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P 281406Z NOV 08
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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. Mumbai Terror Attacks
-------------------------
Key stories in the media:
-------------------------
Over the past two days all media highlighted the multiple terror
attacks in Mumbai, in particular on the cityQs Chabad Hasidic
headquarters, where up to 20 Israelis are being held hostage and
four bodies were reportedly found. HaQaretz reported that the
Indian government is not interested in hig-profile security
assistance from Israel. HaQaretz reported that yesterday the
Israeli defense establishment avoided stating explicitly if the
attack on Chabad House was planned or accidental.
Yesterday HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that the
Jewish-American man who says he purchased the QHouse of Contention
in Hebron moved in to live there on Wednesday, joining the 16 Jewish
families already residing in the building and hundreds of activists
who have come to prevent security forces from evicting the tenants.
Yesterday major media reported that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz
told PM Ehud Olmert on Wednesday that he is considering indicting PM
Ehud Olmert in the Rishon Tours double-billing affair. In reaction
to this announcement Kadima chairwoman and FM Tzipi Livni called for
Olmert to suspend himself, and according to HaQaretz Olmert angrily
her of opportunism.
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted several high ranking Israeli
defense officials as saying on Wednesday that Israel should resume
military operations against Hamas in Gaza when the cease-fire
expires in three weeks to increase pressure on the terrorist group
that could lead to a renewal of talks over the release of Gilad
Shalit. Israel Radio reported that last night thousands gathered
outside PM Ehud OlmertQs residence, demanding ShalitQs release.
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted that a boat has reportedly set
sail from Libya for Gaza, significantly ratcheting up the challenges
to IsraelQs naval blockade. The daily quoted an Israeli diplomatic
official as saying that Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi causes concern
to Israel Qbecause he is not rational.Q Yesterday Maariv reported
that The IDF is preparing for the possibility that the Israel Navy
might prevent the ship from reaching the Gaza coast.
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that the UN asked for $462
million on Wednesday to continue its assistance to Palestinians in
2009 and demanded that Israel allow humanitarian aid into the area
in spite of Palestinian rocket attacks..
HaQaretz reported that yesterday the Foreign Press Association held
a news conference to protest the GOIQs ban on international
journalists entering Gaza.
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior Israeli diplomatic
official as saying that the UN has an interest in downplaying
HizbullahQs rearmament and activities in southern Lebanon because it
wants Qindustrial quietQ in Lebanon.
Yesterday HaQaretz reported that despite increased naval
cooperation, questions remain on where Israel and NATO fit
together.
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that the already splintered
Right will be split further, now that a new party calling itself
Eretz Yisrael Shelanu (Our Land of Israel) announced that it will
run in the upcoming national elections. Yesterday HaQaretz reported
that Likud members blasted party leader Benjamin Netanyahu on
Wednesday for his campaign against radical right-wing Likud member
Moshe Feiglin and his followers, which they said blows FeiglinQs
support out of proportion.
HaQaretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that Jerusalem Mayor-elect
Nir Barkat has formed a city council coalition without the two major
ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas.
However, The Jerusalem Post quoted BarkatQs spokesman as saying that
he will seek to add them in the near future. Yesterday The
Jerusalem Post reported that a delegation of American Jews from the
New York-based Orthodox Union presented Barkat with a petition
against any future division of Jerusalem as part of a peace
agreement with the Palestinians. The petition was signed by one
million American Jews.
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal
Palmor as saying on Wednesday that the Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab
al-YawmQs refusal to publish an advertisement promoting the Arab
League initiative because it displayed the Israeli flag shows there
is a Qlong way to go before we reach peace.
The Jerusalem Post and HaQaretz reported that Pope Benedict XVI may
visit the Holy Land next year (in May, according to The Jerusalem
Post).
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported on a new initiative sponsored
by the Interreligious Council, in Israel, Al-Qasimi College in Baka
al-Gharbiya, the Nehemia Levtzion Center for Islamic Studies at the
Hebrew University, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is
looking at religion not as a cause of war, but a jumping-off point
for peace.
Yesterday Maariv reported that Welfare Minister Yitzhak Herzog is
promoting an initiative to have thousands of people who were fired
from high-tech firms hired to work for the Israel Military
Industries.
Yesterday The Jerusalem Post reported that on Wednesday Secretary
Condoleezza Rice downplayed reports that Iran fired a new rocket
into space, and that she stressed AmericaQs heightened profile.
HaQaretz reported that Israeli analysts told the daily yesterday
that Iran has failed to launch a missile into orbit despite its
claims to the contrary.
The Jerusalem Post reported that yesterday Knesset Member Avraham
Ravitz (UTJ) announced that he as quitting politics after 20 years
in the Knesset.
------------
1. Mideast:
------------
Summary:
--------
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz: QThe only achievement for which Olmert and
Bush can take credit is the destruction of the nuclear reactor in
Syria. All the rest ended in great disappointment.
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular,
pluralist Maariv: QThe really terrible news is that in the battle
against the hilltop youth and against the extreme right wing, we've
already lost, big time. Anarchy already reigns.
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: QThe
conflict between the Jewish people and the Palestinian Arabs has
nothing to do with apartheid.
Block Quotes:
-------------
I. "Swan Song for Two Lame Ducks"
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in the independent,
left-leaning Ha'aretz (11/28): Q[President Bush and Prime Minister
Olmert do not] have much reason to celebrate. The Palestinian state
is further away than ever, Iran is close to having nuclear weapons,
the extremists in the Middle East are having a ball, and the
moderate regimes are retreating. Nothing came of the big speeches,
the summit meetings and the trips back and forth. The only
achievement for which Olmert and Bush can take credit is the
destruction of the nuclear reactor in Syria. All the rest ended in
great disappointment: the convergence plan, the Second Lebanon War,
the Annapolis process, and the pressure on Iran.
II. "Anarchy Already Here"
Liberal op-ed writer Yael Paz-Melamed commented in the popular,
pluralist Maariv (11/27): QThe disputed house in Hebron will not be
evacuated any time soon. Nor will Migron. Nor will a number of
other illegal outposts. Israel, with its great army and security
forces, is incapable, and mainly does not want, to clash with the
extreme right wing.... And not a peep is heard from the political
establishment -- because what do the politicians need this headache
now for?.... There are, naturally, some successes. The good news is
that in the last two years, not a single new outpost was built, and
those that were, were destroyed that same night. But the bad news
is that if the right wing bloc grows stronger in the next elections,
as the polls forecast, [far-Right militant] Noam Federman's
disciples will not need to threaten to attack IDF soldiers. Nobody
will dare demand that they uphold the rule of law. The really
terrible news is that in the battle against the hilltop youth and
against the extreme right wing, we've already lost, big time.
Anarchy already reigns.
III. "Hipocrita"
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/27):
QRather than blame the Arab and Muslim world which, between 1947 and
2002, explicitly rejected the two-state solution, or blame the
Palestinian Arabs whose polity to this day is divided over the
possibility of coexistence, [UN General Assembly President Miguel]
d'Escoto Brockmann blames... the Jews. Then comes the Big Lie:
QIsraeli policies in the Palestinian territories appear so similar
to the apartheid of an earlier era, a continent away, and I believe
it is very important we in the United Nations use this term,"
d'Escoto Brockmann said. QWe must not be afraid to call something
for what it is.Q To state the obvious: The conflict between the
Jewish people and the Palestinian Arabs has nothing to do with
apartheid. There is no system of racial segregation in the West
Bank. There is a state of de-facto belligerency between West Bank
Palestinians and Israeli Jews. Hamas-controlled Gaza seeks Israel's
annihilation, not civil rights. Jews are not colonizers in Judea
and Samaria [i.e. the West Bank]. Nevertheless, Israel's government
is ready to abandon much of the Jews' ancient heartland for peace
with security. As the padre speaks from the den of iniquity that is
the General Assembly, we ask: QWhy do you see the speck in your
neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?Q (Matthew
7:3).
--------------------------
2. Mumbai Terror Attacks:
--------------------------
Summary:
--------
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized:
QIsraelis have long argued that no political grievance, no perceived
injustice and no religious creed can ever justify waging war against
civilians.... If any consolation can be derived out of the
heartbreak in Mumbai, perhaps it will be that India will work ever
more vigorously in international forums to isolate terrorists and
the states that sponsor them.
Intelligence writer Ronen Bergman commented in the mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot: QGlobal Jihad activity will put [Indian]
stability, that model for the entire world, to an extremely hard
test.
Block Quotes:
-------------
I. "In Cold Blood"
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (11/28):
QThe bloodbath reminds us that, though Muslim extremism is often
traceable to some local grievance, it's in essence part of a larger
conflict between civilizations. Islamists are violently affronted
when Hindus, Jews, Buddhist or Christians are sovereign over a
Muslim minority.... Israelis feel at one with the people of India,
especially at times like these. Both countries are modern
incarnations of ancient civilizations. We share common political
values, overlapping security concerns and a growing commerce.
India was established in 1947; Israel in 1948. Both peoples
rejected British rule, both faced Muslim opposition to their
independence.... Israelis have long argued that no political
grievance, no perceived injustice and no religious creed can ever
justify waging war against civilians. Others have sometimes made
excuses for QresistanceQ movements. If any consolation can be
derived out of the heartbreak in Mumbai, perhaps it will be that
India will work ever more vigorously in international forums to
isolate terrorists and the states that sponsor them.
II. "Greetings from Al-Qaida"
Intelligence writer Ronen Bergman commented in the mass-circulation,
pluralist Yediot Aharonot (11/28): QWhat the media now erroneously
call QAl-QaidaQ would have much better be dubbed QGlobal Jihad,Q a
term invented in the Mossad in the mid-90s. The Mumbai attacks
prove that, seven years after 9/11, the enlightened world is far
from having found an intelligence or operational solution to this
problem.... India, a country in which a Muslim minority ... and a
Hindu majority reside, succeeds one way or the others to feed over
one billion mouths, despite repeated attacks on its leaders ... by
extremists from the north and an attempt by Tamils in the south to
achieve independence. Global Jihad activity will put that
stability, that model for the entire world, to an extremely hard
test.
MORENO