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P 211145Z DEC 09
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002750 
 
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.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
¶3.  Copenhagen Climate Change Summit 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported that the senior cabinet ministers who constitute 
the so-called Qforum of sevenQ are to convene again this morning at 
the PMQs Office to continue their discussion on the proposed 
prisoner-release deal.  The ministers met much of the day yesterday 
and until late in the night to discuss the terms of the deal with 
Hamas that would see the release of Gilad Shalit in exchange for 
hundreds of Palestinians now held in Israeli prisons.  HaQaretz 
quoted a senior Israeli official as saying: "The purpose of the 
meetings is to try and reach understanding within the forum.  At 
this stage, there is no such understanding."   Media reported on a 
tie between the members of the Qforum of seven:Q while three -- 
namely, Labor PartyQs Ehud Barak, ShasQ Eli Yishai, and LikudQs Dan 
Meridor -- are in favor of a deal with Hamas, three -- Yisrael 
BeiteinuQs Avigdor Lieberman and LikudQs Moshe YaQalon and Benny 
Begin -- are opposed to it.  The media reported that PM Benjamin 
Netanyahu could resolve the draw.  The media reported that Netanyahu 
is expected to meet with members of the Shalit family, as the forum 
renews its discussion this morning.  This morning GiladQs mother, 
Aviva Shalit, told Israel Radio that their meeting with Netanyahu 
has been postponed indefinitely.  The radio reported that Netanyahu 
is opposed to release to the West Bank terrorists who killed 
Israelis "with their own hands." 
 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday right-wing activists began 
preparing for a fight against the planned demolition of structures 
built in contravention of the 10-month freeze on construction in 
West Bank settlements.  The media reported that the demolition plans 
were described in an internal IDF memo detailing the 
intelligence-gathering methods to be used to detect freeze 
violations.  The memo was leaked to the press on Saturday. 
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that IsraelQs relations with 
the E.U.Qs new foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton got off to 
an inauspicious beginning on Saturday, as she criticized Israel. 
Deputy FM Daniel Ayalon was quoted as saying: QJust as the Romans 
did not succeed in cutting off Jerusalem from Israel, so, too, will 
diplomats from the U.N.  and the E.U. be unsuccessful as well. 
 
Yesterday the media reported on the perceived failure of the 
Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that in the face of the growing missile 
threat against Israel, the IDF Home Front Command and the U.S. 
National Guard have decided to exchange liaisons to enable a steady 
exchange of information on civil defense. 
 
The media reported that yesterday the head of the Har Bracha 
Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, agreed to sign a document which 
clearly bans any political demonstrations within the framework of 
the IDF, reversing his previous position on the matter.  Nearly 50 
hesder yeshiva heads met yesterday at the Or Etzion Yeshiva, to 
discuss Defense Minister Ehud Barak's recent decision to remove the 
Har Bracha Yeshiva from the hesder arrangement with the army, which 
combines Torah study with military service.  Barak's decision came 
on the heels of Rabbi Melamed's comments in which he openly 
supported soldiers refusing to obey IDF orders on the basis of 
political and ideological reasons.  Following that, Melamed refused 
to rescind his controversial statements.  The rabbis eventually 
agreed to sign a joint statement in which "all hesder yeshiva heads 
clearly reject all demonstrations in the IDF, out of a wish to 
preserve the unity of the IDF."  The rabbis also declared their 
appreciation of the Qdefense establishment, the IDF and its 
commanders, who are carrying out a holy function in preserving and 
defending the State of Israel and its residents."  HaQaretz quoted a 
source who attended the meeting as saying: QIn the end, all the 
rabbis understood that Melamed had gone too far in his incitement 
against the defense establishment and, therefore, they forced him to 
reverse his position." 
 
Yesterday HaQaretz presented a roundtable discussion involving 
former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, former Israeli 
Ambassador to the U.S. Professor Itamar Rabinovich, and former 
senior Israeli diplomat Oded Eran.  The debate revolved around the 
United StatesQ policy in the Middle East. 
 
The media reported that yesterday Labor Party ministers prevented 
the Ministerial Committee on Legislation from discussing a proposed 
amendment to the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom.  Forty-four 
Knesset members support the proposed legislation.  The amendment is 
intended to make constitutional the so-called Citizenship Law that 
prohibits Palestinians married to Israelis from obtaining 
citizenship.  Supporters fear that the High Court of Justice, which 
is presently hearing four petitions against the controversial 
amendment, will declare that it is unconstitutional in its present 
format.  Knesset Member Nachman Shai (Kadima), one of the sponsors 
of the law, announced yesterday he was withdrawing his support after 
he learned that passage of the proposal would require amendment of a 
Basic Law.  The Labor ministers yesterday demanded that the 
government find a compromise within the next two weeks that provides 
solutions to the wide range of problems arising from the Citizenship 
Law as it stands, and to present the compromise in the form of a 
government-backed bill. 
 
Over the weekend the media reported that Hamas leaders in Gaza were 
behind the arrest warrants for former FM Tzipi Livni and other 
senior Israelis in Britain and other countries. 
 
The media wonder what lies behind the apparently friendly visit of 
Lebanese PM Saad Hariri to Damascus. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
 
¶I.  QNetanyahuQs Test 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (12/21): QA state that 
is unable to employ any option -- either a rescue by military 
operation or subduing Hamas by military or economic means -- 
ultimately has no choice but to surrender.  Because there is one 
option that the Israeli government does not have -- to leave Gilad 
Shalit in the captivity of a terror organization forever.  Three 
years are more than enough.... The key lies with the Prime Minister. 
 Not because there is a tie between the seven ministers, but because 
this is his job.... In the end, what should decide is not advice 
given by someone or the assessment of an expert or pressure by the 
family in one direction or pressure by the Director of Shin Bet in 
the opposite direction.  What decides is a gut feeling, an instinct. 
 For Netanyahu, this is the first leadership test of his present 
term.  He has to come to grips with everything he preached in the 
opposition years, his self image, the books he has written, and the 
speeches he has given.  I donQt envy him. 
 
II.  QA Deal on the Edge 
 
Diplomatic correspondent and television anchor Ben Caspit wrote on 
page one of the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/21): Q[Prime Minister 
Netanyahu] wants so very much to bring Shalit home and is so very 
incapable of paying the price.  Just like in the big political 
dilemma.  He wants so very much to make peace and is so very 
incapable of paying the price.  That is how life is here, 
immeasurably cruel, claiming a heavy price for everything, no free 
lunches, and now Benjamin Netanyahu needs to make the enormously 
large decisions that he has feared all his life. There is nothing to 
envy about him or about us. 
 
III.  QThe Conflict Awaits ObamaQs Program 
 
Labor Party Knesset Member Ophir Pines-Paz, a member of the 
KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (12/21): QHow do we get the 
peace train back on track?  How do we restore the hope of peace and 
the faith in a partner on the other side? Now more than ever, the 
region needs President Barack Obama to initiate a new peace plan. 
Such a plan would replace George W. Bush's road map, which can no 
longer serve as a basis for renewed talks.... [The plan] should end 
in a permanent agreement of two states for two nations within two 
years.  History will not forgive those who do not take advantage of 
the current relative calm -- that has not existed for decades -- to 
promote peace and, instead, contributed to a dangerous deterioration 
which would sabotage any chance for peace and will lead, God forbid, 
to another wave of violence or to diplomatic moves which would 
intensify the existing rift.  Obama, who recently received the Nobel 
Peace Prize, has a golden opportunity to undertake an act of 
inspiring leadership which will justify the public's trust and 
expectations.  Only a new pragmatic peace initiative can save us 
from endless treading and time-wasting.  Only a new peace program 
can bring both sides to the negotiating table, prevent the 
resignation of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, and stop the destructive 
political deadlock.  This historical opportunity must not be missed, 
as no one knows when another will come our way. 
 
IV.  QIt's Always Best To Ask 
 
Columnist and former IDF Intelligence chief Shlomo Gazit wrote in 
the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/20): QI am not among those who 
categorically reject a referendum law. Indeed, this is a sensitive 
matter, unusual and atypical for the whole of Israel's legislative 
practice; however, a decision mandating a change of the country's 
borders should be brought for the people's direct approval and not 
merely to the coalition and some haphazard majority of Knesset 
members.... Israel now and in the future will be forced to make 
fateful decisions which could influence its permanent borders. 
Unlike in 1967 or 1981, if we are about to construct a judicial 
mechanism which will require the direct consent of the people, it 
must be ensured that the new law also mandates a referendum 
following any intent to annex territory to Israel - just the same, 
and no less, than it requires that we do this in the event that we 
intend to withdraw from a territory. 
 
¶V.  QThe Great Disconnect 
 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized (12/21): QHas the relative 
prosperity of West Bankers made them more inclined to compromise 
with Israel?  Not really.... Gazans are as grateful to Hamas as West 
Bankers are to Fatah for returning normalcy to their lives -- though 
Gazans acknowledge they have paid a greater human-rights price for 
their calm.  From an Israeli viewpoint, the heartbreak is that 
despite a massive investment of resources by the E.U. and U.S., 
accompanied by essential Israeli cooperation, the relatively 
well-off West Bankers hanker after the imprisoned Barghouti, partly 
because he refuses to rule out a third paroxysm of violence.  The 
core attitudes of West Bankers and comparatively deprived Gazans are 
not poles apart, with so many believing that violence pays. 
Economic well-being, then, does not obviate political frustration. 
Tragically, Palestinian QmoderatesQ are doing precious little to 
lessen the dissatisfaction of their people because they have failed 
to candidly discuss the compromises necessary to achieve viable 
aspirations. 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
QBomb and Be Done with It 
 
Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in the 
independent, left-Ha'aretz (12/20): QMany countries have the 
capability to threaten Israel or Western countries, but without 
motivation, this capability means nothing.... The effort required to 
change Iran's motivation has not yet begun.  Sweeping sanctions on 
gasoline imports into Iran could quiet down for a while those who 
seek to acquire the bomb, but they will not effect change in Iran. 
They will only help cement the solidarity between the opposition and 
the regime.  If we assume that Iran is a rational state, then 
dialogue between the Islamic Republic and the United States -- not 
only on nuclear issues -- is the proper leverage to be used. 
Recognizing it as a regional power, not just a QShi'ite Iranian 
threat,Q could change its policy.  But those who think Iran is crazy 
better skip the rhetoric - bomb already and be done with it. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------------------------------- 
¶3.  Copenhagen Climate Change Summit: 
------------------------------------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
QWho Is Barack Obama? 
 
Columnist Shmuel Rosner, who was HaQaretzQs correspondent in 
Washington, wrote in the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/21): QOnce, 
[Barack Obama] knew very well how to explain his actions.  This 
ability has ceased to impress.  Obama explained at the Copenhagen 
Conference that there is a Qclear formulaQ to rein in global 
warning.  It may be clear to Obama -- but less so to the rest of the 
worldQs leaders.  Neither did his speech succeed in swaying the 
balance nor in reaching a somewhat significant agreement in this 
domain.  We have already become accustomed to this pattern: the 
President-electQs well-crafted speeches used to be admired; today he 
is being treated as a man who can talk but finds it hard to 
implement.  This is not a good sign -- neither diplomatically nor 
politically. 
 
CUNNINGHAM