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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 000360 
 
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WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
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PARIS ALSO FOR POL 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR IS
 
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  Mideast 
 
¶2.  Iran 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Media reported on U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political 
Affairs William BurnsQ visit to Syria yesterday. 
 
All principal media led with a diplomatic crisis following the 
assassination in Dubai of senior Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh 
four weeks ago: the British Foreign Office QinvitedQ Israeli 
Ambassador Ron Prosor for clarifications about the use of forged 
British passports in the hit.  The Irish Government also summoned 
Israeli Ambassador in Dublin Zion Evron (or Evroni Zion).  The media 
also reported that British PM Gordon Brown has ordered an 
investigation into the matter.  Various media conjectured that a 
long-term fallout in relations with Britain was unlikely.  Yediot 
and The Jerusalem Post quoted German and Austrian sources as saying 
that the operation was directed from a Qcommando centerQ in Austria, 
a country that has also demanded clarifications from Israel, 
according to various media.  Israel Radio reported that the Hamas 
leadership vowed to avenge the assassination.  The media quoted 
former Israeli intelligence agents, including former Mossad official 
Rafi Eitan, who later became a GOI minister, as saying that another 
country may be behind the operation.   The Jerusalem Post reported 
that yesterday former senior Mossad official Rami Igra told the 
daily that the assassination would further the aims of IsraelQs 
detractors.  Media reported that Hamas has released the names of two 
Fatah operatives who have also been arrested for allegedly 
cooperating with the Mossad.  According to the organization, the two 
men operated in Dubai under assumed identities after disguising 
themselves as employees of a real-estate firm owned by a prominent 
Palestinian figure. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday five U.S. Congressmen on a 
visit here, which the left-wing American advocacy group J Street 
initiated, held a news conference in Tel Aviv to demand an official 
explanation for an apparent snub by Deputy FM Danny Ayalon.  Tension 
between the Foreign Ministry and J Street was believed to be behind 
the unprecedented diplomatic rift between Israel and the U.S. 
Congress.   HaQaretz quoted Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA), who heads 
the delegation, as saying that "it was with real surprise and 
disappointment that we read a headline in this morning's newspaper 
saying 'Foreign Ministry boycotts members of Congress." HaQaretz 
quoted J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami as saying at the 
news conference that he was confused by Ayalon's calling the lobby 
anti-Israel.  "Our relations with Israel's embassy in Washington are 
on the mend...I hope this is no more than his personal opinion," he 
said.   HaQaretz reported that J Street had asked for a meeting 
between the Congressmen and Ayalon or other senior ministry 
officials several weeks ago.  After numerous days of waiting, they 
were told ministry officials would meet only the Congressmen, 
without their J Street escorts, which the former refused, and the 
Foreign Ministry said there would be no meeting.  The Jerusalem Post 
quoted Ben-Ami as saying yesterday that Israel is capable of 
freezing construction in East Jerusalem.  HaQaretz quoted a senior 
Jerusalem source as saying that the man who advised Ayalon and 
President Shimon Peres not to meet the delegation was Baruch Binah, 
Deputy Director General for North America in the ministry.  Binah 
advised against the meeting because the delegation includes J Street 
members and a representative of Churches for Middle East Peace, 
which the Foreign Ministry sees as anti-Israeli. Israel Radio 
reported that the Foreign Ministry would not comment on the affair. 
Speaking on the radio station this morning, former Justice Minister 
and former Deputy FM Yossi Beilin said that FM Avigdor Lieberman, 
whom he dubbed a Qtrue neighborhood bully,Q and his deputy Ayalon do 
not make mistakes but that they implement a distinct policy. 
 
HaQaretz and other media quoted PM Benjamin Netanyahu as saying 
yesterday at a convention of the Conference of Presidents of Major 
[U.S.] Jewish Organizations that the Qgap in understandingQ between 
Israel and the world over Iran is narrowing.  The PM was quoted as 
saying that disputed elections in Iran and the uncovering of a 
secret uranium enrichment plant near the Iranian city of Qom had 
alerted the world to the growing Iranian threat.  Netanyahu said: 
"Now the international community has an obligation to intervene to 
prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon."  Netanyahu further 
said: "Watered down sanctions, modest sanctions, will not do the 
job," adding that new measures must aim to curtail Iran's oil 
exports and energy supply. Defense Minister Ehud Barak hinted 
yesterday in a speech to newly commissioned army officers that 
Israel had not ruled out independent action against Iran.  Leading 
media also quoted Netanyahu as saying at the meeting that Israel 
will not release the assassins of former minister Rehavam Zeevi. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Austrian FM Michael 
Spindelegger told the newspaper that the U.N. Security Council is 
likely to reach a decision on a fourth round of sanctions against 
Iran in March.   Austria is currently one of the 15 countries on the 
Security Council. 
 
HaQaretz reported that the Jerusalem Municipality will appropriate a 
plot of land in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to build 
a public parking lot near the tomb of a Second Temple-era high 
priest, despite arguments that the move is intended to benefit 
Jewish pilgrims and expand the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem. 
The plan is the brainchild of city council member Yair Gabbay, who 
said a parking lot is required for visitors to the tomb of Simon the 
Just, or Shimon Hatzadik.  The municipality is not expected to offer 
financial compensation to the owner of the plot in question, even 
though it previously required a Palestinian company seeking to build 
a hotel in the area to pay for the right to build there. 
Neighborhood residents and non-governmental organizations maintain 
parking is not limited in Sheikh Jarrah, and say the lot is intended 
to benefit Jewish visitors alone.  Both the municipality and Gabbay, 
who said he hopes the parking lot will be built within two months, 
maintain there is a parking shortage and that the lot will benefit 
Arabs as well as Jews. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted senior Netanyahu adviser as saying 
yesterday at the Seventh Jerusalem Conference that Israel must begin 
to wage a negative media campaign against its enemies in order to 
win the media war.  The newspaper also reported that yesterday 
right-leaning Kadima Knesset members Eli Aflalo and Otniel Schneller 
blasted Kadima leader Tzipi Livni for statements she made at the 
conference Q statements they perceived as too left-wing and too 
anti-religious. 
 
Israel Hayom and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, 
head of the Petah Tikva Hesder Yeshiva, which combines religious 
studies and army service, who is considered on the left wing of the 
national religious public, as saying that he has changed his mind 
and that he now supports the right of soldiers to refuse orders to 
expel civilians from their homes.  Rabbi Cherlow said that the 
change in his decision is based on the way the state has mistreated 
the victims of the Gush Katif expulsion. 
 
Media reported that yesterday settlers from the radical village of 
Yitzhar assaulted IDF soldiers. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe reported that 85 Israelis who were harmed by 
Hizbullah attacks during the Second Lebanon War have filed an 
unprecedented suit against Iranian banks, demanding damage 
compensation to the tune of $10 billion, and unspecified penal 
compensation 
 
HaQaretz reported that the Interior Ministry, the Israel Lands 
Administration, and the southern district of Israel Police have 
jointly resolved to triple the demolition rate of illegal 
construction in the scattered Bedouin communities in the Negev.  The 
decision came at a meeting about a month ago.  According to 
HaQaretz, 2009 saw an increase over the previous year in the 
demolition of illegal Bedouin homes and efforts to prevent illegal 
Bedouin construction.  Last year, 254 structures were destroyed.  In 
2008, the figure was 225 illegal structures. 
 
HaQaretz reported that yesterday Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav praised the 
legacy of coexistence left by the first (Arab) mayor of modern 
Haifa, Hasan Bey Shukri.  Yesterday the city commemorated the 70th 
anniversary of ShukriQs death. 
 
Yediot quoted senior Israeli Foreign Ministry sources as saying that 
the French and Israeli armies will hold joint maneuvers in both 
countries.  IDF soldiers will be granted immunity while training in 
France. 
 
Major media reported on victories by Israeli tennis woman Shahar 
PeQer at the Dubai Open.  Last year, in the wake of Operation Cast 
Lead, she was denied a visa by Dubai. 
 
Leading media reported that yesterday, despite appeals from 
religious leaders, Florida executed Jewish murderer Martin Grossman 
by lethal injection. The Vatican had also asked for leniency in a 
letter written by Archbishop Fernando Filoni on behalf of Pope 
Benedict XVI. 
 
-------- 
Mideast: 
-------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
¶I.  QThe Test of the Outcome 
 
Eytan Haber, veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late Prime 
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, opined on page one of the mass-circulation, 
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (2/18): QThere are two questions that 
should be posed in this case: was the goal, al-MabhouhQs 
assassination, achieved?  The answer is Qyes.Q  Were the assassins 
caught by the enemy?  The answer is QnoQ.... As for the 
unpleasantness with governments -- in the case at hand, the U.K., 
Ireland, and France -- we can rest easy.  They said whatever they 
said yesterday, and will probably say no more.  They know why. 
There are also odd scores being settled between the media figures 
who say that this was an unprecedented QfiascoQ and the covert 
pursuers, but this is neither the time nor the place to discuss 
them.  In the meantime, Mr. al-Mabhouh will rest in peace, and we 
will say goodbye and thank you to the men and women of the shadow 
world. 
 
II.  QTroubling Questions from Dubai 
 
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (2/18): 
Q[Regarding suspicions that the Mossad carried out the Dubai 
assassination], did the goal and outcome justify the risk of 
carrying out a hit in a moderate Arab country and of exposing the 
intelligence community's modus operandi?  Or did the operational 
opportunity to get rid of an individual responsible for past terror 
attacks and current weapons smuggling encourage those who approve 
and carry out such actions to waive some of the rules of caution? 
Second, in a tense period in which Israel is trading threats of war 
with Iran and its allies in the region, should Israel be goading the 
enemy instead of maintaining restraint?  Third, is it right, because 
of this hit, to embarrass the authorities in the United Arab 
Emirates, who share with Israel the fear of the Iranian threat? 
Fourth, in preparation for the operation, were the risks of exposure 
and restrictions on similar future actions taken into account? 
Fifth, is there justification in damaging relations with friendly 
European countries whose passports were used by Mabhouh's assassins? 
 Sixth, is it proper to place in harm's way the Israelis whose 
identities were ostensibly stolen and used by the assassins?  The 
fear of identity theft recalls dark regimes, and such an action 
seems to do disproportionate damage.... All these questions, 
particularly the claims of identity theft, need to be closely 
scrutinized. Lessons must be learned for the future, and the 
findings must be exposed to the light of day. 
III.  QLiquidation Sale 
 
Far left columnist Gideon Levy wrote in Ha'aretz (2/18): QWe can 
believe that the Mossad actually carried out everything that has 
been ascribed to it, and we can even agree that Mabhouh deserved to 
die.  It's also possible to understand the desire to take revenge 
and punish him, as well as the need to combat weapons smuggling into 
Gaza.  We can also continue ignoring, as is our wont, the motive for 
terrorism: the Israeli occupation.  But after the liquidation of 
Mabhouh with a pillow, we are left in a country that not only 
dispatches assassins, but in which no questions are asked 
afterward. 
 
IV.  QHeavy Clouds on the Diplomatic Front 
 
Columnist Boaz Bismuth, who was IsraelQs Ambassador to Mauritania 
between 2004 and 2008, wrote in the independent Israel Hayom (2/18): 
QIn the British Isles ... no one (in the media, members of 
Parliament, and analysts) has any doubt that the Mossad assassinated 
senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.  The media and 
public opinion will not allow the British government, in an election 
year, to gloss over the story.... In Britain, the media have already 
pronounced their sentence.  The front pages of the newspapers leave 
no room for doubt.  There are murderers, incidentally, who have been 
acquitted due to lack of evidence.  Al-Mabhouh may yet become a 
victim in Britain because of excess evidence.... QRainy days lie 
ahead on the diplomatic front,Q an Israeli diplomatic source 
admitted yesterday in English.  QRainy daysQ mean difficult times. 
This certainly does not refer to bountiful rain. 
 
 
 
 
¶V.  QThe Israelis Are Back 
 
Middle East affairs commentator Dr. Guy Bechor, a lecturer at the 
Interdisciplinary Center, wrote in Yediot Aharonot (2/18): QWhat 
worries [IsraelQs] enemies more than anything else?   The insight 
that Israel is learning the rules of the region, for the first time 
in its history.  They understand that the days have ended in which 
Israel behaved like a state with no honor, which is willing to 
submit to anyone who outsmarts it.  They understand that Israel has 
matured, learned the art of establishing deterrence, and that it is 
here to stay.  That Israel will no longer submit to them in exchange 
for illusions or words.  That it will not be easy for them to 
dominate it from the outside or activate their supporters inside it, 
because they have lost the confidence of the public.  They are 
starting to understand that Israel is stronger than they imagined or 
fantasized, and this insight affects their self-image.  This, to 
their regret, is painful. 
 
--------- 
¶2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
QToo Much for the Mossad to Handle 
 
Senior commentator Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz (2/18): QWith all 
due respect to the Mossad, Iran is too much for it to handle alone. 
The confrontation with Iran must not be limited to intelligence 
agencies; it has to include diplomacy and other means as well.... If 
Israel mobilizes its resources and prepares properly, it will pass 
the test. But in order to do so, it must take its head out of the 
sand and stop believing that some magic spell invoked by Meir Dagan 
or Israel Air Force commander Ido Nehoshtan will do the job.  Even 
if there is some magic, it won't be enough.  Iran isn't only over 
there; it's also right here.  The Iranian challenge obligates us to 
reorganize every facet of our lives. 
 
CUNNINGHAM