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P 101047Z DEC 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002679 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Iran/President Obama 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that last night thousands (over 30,000, according 
to major media outlets) of settlers and right-wing sympathizers 
rallied near PM Benjamin NetanyahuQs official Jerusalem residence to 
protest the 10-month moratorium on settlement construction.  Israel 
Radio reported that Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon waved a banner 
with the White HouseQs telephone number, urging Israelis to call 
President Obama and tell him to Qremove his hands from the Land of 
Israel. 
 
In what some called a compensation for the settlement freeze and 
HaQaretz termed a Qprecedent-setting decision,Q the media reported 
that PM Netanyahu will seek cabinet approval on Sunday for a new map 
of national priority zones that will grant 110,000 settlers -- most 
of whom live outside the major settlement blocs -- the economic 
benefits conferred on residents of these zones.  This move, which 
comes two weeks after Netanyahu announced a 10-month freeze on 
settlement construction, represents a sharp change from the previous 
government's policy: under Ehud Olmert, only communities in the 
Negev and Galilee were entitled to national priority status. 
The media reported that yesterday the Knesset approved the Golan 
Heights and East Jerusalem Referendum Bill -- 68 to 22.  Key Labor 
Party ministers, including party chairman and Defense Minister Ehud 
Barak opposed the bill as Qunnecessary,Q but eventually voted for 
it. 
 
All media prominently reported that the Weizmann InstituteQs 
Professor Ada Yonath will be awarded the Nobel Chemistry Prize in 
Stockholm today.  In the same breath, the media mentioned that 
President Obama will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.  Major 
TV channels will broadcast the ceremony live.  Maariv reported that 
previous Prizewinners Professor Elie Wiesel, Nelson Mandela, and Dr. 
Martin Luther King, Jr., provided Obama with the inspiration for the 
speech he will deliver in Norway. 
 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday, senior members of the Israeli 
defense establishment told the diplomatic-security cabinet that the 
Palestinian Authority conducts diplomatic activity in the 
international community the purpose of which is to impose on Israel 
a diplomatic agreement leading to the establishment of a Palestinian 
state. During the debate, PM Netanyahu allegedly attacked the PA, 
warning Qthere will be no real solution to the Palestinian issue 
without negotiations with Israel.Q  The Jerusalem Post quoted 
Netanyahu as saying at the meeting that the PA is unwilling to 
compromise.  Israel Hayom quoted the PM as saying at the meeting: 
QIt would appear that the Palestinians have adopted a strategy of 
delaying the negotiations in order to dodge the demands of the 
international community that require concessions on their part as 
well.Q Israel Hayom reported that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met 
yesterday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.  Abbas was quoted 
as saying in the course of that meeting that the deadlock stemmed 
from QIsraelQs stubbornness. 
 
Leading media quoted senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar as saying 
yesterday that the Shalit deal also depends on HamasQ good will. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday President Shimon Peres 
told the incoming Turkish envoy that Hamas is ready for the next 
war. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Syrian FM Farouk Shara as saying yesterday that 
the Gilad Shalit deal might include Syrian prisoners.  Shara ruled 
out French mediation -- as wished by Netanyahu -- in negotiations 
with Israel.  Shara was quoted as saying that President Obama 
prevented an Israeli attack on Iran several times. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying 
in an interview published this morning with Egyptian journalist 
Fahmi Huwaidi, that if Israel were to violate Turkish airspace in 
order to conduct reconnaissance operations on Iran, Ankara's 
reaction would resemble an Qearthquake." 
 
HaQaretz reported that the homes of some senior IDF brigade 
commanders are being protected by security forces to guard against 
harassment by right-wing activists. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the U.N. Relief and Works AgencyQs (UNRWA) 
Commissioner-General, Karen Koning AbuZayd, spent Human Rights Day 
in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.  She was quoted 
as saying in an interview with the newspaper that now is the time to 
bravely cope with the issue of Palestinian refugees. 
 
Media reported that yesterday in Jerusalem border policemen arrested 
a young Palestinians in possession of six pipe bombs and a knife. 
 
Various media cited IDF data that fire from Gaza into Israel has 
lessened by 90% since Operation Cast Lead. 
 
Leading media reported that the Prime Minister's Bureau announced 
yesterday that PM Netanyahu has canceled his planned trip to the 
U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen next week and asked 
President Shimon Peres to lead the Israeli delegation in his place. 
 The bureau has issued conflicting statements about whether 
Netanyahu would attend the December 7-18 climate talks, but 
yesterday his aides attributed the cancellation to the trip's high 
cost. 
 
Leading media reported that the trial of suspected Jewish terrorist 
Yaakov (Jack) Teitel began in the Jerusalem District Court 
yesterday. 
 
Leading media reported that Israel and the Vatican will negotiate 
the status of real estate here that the Church has a claim to, as 
part of the plenary meeting of a joint economic commission starting 
today.  Relinquishing sovereignty over sites would mean they would 
legally belong to Vatican City and any Israeli request to work on 
infrastructure would have to be approved by the Vatican.  Media 
reported that Israel refuses to turn over sovereignty of the Last 
Supper room on Mount Zion. 
 
The media reported on the opening of a QShimon Peres ChannelQ on 
YouTube. 
 
HaQaretz cited a QgroundbreakingQ report prepared by the Palestinian 
organization SAWA, which fights violence against women, according to 
which Palestinian women are being forced into prostitution in both 
Ramallah and Jerusalem -- including in Jewish neighborhoods of the 
city.  The report, released yesterday, says the victims come from 
various parts of the West Bank -- mostly urban areas -- as well as 
Gaza and Israel.  It also notes that some eastern European women who 
were originally trafficked to Israel to work as prostitutes are 
occasionally sent to the West Bank. 
 
All media reported that starting today, AppleQs iPhones are being 
marketed in Israel through all cellular phone providers.  The media 
noted the high cost of the appliances in the country. 
 
------------------------- 
¶1.  Iran/President Obama: 
------------------------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
QObamaQs Peace Mission 
 
Senior commentator Ari Shavit wrote in the independent, left-leaning 
Ha'aretz (12/10): QToday a grotesque ceremony will be held in Oslo. 
An American president who has not yet managed to make peace anywhere 
in the world will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  He will be 
awarded the prize even though he is personally responsible for 
scores of targeted killings and much slaughter of civilians in 
aerial bombardments.  He will be awarded the prize even though he 
has just decided to escalate one of the two ineffectual wars he is 
conducting.  He will be awarded the prize only because he is a 
Democrat, a liberal, and a black man who defeated the Republicans 
and cast George W. Bush out of the White House.... International 
public opinion is still focused on global warming, not global 
nuclearization, as the most urgent issue on the agenda.  The 
political libido of the West has homed in on Copenhagen, not Natanz. 
 This is Obama's mission.  There is no other president who is 
capable of leading the international community in the face of this 
new threat.... If the Nobel laureate does not want to be remembered 
as the leader in whose term of office the nuclear genie escaped from 
the bottle, he must gain his composure immediately.  He must use the 
little time remaining to lead a resolute campaign against the 
extremist forces acquiring nuclear capability.  It is possible that 
such a campaign will fail.  It is possible that it will cause 
serious complications.  However, what lies in the balance now is no 
less than the world order.  If Obama does not rise above himself and 
fulfill his mission, the event at which he will star this evening 
won't be remembered only as a grotesque occasion.  It will be 
remembered as a tragic one, too. 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
E 
 
 
¶I.  QTying His Own Hands 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote on page one of the 
independent, left-leaning HaQaretz (12/10): QThe QReferendum Law 
that the Knesset voted to advance Wednesday would restrict the 
government's freedom of action in negotiations with the 
Palestinians, Syria, and even Lebanon by making it harder to cede 
East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, or even Shaba Farms, whether 
unilaterally or by agreement.... The bill would also eliminate the 
Qconstitutional lacunaQ that currently enables unilateral 
withdrawals from sovereign Israeli territory.... Thus Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu, who once again called yesterday for renewed 
talks with the Palestinians, is binding himself with constitutional 
chains.  In Netanyahu's view, it is important that diplomatic 
agreements be supported by a majority of the public and not just the 
coalition's majority in the Knesset.  But he is also signaling the 
Syrians, the Palestinians, and the international community that he 
will have trouble passing any significant concessions -- and trying 
to strengthen his hand in the negotiations.  In addition, he is 
thereby pressing his negotiating partners to close a deal quickly, 
before the bill becomes law. 
 
II.  QA Necessary Step 
 
Veteran journalist and television anchor Dan Margalit wrote in the 
independent Israel Hayom (12/10): QDemocratic countries tend to 
submit central issues to the public for decision in a referendum, 
ranging from questions of whether to join the European Union to the 
erection of minarets in mosques.  There is no reason why the fate of 
JerusalemQs unity or IsraelQs hold on the Golan Heights should not 
be decided by the people in its entirety.  The problem is that the 
lawmakers, in their alacrity, are liable to refrain from refining 
some of the rough patches in the bill. Those patches are, among 
others, as follows: It is imperative to contemplate with gravity the 
argument that use of referenda ought to be passed into legislation 
by means of a basic law, thus neutralizing immediate political 
interests from the public debate.  The support of 80 Knesset members 
for a withdrawal is excessive to obviate the need for a referendum. 
A majority of 70 or 75 MKs is adequate.  No referendum will be held 
when the issue at stake is a proportionate land swap.  A referendum 
will be held only if 250,000 signatures of citizens who are eligible 
to vote in demand of a referendum are submitted.  If those 
signatures are not collected, then a regular majority in the Knesset 
will be sufficient to authorize the territorial concession.   The 
opponents of the bill said yesterday that they were afraid that it 
would cause Syria to despair of IsraelQs sincerity to negotiate. 
That is possible, but is by no means a necessity.  After all, the 
manacles that the government has just placed on its hands by 
supporting this bill could be construed by people of goodwill in 
Damascus as proof that a government that signs a draft agreement 
believes that it will receive the support of the nation and not 
merely the support of 120 happenstance MKs. 
 
III.  QPeace Rejectionists 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the 
Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot (12/10): QAbu MazenQs Palestinian Authority canQt 
believe that this is happening to it: it is beginning to be 
perceived around the world as a peace rejectionist.  It was sure a 
year ago that its luck was beginning to change and that a fairytale 
American president was going to make all its wishes come true. 
Within a year, everything has been turned around and instead of it 
casting Netanyahu as a rejectionist, people around the world are 
coming to realize more and more that it is the rejectionist.  Two 
steps that were taken by Netanyahu succeeded in changing the 
appearance of things: his willingness to accept a Palestinian state 
without a return of refugees and without Jerusalem - a step that if 
the Palestinians were serious about they would long ago have seized 
the opportunity; and the temporary construction freeze in the 
settlements, which placed Abu Mazen before another problem.  Israel 
has taken steps, why are you refusing to negotiate with it, he is 
asked around the world.  The burden of proof has been placed on him 
and he has yet to take any initiative vis-`-vis Israel.  On the 
contrary, his Palestinian Authority has continued to incite against 
Israel.... Furthermore, in the past number of weeks the Palestinian 
leadership was given a stinging slap to the face in response to the 
idea it began to circulate about a Qunilateral state.Q  The United 
States made it clear to them in the chilliest and most unyielding 
terms that there was no chance that it would support any such 
foolish initiative.... [The Palestinians], who wanted to isolate the 
United States and Israel by means of their unilateral initiative, 
ended up isolating themselves, casting themselves as peace 
rejectionists, as rejectionists of any genuine relations with 
Israel, as people who want to force the world to bend to their will. 
 The Obama administration has increasing reservations about them; 
the Palestinians have overwhelmingly lost the administration.  The 
unilateral initiative cost Abu Mazen and his men dearly, and they 
havenQt got a clue now as to how they will respond to Netanyahu, who 
is standing and waiting to engage in dialogue with them. 
 
IV.  QWaiting for a Prince 
 
Dr. Muhammad Watad, a senior law lecturer at the Safed Academic 
College, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/10): QI have 
never doubted that a diplomatic agreement that would include full 
withdrawal from the Golan, a guarantee of IsraelQs security along 
the Syrian border, and plans regarding the natural water reservoirs 
in IsraelQs north, are likely to bring about safe and serious peace 
between Israel and Syria.... Indeed, according to media reports, 
Israel is bracing for a withdrawal from the village of Ghajar [which 
strides the Lebanese border] and Syria is renouncing preconditions 
concerning an [Israeli] withdrawal from the Golan.... In addition to 
FranceQs role in the process, Arab leadership with an interest in 
upholding the peace process between Syria and Israel (possibly 
between Syria and the West through peace with Israel) is needed. 
This country is called Saudi Arabia, which is extremely interested 
in weakening Iran and Hizbullah [and] developing the Middle East.... 
A chivalrous, princely, gentlemanly move resembling Muhammad Anwar 
SadatQs visit to Israel is required.... An appearance by [President 
Shimon] Peres in front of the Syrian Parliament ... could of course 
bring the proposed negotiations to hitherto unknown heights. 
 
 
 
 
IV.  QEurope Has Forsaken Israel 
 
Columnist and conservative international Jewish leader Isi Leibler 
wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (12/10): Q[As 
a participant in the Europe Israel Dialogue which took place 
recently in Jerusalem under the auspices of Lord Weidenfeld], I had 
disagreed with those who were arguing that we should seek support 
from the Europeans and rely less on the U.S.  I said that 
notwithstanding the problems Israel faces with the Obama 
administration, our dependency on support from a superpower rested 
with the U.S. and that the Europeans had proven to be untrustworthy 
allies and repeatedly betrayed us.  I also noted that in contrast to 
the American people who overwhelmingly support Israel, opinion polls 
taken in Europe confirm that the prevailing consensus perceives 
Israel as a rogue state posing a greater threat to world peace and 
stability than even Iran or North Korea.  I also related to the 
craven European appeasement of the Arabs and their willingness to 
sacrifice Israel on the altar of expediency.  My views were not well 
received by the predominantly liberal gathering, many of whom shared 
the illusion that if only Israel were to employ better PR, the 
enlightened Western traditions which we purportedly share with 
Europe would somehow enable us to overcome all differences.... One 
would expect Europeans to be concentrating their energies on 
devising strategies to retain their heritage and way of life, rather 
than appeasing the extremist Islamic groups which are undermining 
their Judeo-Christian civilization.  Were they to move in this 
direction, there is every probability that the European penchant to 
demonize and try to delegitimize Israel might also be directed 
toward more constructive objectives. 
 
CUNNINGHAM