Cablegate: Israel Media Reaction

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

161042Z Aug 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TEL AVIV 005054

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD

WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM
NSC FOR NEA STAFF

JERUSALEM ALSO FOR ICD
LONDON ALSO FOR HKANONA AND POL
PARIS ALSO FOR POL
ROME FOR MFO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IS KMDR MEDIA REACTION REPORT
SUBJECT: ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT:
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1. Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement

2. Iraq

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Key stories in the media:
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Last night, the electronic media aired Sharon's brief
speech to the nation regarding the disengagement. He
said that while he had hoped Israel could keep the Gaza
settlements forever, reality simply intervened. Sharon
said that the burden of proof lay with the
Palestinians: "The world awaits the Palestinian
response -- a hand offered in peace or continued
terrorist fire. To a hand offered in peace, we will
respond with an olive branch. But if they choose fire,
we will respond with fire, more severe than ever."
Sharon outlined social benefits Israelis would enjoy
from the move.

All media extensively reported on the emotion-laden,
relatively peaceful first day of disengagement, as the
TV stations devoted large swathes of their daily
programs to reports from the Gaza Strip. Maariv front-
paged a personal report from Elei Sinai (northern Gaza
Strip) by its reporter Eli Bohadana, himself a resident
of the settlement. Hatzofe banners: "Gush Katif Is
Crying." Ha'aretz reported that the IDF has set a goal
to finish evacuating the Gaza Strip within 10 days,
despite the fact that the thousands of people who
infiltrated the settlements in recent weeks "are
already escalating beyond what the residents themselves
deem appropriate." Leading media reported that half of
the Gush Katif families are expected to leave by
Wednesday.

Israel Radio quoted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz as
saying during a press conference this morning that law
and order will be strictly enforced in the settlements
slated for evacuation, and that law-breakers will be
punished. Mofaz also said that the Palestinians should
not celebrate at this time, because the army will only
leave the Strip in a month, a fact of which they have
been informed but that they have apparently chosen to
ignore. Israel Radio quoted Mofaz as saying that the
defense establishment will decide tonight which
settlements will be the first ones to be evacuated
forcibly on Wednesday. The radio reported that
physical scuffles between protesters, many of whom are
staying illegally in the Gaza Strip, and police began
this morning at the settlement of Neve Dekalim.

Israel Radio reported that, after the completion of the
disengagement, the U.S. administration will dispatch
appraisers to Israel to determine the amount of aid the
U.S. will allot to Galilee and Negev development. The
station quoted a State Department spokesman as saying
Monday that Israel and the Palestinians need to
coordinate the withdrawal from Gaza. The radio said
that the spokesman stressed that the Palestinians have
an obligation to ensure that the withdrawal takes place
in an atmosphere of calm. Israel Radio notes that over
the past 24 hours, the disengagement has replaced Iraq
as the lead story in all American media.

Leading media quoted Shaul Mofaz as saying in an
interview with Al Jazeera-TV that Israel will not cede
the large settlement blocs in the West Bank.

Abu Obeideh (phon.), the spokesman of Hamas's military
wing in the Gaza Strip, was quoted as saying in an
interview with Maariv that Israel emerged humiliated
from its pullout. Abu Obeideh said that Hamas would
continue its struggle and that Ashkelon and Sderot
residents should continue to be afraid.

Major media reported that on Sunday night, unidentified
gunmen kidnapped a French journalist who was in the
Gaza Strip to cover the disengagement. Jerusalem Post
writes that the abduction prompted some foreign TV
crews to leave the area in fear for their lives.

Citing AP, Ha'aretz quoted UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric as saying that the
sponsors of the road map will meet in mid-September to
assess Israel's disengagement from Gaza and the
northern West Bank.

Jerusalem Post quoted Jim Baxendell, a spokesman for
the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) as saying
in Cairo that a vehicle from the MFO unit based near
the Gaza Strip in the Sinai set off an explosive device
that destroyed it and slightly wounded two peace
keepers on Monday.

Several media cited the Qatari newspaper Al-Rayah as
saying that, according to Mauritanian sources, a
delegation of representatives of the junta that
overthrew the regime in Mauritania early this month
secretly visited Israel last week.

SIPDIS

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1. Gaza and Northern West Bank Disengagement:
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Summary:
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Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "[Last night's
address] was the speech of [Sharon's] life, the
decisive evening in his turbulent career, the blast off
to a complex operation he had planned and organized for
two years."
Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach opined in the
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot: "[In his speech to the nation, Sharon
demonstrated] no sense of how to truly lead such a
controversial move.... All the citizens of Israel,
supporters and opponents, deserved better."

Ha'aretz editorialized: "After decades of occupation
and exploitation, Israel has an obligation to be at the
forefront of giving assistance to rehabilitate Gaza and
ensuring the Palestinians' prosperity."

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
"It will take the concerted effort of Israel and the
international community ... to ensure that the Israeli
pain and sacrifice we are seeing today are not for
naught and that Palestinian celebrations are not
harbingers of a new round of belligerency."

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized: "There can
be no doubt: this warrior hero has erased his past with
a single stroke and will be recorded in all his
notoriety in the history of the Jewish people."

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist
Barry Rubin, wrote in Jerusalem Post: "The main problem
is not that the radicals, who enjoy about 80 percent
support, will take over, rather that they will easily
block diplomatic progress and maintain the terror war
against Israel, damaging their own people more than
their enemy."

Block Quotes:
-------------

I. "The Speech of His Life"

Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (August 16): "[Last
night's address] was the speech of [Sharon's] life, the
decisive evening in his turbulent career, the blast off
to a complex operation he had planned and organized for
two years.... He wanted to convey a number of messages.
His disillusionment over the hope that Israel could
hold onto Netzarim and Kfar Darom 'forever,' and the
recognition of the 'changing reality' that drove him to
the disengagement. He had chosen a unilateral move
because of the Palestinians' obstinacy. He demanded
that the Palestinians fight terror as a condition to
resuming negotiations.... He spoke of yearning for
inner unity and mutual respect rather than 'hostility
among brethren' and hatred. There was also a reminder
of the coming elections.... On Channel 2-TV, Sharon's
rival, Binyamin Netanyahu, warned of the terrorism
expected after the pullout, and presented his opposing
platform: a demand for reciprocity and keeping security
matters in Israel's hands, adding 'Don't give them a
port.' Sharon's aides commented that Netanyahu voted
for the disengagement four times, and was partner to
the decision to build the port in February. Sharon
displayed understanding for the suffering of the
Palestinians crowded in the refugee camps in Gaza 'in
greenhouses of growing hatred.'"

II. "We Deserve Better"

Liberal op-ed writer Ofer Shelach opined in the
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot
Aharonot (August 16): "The speech the Prime Minister
made last night made one thing abundantly clear: just
how crazy was the settlement enterprise, which Sharon
himself headed for two decades, how delusionary and how
dangerous. The few and unconvincing explanations that
Sharon gave for his ostensible turnabout -- from the
man who called for 'settling every hilltop' and who
thought up the most far-reaching settlement schemes --
to the man who ordered uprooting thousands of Jews from
their home without an agreement -- only made it clear
how little thought was behind the entire business in
the first place.... You cannot help but sense that
Sharon interprets the word 'leadership' according to
the single criterion of 'I want, therefore I do.' He
has no sense of how to truly lead such a controversial
move, and how to minimize (since canceling is
impossible) the difficult implications for the day
after.... It looked as if the speech ... was made
mainly because Sharon was told that he had to make it.
Like the entire move that Sharon led up until
disengagement, which was mainly an impressive political
step in its own right and very little of it was
actually preparing people mentally, it was much more of
a statement of imperiousness than an act of
persuasion.... All the citizens of Israel, supporters
and opponents, deserved better."

III. "Partners in Unilateralism"

Ha'aretz editorialized (August 16): "Without
negotiations -- which have instead been called
'coordination' -- with the Palestinian Authority's
leadership, without the determination of PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) ... and without the intensive
involvement of Egypt ... the disengagement would look
completely different. It is also impossible not to be
impressed by the enormous contribution of James
Wolfensohn, the Quartet's envoy, who advanced key
issues... After decades of occupation and exploitation,
Israel has an obligation to be at the forefront of
giving assistance to rehabilitate Gaza and ensuring the
Palestinians' prosperity. Realizing the dream of its
old-new neighbors is to a large extent also in Israel's
interest. And the Palestinian leadership, for its
part, is facing an enormous challenge, because what is
needed is not only an improved standard of living, but
also construction of a security, economic and political
model that, alongside the benefits it will bring to
residents of Gaza, will also tranquilize Israeli fears
about additional diplomatic moves in the West Bank.
Abu Mazen, who said on Sunday that the withdrawal from
Gaza marks the start of an independent Palestinian
state, will have trouble making this statement come
true without cooperation from Israel, which expects the
terrorist organizations to be destroyed, illegal
weapons to be collected and for a unified Palestinian
force to have sole security responsibility."

IV. "Sharon Speaks"

Conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized
(August 16): "The echoes ... of Ehud Barak's logic
behind the unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon were
unmistakable [in Sharon's speech to the nation on
Monday]. Sharon was saying that Israel had gone as far
as it could militarily under the existing rules of the
game, so the only way Israel could advance further was
to change those rules.... Though called unilateral,
disengagement is thus really an unwritten, unsigned
agreement with the international community. The
agreement says: if we hand over territory fully to a
Palestinian government, you will hold that government
diplomatically and economically responsible, and we
will hold it militarily responsible, if it refuses to
eliminate terrorism from its realm.... When Sharon said
that responses to further attacks would be 'more severe
than ever,' he was signaling that he intends to begin
acting according to the new rules. The international
community's job will be to do its best to ensure he
does not have to, by imposing new levels of diplomatic
and economic pressure on the Palestinians that,
together with Israeli deterrence, force dramatic
changes in their behavior. It will take the concerted
effort of Israel and the international community, then,
to ensure that the Israeli pain and sacrifice we are
seeing today are not for naught and that Palestinian
celebrations are not harbingers of a new round of
belligerency."

V. "Inform Rice"

Nationalist, Orthodox Hatzofe editorialized (August
16): "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
according to reports, is expected to arrive in the
region to offer her support and to encourage Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon while he executes the decree of
expulsion. It is very important to offer Ms. Rice a
modest gift, a file with all the English-language
newspaper clippings about Israel's situation on the eve
of the Six-Day-War. Ms. Rice was a little girl back
then and she, like the younger generation in Israel, is
completely unaware of the atmosphere of terror that
reigned in those weeks, when all the Arab countries
joined forces to annihilate the state of Israel.... We
did not initiate that war. It was forced on Israel,
and to evacuate the Gaza Strip now is to reward the
aggressor. The withdrawal is also a public admission
of surrender to terrorism.... Sharon is a transient
phenomenon, just like Bush and Ms. Rice, but we will
remain here with the awful precedent set by the Sharon
government.... Sharon is teaching the world that Jews
can be exiled and beaten, and this will manifest itself
in the activity of all those anti-Semitic organizations
across the globe. Sharon took a step that no one
pressured him to take. The road map was the plan, but
he chose to embellish it and to precede it with the
expulsion of the Jews from Gush Katif. There can be no
doubt: this warrior hero has erased his past with a
single stroke and will be recorded in all his notoriety
in the history of the Jewish people."

VI. "Hamas's Hangover"

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Center's Global
Research in International Affairs Center, columnist
Barry Rubin, wrote in Jerusalem Post (August 16):
"After first treating Israel's withdrawal as a trick,
Palestinians are now celebrating it as a great victory.
But after the partying ends even the anti-alcohol Hamas
is going to have a big hangover... The main problem is
not that the radicals, who enjoy about 80 percent
support, will take over, rather that they will easily
block diplomatic progress and maintain the terror war
against Israel, damaging their own people more than
their enemy. The radicals will also continue to use
incitement to foment such hatred among young people as
to ensure the conflict continues many years, thus
blocking the creation of a Palestinian state. They
will preserve anarchy, thereby preventing any
improvement in Gazan living standards or the proper use
of aid money. They will stop Abbas from consolidating
an effective government. And they will persuade the
world that the Palestinians don't want, or at least are
unready, for peace. There is an expression for this
kind of situation, and it is not 'great victory,'
rather 'from the frying pan into the fire.'"

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2. Iraq:
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Summary:
--------

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "It appears that
the political process being conducted in Iraq around
the constitution is taking place in a bubble that is
detached from reality -- in a country where dozens of
people get killed every day."

Block Quotes:
-------------

"The Constitution Is Far Removed From Reality"

Senior Middle East affairs analyst Zvi Bar'el wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (August 16): "The
[Iraqi] draft constitution offers the Kurdish minority
some ... concessions that are not all agreed upon.
Despite the demand by the Shi'ite religious leadership
that Islamic law be 'the basic source' of legislation,
the draft stipulates that Islamic law will only be 'a
basic source.' The omission of the article 'the' from
the text signifies a significant and far-reaching
concession, not only to the Shi'ites' secular faction,
and of the Kurds who were opposed to a religious
formulation altogether -- it will also strengthen the
status of women. On the other hand, the draft
constitution is still rather unclear regarding the
powers of the central government.... Participation of
the Sunnis in decision-making [which the constitution
drafters are opposed to] could assist in the
continuation of negotiations against terrorist
organizations and, more importantly, would give the
Sunnis a power of veto regarding the adoption of the
constitution through a referendum. Meanwhile, it
appears that the political process being conducted in
Iraq around the constitution is taking place in a
bubble that is detached from reality -- in a country
where dozens of people get killed every day."

KURTZER

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