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Viewing cable 07TELAVIV1293, ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07TELAVIV1293 2007-05-02 09:42 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tel Aviv
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTV #1293/01 1220942
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 020942Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0864
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 2072
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 8811
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2041
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2878
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 2073
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 9938
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 2815
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 9711
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0187
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 6793
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4196
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 9096
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 3288
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 5212
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 6697
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMSIXTHFLT  PRIORITY
UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001293 
 
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: 
-------------------------------- 
 
Winograd Probe Into 2nd Lebanon War 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio quoted State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack as 
saying in Tuesday that on Thursday representatives of the Quartet 
will meet in Sharm el-Sheikh with Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi, and 
Syrian officials. 
 
Maariv reported that President Bush will be the special guest of 
former cabinet minister Natan Sharansky at a conference on democracy 
and international security that Sharansky will convene in Prague 
early in June. 
 
All media highlighted opposition to PM Ehud Olmert in the ranks of 
his party, Kadima.  The Jerusalem Post quoted an official close to 
Olmert as saying that Knesset members allying themselves with him 
had begun discussing ways for Olmert to negotiate an "honorable 
departure" from his office.  The Jerusalem Post bannered: "Kadima 
Rebellion Gathers Pace," and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe: "Crumbling In 
Kadima."  Leading media reported that Olmert is expected to warn FM 
Tzipi Livni at a meeting between the two today that she cannot 
continue to undermine him and still hold her position as deputy 
premier.  Major media (banner in Yediot and Maariv) said that Livni 
is demanding Olmert's resignation.  Ha'aretz reported that on 
Tuesday Olmert and his aides were highly critical of what they said 
was Livni's open and active role in efforts within Kadima to remove 
Olmert.  Ha'aretz quoted sources in FM Tzipi Livni's bureau as 
denying on Tuesday that the FM was in any way involved in efforts by 
coalition whip Avigdor Yitzhaki to rally Kadima Knesset members 
against Olmert.  Yitzhaki told IDF Radio this morning that he will 
resign his post of coalition coordinator if Olmert does not step 
down.  Media reported that Livni is expected to make a statement 
about Olmert at today's cabinet meeting that The Jerusalem Post said 
could decide whether the opposition to Olmert will escalate into 
full-scale rebellion.  However, Ha'aretz quoted sources in Kadima 
affiliated with Livni as saying that she intends to tell Olmert -- 
perhaps even during their meeting today -- that he should resign, 
since he has lost the support of the public.  These sources also 
maintained that Livni intends to resign, taking into consideration 
 
that her time as FM is probably limited anyway because Olmert is not 
likely to be in power for much longer.  However, Ha'aretz quoted 
other senior sources in Kadima as saying that Livni is still 
debating whether to resign or strongly criticize Olmert, and that 
she is still open to the possibility of him leading efforts at 
reform.  Ha'aretz quoted some Kadima sources as saying that if Livni 
resigned, she would receive broad public support, and this would 
increase her chances of taking over the premiership and the 
leadership of Kadima from Olmert.  Electronic media quoted Olmert as 
saying at a cabinet meeting this morning that no one should draw too 
hasty conclusions from the Winograd report. 
 
Maariv reported that the Labor Party's Central Committee will 
present Kadima with an ultimatum, most likely on May 10: Only if 
Olmert is replaced at the head of Kadima will Labor remain in the 
government coalition.  Leading media reported that cabinet ministers 
Eli Yishai, and Avigdor Lieberman, respective leaders of Shas and 
Yisrael Beiteinu, have agreed to back Olmert. 
 
Leading media reported that today Olmert will present the cabinet 
with a proposal to "adopt the main points of the Winograd report" 
and work toward implementing its recommendations.  Ha'aretz said 
that, under this proposal, the government will set up a task force, 
headed by a retired defense official (other major media reported 
that former IDF chief of staff and former cabinet minister Amnon 
Lipkin-Shahak has agreed to assume this responsibility), which will 
flesh out the committee's recommendations for improving the 
decision-making process on diplomatic and security issues.  The 
group will be asked to formulate a plan and present it within 30 
days.  Ha'aretz wrote that a special ministerial committee headed by 
the PM will then approve these proposals and supervise their 
implementation.  In addition to Olmert, the committee will include 
Livni, Vice PM Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and 
Ministers Shaul Mofaz, Eli Yishai and Avigdor Lieberman.  The 
Jerusalem Post reported that three high-level bodies, Israel's 
National Security Council, the Foreign Ministry, and the Knesset's 
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, hope to increase their 
influence on defense planning in the aftermath of the report. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that, in its interim report, the Winograd 
Commission extensively addressed the Foreign Ministry's role and the 
fact that from the first few days of the war it prepared the 
diplomatic ground that led to Security Council Resolution 1701 that 
brought a cease-fire.  The report also warned against what it 
described as the army's excessively dominant role in the 
decision-making process in political-defense issues and stressed 
 
that the Foreign Ministry was not sufficiently included in the staff 
work during the war.  Ha'aretz reported that the commission will 
publish the testimonies of Olmert, Defense Minister Peretz, and 
former IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz in two weeks.  Ha'aretz also 
wrote that the commission's interim report left out many vital 
issues, including the home front and Israel's diplomatic moves 
during the war.  The daily reported that those issues will only 
appear in the final report, scheduled for release in another five 
months. 
 
The media reported that on Thursday a mass rally will be held in Tel 
Aviv in the aftermath of the publication of the Winograd 
Commission's interim report.  The media reported that marchers are 
converging on Tel Aviv. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that, following the publication of the 
Winograd report, the Arab media are trumpeting signs of Israel's 
defeat.  The newspaper also reported that Palestinian leaders are 
warning about an Israeli backlash in the Gaza Strip. 
 
Ha'aretz and The Jerusalem Post reported that the State Prosecutor's 
Office told the High Court of Justice that Olmert has asked Peretz 
to prepare a plan by the end of May (according to Maariv, within two 
months) for evacuating illegal outposts.  The plan would call for a 
gradual evacuation of illegal outposts from simpler to more complex 
evacuations, based on a number of parameters.  These include the 
expected amount of opposition; outposts that have already been 
served with legal notices, allowing for their immediate evacuation; 
small outposts; and outposts on private Palestinian land.  Ha'aretz 
quoted Peace Now, which is among the petitioners to remove the 
outpost of Migron, as saying on Tuesday that the "government is 
trying to gain time; instead of setting a precise date for the 
evacuation of the outposts, it is postponing it for two more months. 
 The state is avoiding the issue by not saying which outposts are 
involved." Ha'aretz and Maariv quoted the spokesman for the Yesha 
Council of Jewish Settlements in the Territories, settlements, 
Yishai Hollender, as saying that the state's response to the High 
Court was "very surprising since the Prime Minister knows the issue 
of the outposts can be solved through dialogue with the settlement 
leaders.  The Prime Minister knows that the Defense Minister cannot 
do everything and that he should appoint a team to solve the 
problem."  Ha'aretz quoted the settlers' group Homesh First as 
saying that as long as illegal Arab construction was not being dealt 
with, the demand to remove the outpost constituted "persecution of 
the settlers for the sole purpose of political survival.  Not only 
will Olmert fail in this mission, Homesh will be rebuilt."  Homesh 
was one of the four northern West Bank settlements evacuated in 2005 
along with the settlements in the Gaza Strip.  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe 
also mentioned Olmert's request of Peretz. 
 
The Jerusalem Post and Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited the latest annual 
report of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which found that 
Israel does not respect intellectual property rights.  Makor 
Rishon-Hatzofe reported that the USTR's report obstructs Israel's 
bid to be admitted to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development.  Makor Rishon-Hatzofe cited the Industry, Trade, and 
Labor Ministry's response that Israel abides by all international 
treaties to which it is a signatory, and that it provides adequate 
protection to right-holders in all felids. 
 
Yediot reported that Jewish children from Hebron stole furniture 
from local Palestinians in order to kindle bonfires for the 
traditional holiday of Lag Ba'omer. 
 
All media reported that this morning Attorney General Menachem Mazuz 
will hold a hearing in the case of Israeli President Moshe Katsav, 
who is expected to face a trial over alleged sexual offenses. 
 
Makor Rishon-Hatzofe quoted the PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida as 
saying that Falastin, the first independent Palestinian daily, will 
be officially launched on Thursday. 
 
All media reported on the alleged killing of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the 
leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq.  US officials said they could not 
confirm the reported death.  In an unrelated development, Yediot 
reported that a mixed Jewish-Muslim family from Iraq secretly 
immigrated to Israel several days ago.  Maariv reported that the 
Jewish Agency is trying to bring to Israel thousands of Iraqi Jews 
who converted to Islam. 
 
Yediot quoted former CIA Director George Tenet as saying in a book 
he has just published that he had influenced former US President 
Bill Clinton not to release convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, who was 
expected to be freed as part of the Wye Agreement. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Rabbinical Council of America 
postponed the scheduled announcement of an agreement with Israel's 
Chief Rabbinate on recognizing each other's Orthodox conversions on 
Monday, after a misunderstanding became evident following an article 
in The Jerusalem Post. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that US software giant Microsoft Corp. 
plans to spend USD 100 million over the next five year to expand 
activities and investments at its Israeli R&D centers in the areas 
of telecom, Internet, security, and digital entertainment, including 
the expansion of its Herzliya Pituah facility.  Additionally, 
Microsoft designated its offices here as a "Strategic R&D Center, 
one on only three in the world outside the US, with the other two 
being in China and India. 
 
Ha'aretz published the results of a poll that it conducted on 
Tuesday with the Dialog institute and was directed by Prof. Camil 
Fuchs of Tel Aviv University: 
-Forty percent of respondents favor elections (51 percent in a 
parallel Yediot poll), especially on the right wing.  Sixty-eight 
percent (65 percent in the Yediot survey), want Olmert to resign, an 
almost identical percentage that appeared in previous polls on this 
question.  Ha'aretz said that, in this sense, the major shock of the 
Winograd report has not left its mark on the people. 
- "Were elections for the Knesset to be held today, which party 
would you vote for?"  (Results in Knesset seats -- in brackets, 
seats in current Knesset.) 
-Likud 30 (12); Labor Party 21 (19); Kadima 14 (29); Yisrael 
Beiteinu 11 (11); Shas 10 (12); National Union-National Religious 
Party 8 (9); United Torah Judaism 7 (6); Meretz-Yahad 6 (5); Gil - 
Pensioners' Party 2 (7); Arab parties 11 (10). 
 
 
 
Maariv printed the results of a TNS/Teleseker Polling Institute 
survey: 
-"In the wake of the Winograd report, do you believe that Olmert 
should resign his position?"  Yes: 72.8 percent; no: 17.4 percent. 
-Depending on the configuration of party leaders during elections 
held today, respondents would grant Likud 30 to 37 Knesset seats, 
Kadima from 12 to 22 seats, and Labor 12 to 22 seats. 
 
The three major Hebrew-language dailies found that Likud leader 
Binyamin Netanyahu is the most popular politician among Israelis. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Winograd Probe Into 2nd Lebanon War: 
------------------------------------ 
 
Summary: 
-------- 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "[Foreign Minister 
Tzipi] Livni has decided to be prime minister.  She is convinced 
that she can do it.  She wants to.  And one can presume that in her 
estimation, the position will soon be available." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "Today and tomorrow will be fateful for 
Ehud Olmert.... Tzipi Livni, on the other hand, will finally have to 
make a decision." 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz: "From the point of view of the Prime Minister 
and Defense Minister, it makes no difference whether the commission 
concluded that they conducted themselves perfectly last summer or 
were utter failures: They are staying in their seats." 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker opined in Yediot Aharonot: 
"[Olmert's] government was born with a severe defect in the 
backbone, and it will die with no backbone at all." 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized: "The Knesset and the political parties must 
change the government soon by appointing an agreed-on candidate like 
Shimon Peres, who would serve until elections at an agreed-on future 
date." 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized: 
"Alongside the failures of leadership, the [Winograd] report makes 
plain that glaring conceptual and organizational dysfunction 
contributed crucially to what went wrong in the Second Lebanon 
War." 
 
P. Hovav wrote in the ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman: "Israel did not 
enjoy ... heavenly assistance during the Second Lebanon War.... What 
caused [its failure] is the 'sin of arrogance' that transpires from 
the spirit of the report, which says that the only thing needed to 
win a war is to run operations without failures." 
 
Block Quotes: 
------------- 
 
I.  "Livni's Time Has Come" 
 
Senior columnist Nahum Barnea wrote on page one of the 
mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/2): "The Winograd 
report caused a serious shakeup in at least one senior minister. 
Tzipi Livni read the report, heard the prime minister announce that 
he would not resign, and launched a feverish series of talks.  Livni 
on the day after the report is determined to be different from Livni 
on the day before.  The difference can be summed up in one short 
sentence: Livni has decided to be prime minister.  She is convinced 
that she can do it.  She wants to.  And one can presume that in her 
estimation, the position will soon be available.  She is 
deliberating what to do: Should she wait for the government's 
collapse or should she take action, resign from the government and 
thereby possibly hasten its end.  It is reasonable to assume that 
she will choose an intermediate path today, and hold a clarification 
meeting with Olmert of a confrontational nature.  The question is 
more tactical than strategic: The first signs of the coalitionQs 
disintegration appeared on Tuesday.... Olmert reached the conclusion 
that Livni has a character problem, and Livni reached the conclusion 
that Olmert has a character problem.  Politicians know how to 
overcome differences of views.  They have a harder time dealing with 
differences of characters.  Tzipi Livni does not have an orderly 
plan for battling Olmert.  That is not how she works.  But she has 
apparently become convinced that her time has come to come down from 
the bleachers to the field.  She will not be awaited there by green 
grass, but rather by a mud bath.  It will be interesting to see 
whether she is cut out for it." 
 
II.  "His Fate Is Already Sealed" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote on page one of the 
popular, pluralist Maariv (5/2): "Today and tomorrow will be fateful 
for Ehud Olmert.... The political commotion that is being waged now 
between everyone is unprecedented in its fiery passion, and in the 
endless political possibilities and scenarios that it generates.  It 
is a perspiring, vocal cockfight, from which only one rooster will 
come out alive.  If it is Olmert, he will win a life expectancy of a 
few more months, until the big cat comes along and devours him. 
Tzipi Livni, on the other hand, will finally have to make a 
decision.  Until today she has spent an entire career devoid of real 
decisions or risks.  Now it has come, and today she has to choose. 
It is a tough and life-endangering decision." 
 
III.  "Stiff-Necked" 
 
Senior op-ed writer Uzi Benziman commented in the independent, 
left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/2): "There is no surprise in Olmert's 
refusal to resign, on the grounds that the Winograd Commission did 
not specifically make such a recommendation.  Throughout his public 
life, he has walked the fine line between what is acceptable and 
what is not, in a way that honest people would seek to avoid.  The 
compass that guided him was not what is proper but what is 
technically permissible.... When Olmert (and Amir Peretz) refuse to 
reach the necessary conclusions and resign from the country's 
leadership, they relegate the commission's views to the status of a 
newspaper article.  From the point of view of the Prime Minister and 
Defense Minister, it makes no difference whether the commission 
concluded that they conducted themselves perfectly last summer or 
were utter failures: They are staying in their seats." 
 
IV.  "Born With a Defect in the Spine" 
 
Chief Economic Editor Sever Plotker opined in Yediot Aharonot (5/2): 
"The Olmert government was born with a severe defect in the 
backbone.  This defect crippled and paralyzed it from the outset; 
hunched over and of small stature, it dragged itself down the 
staircase of history, without the ability to straighten up. 
Disabled from birth, it did not fight against its disabilities but 
rather became addicted to them, and will soon fall.  It will fall 
not because of the Winograd report, which reads like an opinion 
about an unruly class, which was written in the teacher's room of an 
elitist school, but because the public became fed up with it many 
months ago -- in fact, immediately upon its founding.... Had Olmert 
appointed [Amir] Peretz as finance minister and Shaul Mofaz as 
defense minister, Hizbullah would have been deterred from kidnapping 
soldiers, knowing the iron hand of Mofaz, who broke the Intifada. 
Amir Peretz in the Finance Ministry would have opposed going to a 
retribution war -- while Amir Peretz in the Defense Ministry 
enthusiastically supported it.... Good leadership is tested by the 
ability of the leader to put the right people in the right 
positions, to prefer the general good to the good of the individual 
and to win the trust of the people being led.  Olmert failed in 
these tests long before the Winograd Committee sat down to write the 
final version of its partial report.  His government was born with a 
severe defect in the backbone, and it will die with no backbone at 
all." 
 
V.  "How to End the Crisis" 
 
Ha'aretz editorialized (5/2): "Image consultants, some of whom are 
also cabinet ministers, dug through the Winograd report and found a 
few sentences taken out of context, which they believe show that 
Ehud Olmert must remain Prime Minister to repair the defects the 
commission pointed out.  But the main correction the current 
government must carry out is to replace an irresponsible Prime 
Minister.  This Prime Minister, according to the report, is 
endangering the public well-being with conduct that is boastful and 
rash, and stems from baseless self-confidence and the methodical 
silencing of any attempt at debate and critique.... In the coming 
days the country will be judged by the response of its institutions 
and its citizens to the crisis.  The Knesset and the political 
parties must change the government soon by appointing an agreed-on 
candidate like Shimon Peres, who would serve until elections at an 
agreed-on future date.  The public must be on its guard and show 
those responsible the way out.  Only after this happens can the 
necessary institutional changes be discussed, and management with 
greater responsibility and oversight be demanded in matters of 
state." 
 
VI.  "Fixing the System" 
 
The conservative, independent Jerusalem Post editorialized (5/2): 
"Apart from essential personnel changes at the national helm, as all 
but explicitly mandated by the Winograd Report, a no less critical 
transformation is one of mind-set and organization in the upper 
echelons, both military and political.  Alongside the failures of 
leadership, the report makes plain that glaring conceptual and 
organizational dysfunction contributed crucially to what went wrong 
in the Second Lebanon War.  These flaws appear to be endemic to the 
IDF and the civilian defense establishment. Indeed, they reappear 
from one inquiry commission's dismal findings to its successor's.... 
[Former head of Israel's National Security Council Maj. Gen. (res.) 
Giora]s Eiland proposed that the Prime Minister set up a staff 
responsible for political-security strategy, which would coordinate 
with the IDF, Foreign Ministry, etc.  Before the last war, such a 
staff could have clued Olmert into the complexities of dealing with 
Hizbullah rocket fire and presented him with options, including for 
management of the shelled hinterland.  Regrettably, this function 
was not established. It must be, as Israel prepares more effectively 
for emergencies to come." 
 
VII.  "A Sin of Arrogance, Indeed" 
 
P. Hovav wrote in the ultra-Orthodox Yated Ne'eman (5/2): "So this 
is it.  It is now official: the war [in Lebanon] failed.... In order 
to clarify and complete the picture, it is advisable to add a small 
detail that was not mentioned in the commission's report: Israel's 
victories in all previous wars with the Arabs did not result from a 
successful conduct of those wars, but from a special assistance from 
Heaven that Israel enjoyed.... The conclusion of the war's failure 
is that in order to win wards, one should do everything to be worthy 
of heavenly assistance.  Unfortunately Israel did not enjoy that 
heavenly assistance during the Second Lebanon War.  In actual fact, 
the results of the war could have been gloomier.... It is not the 
'sin of arrogance' of which Olmert, Peretz, and Halutz are being 
accused that caused the failure.  What caused it is the 'sin of 
arrogance' that transpires from the spirit of the report, which says 
that the only thing needed to win a war is to run operations without 
failures." 
 
JONES