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Viewing cable 06TELAVIV1700, ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TELAVIV1700 2006-05-02 12:07 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 10 TEL AVIV 001700 
 
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 
USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL FOR POLAD/USIA ADVISOR 
COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE FOR PAO/POLAD 
COMSIXTHFLT FOR 019 
 
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 
 
 
Please note: no Tel Aviv Media Reaction report 
Wednesday, May 3, 2006, Israel's Independence Day 
holiday. 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
1.  Mideast 
 
2.  Iran 
 
3.  Israel's 58th Independence Day 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
All media reported on events related to the Remembrance 
Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars, and Israel's 58th 
Independence Day, which will be celebrated tonight 
through Wednesday night.  Prof. Sergio Della Pergola of 
the Hebrew University, one of Israel's top 
demographers, was quoted as saying in an interview with 
The Jerusalem Post that for the first time since the 
first century, there are more Jews in Israel than in 
any other country, including the US, and that within 30 
years the majority of Jews in the world will be living 
in Israel. 
 
The media reported that on Monday, Interim PM Ehud 
Olmert nominated the following Kadima party members as 
ministers in his government: Tzipi Livni -- FM and Vice 
PM (Olmert was Vice PM under Ariel Sharon); Shimon 
Peres -- Minister for the Development of the Negev; 
Abraham Hirchson -- Finance Minister; Haim Ramon -- 
Justice Minister; Shaul Mofaz -- Transportation 
Minister in charge of strategic dialogue with foreign 
countries; Avi Dichter -- Internal Security Minister; 
Meir Sheetrit -- Housing and Construction Minister; 
Roni Bar-On -- Interior Minister; Zeev Boim -- 
Immigrant Absorption Minister; Gideon Ezra -- 
Environment Minister; Jacob Edery -- Liaison between 
the government and the Knesset.  In addition to 
Kadima's ministers, the cabinet is to include seven 
ministers from the Labor Party: Defense Minister Amir 
Peretz; Education Minister Yuli Tamir, National 
Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, 
Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon, Minister-Without- 
Portfolio in charge of culture, sports, and Jerusalem 
affairs Ophir Pines-Paz; and Minister-Without-Portfolio 
with responsibility for the Israel Broadcasting 
Authority Eitan Cabel.  The cabinet will also include 
four Shas ministers: Industry, Trade, and Labor 
Minister Eli Yishai; Communications Minister Ariel 
Attias; and two ministers-without-portfolio, who The 
Jerusalem Post said are expected to be Yitzhak Cohen 
and Meshulam Nehari, one of whom will have 
responsibility for religious services.  Lastly, there 
will be two ministers from the Gil Pensioners' Party: 
Rafi Eitan, who will be in charge of pensioners' 
affairs, and Health Minister Ya'acov Ben-Yizri.  Israel 
Radio reported that Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael 
Beiteinu party has announced that it would not join the 
government.  Leading media reported that Olmert is 
still seeking to broaden the government coalition.  On 
Thursday, after a debate, the Knesset is expected to 
approve the agreements, guidelines, and ministers, 
after which Olmert and his cabinet will be sworn in. 
The media reported that Olmert has chosen Kadima MK 
Dalia Itzik to become the next Knesset Speaker -- an 
appointment that must be approved by the Knesset.  She 
would be the first woman to hold the position. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Monday, government 
officials rejected the notion that Mofaz's appointment 
as the minister in charge of Israel's strategic 
dialogue with various countries around the world would 
in any way step on FM Livni's toes. 
 
Peres was quoted as saying on Monday, in an interview 
with The Jerusalem Post, that Olmert is likely to meet 
with PA Chairman [President] Mahmoud Abbas upon his 
return from Washington later this month.  Peres was 
also quoted as saying that the new Israeli government 
had not ruled out the possibility of reaching a 
negotiated agreement with the Palestinians.  The 
Jerusalem Post quoted Peres as saying that the Hamas 
government would crumble, as it was already unable to 
pay salaries and otherwise function as a government. 
 
As customary on the eve of Independence Day, the major 
newspapers highlighted interviews with IDF Chief of 
Staff Lt. Gen Dan Halutz.  In his interview with 
Ha'aretz, Halutz was quoted as saying that he is 
currently opposed to a ground force operation in the 
Gaza Strip.  Yediot highlighted Halutz's assertion in 
the interview with the newspaper that Iran is concerned 
about Israel's capability to harm it.  Maariv 
emphasized Halutz's remark in the interview with the 
newspaper that Iran's nuclear program can be stooped. 
 
Israel Radio reported that on Monday, Quartet special 
envoy James Wolfensohn tendered his resignation to 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, because of the 
 
SIPDIS 
situation created after Hamas rose to power in the PA. 
Israel Radio reported that in a report he handed 
Secretary Rice, Wolfensohn criticized the Western 
 
SIPDIS 
states' decision to stop aid to the PA, and wondered 
whether they intend to abandon the PA after they 
invested almost one billion dollars in an effort to 
build Palestinian institutions and the Palestinian 
economy -- steps that are needed for the establishment 
of a Palestinian state.  Wolfensohn was quoted as 
saying that it is impossible to win through starving 
the Palestinians, and that the UN and the aid 
organizations would not be able to fill the PA's place, 
should it collapse following the growing economic 
distress there.  Israel Radio quoted Secretary Rice as 
saying that the US was increasing its efforts to 
transfer humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.  The 
station reported that Secretary Rice reiterated her 
hope that the Hamas government would accede to the 
Quarter's demands so that contacts with the PA 
government can be facilitated.  Shimon Peres was quoted 
as saying in an interview with the radio that Hamas is 
responsible for the failure of Wolfensohn's mission. 
Ha'aretz also reported on Wolfensohn's resignation. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Stuart Levey, Under 
Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in 
 
SIPDIS 
the US Treasury, arrived in Israel Monday for a 30-hour 
visit to FM Livni today to discuss the prevention of 
aid from Hamas with high-ranking Israeli officials. 
Israel Radio reported that Stuart Levey will meet with 
FM Livni today.  The station reported that Israel's 
National Security Adviser Giora Eiland has prepared for 
Levey a list of Palestinian organizations and 
institutions, dividing them between those that can 
receive funds; borderline organizations; and 
organizations that would clearly transfer the funds to 
Hamas. 
 
Yediot cited the belief of Israeli politicians that 
Olmert will offer the Washington ambassadorship to 
former Jewish Agency Chairman Sallai Meridor. 
 
Hatzofe reported that Kafah Nuahdeh from the village of 
Yamun, one of the Palestinians recently arrested by 
Israeli security forces, intended to blow himself up on 
Independence Day at Haifa's Central Bus Station. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that on Monday, the Defense Ministry 
published an updated map of the separation fence 
running through the West Bank.  The newspaper said that 
the map includes a fenced-in road that will link Ariel 
with central Israel. 
 
Yediot quoted Dr. Rahman Gharemanpour, one of the 
directors of Iran's nuclear program, as saying in an 
interview with the Italian daily Il Giornale that Iran 
may recognize Israel in a few years. 
 
Ha'aretz, Yediot, and The Jerusalem Post quoted Abbas 
as saying Monday that he does not intend to run for PA 
Chairmanship after his term ends in 2009. 
 
Leading media cited the belief of US intelligence 
experts that the first signs of a split have recently 
appeared in the leadership of Al Qaida. 
 
The Jerusalem Post quoted visiting former Russian PM 
Yevgeni Primakov as saying that Russia is looking to 
triple its trade volume with Israel by 2010.  Primakov 
signed a pact in Tel Aviv this week to advance economic 
cooperation with Israel. 
 
Yediot and Hatzofe reported that Dov Weisglass, who was 
a senior adviser to Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, is 
expected to be appointed chairman of the large Israeli 
telecommunications company Bezeq.  Yediot wrote that 
Weisglass will continue to advise Olmert on diplomatic 
affairs. 
 
Leading media reported that convicted spy Jonathan 
Pollard and his wife, Esther, have petitioned the High 
Court of Justice against Olmert and Pensioners' Party 
Chairman Rafi Eitan.  Ha'aretz quoted Pollard's 
attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner as saying that Eitan, 
Pollard' former handler, "deserted him [Pollard], 
making him a scapegoat at the hands of the Americans, 
and helped bring about his trial when the affair was 
disclosed."  Pollard is asking the High Court to 
"investigate Eitan's negligence" and his "intentional 
desertion of Pollard to save his skin."  This morning 
Israel Radio reported that the High Court refused to 
issue a temporary ruling barring Eitan from becoming a 
minister, but that it asked Olmert and Eitan to answer 
the Pollards' petition within three weeks. 
 
Yediot reported that in a year, construction of a 
community intended for young and wealthy immigrants 
from the US will start in the Negev. 
 
Yediot reported that 50 illegal Israeli workers were 
arrested during a Homeland Security Department 
operation.  The newspaper quoted immigration lawyer 
Liam Schwartz as saying they are expected to be jailed 
for an extended period before being deported. 
 
Maariv noted that the USD dollar has reached its lowest 
point on the Israeli market in the past eight months -- 
4.484 shekels. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------------------- 
1.  Ehud Olmert's Emerging Government: 
-------------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized: "From 
this moment on, Olmert must focus on one key task, 
something he undertook to do in his election campaign: 
dismantling the settlement enterprise ... and pulling 
Israel's population together within new borders." 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv: "Today we can say with near-certainty 
that there will be no convergence.  At most, there will 
be mini-convergence." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
I.  "Olmert's Fateful Year" 
 
Independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz editorialized (5/2): 
"From this moment on, Olmert must focus on one key 
task, something he undertook to do in his election 
campaign: dismantling the settlement enterprise 
established by his predecessors and pulling Israel's 
population together within new borders.  This is to 
ensure that Israel continues to enjoy a Jewish majority 
and ends the subjugation of millions of Palestinians. 
Olmert should learn from those who preceded him that 
his first year as prime minister is critical.  The 
political situation that the election created -- a 
state without a dominant ruling party and with chronic 
governmental instability -- means that he has no time 
to dally.... One cannot overstate the enormity of the 
task facing the new prime minister. Implementing the 
convergence plan will take a huge political, 
diplomatic, financial and military effort.  Enlisting 
the support of the United States, completing the 
separation fence, deploying the IDF, immediately 
implementing an evacuation plan, and compensating and 
relocating the uprooted settlers are all vital 
components of the plan -- but they alone are not 
enough.  Dismantling dozens of settlements located on 
the other side of the separation fence will entail a 
conflict with the ideological core of the settlement 
movement, which is still clinging to its dreams even 
after failing to prevent the evacuation of Gush 
Katif.... During the course of the coalition talks, 
Olmert used language softer than his pre-election 
rhetoric.  He avoided using the word 'convergence' and 
allowed Shas to join his coalition without committing 
to the plan to dismantle settlements.  One can only 
hope that these were tactical concessions, not a sign 
of future vacillation." 
 
II.  "Big Bang, Small Effect" 
 
Diplomatic correspondent Ben Caspit wrote in popular, 
pluralist Maariv (5/2): "On Monday, Ehud Olmert 
completed the establishment of a government whose 
expiration date has already been stamped on it. This is 
the broadest narrow government ever established 
here....  On Monday, Olmert's people succeeded in 
convincing some of the commentators that this is a 
personal achievement and a significant victory for the 
prime minister.  If this is what victory looks like, 
God save us from defeat.  So what is Kadima's message? 
Do they remember Ariel Sharon, with his original 
vision?.... Olmert's banner, which he proclaimed under 
every green microphone, is 'convergence.'  Today we can 
say with near-certainty that there will be no 
convergence.  At most, there will be mini-convergence. 
Something symbolic, sane, to meet the obligation. 
Olmert boasted loudly that any party that wanted to 
join his government would have to accept convergence as 
a precondition.  And now, Shas is in his government, 
celebrating its billions, holding the letter that 
exempts it from the curse of convergence.  If United 
Torah Judaism remains outside, Shas will become the 
sole representative of the right wing and the religious 
in Olmert's government.  History shows that this will 
be a temporary representation....  These are the days 
after the big bang.  As big as it was, its effect is 
turning out to be small.  Those who eulogize the Likud 
do so on their own cognizance.  As things appear now, 
this bang will soon disperse in all directions, 
everything will pass and fade away and things will go 
back to what they were before, like before.  How sad." 
 
 
 
--------- 
2.  Iran: 
--------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post: "Germany's behavior toward 
Iran is a clear sign that for all its Holocaust 
memorializing ... Germany has not learned the lessons 
of the Holocaust." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Germany's Honored Guest" 
Deputy Managing Editor and right-wing columnist 
Caroline B. Glick wrote in the conservative, 
independent Jerusalem Post (5/2): "Perhaps in exchange 
for Iran's presidential pardon for the Holocaust and 
the release of his German hostage, Germany has agreed 
to host Ahmadinejad in Germany if he decides to attend 
the Iranian national team's opening game against Mexico 
in Nuremberg.  Germany has also agreed to coordinate 
its actions to secure the games with the Iranian 
government..... Germany's refusal to isolate 
Ahmadinejad goes hand in hand with its appeasement of 
Iran's nuclear ambitions.... Germany's refusal to place 
any sanction on Iran is disturbing, because as German 
political scientist Matthias Kuntzel argued in the 
Transatlantic Intelligencer last December, 'If there is 
a western nation today that has the means to confront 
[Iran's nuclear weapons program] with effective 
sanctions, it is Germany'.... Germany's behavior toward 
Iran is a clear sign that for all its Holocaust 
memorializing, for all its anti-Nazi legislation, and 
for all its protestations of friendship with Israel and 
the Jewish people, Germany has not learned the lessons 
of the Holocaust.  The main lesson of the Holocaust is 
not that war is bad and must therefore be avoided at 
all costs.  The main lesson of the Holocaust is that 
evil is bad and must be fought with every effective 
means.  By trading with Iran and protecting Iran from 
those who point out its obvious dangers not only to 
Israel but to the entire world, Germany is protecting 
evil and thus advancing its cause." 
 
----------------------------------- 
3.  Israel's 58th Independence Day: 
---------------------------------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "So what is this 
'four years from now' business that Olmert is yapping 
about?  Who needs four years?  We've already got a 
doozy of a country." 
 
Economic correspondent Gideon Eshet wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot: "Our bondage to 
the Americans has long gone beyond material concerns." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
I.  "A Doozy of a Country" 
 
Senior columnist and longtime dove Yoel Marcus wrote in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (5/2): "Once a year, 
on Independence Day, the grumbling Israeli straightens 
up and convinces himself that he lives in a wonderful 
country.  As a famous critic once said of Mahler's 
music: It's not as bad as it sounds.  The same applies 
to Israel.  Really.  People whine and complain, but 
personally, they are much better off than they think. 
All in all, Israelis can look back in satisfaction: The 
Israeli army ranks among the world's five strongest 
armies; Israel belongs to the club of eight with a 
satellite in space; and Israel is one of world's seven 
nuclear powers.  The trouble is that after a day of 
partying and merrymaking, the citizen returns to 
reality.... Fifty-five percent of the public says that 
the new government is no good.  Why didn't they go down 
to the polling station on Election Day to make it 
better?  The real 'existential threat' is the one that 
looms over the old people and the terminally ill, whom 
the state would just as soon let die.  Or the threat of 
earthquakes, considering Israel's location along the 
Syrian-African Rift.  Oh, and let's not forget the 
Iranian nuclear threat.  But with Amir Peretz as 
defense minister and the Red Dawn early-warning system 
that alerts us five whole seconds before a Qassam 
rocket falls, what do we have to fear?  So what is this 
'four years from now' business that Olmert is yapping 
about?  Who needs four years?  We've already got a 
doozy of a country." 
 
II.  "A Celebration of Bondage" 
 
Economic correspondent Gideon Eshet wrote in mass- 
circulation, pluralist Yediot Aharonot (5/2): "Had the 
United States done to Israel what it has done to Cuba 
for decades, Israel wouldn't exist.  And since we're 
talking about independence, and independence being 
mainly a material business, we'd better understand that 
our existence depends entirely on that country's good 
will.  The ministers of the Israeli government must at 
once bow to the American Embassy in Tel Aviv.... But 
our bondage to the Americans has long gone beyond 
material concerns.  The real bondage is the way in 
which we look at the key questions in our lives.... 
American economic ideology ... includes the rule that 
the idea of a welfare state is bad.... When we 
celebrate independence, we'd better remember that we're 
in fact celebrating bondage." 
 
JONES