VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #2823/01 3631107
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291107Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4774
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0084
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 2995
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 7051
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 7255
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 6492
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 5160
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 7352
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 4109
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 2334
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 0987
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 8506
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 3518
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 7491
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 9577
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH PRIORITY 2312
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 3414
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY

UNCLAS TEL AVIV 002823 
 
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 
 
Recipients: please remove spaces from Web addresses: they do not 
conform to cable format. 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Anti-Terrorism Efforts 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media reported that the White House made clear in a 
statement yesterday (http:// www.whitehouse.gov / the-press-office / 
statement-white-house-press-secretary-robert- gibbs- 
construction-east-jerusalem ) that it opposes new Israeli 
construction in East Jerusalem.  "Neither party should engage in 
efforts or take actions that could unilaterally preempt, or appear 
to preempt, negotiations. Rather, both parties should return to 
negotiations without preconditions as soon as possible," White House 
spokesman Robert Gibbs was quoted as saying in a statement.  Gibbs 
was referring to the plan to build 692 housing units in the Jewish 
neighborhoods of Neve Yaakov, Har Homa, and Pisgat Ze'ev in East 
Jerusalem.  HaQaretz quoted a senior official in PM Benjamin 
Netanyahu's bureau as saying: "Everything was carried out with 
transparency vis-a-vis the Americans, even if there are 
disagreements."  The official added that Netanyahu has said that 
construction in Jerusalem would not be restricted.  Maariv quoted a 
senior GOI official in Jerusalem as saying that the governmentQs 
move was coordinated in advance with the U.S. 
 
The Jerusalem Post, HaQaretz, and other media reported that the 
"terms of reference" for restarting diplomatic discussions with the 
Palestinians are expected to be the main focus of PM Netanyahu's 
discussions with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt today, 
amid signs that Special U.S. Envoy for Middle East Peace George 
Mitchell has made inroads on this matter.  Mitchell, who hasn't been 
here since early November but has continued talks with Israeli and 
Palestinian negotiators in the U.S., is due back in early January 
and is expected to bring with him a document that would provide a 
basis for relaunching the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that AFP, in a story filed from Cairo, 
 
quoted an Arab diplomat as saying that Mitchell would present "two 
draft letters of guarantee, one for Israel and one to the 
Palestinian Authority, during his next visit to the region."  "The 
U.S. is hoping that the two letters will serve as a basis for the 
relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, but we don't know if 
they will satisfy the Palestinians, who want a complete freeze of 
settlement activity before talks resume," the diplomat was quoted as 
saying.  One senior Israeli diplomatic source told The Jerusalem 
Post that the terms of reference Mitchell is reportedly bringing 
would probably closely resemble the statement Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton released soon after Netanyahu announced his 10-month 
housing-start moratorium in the West Bank.  "We believe," that 
statement read, "that through good-faith negotiations the parties 
can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and 
reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state 
based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of 
a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect 
subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements." 
Israel Radio, which echoed the main media reports, reported that 
National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), 
National Security Advisor Uzi Arad, and Netanyahu assistant Attorney 
Yitzhak Molcho, accompany the PM to Egypt.  The radio noted that the 
Egyptians may be interested to hear from Molcho, who is NetanyahuQs 
liaison with the U.S., Qwhat the Americans thinkQ about the peace 
process.  Yediot says that Netanyahu will ask Mubarak to pressure 
the Palestinians. 
 
All media reported that yesterday, in a stormy Kadima Knesset 
faction, party head Tzipi Livni succeeded in uniting her party 
behind a statement rejecting NetanyahuQs offer for Kadima to join 
his government coalition without impacting its policies or its 
makeup.  The faction unanimously endorsed a national unity 
government, but only in a true partnership.  All media reported that 
Livni bashed NetanyahuQs Qgutter politics.Q  The media, which say 
that the tug-of-war between Netanyahu and Livni will continue, cited 
senior Likud membersQ criticism of NetanyahuQs attempted move as 
debasing to their party. 
 
HaQaretz and Yediot quoted Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin as saying 
yesterday that closing the Shalit deal will be a great achievement 
for Hamas but that it will not bring down PA President Mahmoud 
Abbas.  Speaking to Israeli ambassadors gathered at the Foreign 
Ministry, Diskin said that Shin Bet does not believe a third 
Intifada is about to break out in the territories at this stage. 
Israel Radio reported that Diskin told the KnessetQs Foreign Affairs 
and Defense Committee that although the situation in the West Bank 
is currently quiet, violence could erupt if currently detained Fatah 
leader Marwan Barghouti becomes head of the PA and if other 
Palestinians are released. 
 
Major media quoted DM Ehud Barak as saying yesterday at a session of 
the KnessetQs Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that IranQs 
nuclear facility at Qom would withstand a regular bombing and that 
the free world is not supportive enough of Iranian protestors. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas 
political bureau, as saying in an interview with the Saudi newspaper 
Al-Watan that his organization does not want war with Israel and 
that such a war does not serve Hamas. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Qatom spyQ Mordecai Vanunu, whose freedom 
has been restricted since he was released from jail in 2004, was 
arrested yesterday after he met with a female Norwegian citizen. 
 
On December 25, The Jerusalem Post reported that a dispute is 
rumbling between Israel and the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem 
after a U.S. diplomatic car allegedly tried running over a Defense 
Ministry security guard recently at an IDF checkpoint in the West 
Bank. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and other media reported that a large-scale 
emergency drill will take place at Ben Gurion Airport today. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
 
¶I.  QObamaQs Luck 
 
Washington correspondent Natasha Mozgovaya wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (12/29): QQOnly a miracle prevented a 
disaster,Q it was said after the attempted terrorist attack on 
Delta-Northwest Airlines Flight 253.  A passenger, Jasper Schuringa, 
who jumped on the terrorist as he was trying to set off an explosive 
device, not only saved his fellow passengers but also the first year 
of U.S. President Barack Obama's tenure.  The last thing Obama would 
have needed was to devote his State of the Union address next month 
to the first big terrorist attack on American soil since September 
11, 2001.  The incident reveals just how delicate a situation the 
President with the ambitious agenda finds himself in.... Obama does 
not have time.... With regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 
that has been pushed to the sidelines of the presidential agenda, 
Obama has missed at least two opportunities to present a peace plan. 
 The PLO representative in Washington has told HaQaretz that the 
Palestinians do not need a new plan.  QThere are already sufficient 
parameters on the table to renew the negotiations,Q he said.  If 
Obama is thinking about acting without waiting for ideal conditions, 
as he has done on a number of other issues, this is the right time 
to present his plan. 
 
II.  QWhy Netanyahu Wants Livni 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (12/29): QAccording to [former left-wing 
politician Yossi] Beilin, whose sources are the envy of every 
diplomatic correspondent, Netanyahu has agreed that the negotiations 
with the Palestinians will be based on the 1967 borders.  This is 
one of the pillars of the statement of principles George Mitchell is 
slated to present during his next visit to the region in less than 
two weeks.  Netanyahu is not trying to enlarge his government 
because a new war is threatening Israel's citizens.  Rather, he is 
scared the peace process will threaten the wholeness of his 
government.  He needs Kadima to fill the ranks that will empty in 
the wake of the departure of his partners from Yisrael Beiteinu and 
the National Union, and perhaps also some members of the Likud. 
Netanyahu wants Livni inside so that she will not take advantage of 
the coalition's collapse and push him out of office.  Because of an 
absence of basic trust between the two, Netanyahu is taking care not 
to reveal to her the details of the understandings formulated 
between him and the Obama administration.  He has confined himself 
to a declaration of general faithfulness to his Bar-Ilan University 
speech. 
III.  QBully Diplomacy 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (12/29): QA few days after the Palestinian 
President declared publicly that a peace agreement based on the 1967 
lines would end demands on Israel, [IsraelQs] Foreign Minister 
Qreached the conclusionQ that even returning to the Green Line would 
not lead to the end of the conflict.  Using blunt language, 
Lieberman made clear to his ministryQs staff that his worldview is 
the one that represents Israel.  The next day, Netanyahu told them 
that conditions were ripe for a renewal of negotiations with the 
Palestinians.  This is not a question of differing nuances; the 
conflicting messages show an Israel given over to the hands of a 
bizarre government that is deceiving its citizens as well as its 
neighbors and friends around the world.  Israel cannot allow itself 
to have an extreme and irresponsible politician like Lieberman as 
its showcase to the world.  Lieberman's appointment as foreign 
minister is turning out to be one of Netanyahu's most serious 
mistakes in putting together his cabinet.  If the Prime Minister 
really wants to move a peace initiative ahead and win the trust of 
the international community, he must correct this mistake and 
release Lieberman from his post. 
 
IV.  QWorking with the PA 
 
Dov Weisglass, who was former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's top 
diplomatic advisor, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (12/29): Q[Last weekQs] heinous murder of Rabbi Meir 
Avshalom Hai called for speedy justice.  Most likely the operational 
circumstances made it impossible to arrest the murderers and 
justified killing them.  The many worrying indications of a 
resumption of terror acts in Judea and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank] 
justified a swift, precise, and forceful action, in order to deter 
properly those wishing to renew the acts of violence.... [However,] 
the decision-makers in Israel must not forget that without 
Palestinian security cooperation, Israel will find it very hard to 
maintain security o the level to which weQve become accustomed in 
rcent years.  In similar circumstances in the futur, Israel must 
act in such a way as to prevent ordecrease as much as possible the 
affront to the Palestinian security organizations, unless this is 
absolutely essential.  In the maze of Israeli-Palestinian relations, 
the (relative) quiet was fairly stable.  Every effort must be made 
to preserve it. 
 
¶V.  QThe Victory of Cruelty 
Veteran journalist and television anchor Yaron London wrote in the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (12/28): QA year has 
passed since Operation Cast Lead.  The region surrounding Gaza is 
calm and prosperous.... Hamas refrains from firing because it needs 
a timeout in order to establish its rule, rebuild the destructed 
houses, intensify its military power, and fulfill the Shalit deal. 
When its leaders feel that they have completed their missions, when 
they believe the time is right, they'll resume their attacks -- and 
maybe not.  Perhaps they have learned their lesson.  In any event, 
we cannot doubt the assertion that had we not sent a blow of fire to 
Gaza, Hamas would have continued firing.... The operation's results 
are the victory of cruelty.  It's unfortunate.  It brings us back to 
reality.  It calls for conclusions.  As time passes, the world, 
which as a short memory, will forget the harsh sights in Gaza, 
because more difficult sights, in other places in the world, will 
take up all the free space in the collective mind's hard drive.  The 
Gazans will be the only ones to remember.  If we are proven false, 
we must arouse their memory with fire.  We must not return to the 
soaking-up strategy, which is aimed at collecting credit points in 
the international public opinion.  It has been proven that our stock 
of points runs out several days after we deal our enemies a critical 
blow.  It doesn't pay to wait.  We will have to impose the 
disproportionate response quickly, even if the rocket interception 
measures are not fully developed by then.  QDeterrence,Q as security 
experts say, Qmust be maintained.Q  To this statement we should add 
that the determination of the maintainers of deterrence must also be 
maintained. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--------------------------- 
¶2.  Anti-Terrorism Efforts: 
--------------------------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
QRegarding the Obama Doctrine 
Zalman Shoval, a senior Likud member and former ambassador to the 
U.S., wrote in the independent Israel Hayom (12/29): QA year into 
his term, Obama stresses that America has no intention to give up 
its status as leader of the free world and superpower power and -- 
although he does not say this explicitly -- he does not intend to 
renounce the United StatesQ role as policeman of the world.... He is 
not leaving any doubt that radical Israel terrorism is the main 
enemy of America and the entire enlightened world.  These are not 
just words.  America is prepared to act -- not only in Afghanistan. 
American forces are currently taking part in the liquidation of a 
large al-Qaida group in Yemen.  To be brief, the key point in what 
is already called the QObama doctrineQ is that there are just wars 
that cannot be avoided and that responsible nations must also 
understand that military force sometimes plays a role in 
peace-keeping (not exactly the messages that Peace Now wanted to 
hear from the Nobel Peace Prize laureate). 
 
CUNNINGHAM