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PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
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SIPDIS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  President ObamaQs Interview with TIME Magazine 
 
¶2.  Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media cited President ObamaQs interview with TIME Magazine, in 
which he admitted that he erred during his first year in office by 
raising too high expectations of a Middle East breakthrough.  Obama 
said that neither side has been willing to make the bold gestures 
necessary to move the process forward.  This morning Israel RadioQs 
anchor rhetorically asked why the President needs the National 
Security CouncilQs advice to know that he failed.  While the Prime 
Minister's Office had no official response to the president's 
remarks, Channel 2-TV quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as 
saying that Israel had warned the Americans that their Middle East 
strategy would not bear fruit.   The Jerusalem Post reported that 
another senior Israeli official tried to lower any expectations that 
the current regional trip of U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East 
Peace Senator George Mitchell would lead to any dramatic progress, 
saying that it was not clear whether the PA had made the strategic 
decision to re-enter the talks.  The official said Netanyahu had no 
intention of giving Mitchell any more gestures to take to the 
Palestinians, saying that the Palestinians have climbed up a 
"eucalyptus tree," and every time a gesture is given as a ladder, 
they climb even higher.   Talking on Israel Radio this morning, 
Deputy FM Daniel Ayalon said that the President [Obama] had not 
failed.  HaQaretz noted that, speaking about the Arab worldQs 
intolerance to the peace process, Obama aimed his criticism mainly 
at Saudi Arabia Q namely over King AbdullahQs refusal to offer 
Israel gestures of normalization in a bid to muster public support 
for the peace process. 
 
The media reported that yesterday Special Envoy Mitchell met with PM 
Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, DM Ehud Barak, FM 
Avigdor Lieberman, and Opposition head Tzipi Livni.   Israel Radio 
quoted Jerusalem officials as saying that attempts to renew talks 
with the Palestinians would continue despite President ObamaQs 
conclusion that he has been unable to achieve a breakthrough in the 
peace process.  The Jerusalem Post reported that, before meeting 
Mitchell, Peres told reporters that "time was of the essence" in the 
peace process, and that there were forces in the region who wanted 
to destroy what has already been achieved.  Mitchell said he 
recognized the difficulties and complexities, but that the U.S. 
would pursue negotiations until a peace agreement is reached. 
Maariv reported that during his meetings with the Israeli 
leadership, Mitchell attempted to convince them to grant further 
gestures to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, in an effort to convince him 
to return to the negotiating table.  This request, however, was met 
with adamant refusal, with the argument that all gestures had been 
exhausted.  Maariv reported that a senior political source explained 
to the Americans: QWe froze settlement construction, we declared our 
support for a two-state solution -- and the Palestinians refuse to 
negotiate.  The blame ought to be cast on them, not us.Q   After the 
round of talks in Israel, Mitchell is expected to visit the PA today 
and meet with Abbas and PM Salam Fayyad. 
 
HaQaretz (Akiva Eldar) reported that a senior government minister 
told the newspaper yesterday that the chances of renewing the peace 
talks are "slim."  According to the Minister, Mitchell's present 
mission is not likely to succeed either, as he will probably not 
persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to renew the 
negotiations over the permanent status settlement.  Nor is he likely 
to receive from PM Netanyahu a clear answer as to whether he is 
ready to adopt Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's formula to base 
Israel's permanent borders on the 1967 lines.  HaQaretz believes 
that the results of Mitchell's meetings this week with Netanyahu and 
Abbas will determine whether Washington continues the efforts to 
bring the parties back to the negotiations table.   HaQaretz says 
that one possibility being examined is shuttle diplomacy similar to 
Henry Kissinger's method of paving the way to the Separation of 
Forces Agreement between Israel and Egypt and Syria in the mid 
1970s. However, Eldar said that the U.S. is not keen to give up the 
direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiation format for proximity talks. 
HaQaretz noted that Netanyahu has recently been trying to persuade 
the U.S. administration that due to the rivalry with Abbas, he is 
not prepared to reach an agreement involving difficult Israeli 
concessions.  Netanyahu proposed focusing the American efforts on 
drafting sanctions on Iran.  However, HaQaretz says that the TIME 
interview shows that Obama has not bought the PMQs contention that 
Israel has moved a long way toward the Palestinians by freezing 
settlement construction. Netanyahu blames Abbas for setting 
unreasonable conditions for resuming talks. 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday senior IDF officials told 
PM Netanyahu during a tour of two observation posts along the Sinai 
border that if the border with Egypt is not closed, then al-Qaida 
may use Sudanese refugees making their way into the country as cover 
to infiltrate and set up terrorist cells in Israel. 
 
Israel Radio quoted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as saying 
that IsraelQs actions in the territories contradict its commitment 
to the Roadmap, undermine the PalestiniansQ confidence, and a 
two-state solution.   The radio reported that Israeli diplomats 
expressed their astonishment at BanQs words and that they recalled 
that the U.N. failed to implement its own decisions in places like 
Lebanon. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel is anxiously awaiting the 
publication of an updated U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on 
Iran, with defense officials hoping it will finally prompt toughened 
sanctions against the Islamic Republic.  The newspaper believes that 
those hopes were given a boost yesterday when the U.S and the E.U. 
vowed to keep up pressure on Iran to provide details about its 
nuclear program, saying the country's continued refusal to prove its 
intentions are peaceful will draw new penalties.   In other news, 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday in Bochum, Germany, a 
pro-Israel group protested the Iranian involvement in the 
engineering conglomerate ThyssenKrupp. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad is 
boycotting the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the 
Palestinian Authority, General Keith Dayton, with whom he has not 
met for seven months. 
 
Leading media reported that Knesset Member and former Education 
Minister Yuli Tamir has announced she is leaving the Labor Party. 
In an interview with Israel Radio she cited -- among other reasons 
-- DM BarakQs decision to raise the status of Ariel College in the 
West Bank to that of a university.   Tamir said that the Labor Party 
under Barak had preferred fear over determination when it came to 
negotiations with the Palestinians and that she would therefore not 
compete for a place in the partyQs list in the next election. 
 
Israel Radio reported that the Defense Ministry has admitted that in 
Kiryat Netafim, in the northern West Bank, the construction of 15 
houses has proceeded contrary to an interim order issued by the High 
Court of Justice.  This appeared in the stateQs response to the High 
Court of Justice in a Peace Now petition asking that a contempt of 
court ruling be issued.  Peace Now petitioned the High Court of 
Justice half a year ago, demanding that the demolition of houses and 
construction of new ones be brought to a halt.  The organization 
argued that this was taking place on land partially belonging to 
Palestinians.  The court issued the interim order at that time. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has gone on the 
offensive against the municipal legal system, state prosecutor, and 
outgoing Attorney General Menachem Mazuz following Mazuz's order to 
the police to immediately evict the Jews living in QBeit Yonatan,Q a 
building in East Jerusalem's predominantly Arab Silwan 
neighborhood. 
 
Israel Radio reported that yesterday the IDF Advocate GeneralQs 
office opened an investigation into the vandalism of tombstones in 
the cemetery in Awarta, a village near Nablus.  The radio reported 
that IDF troops are now being suspected of the malicious act.  In 
another development, HaQaretz reported that rights group Yesh Din is 
demanding that settlers be indicted for attacking Bedouin in the 
West Bank. 
 
The Jerusalem Post cited Human Rights WatchQs claim that Israel is 
Qmore hostile than ever to human rights groups. 
 
Media detailed a peace plan devised by Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora 
Eiland, former head of IsraelQs National Security Council. 
 
Media reported that MK Shaul Mofaz threatens to split Kadima. 
Israel Hayom reported that Kadima chair Tzipi Livni is negotiating 
the entry of former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz into her party as 
a possible substitute for Mofaz. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶1.  President ObamaQs Interview with TIME Magazine: 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  QLook WhoQs Talking 
 
Washington correspondent Orly Azolai wrote in the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (1/22): QAt the end of a year in office, 
Obama looks back in anger at the Middle East.... Instead of 
condescending and complaining like a spoiled child that the efforts 
he invested were to no avail, Obama could have pounded on the table 
and done what the world expected him to do: to take the initiative, 
seize the recalcitrant parties by their hair, and not let go until 
they consented.... Netanyahu and Abu Mazen know that the only plan 
on the agenda is establishing a Palestinian state within the 1967 
borders with border revisions, a land swap on a dunam-for-dunam 
basis, declaring Jerusalem as the capital of the two states, and 
establishing diplomatic ties between Israel and all the Arab states. 
 Obama should have presented this plan, set a strict timetable for 
its implementation, threatened to denounce the recalcitrant parties, 
and marketed it at a grandiose international conference.  But Obama 
chose the easy way out: he chose to be offended, turned up his nose 
and turned his back.  Netanyahu has no cause to rejoice at the fact 
that Obama is disappointed.  We appear to have lost the PresidentQs 
attentive ear and perhaps his concern for our fate as well.  Anyone 
who read his statements closely yesterday could understand that he 
is no longer really with us.  Peace in the Middle East is first and 
foremost an Israeli interest, even if the way to achieving it is 
accompanied by a friendQs pressure.  The most terrible thing of all 
will be a situation in which we have to cope with American 
indifference. 
 
II.  QAnd What Has He Done? 
 
Columnist Nadav Eyal wrote on page one of the popular, pluralist 
Maariv (1/22): QOne does not have to be the President of the United 
States to get a grasp of the political situation in both Israel and 
the Palestinian Authority and one needs not to lead a superpower in 
order to appreciate that nothing in this region has changed since 
Henry Kissinger made the known statement that Israel has no foreign 
policy, only domestic policy.  Such a public expression of 
disappointment, however, is indicative of a certain degree of 
naivet over the impediments faced by a U.S. president as he 
attempts to make progress in the Middle East -- whether this is 
Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, or George W. Bush.  Obama 
also does an injustice to Benjamin Netanyahu: when the Prime 
Minister finally laid to rest the greater Land of Israel in his Bar 
Ilan speech and when he confronted the settlers with a construction 
freeze -- limited as it may be -- these are clearly gestures.... One 
ought to ask what exactly has Obama done, what has his 
administration done, in order to realize the blissful vision 
presented only a year ago?  The answer, put simply, is not enough. 
George Mitchell is an experienced peace envoy decorated in Irish 
glory; however, the president was incapable, or rather lacked the 
desire, to put his money where his mouth is, if one may use a 
well-known Washingtonian idiom.... And how exactly has the White 
House gone about cracking Israeli public opinion, the center of 
gravity for any peace process?.... Gestures -- the likes of which 
were made by both Clinton and Bush -- provide the political process 
with breathing space among the Israeli public, whose desire for 
recognition far surpasses any of its fears.... Do yourselves a 
favor, take no joy in [President ObamaQs] despair. 
 
III.  QDangerous Disregard 
 
Senior diplomatic correspondent Shimon Shiffer wrote in Yediot 
Aharonot (1/22): QObamaQs main error concerning the Israeli 
government stems from the assumption that it is possible to reach a 
formula for freezing the settlements with Netanyahu, either by 
applying pressure or by hints that Israel could only receive the 
United StatesQ assistance to defend itself against the Iranian peril 
if it would stop the construction in the settlements (Bushehr in 
exchange for [the settlement of] Yitzhar).  None of the Americans 
assumptions regarding the renewal of negotiations materialized.... 
As of now, it should be conceded that the candor of the U.S. 
President is an uncommon phenomenon on this side of the ocean.  But 
anyone who thinks that he can take comfort in ObamaQs sincere 
admission and continue to do nothing to break free of the stalemate 
may be proved wrong.  The tactic of building walls and mocking 
QAmerican naiveteQ may prove to be disastrous. 
 
 
IV.  QLetQs See Him Face Iran 
 
Veteran journalist and television anchor Dan Margalit wrote in the 
independent Israel Hayom (1/22): QBetter late than never.... A 
sobered-up Barack Obama explained in an interview with TIME Magazine 
that he had raised too high expectations regarding his ability to 
make peace between Israel and the Palestinians.... [But] as strange 
as it sounds, the renewal of global confidence in the U.S. 
capability does not depend on the problematic fighting in 
Afghanistan  or even on the ability to draft an Israeli-Palestinian 
understanding, but on proven success in an arena watched by all 
world governments -- the battlefield along the Washington-Tehran 
axis.... Success in the Iranian arena will actually restore the 
United StatesQ ability to impose its will to the other parts of the 
world, including the warring Israeli and Palestinian sides.  Is 
Israel interested?  Apparently not.  It does not want to accept 
ObamaQs dictates.  But, in the final analysis, Israel is part of the 
American world and the United StatesQ might serves Israel more than 
it finds it a burden.  Obama has begun granting the Middle Eastern 
conflict its global, realistic weight. 
 
------------ 
¶2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  QMasters and Donkeys 
 
Conservative columnist Sarah Honig wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (1/22): QConsciously or otherwise, the 
carrot-and-stick motif conjures images of masters and the dumb 
donkeys they try to prod and move along.  Those lucky enough to be 
in a position to choose between inducing or punishing are obviously 
the power-wielding honchos.  Those to be tempted or whacked into 
submission are clearly the brutish troublesome beasts which must be 
disciplined -- one way or the other.  Therefore, when U.S. President 
Barack ObamaQs special Mideast envoy fails to object to 
carrot-and-stick talk -- and even bothers to specify one stickQs 
characteristics -- he implies that heQs in charge, while we, 
threatened with a severe whack on the rump, are the asses.... 
IsraelQs very inability to risk the Jewish stateQs continued 
existence for the state of facile clichs paradoxically facilitates 
its demonization.  When our struggle for survival ends up 
trivialized and kitschified, the remedy is clear: get the darned 
donkey under control with one stick or another. 
 
II.  QDamaging Political Decision 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (1/22): QLike 
most decisions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, 
the authorization to recognize the college in [the settler town of] 
Ariel as a university stems from coalition considerations and the 
desire to hold on to cabinet seats at any cost.  When Defense 
Minister Ehud Barak gave the green light to implement an improper 
cabinet decision from 2005, he finally showed that Labor's excuse 
for joining the government -- to moderate the extremists -- was 
false.  Barak is the one taking the government's most dangerous 
steps.... Israeli scientists and intellectuals have suffered in 
recent years due to a feeling of estrangement among important 
academic institutions worldwide; there have also been boycotts and 
ostracism.  No doubt this attitude will worsen when Israel develops 
a large university town in the territories at a time when it is 
bound to a construction freeze.  Israeli academia will become even 
more the leper and Israel's intellectual and scientific life will be 
forced into a ghetto; the damage to the system and all of society is 
hard to gauge.  This dangerous folly is now at the doorstep of the 
Council for Higher Education -- the only institution that can stop 
it.  Without its approval, Ariel cannot receive university funding 
and recognition of its degrees.  The council must wage an 
unremitting professional and civil struggle for the future of higher 
education for what remains of Israel's legitimacy in the world and 
against pushing Israeli society to the destructive margins of 
Qsettler land. 
 
III.  QAriel Is Worthy of Being a University 
 
The nationalist, Orthodox Makor Rishon-Hatzofe editorialized (1/22): 
QBased on the force of law and history, Israel has acted over the 
past 42 years as the sovereign party throughout Judea and Samaria 
[i.e. the West Bank]; before it granted Ariel College the status of 
a university, it made similar gestures for Bir Zeit University and 
other colleges in Judea and Samaria.  The entire academic 
development in Judea and Samaria -- Jewish and Arab -- is the direct 
result of IsraelQs military rule when it assumed the former 
Jordanian rule.... In their protest against Ariel, [Meretz Chairman 
Haim] Oron and his friends are marking targets for anti-Semitic 
academic unions to impose an academic boycott on Israel.  Will Oron 
and [former Education Minister Yuli] Tamir recommend that the 
boycotters mark every Ariel graduate in some way -- so that 
legitimate Israelis donQt get harmed? 
 
CUNNINGHAM