized defense officialsQ spending 
behavior during this yearQs Paris air show. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Jonathan Pollard told 
visiting Likud activists that he is enraged by the Shalit deal and 
that Hamas prisoners should be killed, not released. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that senior LAPD official Michael P. 
Downing told the newspaper this week in Tel Aviv that Israeli 
organized crime in Los Angeles is on the rise. 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
 
¶I.  QThis Time It's Final 
 
Senior diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (12/2): QIn the coming 
months, the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank is supposed to 
start an election campaign, in which the PLO and Hamas will compete 
head to head.  Each side will adopt increasingly extreme positions 
and will pledge allegiance to Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine 
and to the principle of the return of the 1948 refugees.  The 
Americans, for their part, will argue that the only chance of 
restarting the negotiations lies in continuing the construction 
freeze.  The question at hand is: will Netanyahu decide to confront 
the Americans?  I believe that he will continue to try to maneuver 
between all the bad options, his voters from the right wing will 
continue to take potshots at him, and the Americans will hint that 
if he renews construction they will enable the Europeans to pass 
sweeping resolutions in the Security Council that signify 
recognition of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. 
Israel may find itself isolated and all the horrific scenarios about 
which Netanyahu has written at least four books will come true. 
 
II.  QObamaQs Not the Problem 
 
Washington correspondent Natasha Mozgovaya wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (12/2): QMaking out that Obama is Qbad for 
IsraelQ may have helped Netanyahu mobilize some support, but in the 
long term a responsible Israeli leadership should try to keep the 
President's status from eroding and take advantage of his efforts to 
improve relations with the Islamic world, instead of jealously 
measuring who is getting more attention.  There's no sense in trying 
to extort declarations of love from an administration that speaks in 
terms of interests.  It makes sense to try to speak its language. 
But it would be even more helpful to admit that Obama is neither the 
problem nor the solution, not until at least one of the sides takes 
responsibility for establishing a dialogue with the other, not with 
Washington. 
 
III.  QFear Scale 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in HaQaretz (12/2): 
QNetanyahu estimates [IsraelQs] security requirements will cost tens 
of billions of dollars and for Israel not to collapse economically, 
it will need to retain annual growth of 4-5 percent.  He thinks the 
money can be found in bureaucratic efficiency, privatization of 
state lands, and incentives for high-tech industries and 
entrepreneurs.  But economic reforms will not be enough. 
Netanyahu's security model relies on broadening Israel's dependency 
on the United States.  The Prime Minister wants America to 
neutralize Iran, back it up in its effort to curb the smuggling of 
rockets, assist in the development of missile defense, and take 
action to shelve the Goldstone report.  It is worthwhile paying 
attention to what is missing here: Netanyahu does not consider the 
settlements a component in the security of Israel.... Like Menachem 
Begin, who went from Qnot a single inchQ to Qno more war,Q and like 
Yitzhak Rabin, who was shocked by the pathetic show of resolve among 
Tel Aviv residents during the Gulf War and opted for a compromise 
with the Palestinians, Netanyahu, too, understands that the majority 
of the Israeli public wants quiet and considers the settlers a 
nuisance.  And this means the decision to freeze settlement 
construction for 10 months is just the first taste of domestic 
confrontation. 
 
IV.  QLet the Man Go 
 
Former Mossad Director Ephraim Halevy wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (12/2): QAbu Mazen's initiative to drag 
Israel, its leaders, and its officers to international courts gave 
rise to the Goldstone commission, the severe and mistaken 
conclusions of which continue to be marketed by the Palestinian 
President at every opportunity.  It is all the more difficult to 
understand why Abu Mazen chose Caracas as a location to attack the 
United States, since without its support for him, his government 
would long since have disappeared.... In the past weeks, there have 
been increasing voices calling to QstrengthenQ Abu Mazen, so that he 
can be a partner for peace talks with Israel.  Some wish to Qsave 
him -- his stature is bowed so low and he needs Israeli salvation 
that badly.  Among other arguments, we hear that these are the 
wishes of the U.S.  In light of the performance of the Palestinian 
leader in the past week, it might not be considered an impudent 
presumption if we were to propose to our friends in Washington to 
reconsider the value of their support for the PA President, in light 
of the quality of the judgment he displayed in Caracas.  Abu Mazen 
has recently hinted that he would not run for another presidential 
term.  Perhaps the time has come to relieve him of our repeated 
urging to do us a favor and remain in office?  In short, let the man 
go.  There is no person or leader who cannot be replaced.  And if 
the Palestinian movement is an exception to the rule, and no other 
leader can be found for it, then what point is there in making an 
agreement with a person who has no successor? 
 
¶V.  QWhatQs the Haste ? 
 
Liberal columnist Gideon Samet, who was Consul-General in 
Philadelphia, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/2): QThe 
apparently determined Obama is assisting [IsraelQs] decision 
failures.  The demand for a [construction] freeze in the West Bank 
was a mistake.  Crafty as it may be in other domains, the White 
House team should have been aware of the longstanding Israeli 
thwarting of all previous efforts to restrain construction in the 
West Bank.  And how useful will a temporary freeze be when 
WashingtonQs unvarying test is that the settlements themselves 
constitute an obstacle?  Housing units and other building plans that 
have already been approved and are not included in the freeze will 
provide for the coming ten months.  Time will again play in the 
hands of a government that does not intend to abide by its two-state 
promise.  The Gilad Shalit festivities will be forgotten.  There 
will be no negotiations with the Palestinians; with the passing of 
time, it is frightening to reflect that this [political] system will 
decide how to act against the Iranian nuclear program. 
 
VI.  QThe Justified Fear of a Diplomatic Avalanche 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (12/2): 
QThe fear that the Netanyahu government is tumbling into an all-out 
diplomatic avalanche is justified -- it will slowly abandon its 
stances one by one, as it will delude itself at every stage that it 
is maneuvering in the Qart of the possibleQ and that it is 
minimizing damage.  The only decisive test now is in actions, not in 
words, in the very margins the Prime Minister has declared he 
wouldnQt give up: construction of public buildings in the 
settlements, massive construction in Jerusalem, and the 
non-extension of the freeze penalty at the conclusion of these ten 
months. 
 
 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
QElBaradeiQs Failure 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (12/2): 
Q[Outgoing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
Director-General] Mohamed ElBaradei, stepped down after 12 years 
with what, by his deplorable standards, amounted to a bang rather 
than a whimper.  In the last few days, ElBaradei declared bitterly 
that the IAEA's probe of allegations that Iran has been trying to 
make nuclear arms is at a Qdead endQ because Tehran is not 
cooperating.... There, in a few words, is the essence of ElBaradei's 
failure -- his incapacity or disinclination to distinguish between 
the dangers posed, on the one hand, by a tiny country that, over 
several decades during which its very existence has frequently been 
under threat, has not resorted to the use of a reported nuclear 
capacity, and, on the other, by a regional bully that has brazenly 
lied to the international community about its nuclear program, 
oppressed its own people, relentlessly incited the elimination of a 
sovereign state, and vowed to remake the entire world order.  The 
IAEA is charged with preventing the proliferation of nuclear 
technology, to ensure that the most devastating, last-resort 
weaponry remain out of reach to those who cannot be trusted with it. 
Given the accelerating ease of technology-transfer, the task is 
complex enough. Under ElBaradei, a man incapable of recognizing 
where the most potent dangers were sited, it became a lost cause. 
 
MORENO