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Viewing cable 05TELAVIV2000, ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
05TELAVIV2000 2005-04-01 09:56 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tel Aviv
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 002000 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA, NEA/IPA, NEA/PPD 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE, SIT ROOM 
NSC FOR NEA STAFF 
 
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 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
1. Mideast 
 
2. Arab Summit 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Ha'aretz elaborates on the expanding rift in the PA. 
Using harsh words, Farouk Kaddoumi, one of the founders 
of the Fatah movement that Abbas now heads, attacked 
the PA chairman in a letter to the Fatah Revolutionary 
Council, which met in Gaza earlier this week.  He also 
attacked most of Abbas' policies, and especially the 
cessation of the armed Intifadah.  Kaddoumi is part of 
an increasingly organized effort to undermine Abbas' 
authority.  Ha'aretz reports that yesterday, the 
violence continued: A temporary police station in Tul 
Karm was torched, armed men marched in Jenin and 
Nablus, and cars belonging to candidates running for 
local office in Gaza were bombed.  Almost three months 
after taking office, it has become clear that Abbas' 
influence over the armed men, the security services and 
the leaders of Fatah's institutions is virtually 
nonexistent.  "Abu Mazen lacks the strength and stamina 
to stand his ground," the head of one of the Gaza 
security services told Ha'aretz yesterday. 
 
Alex Fishman cited in Yediot an IDF officer's 
prediction that the Intifadah will renew in the fall, 
after the disengagement plan takes place. 
 
Jerusalem Post said "breakthrough talks" were held 
yesterday between settler leaders, Public Security 
Minister Gidpn Ezra, and Israel Police chief Moshe 
Karadi in an attempt to draw ground rules with settler 
leaders Thursday night for the planned struggle against 
the pullout. The sides, which agreed to convene again 
on a weekly basis, discussed MK Effi Eitam's proposal 
to disarm settlers before the evacuation to prevent 
bloodshed. Ezra stressed that security forces would not 
be armed during the evacuation, which would be done "by 
hand." 
 
Maariv reported that King Abdullah of Jordan is angry 
about the leak over the contents of his meeting with 
Jewish leaders in the U.S. to the media.  As a result 
of the leak, a Jordanian official said that the king 
will not hold similar meetings in the future. 
 
The Post reports that the Knesset is set to convene a 
special session next Wednesday, during the Pessah 
recess, to debate Thursday's controversial ruling by 
the High Court of Justice permitting non-Jews living in 
Israel legally to be converted to Judaism by Reform and 
Conservative religious courts overseas. The haredi 
[ultra-Orthodox] parties are considering ways to 
nullify the Court's decision. 
Leading media reported that Prime Minister Sharon has 
appointed Eival Gilady, former Head of Strategic 
Planning Division for the IDF, as the country's chief 
spokesman during the disengagement plan. 
 
----------- 
1. Mideast: 
----------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "What will Sharon 
ask for [from Presdient Bush in his upcoming visit to 
Washington]? Presumably a presidential statement 
acknowledging that certain settlement blocs will remain 
in Israeli hands." 
 
Editor-in-Chief Lutfi Mashour wrote in Arabic-language 
weekly Assennara: "One little question, which might be 
marginal for many others, is who will protect the 
Palestinians from the settlers?.... We don't hear 
anyone, not only Israelis, mention the danger of a 
possible assault against the Palestinians." 
 
Political parties correspondent Nadav Eyal wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv: "In other words, in the 
Prime Minister's political lungs, there is oxygen 
enough for just one move: surviving until the last IDF 
soldier moves out of the Gaza Strip.  For any other 
purpose, his government does not exist because the 
coalition does not exist because the Likud as a single 
party no longer exists." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
I.  "Preparing for Elections" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Aluf Benn wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (April 1):  "Ten 
days from now, he will be standing next to Bush when 
the evening news comes on in Israel.  The two of them 
will exchange ranchers' jokes and Sharon will accept 
Bush's encouraging words on the eve of the battles that 
await him at home: carrying out the disengagement plan, 
running against Benjamin Netanyahu for leadership of 
the Likud and Knesset elections.... Bush's support is a 
boon for Sharon, who is appealing to the public while 
bypassing his party.... What will Sharon ask for? 
Presumably a presidential statement acknowledging that 
certain settlement blocs will remain in Israeli hands." 
 
II.  "Who is Thinking about the Palestinians?" 
 
Editor-in-Chief Lutfi Mashour wrote in Arabic-language 
weekly Assennara (March 25): "The country is going 
through unusual tension and fear regarding the decision 
to execute the disengagement plan.... Israeli security 
forces are joining hands and preparing ways to face the 
threats of the settlers.... The security preparations 
include defending the Prime Minister, the ministers ... 
and the streets.... Even Attorney General Menahem Mazuz 
declared that anyone who blocks the streets would be 
imprisoned for 20 years.  One little question, which 
might be marginal for many others, is who will protect 
the Palestinians from the settlers?.... We don't hear 
anyone, not only Israelis, mention the danger of a 
possible assault against the Palestinians ... to be 
committed by settlers! I believe that this danger is 
real ... the settlers might use their frustration and 
their weapons ... towards individuals and groups of 
Palestinians. Is there any Israeli or a Palestinian 
official preparing for such a possibility?" 
 
III. "Surviving Disengagement" 
 
Political parties correspondent Nadav Eyal wrote in 
popular, pluralist Maariv (April 1): "Right after the 
disengagement, the battle will start on the 
negotiations for the permanent arrangement and 
implementing the road map.  It may be assumed that 
Sharon and his [party] opposition will not see eye to 
eye on them, to say the least.... The Prime Minister 
can do nothing, not a thing, except surviving for the 
benefit of promoting the disengagement.... In other 
words, in the Prime Minister's political lungs, there 
is oxygen enough for just one move: surviving until the 
last IDF soldier moves out of the Gaza Strip.  For any 
other purpose, his government does not exist because 
the coalition does not exist because the Likud as a 
single party no longer exists.  The disengagement may 
come, and Sharon may even manage to stabilize a 
coalition when it is over ... but until the 
disengagement, the political assumption is that the 
government is a caretaker cabinet and the next big 
thing, after the Gaza pullout, will be elections." 
 
--------------- 
2. Arab Summit: 
--------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Editor-in-Chief Bassam Jaber wrote in weekly Arabic- 
language Panorama: "In fact, some believe that one of 
the reasons that there is no Palestinian state is due 
to the fact that there are some Arab leaders who are 
better off without a Palestinian state, and Qaddafi 
might be one of them." 
 
Arabic-language daily Al-Ittihad editorialized: "The 
statement made by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, which 
rejects the Arab Summit's final announcement, reveals 
the unwillingness of the Sharon-Peres government to 
achieve a peaceful resolution." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
I.  "Qaddafi's Speech" 
 
Editor-in-Chief Bassam Jaber wrote in weekly Arabic- 
language Panorama (March 25): "We have listened to the 
improvised speech given by Libyan President Muammar 
Qaddafi at the 17th Arab Summit in Algeria.... What is 
interesting is the way that he addresses the Israeli 
Palestinian conflict.  On the one hand he calls for an 
establishment of one shared country for both Israelis 
and Palestinians like the 'Secular Country' called for 
by late Palestinian President Arafat, while on the 
other hand he describes the Israelis and the 
Palestinians as stupid.... In his view the 
Palestinians' stupidity lies in the fact that they 
didn't establish a country on the lands that were 
available for them back in 1948.... It's weird and 
amazing that a leader of an Arab country such as Libya 
attacks ... instead of providing a peaceful solution 
... for the Israelis and the Palestinians in order to 
get them out of the continuing circle of violence they 
are engaged in.... In fact, some believe that one of 
the reasons that there is no Palestinian state is due 
to the fact that there are some Arab leaders who are 
better off without a Palestinian state, and Qaddafi 
might be one of them." 
 
II. "Sharon's True Intentions" 
 
Arabic-language daily Al-Ittihad editorialized (March 
25): "Once again the occupation government assures its 
opposition to peace and to resolving the Israeli- 
Palestinian conflict contrary to justice and 
contradicting the legitimate international decisions 
regarding the Palestinians and their national 
rights.... While the final statement of the 17th Arab 
summit in Algeria called again and assured officially 
that a fair peace is their strategic choice and that it 
is a condition for full normalization with Israel.... 
the Israeli official response ... was a refusal for 
such an invitation for peace.... Furthermore, one day 
before the Summit, Prime Minister Sharon declared his 
plan to build thousands of houses in the occupied 
territories ... and in another declaration he said that 
there will be no more withdrawals until there is a 
final solution and that Jerusalem will always be the 
capital of Israel.  By this he assures what we always 
said regarding his plan to withdrawal from Gaza, that 
it is meant to be a replacement for a final 
solution.... In addition, the statement made by Foreign 
Minister Silvan Shalom, which rejects the Arab Summit's 
final announcement reveals the unwillingness of the 
Sharon-Peres government to achieve a peaceful 
resolution." 
KURTZER