Cablegate: Israel Media Reaction

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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 006444

SIPDIS

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
USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR
COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD
COMSIXTHFLT FOR 019

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:
--------------------------------

1. Mideast

2. U.S.-Israel Relations

3. Muslims in European Society

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Key stories in the media:
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This morning, Israel Radio reported that Histadrut
Labor Federation Secretary-General, Knesset Member Amir
Peretz, defeated Vice Premier and interim Labor Party
Chairman, Shimon Peres, in the primaries for Labor
Party leadership. Peretz received 42.35 percent of the
votes; Peres 39.96 percent; and Infrastructure Minister
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer 17 percent. All major newspapers
had reported that the race was too close to call. The
radio quoted Peretz as saying that he expected his
party to leave the government coalition. Israel Radio
reported that Peretz and PM Sharon have agreed to meet
on Sunday. The radio reported that Labor cabinet
ministers will remain in place for the time being.
Some commentators do not rule out a split in the party.

The major media reported that bombs rocked three hotels
in Amman late last night, killing at least 57 people
and wounding hundreds in apparent suicide attacks.
Israel reported that Al Qaida's Iraqi branch, headed by
Abu Musa al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the
bombings. The media said that everything indicates
that Al Qaida was behind the attacks. The media note
that one of the hotels is known to be popular with
Israeli tourists. Israel Radio reported that an
Israeli Arab businessman was killed in Amman. Ha'aretz
reported that a number of Israelis staying Wednesday at
the Radisson SAS were evacuated before the bombing by
Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific
security alert. Israel Radio reported that Sharon
expressed his condolences to King Abdullah II, and
quoted Sharon as saying that the entire world must
unite and fight terror. The radio, which said that
Jordan sealed its land borders after the attacks,
reported that the Jordanian authorities have advised
Israel that they will reopen the joint border crossings
in 24 hours.
The Jerusalem Post quoted EU Middle East envoy Marc
Otte as saying Wednesday night that an EU advance team
arrived Wednesday to look at the Rafah border terminal
and determine how many EU monitors will be needed
there, and what equipment and type of protection they
will need to properly do their job. Israel Radio cited
the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds as saying that no
progress was made last night during talks between
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and PA Civilian Affairs
Minister Muhammad Dahlan, as the main point of
contention was Israel's demand that the Palestinians
provide Israel real-time video surveillance pictures
from the Rafah border crossing. The radio also
reported that Mofaz refused to let the PA post monitors
at the Kerem Shalom cargo border crossing.

The Jerusalem Post reported that a large group of PA
security officers sent a letter to PA Chairman
[President] Mahmoud Abbas, in which they wrote that the
PA security forces are on the verge of collapse because
of rampant corruption and growing anarchy.

Ha'aretz and Israel Radio reported that on Wednesday,
an Argentine prosecutor identified as a Hizbullah
militant the suicide bomber who detonated a van packed
with explosives outside a Jewish community center in
Buenos Aires in 1994, killing 85 people in Argentina's
worst-ever terrorist attack.

Maariv and Yediot quoted Yuval Rabin, the son of the
late PM Yitzhak Rabin, as saying that he supports Ariel
Sharon and that Sharon is the "right man at the right
place." The newspapers reported that Yuval Rabin made
the comment in an interview that Israel TV will air
this weekend. Maariv quoted Yuval Rabin as saying in
the interview that he had wondered why his father had
insisted on staying in the Labor Party. Ha'aretz
reported that Hagai Amir, the brother of Yitzhak
Rabin's killer, will appear in early January before a
parole board for a hearing on whether he should be
released from jail for good behavior. Hagai Amir is
serving a 12-year sentence following his conviction on
charges of conspiring to murder the prime minister,
conspiring to attack Arabs, and manufacturing, carrying
and possessing arms. Leading media reported that an
academic conference on the aftermath of the Rabin
assassination held Wednesday at the religious-oriented
Bar-Ilan University triggered criticism from senior
faculty, who termed it a "monologue rather than a
dialogue."

Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel
will start bringing the remaining Falash Mura
descendants of Jewish families who converted to
Christianity, to Israel next month, following an
agreement reached on Wednesday between an Israeli
delegation and the Ethiopian government. According to
the agreement, some 600 Falash Mura, will be brought to
Israel monthly.

The major media reported that last night, residents of
the village of Issawiya, near Mt. Scopus, north of
Jerusalem, rioted after a policeman shot dead a
suspected car thief who was a resident of the village.

Maariv reported that a Hamas cell that had been trying
to infiltrate a drone-manufacturing plant in the United
Arab Emirates has recently been captured.

Leading media reported that Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz's adviser on settlements, Ron Schechner, resigned
on Wednesday. Attorney Talia Sasson's March 2005
report on illegal settler outposts had accused
Schechner of misleading branches of the GOI.

Ha'aretz reported that the GOI has warned the Greek
Orthodox Patriarch-elect, Theophilos III, not to hold
an official inauguration ceremony scheduled for
November 22. Ha'aretz cited a letter sent to
Theophilos on Wednesday, in which Tzachi Hanegbi, the
minister in charge of Jerusalem affairs at the Prime
Minister's Office, wrote that Theophilos's election
"has not been recognized by the State of Israel, as is
required by law."

Maariv reported that the Muslim Canadian Congress has
recently called on the Canadian authorities to put
Sharon, a "war criminal," on trial if he enters Canada.
The newspaper quoted Foreign Ministry officials as
saying that this is a sensitive issue that will have to
be addressed. Maariv quoted a Foreign Ministry source
as saying: "Attention must be given to the political
activity of the Arab lobbying groups."
Yediot reported that Pakistan has informed Israel
through a third party that it is interested in money,
not equipment, to help earthquake relief. The
newspaper cited Israel's answer to Pakistan that it
finds it hard to raise a financial contribution.

Maariv reported that on Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to
Israel Richard Jones asked the GOI to establish an
information center that would concentrate all
governmental and public tenders so that the bids are
transparent and accessible to all. The Ambassador was
speaking before the Israel Gateway Exhibition Seminar.

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1. Mideast:
------------

Summary:
--------

Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "It's getting
closer. Hotels blow up in Sinai, and now hotels are
blowing up in Amman."

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "It
was Washington that understood, before Israel did, how
useless it would be to prevent the participation of
Hamas in the elections."

Yahad-Meretz Party Chairman and Geneva Accord co-
initiator Yossi Beilin wrote in Ha'aretz: "Those who
want to advance the peace process and know -- unlike
Sharon -- that time is working against the sane in this
region, must understand that there is no chance for a
Pax Americana. The only formula for a solution is 'do
it yourself.'"

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

I. "The Neighborhood is Burning, and the Borders are
Breached"

Military correspondent Alex Fishman wrote in mass-
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (November 10):
"It's getting closer. Hotels blow up in Sinai, and now
hotels are blowing up in Amman. And we're close by.
The hourglass is emptying. We cannot count on luck.
The Jordanians simply ran out of luck on Wednesday....
Israel's border with Egypt, through which weapons cross
into the territories, has turned into a highway.... If
the Israel-Egypt border is a promenade, then the Israel-
Jordan border is more along the lines of a
'recommendation only' to those roaming the area. Why
does anybody here think that these terror cells will
stop when they see the sign 'border ahead?' Why do we
wait for a disaster before starting to make a
reasonable border line? And perhaps now is the time to
stop the dozens or hundreds of Israeli Bedouins who
operate the 'Negev-Sinai' and 'Negev-Jordan' transport
routes? Today they bring tons of heroin, hashish and
weapons across. Tomorrow they will also transport
terrorists. Somebody has to put a stop to this
neglect."

II. "A Clear Stand Vis-a-Vis Hamas"

Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized
(November 10): "On the one hand, [Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon] warns that Israel will take steps to make it
more difficult for Hamas to participate in the
elections, and then he suffices with the remark that
the participation of Hamas will determine the extent of
cooperation between Israel and the PA.... It was
Washington that understood, before Israel did, how
useless it would be to prevent the participation of
Hamas in the elections. Washington made clear its
position to Israel and in this way created the current
confusion. This confusion would not have existed in
the first place had Prime Minister Sharon believed the
peace process, and only the peace process, could
provide the security he aspires to, or alternately, had
he truly continued with the momentum of the unilateral
disengagement from the Gaza Strip in the West Bank as
well. For in both of these cases, Israel has an
interest in the radical organizations cooperating with
the PA and granting it public legitimization -- if not
for making peace with Israel, at least for enforcing
its authority on the public. But one who evades
negotiations and any other diplomatic initiative must
cling to the fabrication according to which the
presence of Hamas in the PA will be the factor delaying
the process -- a process that does not exist at all."

III. "Don't Count on America"

Yahad-Meretz Party Chairman and Geneva Accord co-
initiator Yossi Beilin wrote in Ha'aretz (November 10):
"It never was President Bush's dream to find a solution
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the contrary,
since it had been President Clinton's 'baby' and
everything connected to Clinton is not kosher as far as
Bush is concerned, it was clear from the beginning that
he would stay away from the region.... The sole
superpower in the world has for some time been running
a policy of ducking responsibility. The American
vision is based on the nonsensical notion of turning
Gaza into a model of regional success like Singapore or
Hong Kong, and the Secretary of State shows up to deal
with the evacuation of the rubble of the settlements of
Gush Katif or the dramatic issue of the technical
arrangements for the Rafah crossing. Those who want to
advance the peace process and know -- unlike Sharon --
that time is working against the sane in this region,
must understand that there is no chance for a Pax
Americana. The only formula for a solution is 'do it
yourself.'"

--------------------------
2. U.S.-Israel Relations:
--------------------------

Summary:
--------

Conservative contributor Yoram Ettinger, former
minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy
in Washington and former consul general of Israel to
the Southwestern U.S., wrote in mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "The claim that Israel can't
be defiant in its relations with the United States is
totally mistaken."

Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "There is a need to
examine whether a consensus is at all possible among
the various streams of Judaism [in the United States]
on the question of where to draw [a] red line.... If
this line is crossed, Israel will also have to pay for
it in terms of understanding and acceptance."

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

I. "Playing Poker With Washington"

Conservative contributor Yoram Ettinger, former
minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy
in Washington and former consul general of Israel to
the Southwestern U.S., wrote in mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (November 10): "The claim
that Israel can't be defiant in its relations with the
United States is totally mistaken and represents a
misunderstanding of past precedents, of the special
status enjoyed by the Jewish state in the U.S., of
global circumstances, of the state of mind in America,
and of the limitations intrinsic to a president during
his second term.... Israel's unique relations with the
U.S. are anchored in shared values.... The state of
mind of the [American] public and Congress is different
from the worldview of the State Department, which
doesn't act under Congressional supervision. Congress
is a fortress of systematic support for Israel and
'holds the strings of the purse.' Its power equals
that of the President. The lower the President's
prestige drops, the stronger the independence of
Congress becomes."

II. "Where Does the Wonderful Friendship End?"

Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner wrote in
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (November 10): "The
statements made a few days ago by Abe Foxman, the head
of the Anti-Defamation League, deserve an outcry. He
warned of increasing efforts by Christian rightists to
'Christianize America' -- a well-known and much-spoken-
of phenomenon. Many are warning of it in the name of
liberal values, in the name of the American
constitutional heritage, in the name of political
objectives.... Supporters of Israel face a complex
problem: do they continue to uphold their wonderful
friendship with their most devoted fans, or should they
first assess the long-term significance of this support
-- whether it does indeed pose a threat to the
stability and security of America's Jewish community --
and work this assessment into the overall picture that
determines the depth of these ties? Foxman is right
about one thing: there is a need to examine whether a
consensus is at all possible among the various streams
of Judaism on the question of where to draw the red
line -- the line that defines the moment when the
community will unite against the forces that threaten
its cultural and religious freedom. If this line is
crossed, Israel will also have to pay for it in terms
of understanding and acceptance."

--------------------------------
3. Muslims in European Society:
--------------------------------

Summary:
--------

Dr. Gabi Avital, a member of the conservative group
Professors For a Strong Israel, wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv: "Muslims behave as masters, not as
temporary guests."

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

"Enlightened Islamic Conquest"

Dr. Gabi Avital, a member of the conservative group
Professors For a Strong Israel, wrote in popular,
pluralist Maariv (November 10): "Islam makes use of a
wide array of means to take over [various Western
countries]. Not every action makes conspicuous terror
necessary. Wisely using European law and justice, and
'taking advantage of democracy,' are sufficient to
build more mosques. Muslims behave as masters, not as
temporary guests.... It's likely that those remarks are
unpleasant to sterile ears and in a post-Jewish [i.e.
left-wing] atmosphere, but it's impossible to dodge the
basic problem of the Islamic takeover.... [George]
Bernard Shaw wrote over 70 years ago: 'If any religion
had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe
within the next hundred years, it could be Islam.'"

JONES

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