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TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that PM Benjamin Netanyahu will meet today 
with the leaders of the Yesha Council of Settlements in the 
Territories and the heads of local councils in the West Bank to 
discuss the 10-month moratorium on construction in the territories. 
The radio reported that few settler leaders attended a similar 
meeting with DM Ehud Barak, following a day of clashes throughout 
the West Bank between settlers and the inspectors enforcing the 
freeze.  Leading media reported that Barak sought to placate the 
settlers, promising to restore mayors' power to approve minor 
renovation projects such as enclosing balconies or building pergolas 
over a porch -- powers they had initially lost under last week's 
cabinet decision on a settlement freeze.  Barak was quoted as saying 
at the meeting: "Settlement blocs will be an integral part of Israel 
in any future negotiations with the Palestinians.  The Jordan Valley 
and the Dead Sea are regions that are dear to my heart.Q  Leading 
media cited sharp criticism of the freeze by Likud cabinet minister 
Moshe QBugiQ YaQalon, who is quoted as saying that Qthis was not 
what was decided by the cabinet. 
 
Maariv reported that the IDF is interrupting its exercises to brace 
for possible enforcement of the freeze. 
 
Major media reported that Israel is waiting for Hamas' answer to the 
German mediator's proposal on the final prisoner exchange deal over 
kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.  The 
Islamist group is expected to respond within the next few days.  The 
mediator met separately over the past few days with representatives 
of both sides.  Arab media reports say Hamas is likely to present 
additional conditions for the agreement, which Israel has already 
agreed to in principle.  The main remaining dispute, say the 
reports, is over a few senior prisoners who are described as 
"symbols of the Palestinian struggle."  HaQaretz reported that it 
seems that Hamas has concluded it will be difficult to convince 
Israel to free the senior Hamas leaders.  Therefore, Hamas will 
likely focus its demands on two prisoners not from Hamas: Marwan 
Barghouti of Fatah, and the Secretary General of the Popular Front 
for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad SaQadat.  The final 
negotiations center on which senior prisoners Israel will release. 
The Jerusalem Post quoted BarghoutiQs wife Fatwa saying that he Qis 
going nowhere; he wants to return to his home and family in 
Palestine.Q  The newspaper cited similar comments by BarghoutiQs 
friends. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that French Ambassador to Israel 
Christophe Bigot told the newspaper yesterday that France has 
"several strong reservations" about a draft resolution on the Middle 
East put forward by Sweden that would recognize east Jerusalem as 
the capital of a future Palestinian state.  "Let us be clear the 
text is not an E.U. text; it is a Swedish proposal looking for 
agreement by the 27 E.U. members of the Council of Foreign Affairs 
next Tuesday," Bigot said of the document, which has raised 
Jerusalem's ire for a number of reasons, primarily because of its 
pre-judging negotiations on Jerusalem and its reference in the 
document to "Palestine."   The E.U.'s ambassadors in Brussels are 
scheduled to meet today, along with E.U. security experts, to 
further discuss the text.  The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel, 
as part of its diplomatic efforts to block acceptance of the 
document, is in contact with the U.S., hoping that it will explain 
to key E.U. states that the text would only make moving the 
diplomatic process forward even more difficult than it already is. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the IDF recently finished formulating its 
operational doctrine on how to deal with the threat of rockets and 
missiles aimed at Israel's home front and how to provide protection 
against these threats.  In a report last year, the State Comptroller 
had criticized the lack of an operational plan. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Jews worldwide were up in arms on 
Monday over the Jewish National FundQs donation of trees to a 
housing project being administered by the P.A. in the planned West 
Bank community of Rawabi. 
 
HaQaretz reported that PM Netanyahu is considering rescinding the 
appointment of Shai Bazak as Consul General in New York.  The daily 
reported that the move -- and the possible repealing of Alon Pinkas 
apparent appointment as ambassador to the U.N. -- is likely to cause 
a rift between Netanyahu and FM Avigdor Lieberman, since the 
rescinding of even one appointment signals that the PM is overruling 
his foreign minister. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Alberto Nisman, the 
Argentinean prosecutor who ferreted out Iranian Links to ArgentinaQs 
largest terror attack, warned of TehranQs terror network in Latin 
America.  In an unrelated development, based mostly on Al Jazeera-TV 
reports, Israeli electronic media reported that this morning a bomb 
targeted at a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims near a major ShiQite 
religious shrine in Damascus causing dozens of casualties.  The bomb 
attack took place as Saeed Jalilee, a top Iranian security official, 
was visiting Damascus for meetings with Syrian officials. 
 
HaQaretz and other media reported that on Tuesday some 100 people 
injured and family members of those killed in the 2004 Taba Hilton 
suicide bombing filed a suit against the hotel chain in the 
Jerusalem District Court, arguing that the owners did not take 
minimum security precautions that could have prevented the attack. 
The plaintiffs are seeking about $70 million in compensation for 
medical expenses, pain, emotional trauma, and lost earnings.  The 
attack killed 33 people, including 13 Israelis. 
 
Maariv reported that Orna Angel, a former senior female advisor to 
DM Barak, might become director-general of the Defense Ministry. 
 
Yediot reported on the role of Israeli-made unmanned aerial vehicles 
(UAVs) in the fighting in Afghanistan.  The Jerusalem Post quoted an 
Israeli defense official as saying, regarding exports of Israeli 
defense technology: QThe expansion of the war in Afghanistan opens a 
door for us.Q  A Maariv article on the NATO statesQ fear of an 
entanglement in Afghanistan is headlined: QA Power in the Mud. 
 
HaQaretz reported that stories appearing on several Ukrainian Web 
sites claim that Israel has brought some 25,000 Ukrainian children 
into the country over the past two years in order to harvest their 
organs.  The claim, which was made by a Ukrainian philosophy 
professor and author at a pseudo-academic conference in Kiev five 
days ago, is the latest expression of a wave of anti-Semitism in the 
country. 
 
Yediot reported that Netanyahu is expected to head the Israeli 
delegation to the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  QLawbreakers 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (12/3): QThe 
settler leaders' lawless behavior after the decision to temporarily 
and partially freeze settlement construction in the West Bank 
reminds us of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's metaphor of a Qvilla in 
the jungleQ to describe Israel's place in the region. Only a few 
kilometers from Tel Aviv, the laws of democracy give way to the law 
of the jungle.  Once again it turns out that only an ultra-thin 
layer separates the rebels and tree cutters in the illegal outposts 
from the core of the settler establishment.... A government that 
demands that the Palestinian Authority ensure law and order among 
the Palestinians in the West Bank is not allowed to be sympathetic 
to the organized lawlessness of the Jewish residents there. 
 
II.  QDisengagement II 
 
Senior commentator Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz (12/3): QBenjamin 
Netanyahu made history twice.  The first time was when he adopted 
the two-state solution in his Bar-Ilan speech and the second was 
when he decided last week to freeze settlement construction.  The 
Palestinians dismiss his steps and the Europeans say they're not 
enough.  The skeptics are skeptical and the cynics are cynical.  But 
the truth is that Netanyahu circa 2009 is situating himself to the 
left of Yitzhak Rabin circa 1995.  Unlike Rabin, Netanyahu now 
accepts the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state. 
Unlike Rabin, he is issuing orders prohibiting construction 
throughout the Jewish West Bank.  Netanyahu has crossed the Rubicon 
- on both ideological and practical levels - and reinvented himself 
as a centrist.... Disengagement II will have to be completely 
different from its predecessor.  It will have to be coordinated with 
the Palestinian Authority and granted European support and it will 
have to turn the evacuated area into an economic prosperity zone. 
It will need to prevent Palestinians from smuggling in weapons and 
increasing their military might and must assure Israel's right to 
self-defense. Such a plan would have to be part of an overall 
strategic outlook that pushes both peoples toward peace through 
measured, circumspect, and coordinated steps.  A second 
disengagement would have to be an improved version of the first, a 
plan with a political dimension and an economic depth that would 
strengthen the moderates -- Palestinians as well as Israelis.  If 
the Prime Minister dares to go forward with Disengagement II, things 
would be easier for Israel on all fronts.  It would help Netanyahu 
in domestic politics, just as the first disengagement helped Sharon, 
and it would turn the Prime Minister into the new leader of the 
Israeli center. 
 
III.  QThe Opportunity in the Freeze 
 
Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in HaQaretz (12/3): QThe vitality 
[of the settler movement] -- the consolidation of a generation that 
will constitute another link in the chain -- is what those enforcing 
the freeze are now seeking to crush.  There is no other explanation. 
 Benjamin Netanyahu, though he does not share the desire to destroy 
the settlement enterprise, lacks the strength of character to abide 
by his promise to resume construction in another 10 months.  The 
U.S. administration, the Europeans, and the settlements' domestic 
foes (whose activity against the settlements and the Netanyahu 
government is financed by European money) will not let him.... If 
those leading the struggle make do with unfreezing a few hundred 
building permits, or even more, they have been graced with neither 
strategic vision nor an understanding of history.  The time has come 
for them to elevate themselves from mere settlement activists -- an 
important job in normal days -- to leaders of a movement.  The 
freeze, which a priori appears detrimental, actually presents them 
with a positive challenge: to reinvigorate the drive and capacity 
for achievement of the movement that succeeded in reviving Israel's 
pioneering spirit. 
 
 
 
 
IV.  QWaiting for an American Plan 
 
Giora Eiland, former Director of IsraelQs National Security Council, 
wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (12/3): 
QThe Palestinians do not believe that it is possible to reach a 
final status arrangement through direct negotiations with Israel, no 
matter who the prime minister is.  In their eyes, the gaps between 
the sides cannot be bridged.  Therefore, they prefer for Obama to 
reach the same conclusion, which was reached by Clinton at the end 
of 2000, that only a plan presented by the U.S. President himself, a 
concrete and detailed plan, would make Israel Qtake things 
seriouslyQ.... Such an American proposal will also play into the 
hands of the Palestinians in another way.  It will relieve them of 
the need to compromise in negotiations with Israel and to risk 
condemnation by Hamas and other Arab parties.  They will prefer to 
take Obama's plan and bring it before the Arab League for approval. 
After they receive overwhelming support, they will be able to enjoy 
greater political confidence.  What should Israel do?  The decision 
on a construction freeze gives Netanyahu a certain breathing space 
against immediate American pressure.  This should be used to convey 
two messages to the U.S. administration: firstly, after we have 
agreed on a formula to solve the small problem (freezing the 
settlements), we can now deal with solving the large problem (direct 
negotiations on the final status arrangement).  Secondly, a forced 
American plan is dangerous, not only to the government in Israel but 
also to the American reputation.... An initiative of a president at 
the start of his path, which has high chances of failure, will have 
negative ramifications for his ability to lead initiatives until the 
end of his term. 
 
¶V.  QListen to the Pain 
 
Former Editor-in-Chief Moshe Ishon wrote in the editorial of the 
nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe (12/3): QIt seems that 
Obama is trying to force Israel back into its pre-Six Day War 
borders, which will choke the Jewish state.   President Obama has 
not concealed this policy in his speech to both Houses of Congress 
following his election.  Over the past few months he has reiterated 
his policy that Jerusalem will be the capital of two states Q for 
Israel and the Palestinians.  The PresidentQs declarations are 
inconsistent with IsraelQs policy.... Netanyahu must now adopt a 
tough line against the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria 
[i.e. the West Bank] and make clear that Israel intends neither to 
make concessions over that land nor to submit to U.S. dictates. 
Such compromise proposals might bring about further concessions. 
Israel would not bear them. 
 
VI.  QShalit : The Details Matter 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (12/3): 
QIsraelis would dearly love to see abducted soldier Gilad Shalit 
safely home and the entire episode of his cruel captivity finally 
concluded.  That is indisputably the national consensus.  But no 
similarly overwhelming consensus exists regarding the price which a 
sovereign, responsible government should pay for Shalit's release, 
given the risks of further kidnappings and killings orchestrated by 
those Palestinian terrorists who could go free in a prisoner 
exchange.  Precisely because of widespread concerns over the terms 
and costs of a deal, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu repeatedly 
promised full disclosure and a comprehensive public debate on the 
specifics of any swap.  Yet precisely the opposite is happening, 
with the formal sanction, as of this week, of a Supreme Court 
ruling.... The suspicion, in the Shalit affair, is that censorship 
is not safeguarding a vital national security interest as much as 
shielding edgy politicians from adverse public opinion.  All 
Israelis will potentially be affected by the repercussions of a deal 
to free Shalit -- and, for that matter, by a decision not to proceed 
with such a deal.  Whether we agree or not to the price that is 
being demanded, we have the right to know, in good time, exactly 
what that price is. 
 
MORENO