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DE RUEHTV #0051/01 0111143
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P 111143Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000051 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Mideast 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
The key story during the weekend was a suggestion made by U.S. 
Special Envoy Senator Mitchell during an interview with PBS-TV on 
January 6 that the U.S. might withhold loan guarantees if Israel 
doesn't make sufficient concessions in negotiations with the 
Palestinians.  The media reported that later U.S. administration 
officials said that Mitchell did not threaten Israel.  The media 
reported that yesterday leading U.S. senators visiting Israel -- Joe 
Lieberman and John McCain -- were critical of such a move, which 
they said would not win enough support to go into effect.  The media 
reported that officials in the Prime MinisterQs Bureau protested 
MitchellQs statements and asked the White House for clarifications. 
While PM Benjamin Netanyahu refrained from personally relating to 
MitchellQs comments, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said that 
Israel does not need loan guarantees. 
 
Israel Radio reported that Hamas and Islamic Jihad condemned 
yesterdayQs IAF raids in which three Islamic Jihad militants were 
killed.  The attack was the latest in a series of rocket launches 
and IAF counterattacks.  The media reported that yesterday PM 
Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet that Israel will continue to 
react swiftly to the firing of rockets.  The Jerusalem Post quoted 
Israeli defense officials as saying that the IDF is prepared for the 
possibility that in a future conflict with Hamas it will be ordered 
by the Government to take over the Philadelphi corridor in southern 
Gaza, which is lined with hundreds of weapons smuggling tunnels. 
Leading media believe that the quiet along the Gaza border is in 
danger. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday Netanyahu reiterated his 
refusal to release Qsymbols of terrorQ in the Gilad Shalit deal. 
 
Leading media reported that PM Netanyahu has instructed to erect a 
two-section 100 km.-long fence -- from Rafah southwards and from 
Eilat northwards -- along the border with Egypt.  Israel Radio 
quoted Egyptian officials as saying that they have not been informed 
about the plan, which they said is a domestic Israeli concern. 
According to Yediot, Netanyahu also announced that he intends to 
surround the entire country with fences. 
 
Yesterday HaQaretz reported that the Israeli firm ICTS International 
(not to be confused with ICTS Europe, which is a different company), 
and two of its subsidiaries are at the crux of an international 
investigation in recent days, as experts try to pinpoint the reasons 
for the security failure that enabled Umar Farouk Abdulmutalib to 
board Northwest flight 253 and attempt to set alight explosives 
hidden in his underwear.  A HaQaretz investigation has found that 
the security officers and their supervisor should have suspected the 
passenger, even without having early intelligence available to 
them. 
 
Yesterday HaQaretz quoted senior officials in the Obama 
administration and Israel as saying that the Bush administration 
violated security related agreements with Israel in which the U.S. 
promised to preserve the IDF's qualitative edge over Arab armies. 
DM Ehud Barak traveled to the U.S. in September for a rushed meeting 
in which it was agreed that the two allies would discuss how to 
resolve the problems regarding this issue.  HaQaretz reported that 
U.S. National Security Advisor General James Jones is scheduled to 
arrive in Israel on Tuesday for what is likely to be talks on the 
issue of the IDF's qualitative edge as well as the resumption of 
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 
 
Yesterday leading media reported that, as Arab Knesset members 
accuse Israel of war crimes, Hadash Chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh 
announced that he would join the Knesset delegation which is to 
visit Auschwitz to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in 
two weeks time. 
 
Yediot and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited reports by Jewish 
organizations that Iraq is trying to erase Jewish symbols from the 
tomb of Prophet Ezekiel and turn it into a mosque. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
¶I.  QItQs Not Us, ItQs Him 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent, 
left-leaning HaQaretz (1/10): QIn Israel, people became accustomed 
to the fact that there is no chemistry between Obama and Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and blamed the strained relations on 
Israel's bad behavior -- namely its continued construction in the 
territories and Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.  But there is 
no chemistry between Obama and other leaders, either.  We have not 
heard about some beautiful friendship of Obama's with any Arab 
leader.  He does not prefer Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud 
Abbas to Netanyahu, and does not pal around with Egyptian President 
Hosni Mubarak or the King of Saudi Arabia.  The Obama administration 
is treating the QmoderateQ Arab states to big arms sales, not 
personal friendships.  Where are the close ties Tony Blair 
maintained with Bill Clinton and Bush?  When have we seen Obama 
socializing with Brown, Sarkozy or any leader from Asia or Latin 
America?.... Obama traveled more widely abroad than any other 
first-year president, but it seemed to be more to stick a pin on a 
map than to forge friendships. He stayed behind the teleprompter, a 
talented and remote speaker who struggles with personal 
give-and-takes.... [Leaders] who believe in dialogue, like Obama, 
have to work on their emotional and social intelligence if they want 
results. 
 
II.  QFinancing America 
 
Chief Economic Editor and senior columnist Sever Plotker wrote in 
the mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (1/11): QAnyone 
still making mention of QAmerican economic pressure on Israel by 
means of the guaranteesQ is completely cut off from reality.  Israel 
is now helping the U.S. finance its own deficits and not the other 
way around.  True, the U.S. administration has the right to deduct 
from the left-over guarantees all investments in the settlements. 
This is of absolutely no economic significance: as far as Israel 
sees it, raising capital from overseas is not something presently on 
the agenda.  What is on the agenda, rather, is finding a means to 
prevent foreign capital from entering the country. 
 
III.  QEnd the Blockade 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (1/11): QIsrael 
has an interest in stopping escalation at the border so as not to 
find itself caught up in another belligerent confrontation with 
Hamas.  Netanyahu's threats have not attained this goal.  Like his 
predecessor, he risks placing his imprimatur on public commitments 
that will only push Israel toward another military operation to 
Qstrengthen deterrenceQ and Qteach Hamas a lesson.Q  The time has 
come to rethink Israeli strategy in Gaza.  The economic embargo, 
which has brought severe distress to the inhabitants of Gaza, has 
not brought down Hamas, nor has it freed kidnapped soldier Gilad 
Shalit.  The siege has only damaged Israel's image and led to 
accusations that it has shirked its humanitarian responsibilities in 
Gaza under international law.  Instead of erring by invoking the 
default solution of more force, which does not create long-term 
security or ease the distress of the Palestinians in Gaza, the 
crossings between Israel and Gaza should be opened and indirect 
assistance rendered to rebuild its ruins.  The same logic that 
dictates the Government's actions in the West Bank -- creating an 
economic incentive to prevent terror -- can and must work in Gaza as 
well. 
 
IV.  QA Gold Mine for Understanding AmericaQs Middle East Policy 
 
The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global Research in 
International Affairs Center, columnist Barry Rubin, wrote in the 
conservative, independent Jerusalem Post (1/11) : Q[One of the 
things Hillary] Clinton said [at a press conference with the Qatari 
Prime Minister on January 4] is more disturbing [than her 
unwarranted praise of Qatar] and has become an Obama administration 
talking point.  She said the Palestinians QdeserveQ a state.  In 
this approach, having a state isn't something earned by ending 
terrorism and incitement, truly accepting Israel's existence, 
providing strong security guarantees, and resettling refugees in 
your own country.  According to the U.S. Government, Palestinian 
statehood is an entitlement, a prize they get no matter how they 
behave.  So why shouldn't the Palestinians demand they get 
everything and give nothing?  The world owes them a state.  By such 
policies the Obama administration undermines its own leverage on the 
issue.  One more nail in the already studded coffin of the peace 
process. 
 
¶V.  QBarakQs Time 
 
Senior op-ed writer Akiva Eldar commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (1/11): QBarak is proud of the fact that at 
Camp David he revealed QArafat's true face.Q  The time has come for 
him to reveal Netanyahu's true face.  If the Prime Minister intends 
to reach a permanent status agreement, let him assure Abbas that he 
will delay the tenders for expanded construction in East Jerusalem 
until negotiations are over.  If we are dealing the old Netanyahu, 
who built neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to undermine Oslo, Barak 
has no business being in a right-wing government.  What does he have 
to lose?  He has already been prime minister, and he will not be 
again.  At least he will not go down in Israeli history as the 
undertaker of the party that established the state. 
 
VI.  QUnderstanding Netanyahu 
 
Political commentator Shalom Yerushalmi wrote in the popular, 
pluralist Maariv (1/11): QIf I were a settler, I would be slightly 
concerned [about NetanyahuQs intentions].  Not because of the 
assessments that both can serve and embarrass the two sides, right 
and left, but because of NetanyahuQs nuances.  In his latest 
conversations, he made use of statistics about the percentage of the 
settlements in the territory (9.3 percent of the total area of the 
West Bank, including East Jerusalem) and about the percentage of the 
settlers in the population (5.5 of the total Jewish population in 
Israel).  These are precisely the statistics that are of interest to 
a prime minister who wishes to reach a historic democratic decision 
(or not). 
 
VII.  QHamasQ Situation Is Worse than Ever 
 
Professor Eyal Zisser, the Chairman of the Department of Middle 
Eastern History at Tel Aviv University, wrote in the independent 
Israel Hayom (1/10): QA year has passed since Operation Cast Lead, 
and HamasQs situation has never been worse. The Hamas leadership 
hasnQt concealed the pressure it is feeling, which is the direct 
result of Gaza having become a giant pressure cooker by virtue of 
the effective siege that Israel has imposed on it.  All of HamasQs 
hopes for international pressure that might force Israel to lift the 
siege were in vain and, that being the case, it is now directing its 
fire in the direction of Egypt in hope that it might succumb to 
pressure and open wide its gates to Gaza.  But Egypt has firmly 
stood its ground to defend its own national interests, and is not 
prepared to place its fate and the reigning stability at risk in 
HamasQs hands.... However, facing off against Hamas is Egyptian 
President Hosni Mubarak, who has taken a determined and firm stance 
that reflects precisely what he is -- a veteran and seasoned leader 
who knows what he wants.  That said, neither party has an interest 
in an open conflict, and it is reasonable to assume that now that 
Egypt has made clear to Hamas what its red lines are, Hamas will 
retreat and seek to renew dialogue with Cairo.  It will do so not 
out of love for Egypt, but because it is in its existential interest 
to do so.  That way, Egypt will revert to serving as a mediator 
between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority and between Hamas and 
Israel on the Gilad Shali issue.  That said, the recent events 
demonstrat the limits of EgyptQs influence over Hamas and, a such, 
Egypt will not be the one that will be abe to deliver the goods on 
Gilad Shalit or anything else.  It will be the Hamas leaders who 
will deide, in keeping with their own interests.  EgyptQsability 
to influence those decisions is minimal at best, and all the more so 
in light of the turn of events between Cairo and Gaza in the course 
of this past week. 
 
CUNNINGHAM