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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000118 
 
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.  Anniversary of President ObamaQs Swearing-In: 
 
¶3.  Aftermath of the Earthquake in Haiti 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday U.S. Special Envoy for Middle 
East Peace Senator George Mitchell came to the region in another 
attempt to jump-start between Israel and the Palestinians.  Ha'aretz 
reported that, at a meeting at President Shimon PeresQ residence on 
Sunday, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told Peres that 
Israel should take more steps to support PA President Mahmoud Abbas. 
 Peres reportedly told him about his meetings with Abbas and Saeb 
Erekat.  According to Palestinian sources, Erekat comes to the 
President's Residence every few weeks for meetings with Peres.  "I 
am a friend of Abu Mazen.  He says the Americans put him in a high 
tree and took the ladder away.  Some of the mistakes were made by 
him.  His expectations of Obama were created by him.  He thought 
that Obama would take the Palestinian side.... I can understand his 
feelings of disappointment," Peres was quoted as saying.  Peres 
added he told Abbas at one point that "postponing peace negotiations 
is playing with fire.  He says that he has time.  Something will 
happen to start an intifada and the two sides will have lost an 
opportunity."  Peres said he told Abbas he should resume the 
negotiations, as he had nothing to lose. 
 
HaQaretz quoted the AP as saying yesterday that Abbas suggested the 
U.S. administration negotiate the borders aspect of the agreement 
with Israel on the PA's behalf.  The agency quoted a Palestinian 
official as saying that Abbas made the offer in talks with gyptian 
President Hosni Mubarak.  The official ws quoted as saying that the 
Americans would be gven clear guidelines on the Palestinian 
position. However, other Palestinian sources told HaQaretz that 
Abbas had no intention of authorizing the U.S. to conduct talks on 
his behalf.  They said Abbas made a general statement to the effect 
that the U.S. must get Israel to agree to retreat to pre-1967 
borders.  According to HaQaretz, Mitchell reportedly is not carrying 
any guarantees or assurances from the United States or Israel that 
could persuade the Palestinians and Abbas to return to the 
negotiating table. 
 
All media reported that yesterday PM Benjamin Netanyahu told 
reporters that Israel must have a presence in the West Bank to stop 
rockets from being imported even after a peace agreement is 
achieved, in the first time he has spelled out such a demand.  He 
was quoted as saying that the experience of rocket attacks from the 
Lebanese and Gaza borders means Israel must be able to prevent such 
weapons from being brought into any future Palestinian entity in the 
West Bank.  Israel Radio quoted senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb 
Erekat as saying that his people will not renounce the Jordan 
Valley, which belongs to them. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted Aziz Dwaik, HamasQ most senior 
representative in the West Bank -- the elected speaker of the 
Palestinian Legislative Council -- as saying yesterday that Hamas 
has accepted IsraelQs right to exist and would be prepared to 
nullify its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel. 
Dwaik was released a few months ago after spending nearly three 
years in an Israeli prison. 
 
All media reported that yesterday DM Ehud Barak announced that the 
status of Ariel College in the West Bank will be upgraded to a 
university.  Media reported that Barak acted under pressure by FM 
Avigdor Lieberman.  The move won applause from the right, but 
campaigners against an academic boycott of Israel said that it is 
like a Qred rag to a bull. 
 
HaQaretz reported that new documents presented in federal court in 
Washington, D.C. reveal deep ties (more than was known) between 
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Dr. Stewart David Nozette, a 
Jewish American astronomer accused of spying for Israel. HaQaretz 
noted that the Israeli media covered his arrest on October 19, 2009 
and then interest waned, though the American media are still 
monitoring the case. 
 
HaQaretz reported that American journalist Jared Malsin, the 
English-language editor for the Palestinian news agency MaQan, 
returned to the U.S. yesterday, after spending a week in a detention 
cell at Ben-Gurion Airport.  Malsin had been detained with his 
girlfriend after returning from a holiday abroad last Tuesday.  He 
was questioned and the interrogator recommended not allowing him 
into Israel, commenting on his "critical reporting" on events in the 
territories.  The interrogator also noted: "We believe he used his 
Jewishness to secure a visa."  The Interior Ministry claimed Malsin 
refused to cooperate with his interrogators, even though he knew he 
could be deported as a result.  The Jerusalem Post, which also 
reported on the case, printed a photograph of Malsin shaking hands 
with U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem Daniel Rubinstein at the MaQan 
office in Bethlehem earlier this month.  In an unrelated 
development, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Government Press 
Office is pushing for the introduction of a U.S.-style journalist 
visa for foreign reporters, as part of a bid to filter out political 
activists posing as media employees. 
 
HaQaretz reported that Israeli immigration police were involved in 
the arrest and deportation earlier this month of a Czech, 
pro-Palestinian activist living in Ramallah, despite the 
government's denial.  The newspaperQs source is a highly placed 
source familiar with the case. 
 
Yediot reported that settlers may have vandalized tombstones in the 
cemetery in Awarta, a village near Nablus.  The Israeli human rights 
group BQTselem has demanded that the army and police investigate the 
incident and prosecute the criminals. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday at the International 
Tourism Trade Fair in Madrid, Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov 
(Yisrael Beiteinu) shook hands with his Iranian counterpart. 
 
Yediot reported that, in a bid to attract Israeli visitors, Turkey 
will launch a number of events that are going to be held at the 
IMTM, the tourism fair that is scheduled be held at the Exhibition 
Grounds in Tel Aviv. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the High Court of Justice accepted 
the state's admission that is ignoring illegal construction, 
including an argument to the effect that the army was devoting all 
its energies to enforcing the government-ordered building freeze in 
the Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank and that the 
illegal Palestinian building was a low priority matter. 
 
Electronic media quoted PM Netanyahu as saying this morning at a 
Manufacturers Association assembly that "infiltrators cause [Israel] 
cultural, social and economic damage, and pull us towards the Third 
World."  "We suffer from a problem that actually stems from Israel's 
economic success," he added, explaining the problems that arise from 
the breached border with Egypt.  "We have become almost the only 
First World country that can be reached by foot from the Third 
World.  We are flooded with surge of refugees who threaten to wash 
away our achievements and damage our existence as a Jewish 
democratic state," Netanyahu said.  He reiterated his intention to 
erect a physical barrier along the border with Egypt to prevent this 
"flood" of migrants. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Tel Aviv University academic Dr. 
Anat Matar will call for a boycott of Israel, speaking at a London 
university next month to commemorate Qone year since IsraelQs 
attackQ on Gaza. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday a Jordanian prosecutor 
agreed to hear a lawsuit against two Israeli lawmakers -- Knesset 
Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Knesset Member Arieh Eldad (National 
Union) -- after they called for turning Jordan into a Palestinian 
state.  The lawyers accused the Israeli parliamentarians of 
threatening JordanQs sovereignty and security. 
 
Maariv extensively reported on a conflict between the Druze people 
and the state over QillegalQ construction in the Golan. 
 
Media reported that the U.N. has requested Israel to send police to 
Haiti to help maintain order.  Israel is reportedly considering 
agreeing to dispatch a small force. 
 
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, NBC correspondent Martin 
Fletcher reflects on how being the son of Holocaust survivors has 
affected his life as a journalist covering war-torn countries. 
 
Yediot reported that this week President Obama attended a musical 
event in Washington featuring Israeli singer Idan Raichel, who 
conveys a message of tolerance in his concerts. 
 
------------ 
¶1.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
 
¶I.  QObamaQs Loss Is NetanyahuQs Gain 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning HaQaretz (1/21): QThe Republican win in the fight for 
the U.S. Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy represents a major 
victory for opponents of U.S. President Barack Obama and for Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  For nine months, Netanyahu held his 
ground against pressure by Obama, who enjoys a Democratic majority 
in both houses of Congress.  From now on, Obama will be much more 
dependent on support from his Republican adversaries, who are 
supporters and friends of Netanyahu.... The results of the elections 
in Massachusetts, one of the most liberal states in the union, are 
already making things difficult for Obama.  Those who support the 
peace process see Obama as having missed a historic opportunity by 
wasting his first year in office on empty diplomatic moves, unable 
even to jump-start talks between Israel and the Palestinians. From 
now on it will be even more difficult: Congressional support is 
essential for every diplomatic move and in the current political 
atmosphere in the United States -- polarization and serious conflict 
between the two parties -- Netanyahu can depend on Republican 
support to thwart any attempts to pressure Israel.  If Obama's 
popularity continues to plummet and the Republicans retake at least 
one of the houses of Congress in November then Netanyahu and his 
partners on the right can breathe easy and continue to expand the 
West Bank settlements and the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem. 
 
II.  QBarakQs Boomerang 
 
Settler leader Israel Harel wrote in HaQaretz (1/21): QAfter three 
months of concentrated propaganda against Qright-wing refusal to 
serveQ -- or in other words (with sweeping generalization), against 
the hesder yeshivas, which combine Torah study with army service -- 
one of the two soldiers who held up a sign saying QShimshon 
[Battalion] won't evacuate HomeshQ has been ousted from the Israel 
Defense Forces.  A vigorous protest against his ouster is essential. 
 His demonstrative act of protest, which was clearly unacceptable 
(the soldier was rightly sent to jail), did not in any way amount to 
refusal to serve.  A mere protest does not warrant such grave injury 
to a soldier's honor, the honor of his family and the honor of his 
social and spiritual milieu.... Those who were tolerant of, and in 
some cases even sympathetic to, the phenomenon of refusing orders in 
the midst of battle -- in Lebanon, for instance -- have stigmatized 
precisely those who are most highly motivated, by tarring them with 
the brush of refusal to serve. 
 
III.  QLegitimizing the Evils of Occupation 
 
Columnist and former Meretz Party Chairman Yossi Sarid, who started 
his political life in the Labor Party,  wrote on page one of the 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (1/21): QThe Labor Party has 
always been the great legitimizer of the occupation's evils.  This 
is the historical mission it has taken on, and no other party could 
have done it better.  Now Labor is legitimizing another evil. 
Having once served as chairman of the Council for Higher Education, 
I can assert: there is no academic justification for recognizing 
Ariel College as a university.  Nor as a Quniversity centerQ -- a 
smart-aleck term trying to bypass the rules.  Barak always believes 
he can build a new career with tricks and ruses but ends up tripping 
himself with his ploys.... Now those boycotting Israeli universities 
have a case -- proof of the tightening knot between the occupation, 
military administration and academe.  No doubt, Barak's move will 
raise more calls to boycott Israeli universities and academics.  We 
can only hope the Council for Higher Education will not cooperate 
with this outrageous move. Otherwise, it would betray the public's 
trust and do irreparable damage to all the universities and colleges 
under its charge. 
 
IV.  QRight-Wing Extremists Remain Immune 
 
Advocate Dr. Shlomo Cohen, former President of the Israel Bar 
Association, wrote in the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (1/21): Q[Outgoing Attorney-General Menachem] Mazuz has 
protected an apartheid policy that expressed itself in the Israeli 
authoritiesQ decision to prevent movement of Palestinians on Route 
443, despite the fact that land confiscation was justified by the 
need to build a road that would serve local residents.  During 
MazuzQs term, the state repeatedly infringed [High Court laws 
mainly those dealing with the locations of the [separation] fence, 
but also other ones. IDF forces killed around 4,700 Palestinian 
civilians.  Only legal 170 files were opened; only around 30 
soldiers were put on trial.  Hundreds of Palestinians were maimed. 
Settlers damaged the property of thousands of them.  Only a small 
minority of cases was investigated; only ten indictments were 
presented.  Israeli democracy, which is largely based on the 
principle of rule of law, represents an extraordinary achievement in 
universal and historical terms Q especially considering the 
constraints, tests, and hardships with which Israel had to contend 
all along.  But this achievement is overshadowed by the failure of 
the Israeli judicial system, which teats the territories as a black 
hole.  The outgoing Attorney-General shares this responsibility. 
 
¶V.  QMore Free Speech in Israeli and Palestinian than U.S. Media 
Palestinian-American journalist Ray Hanania, the coordinator of the 
National Arab American Journalists Association, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (1/21): QWhy the near-total 
silence from American leaders and muted coverage in the American 
press now over the arrest and detention [by Israel] of [American 
journalist and English-language editor of the Palestinian news 
agency MaQan, Jared] Malsin?  It is a testament to the confidence of 
Israel's media that they, more than anyone else, have written and 
followed the Malsin story.  In fact, if it wasn't for the Israeli 
media and the MaQan News Agency, few others would be covering the 
story.... While the Israeli media sees this as a story about a 
government agency violating free speech, the American media and the 
elected officials in the U.S. view it as a reason to bash Israel. 
In a way, that puts the mainstream American press and American 
politicians in the same boat with those Palestinian and Arab media 
which see the issue not as one of principle but as an opportunity to 
attack Israel.... Most of the Israeli and Palestinian media did a 
better job of covering his case than the mainstream news media in 
America, the country that claims to set the bar for the rest of the 
world when it comes to free speech.  Have the mainstream American 
media and American officials failed in doing their jobs, or are they 
just afraid to get on Israel's bad side?  Whatever the reason, many 
in the Israeli and Palestinian press are keeping the story on the 
front burner in a way that helps guarantee that Malsin's 
journalistic rights will eventually be protected, while putting the 
Qfree mediaQ in America to shame. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶2.  Anniversary of President ObamaQs Swearing-In: 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
"Unhappy Obamaversary" 
 
Contributor Gil Troy, a professor of history at McGill University on 
leave in Jerusalem, wrote in the conservative, independent Jerusalem 
Post (1/21): QIn fairness, being president in 2009 was not easy. 
When Obama started running, he, like most people, assumed the good 
times would continue.  Bill Clinton can tell his successor that it 
is a lot more fun to preside over prosperity than manage a 
recession.  But many of Obama's problems are Obama's fault.  In 
2008, candidate Obama promised to lead from the center.  He sang a 
song of modern American nationalism, a Qyes we canQ credo of working 
together, seeking the national sweet spot where most Americans could 
agree.... Alas, in his big push for health care reform, Obama 
deputized the partisan, ideologically-charged Democrats in Congress 
to draft the legislation, and accepted pushing for a marginal 
victory rather than nurturing a broad-based bipartisan coalition. 
The Republicans share the blame.  The party of Ronald Reagan and 
George H.W. Bush has become the party of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn 
Beck, shrill, demagogic, adolescent, obstructionist.  Quick to 
criticize but slow to envision constructive alternatives, the 
Republicans have been the party of Qno we won'tQ to Obama's Qyes we 
canQ.... Just as his Qyes we canQ campaign broke free of the 
shackles of the past, in this, his sophomore year, America's rookie 
president must break free from the shackles of liberal Democratic 
orthodoxy. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
¶3.  Aftermath of the Earthquake in Haiti: 
----------------------------------------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
QThe Pride and the Shame 
 
Liberal columnist Larry Derfner wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (1/21): QWhen it's a matter of life or 
death, [Israelis] have the biggest hearts.  So the IDF field 
hospital in Haiti is a reflection of something very deep in the 
national character.  But so is everything that's summed up in the 
name Gaza.Q  It's the Haiti side of Israel that makes the Gaza side 
so inexpressibly tragic.  And more and more, the Haiti part of the 
national character has been dwarfed by the Gaza part.  Gaza, too, is 
a matter of life and death -- not just for the people who were 
trapped in the rubble there not long ago, but for Israel.  When will 
this big-hearted nation stop being heartless to the people in 
Gaza? 
 
CUNNINGHAM