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TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Major media reported that Israel has given a German mediator its 
response to Hamas demands involving the release of Palestinian 
prisoners in exchange for the return of Gilad Shalit.  The Israeli 
response will supposedly be relayed to Hamas today.  The top-level 
marathon meetings of Israeli ministers ended shortly after midnight 
without an announcement of a decision over whether the Qforum of 
seven,Q comprising PM Netanyahu and six other senior cabinet 
ministers, had decided to accept or reject Hamas' offer.  The media 
reported that the Government of Israel is bound to accept a deal to 
return Shalit, but under some conditions.  HaQaretz and other 
leading media reported that Israel would like to see most of the 
Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank, especially those 
considered the most dangerous, expelled to Gaza or abroad.  A Hamas 
source told the leading news Web site Ynet today that the latest 
Israeli move may hold up the entire process for some time.  The 
source was quoted as saying that Hamas had been expecting an 
"Israeli ploy" in which conditions would be stipulated in the last 
minute.  The source said: "We are still waiting to receive the 
official Israeli decision, but as we have said, for the deal to go 
through, Israel must accept all of our demands.  "If this condition 
is not met and the number of deportees reduced to near zero, there 
will be no deal," the Hamas source said.  However, Ynet said that 
Hamas is unlikely to drop out of negotiations, as it also has much 
interest in the execution of the deal.  The Jerusalem Post reported 
that, alarmed by the possibility that a prisoner exchange agreement 
will bolster HamasQ popularity among Palestinians, Fatah has stepped 
up its measures against the movementQs leading figures and members 
in the West Bank. 
 
Alongwith manifestations of support for the deal outsid PM 
NetanyahuQs Jerusalem office, such as picturs of Shalit mounted on 
multiple cardboard placars, the media reported on protests 
highlighting te possible danger posed by released terrorists. 
 
Israel Radio reported that France intends to host aone-day Middle 
East peace conference next month, including Israel, the PA, Egypt, 
and the Quartet members.  The radio reported that none of the sides 
has objected to taking part in the meeting. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that several heads of hesder yeshivas 
(which combine military service and religious studies) that they 
were dissatisfied with the overly conciliatory message that went out 
from SundayQs meeting of yeshiva heads.  Yediot reported that a 
yeshiva in Arad has abandoned the hesder arrangement.  Its head, 
Rabbi Yinon Ilani, was quoted as saying that the Israeli 
establishment is not the pertinent authority.  Media reported that 
reservists have hanged banners in support of the Har Bracha Yeshiva, 
which DM Ehud Barak has removed from the hesder arrangement. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the White House announced yesterday 
that President Obama has signed a defense spending bill that 
includes $202 million in funds for IsraelQs missile defense 
programs.  However, the appropriation does not contain funding for 
the F-22 aircraft. 
 
HaQaretz cited research by two Israel Prize laureates -- Ruth 
Lapidoth and Dr. Ofra Friesel -- that Israel is unreservedly bound 
to the Roadmap. 
 
The Web sites of HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post quoted the Jewish 
Telegraphic Agency (JTA) as saying yesterday that former U.S. 
President Jimmy Carter has apologized to the American Jewish 
community for 'stigmatizing Israel' and asked for forgiveness for 
his actions.  "We must recognize Israel's achievements under 
difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help 
Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, 
but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize 
Israel," Carter wrote in a letter to the JTA.  "As I would have 
noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at 
any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of 
mine that may have done so," Carter wrote, referring to the prayer 
said on Yom Kippur in which Jews ask God for forgiveness for any 
sins. 
 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Mayor Nir Barkat has told Jerusalem 
Municipality legal adviser Yossi Habilio that he does not want him 
to represent the city in a High Court petition demanding the 
cancellation of controversial plans by architect Moshe Safdie for 
the Silwan neighborhood, south of the Old City.  The petitioners 
reported that Safdie, who was commissioned by the previous 
administration of Uri Lupolianski in 2007, also received payment of 
$82,900 from the right-wing Elad organization, which seeks to expand 
the Jewish presence in Silwan through settlement and tourism. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that last month an immigrant American 
teenager underwent a Qdubious arrestQ and was subsequently badly 
beaten up by inmates. 
 
All media reported that archeologists have uncovered a Jewish house 
in Nazareth dating to the time of Jesus. 
 
The media reported on the passing of President ObamaQs healthcare 
reform in the U.S. Senate.  Maariv says that this is the PresidentQs 
first achievement. 
 
Yediot reported that the State Department has warned American 
tourists about the behavior of Israeli drivers.  The State 
Department also allegedly warns that the personal computers of 
American visitors may be checked for security purposes, and that 
they may get them back broken or not get them at all. The report 
cites the State DepartmentQs Country-Specific Information on Israel, 
the West Bank, and Gaza on travel.state.gov, last updated in June 
¶2009. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
 
¶I.  QEnd the Indecision 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (12/22): 
QInfuriatingly, the agonizing deliberations [over Gilad ShalitQs 
release] are taking place three and a half years too late.... The 
cabinet will not be able to wash its hands of responsibility with 
the spurious claim that it has Qdone everythingQ to obtain Shalit's 
release.  True, it clamped a cruel blockade on Gaza as a means of 
applying pressure, but the heavy price of that is paid by the 
Gazans, not Hamas.  The massive military operation in Gaza did 
nothing to advance his release, and in the end Israel had to return 
to negotiations.  Not a single new reason that justifies keeping the 
Shalits and the Israeli public in suspense -- and jeopardizing 
Shalit's life -- has been added to the sum total of security and 
political considerations.  Israel's security does not depend on 
whether another 10 or 20 terrorists are freed.  Israel's prestige is 
not measured only by its ability to combat terrorism, and its 
failure is not a function of the roars of triumph with which Hamas 
will welcome its freed prisoners.  Gilad Shalit, who could have been 
free a long time ago, must come home now. 
 
II.  QThe Fateful Decision 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (12/22): 
QBeyond the moral bankruptcy of rewarding past evil, with history as 
our guide -- and with heavy hearts -- we assert that Israelis will 
die if the government obtains Gilad's freedom by acting only with 
its heart.... Stopping on a dime will mean that the pundits and 
politicians who orchestrated the campaign [to release Gilad Shalit] 
that took matters this far will have some explaining to do.  If 
Netanyahu does pull back, it will be because Israelis were bluffing 
ourselves as much as we were bluffing Hamas.  A QnoQ now would take 
Hamas down a peg.  Netanyahu could directly address the Islamists' 
disappointed constituents, emphasizing that meeting Hamas's 
rapacious demands would have dishonored him and caused Israel to 
lose face.  Palestinians will understand that.  So will Israelis. 
He should frankly acknowledge that he was ready for an honorable 
deal.  Indeed, he must stress that he remains ready for an honorable 
deal.  The harrowing ordeal of Gilad's selfless parents touches us 
all.  Their son has become our son.  Nevertheless, Netanyahu must 
reverse course.  The killers should remain incarcerated; if they 
don't, more Israelis will surely die. 
 
III.  QNetanyahu Already Thinking Ahead 
 
Diplomatic correspondent and television anchor Ben Caspit wrote in 
the popular, pluralist Maariv (12/22): QWhichever way [Benjamin 
Netanyahu] decides, he is torn -- truly torn.  All his life he made 
a career out of preaching morality to those who Qcapitulated to 
terror,Q and now he is about to be the first among the capitulators. 
 He is surrounded by people opposed to the deal.... Oh, what 
passionate speeches he would have made against the Shalit deal, if 
he were the leader of the opposition.... In the end, his aides 
believe, he will go for it.  ItQs hard to believe that this will 
happen either today or tomorrow.  He will drive us, and himself, 
crazy, a little bit longer.  And perhaps even longer.... Netanyahu 
doesnQt rest for a moment, his troubled soul can find no solace, he 
sleeps little, tortures himself a lot.  That is how he looks, that 
is also how he feels, and all this over a deal for the release of 
one prisoner.  ItQs interesting what will happen when the Iranian 
matter is on the agenda. 
 
IV.  QItQs All Talk 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late Prime 
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined in the mass-circulation, pluralist 
Yediot Aharonot (12/22): QAt the very very end, after all the 
deliberation (and mainly, the reports about the deliberation) the 
bargaining, the tough negotiations, Israel will pay a high price, 
more or less, for the safe return of Gilad Shalit. The problem is 
that the current prime minister has preached for years for taking a 
tenacious and firm position, with gritted teeth and a commando knife 
between the teeth, against terror organizations.  And now, oops, for 
the third time, he finds himself facing a dismal reality: the first 
time was when, to his dismay, he spoke about Qtwo states for two 
peoples,Q the second time was when, to his horror, he spoke about a 
construction freeze and now -- the terrible deal.  Bibi Netanyahu 
tosses and turns on his bed at night and dreams of Arrow missiles 
that are gratuitous in a war of this kind, of thousands of tanks, of 
nuclear facilities that we are said to have.  What use are all these 
in the war over the life of Gilad Shalit?  For decades, we have 
trapped ourselves into the present situation.  All Israeli 
governments lent a hand to swapping murderers for our prisoners at 
excessive dosages, never symmetrically. Suddenly now, today, we are 
trying to change the rules and it isnQt working too well.  We are 
facing an enemy of unparalleled cruelty -- the kind of enemy that 
can do what it wants.  That can hurt Shalit.  QThatQs not possible, 
you say, Qwe have a tape: he is alive, he is alive, he is alive. 
Nonsense and folly.... These words are being written before the 
forum of seven ends its deliberations. It may be that the 
negotiations will continue, that they will try to get something 
more.  That they will postpone deciding.  That they will bow their 
heads to the German mediator and beg him to keep going a little 
more.  We should foster no illusions: the deal will get under way 
and its price will be unbearably heavy. 
 
¶V.  QChange in Gaza Is Possible 
 
Gershon Baskin, Co-Director of the Israel/Palestine Center for 
Research and Information, wrote in the conservative, independent 
Jerusalem Post (12/22): QI say to [West Bank Palestinians I meet]: 
if you want to end the occupation and liberate your land and create 
your state next to Israel, go and meet with Israelis from Likud and 
from Israel Beiteinu, don't boycott them -- that has no logic to it 
at all.  So I say to the [Israeli] government, if we want to change 
the regime in Gaza without reoccupying it, we must change the hearts 
and the minds of the Gazan people.... Israel's current policy is not 
only not working, it is counterproductive and it is morally wrong. 
Collective punishment against a civilian population will never 
create future partners for peace.  If we want to weaken Hamas, end 
the economic siege.  If we want to bankrupt Hamas economically, open 
the passages for trade -- it will put the tunnels out of business. 
If we want to build partners for peace, enable thousands of Gazans 
to come out to meet with Israelis.  If we want change in Gaza, we 
have to change the way we treat Gaza. Hamas is the enemy; the people 
of Gaza are not. 
 
CUNNINGHAM