VZCZCXYZ0010
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHTV #1104/01 1070940
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170940Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0548
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEADWD/DA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUENAAA/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 1984
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 8723
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1935
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2788
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 1978
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 9822
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 2720
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 9623
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0099
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 6705
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4102
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 9002
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 3197
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 5124
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 6540
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT PRIORITY
UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001104
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
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:
--------------------------------
1. Mideast
2. Visit of US Secretary of Defense in Israel
-------------------------
Key stories in the media:
-------------------------
Ha'aretz reported that the U.S. administration will present in the
following weeks to the Israelis and the Palestinians a list with
benchmarks aimed to progress the obligations of both sides. The
Palestinians will be expected to act in the areas of security and
terror prevention and Israel will be expected to do its part in
keeping the Gaza Strip crossings in operation and easing
restrictions on movement in the West Bank. The newspaper added that
Secretary of States Condoleezza Rive is expected in the region
SIPDIS
around mid May for another round of talks with Israelis and
Palestinians.
Ha'aretz reported that the Dayton Plan devised by Lieutenant General
Keith Dayton, the American security coordinator in the region, will
not supply weapons to the Palestinian Presidential Guard and will
focus on training and coordination of activities of all security
forces loyal to the PA chairman.
The Jerusalem Post reported that US Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates is due in Israel on Wednesday.
Ha'aretz reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni met
the Chinese special envoy to the region, Sun Bigan on Monday. In
their meeting Livni presented the "political horizon" that Israel
would focus on in talks with Abbas, including security and economic
facets of the final status solution. This horizon does not include
discussion of the final status agreement, including Jerusalem, the
1967 borders and Palestinian refugees.
Channel 2 reported on Monday night that members of the Winograd
Committee are considering resigning if the Supreme Court orders to
make public the protocols of the discussions before the interim
report is due. Maariv reported that members of the committee are
considering not preparing the second part of the report, which is to
deal directly with the war.
All media quoted Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal as warning
Israel of a military clash on the Golan Heights unless peace
negotiations were begun: "Syria is interested in renewing the peace
process and that desire is still valid ... but if the occupying
Israeli side does not respond positively to the Arab initiative and
to international calls, then resistance will be the way to restore
the occupied Syrian Golan."
Yediot reported that the kidnappers of Gilad Shalit are in no hurry
to close a deal. According to the newspaper Hamas views him as an
insurance policy against an Israeli invasion and targeted killings.
The paper also quoted a statement issued by the Palestinian
organizations in honor of Palestinian Prisoner Day in which they say
that: "The method of kidnapping soldiers has proven itself and, as
such, we need to continue to kidnap Israeli soldiers and civilians
in order to release Palestinian prisoners." Leading media reported
that Palestinian PM Haniyah announced on Monday that Fatah leader
Marwan Barghouti is on the prisoners list that the Palestinian are
demanding in exchange for Gilad Shalit.
Israel Radio this morning reported that four Israelis were shot and
wounded as they were driving near Naale, a Jewish settlement in the
West Bank north of Modi'in. One of the Israelis was seriously
injured and three lightly, the radio reported.
Israel Radio this morning reported that among the 32 people killed
in the Virginia Tech massacre in the US was also an Israeli
professor.
Ha'aretz reported that the company that facilitated the purchase of
the disputed house in Hebron occupied by settlers is currently the
subject of a police probe. The Police are investigating whether the
company was involved in forgery and fraud in purchases performed
before the transaction of the contested house.
Ha'aretz reported that PM Ehud Olmert banned Deputy Defense Minister
Efrayim Sneh from participating in a gathering in which Palestinian
Finance Minister Salam Fayed is also a participant.
Ha'aretz reported that Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Moshe
Kaplinsky is planning to leave his job in the summer in favor of a
management study program in Harvard.
Ha'aretz reported that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah
has requested a visa to attend a Palestinian conference in Rotterdam
and that the Dutch government refuses to grant him a visa since the
EU considers Hamas a terror organization.
Maariv reported that a senior leader in the Egyptian Muslim Brother
movement has expressed consent to the establishment of a Jewish
state next to a Palestinian State as an interim solution to the
Israeli-Arab conflict. According to the paper his declaration caused
a major storm in Cairo.
Ha'aretz cited Belgium's Defense Minister Andre Flahaut as saying
that Israel must pay for the removal of cluster bomb fragments that
it fired into Lebanon during the Second Lebanon war.
Maariv reported that United States Delta Airline will operate a
daily flight from Israel to New York.
Yediot reported that an Israeli tourist company is arranging tourist
trips fro Israelis to North Korea for the first time.
-----------
1. Mideast:
-----------
Summary:
--------
Defense commentator Amos Gilboa wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv: "Out of a 'thousand' questions, I have one important one for
the Israeli government: where do you get the tireless urge to cling
on Arab initiatives that are bad for Israel? Why doesn't the Israeli
government put an Israeli initiative that would serve as its own
national-diplomatic compass?"
Block Quotes:
-------------
"The Missing Initiative"
Defense commentator Amos Gilboa wrote in the popular, pluralist
Maariv (4/17): "Newspaper headlines report on first talks between
Israel and the Arab League in order to open peace negotiations on
the basis of the Arab Initiative from 2002, which was recently
reapproved in the Arab summit in Riyadh. Out of a 'thousand'
questions, I have one important one for the Israeli government:
where do you get the tireless urge to cling on Arab initiatives that
are bad for Israel? Why doesn't the Israeli government put an
Israeli initiative that would serve as its own national-diplomatic
compass?.... Any move that would accept the Arab Initiative as a
basis for negotiations, that would hand the Arab League the
initiative for international moves meant to progress Arab positions,
that would push Israel to a dangerous diplomatic stand point -- will
only make real that it is all spin against the threatening wave of
the Winograd Committee."
--------------------------------------------- -
2. Visit of US Secretary of Defense in Israel:
--------------------------------------------- -
Summary:
--------
Defense columnist Amir Oren opined in the independent, left-leaning
Ha'aretz: "There are no fateful issues that Gates is authorized to
conclude with Peretz, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni ... and Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert.... So what's left? Not a lot, mainly just the
delicate issue of the sale of arms to other countries -- an issue
wrapped in hypocrisy on both sides."
Block Quotes:
-------------
"Not a Lot to Discuss"
Defense columnist Amir Oren opined in the independent, left-leaning
Ha'aretz (4/17): "[US Secretary of Defense Robert] Gates' visit to
Israel reflects a decision not to boycott it: He must not skip
Israel on his visit to the region, though he is known to be cooler
toward it than his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld. There are no
fateful issues that Gates is authorized to conclude with Peretz,
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (whom he asked to meet, perhaps because
of the rumor that she is getting closer to becoming prime minister)
and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Dealing with Iran is the
president's jurisdiction. In Iraq, the Pentagon has refrained from
accepting overt Israeli help. Gaza, which the administration is
making efforts to prevent from bursting into flames, belongs to
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, even in the channel of Security
SIPDIS
Coordinator Keith Dayton. So what's left? Not a lot, mainly just
the delicate issue of the sale of arms to other countries -- an
issue wrapped in hypocrisy on both sides."
JONES