VZCZCXYZ0002
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHTV #1792/01 2271015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141015Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7992
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
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RHMFIUU/CNO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 4266
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 0873
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 4602
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5055
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 4258
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 2599
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 5018
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1882
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0094
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 8869
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 6349
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 1266
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 5371
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7331
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 0271
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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001792
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. Iran
2. Mideast
-------------------------
Key stories in the media:
-------------------------
All media repotted that yesterday Defense Minister Ehud Barak
unleashed a fierce attacks against FM Tzipi Livni. He was quoted as
saying: "The Foreign Minister, with her background as it is, is not
built to make decisions, not at three in the morning and not at
three in the afternoon. Being in the room when decisions are made
does not make you fit and ready to make them." Barak also
criticized Livni's statements about UNSC Resolution 1701 being her
top decision. He called Kadima a "refugee camp." Israel Radio and
other media reported that last night Transportation Minister Shaul
Mofaz and Livni presented a show of unity in response to BarakQs
comments. All media reported that yesterday Tzachi Hanegbi,
Chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and
head of Kadima's steering committee, endorsed Livni for the party
chairmanship.
Georgian President Mkhail Saakashvili was quoted as saying in an
interview with Ha'aretz that Israeli military aid is still flowing
into his country. In an interview with Maariv, Saakashvili was
quoted as saying that Israelis had a small part in Georgia's big
effort. However, Ha'aretz reported that Georgian Reintegration
Minister Temur Yakobashvili told the newspaper that Israel has
joined in the West's betrayal of Georgia, terming the GOI's decision
to stop arms exports to his country a "disgrace." Some 100 Georgian
Jews have started the immigration process to Israel since the
fighting began.
Last night Channel 2-TV reported that yesterday Israel's Ambassador
in Washington, Sallai Meridor, sent a scathing letter to Defense
Minister and Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, accusing him of harming
Israel's diplomatic mission in the U.S. during his most recent visit
two weeks ago. The letter claimed that Barak refused to include
Foreign Ministry officials in meetings with senior U.S. officials
that dealt with "sensitive and important" issues. Meridor said that
Barak's decision limited the leverage of Israeli diplomats
permanently placed in Washington because it made them seem detached
from the leadership in Israel.
Ha'aretz quoted Defense Minister Barak as saying yesterday that the
cease-fire deal with Hamas along the Gaza border has created
conditions that facilitate the talks to free Gilad Shalit. Barak
was also quoted as saying that sanctions against Iran must be
toughened. The Jerusalem Post quoted Barak as saying that the U.S.
has clearly stated that it opposes military action against Iran now.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the U.S. Department of Defense
told the newspaper yesterday that reports that a large American,
British, and French naval force is en route to the Persian Gulf to
blockade Iran are untrue.
Ha'aretz reported that PM Ehud Olmert has proposed to PA President
Mahmoud Abbas that the "shelf agreement" the two sides are working
on include an agreement for Israel to take in Palestinian refugees
as part of "family unification." Ha'aretz quoted sources in Israel
and the U.S. as saying that Olmert proposed to Abbas that Israel
absorb some 2,000 Palestinian refugees a year for 10 years, on a
humanitarian basis and according to a formula to be determined in
advance.
Leading media reported that the IDF has closed an investigation into
the death of a Reuters cameraman in Gaza on Aug 16. The Jerusalem
Post quoted Reuters as saying that it is "deeply disturbed" by the
findings and that the army's conclusion could encourage further
violence against journalists operating in war zones.
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday the Knesset's Economic
Affairs Committee called on the PM to speed up the final approval
process for 500 new apartment units in the ultra-Orthodox city of
Beitar Illit, which is located less than a kilometer over the Green
Line.
Leading media reported that yesterday a 16-year-old Palestinian was
arrested at a roadblock south of Nablus after he was found hiding
two pipe bombs and a pocket knife. The media also reported on cases
of violence in the territories.
The Jerusalem Post quoted Brenda Shaffer, a lecturer on Central Asia
and the Caucasus region at the University of Haifa, as saying that
it was likely that Russia would go along with sanctions against Iran
now, but that if the West takes a hard line on the Georgia issue,
then Moscow would likely respond by taking a tough line of its own
on other issues, including being less cooperative with the West on
Iran,
Leading media reported that Jordanian border officials refused to
allow a group of Israeli tourists carrying Jewish religious objects
such as prayer shawls and phylacteries to enter their country on
Tuesday, saying it was a "safety measure" to avoid potential terror
threats.
The Jerusalem Post quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying
yesterday that the government plans to transfer ownership of the
land on which the city's St. Sergius Church stands to Russia in the
coming weeks.
Last night Channel 10-TV reported that PM Olmert demanded $5,000
after speaking at a fundraising event for an organization that runs
the Sarel IDF volunteer program. Eventually, the organization
compromised on $2,000.
Some media quoted Muhammad Bassiouny, who was Egyptian ambassador to
Israel for 21 years, as saying last Saturday at the Alexandria
Library that he had been an emissary of Egyptian intelligence.
---------
1. Iran:
---------
Summary:
--------
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "Israel's
military option has not evaporated.... At the same time, Israel must
allow diplomatic efforts to move ahead, lower the tone of the
military threat, and understand that the dialogue with Iran is
essential to an attempt to reduce its military motivation."
Block Quotes:
-------------
"Diplomacy instead of Belligerence"
The independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (8/14): "The
warning conveyed by Washington to Israel not to attack Iran, and its
demand of Jerusalem not to surprise it with such an attack, should
not startle us. The Bush administration, which during its two terms
in office used the threat of war as a main strategy for curbing
Ian's nuclear capabilities, has recently adopted a new policy that
does not correspond with Israel's belligerent declarations....
Israel ... is liable to find itself in an inferior position in the
face of European countries' diplomatic ambitions, the economic
interests of China and Russia, and the American pressure for quiet
in Iraq. This requires Israel to maneuver wisely and cautiously so
as not to render itself an isolated warmonger, and frm there a
regional threat. This is especially th case when it is clear that
the region, Iran, an the great powers all understand that Israel's
mlitary option has not evaporated and that faced wih an
existential, genuine, and immediate threat,Israel will not take
foreign interests into consideration. At the same time, Israel must
allow dilomatic efforts to move ahead, lower the tone of te
military threat, and understand that the dialoue with Iran is
essential to an attempt to reduc its military motivation."
------------
2. Mideast:
------------
Summary:
--------
Veteran columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post: "Rebuilding deterrence must be a top
priority. And Kadima cannot be trusted with the job. Its record
speaks for itself."
Block Quotes:
-------------
"How Israel Became the Boy who Cried Wolf"
Veteran columnist Evelyn Gordon wrote in the conservative,
independent Jerusalem Post (8/14): "[One of Israel's more flawed
recent policies was] its nonstop threats that we would 'soon' lose
patience and invade Gaza. Since that never happened, Israel became
the boy who cried wolf. It has lost any ability to make credible
threats, as its enemies will consider them mere hot air. Then, in
June, the government capitulated completely, accepting a truce on
Hamas's terms -- which [Shin Bet head Yuval] Diskin termed a
'lifesaver' for the organization.... In short, rather than showing
that peace pays better than terror, Kadima showed that terror pays
better than peace -- thereby encouraging it.... The picture in the
North is identical..... Since the [Second Lebanon] War, Hizbullah
has tripled its rocket supply, to about 40,000, and now has
virtually all of Israel in range rather than the North alone. And
again we did nothing. Moreover, Hizbullah's rearmament enabled it
to seize control of Lebanon's government this spring, further
increasing its ability to threaten Israel. But not content with
mere inaction, Kadima actively undermined its chances of mustering
effective diplomatic pressure against the smuggling via its indirect
negotiations with Syrian President Bashar Assad. For Assad, the
benefits were immediate: After years of international isolation, he
was welcomed back to the world stage.... Kadima inherited a country
with a weakened but still extant deterrent posture and proceeded to
systemically destroy it. Now, rebuilding deterrence must be a top
priority. And Kadima cannot be trusted with the job. Its record
speaks for itself."
MORENO