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Viewing cable 05TELAVIV6270, ISRAEL MEDIA REACTION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
05TELAVIV6270 2005-11-02 11:26 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 08 TEL AVIV 006270 
 
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 
 
-------------------------------- 
SUBJECTS COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
-------------------------------- 
 
1.  Syria 
 
2.  Mideast 
 
3.  International Holocaust Commemoration Day 
 
------------------------- 
Key stories in the media: 
------------------------- 
 
Israel Radio reported that Staff Sgt. Yonatan Evron was 
killed early this morning during an arrest operation in 
the village of Mirka near Jenin.  The radio cited 
Hamas's claim of responsibility for the killing. 
 
All media (banners in Ha'aretz and Hatzofe) reported 
that Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades vowed to 
take revenge upon the assassination of two senior 
Palestinian militants in the Jebalya refugee camp north 
of Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon.  An IAF missile 
killed Fatah activist Hassan al-Madhoun and Hamas 
operative Fawzi Abu al-Qarea, a passenger in al- 
Madhoun's car.  Speaking on Israel Radio this morning, 
FM Silvan Shalom said, referring to the assassination 
policy: "It is not our goal to continue this activity. 
It can end immediately.  It's all up to Abu Mazen [PA 
President Mahmoud Abbas].  If Abu Mazen takes the 
strategic decision which he still refuses to take and 
acts against the infrastructure of terror ... [our 
activity] in Gaza will end the same day." 
 
Israel Radio reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz 
will arrive in Washington today and meet with Secretary 
of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the post- 
disengagement situation.  The radio reported that 
Mofaz's Friday meeting with Defense Secretary Donald 
Rumsfeld will focus on concluding the bilateral crisis 
involving Israel's security exports to China.  Israel 
Radio also reported that Secretary Rice will come to 
Israel in mid-November to attend the ceremonies marking 
the 10th anniversary of the late PM Yitzhak Rabin's 
assassination. 
 
Leading media reported that on Tuesday, senior cabinet 
ministers approved a plan calling for EU officials to 
inspect travelers entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt 
through the Rafah border crossing.  Ha'aretz writes 
that if the plan is realized, it will mark the first 
time Israel will allow the EU to play a major role in 
Israeli-Palestinian relations.  The Jerusalem Post 
reported that according to diplomatic assessments in 
Jerusalem, France and Spain have been pushing for an EU 
role, while Britain was "less enthusiastic" and Germany 
was hoping some other solution could be found. 
Maariv's Internet service NRG reported that visiting 
Italian FM Gianfranco Fini told FM Silvan Shalom on 
Tuesday that Europe was not prepared to serve as 
Israel's Border Police.  Leading media reported on 
differences between Israel and the PA regarding the 
role of the EU monitors -- the cabinet decided that 
Israel wants the Europeans to have greater authority 
than observers and be able to intervene in dangerous 
security situations, while the Palestinians want more 
limited authority for the EU.  Israel Radio reported 
that at a meeting last night, Israeli and Palestinian 
negotiators disagreed about Israel's demand that closed- 
circuit TVs be installed at the border crossing.  The 
radio quoted Israeli negotiators as saying that the 
Palestinians view Israel's demand as an expression of 
lack of trust and an attempt to continue to control the 
border crossing.  Leading media reported that Egyptian 
police have killed two Bedouin smugglers who were 
trying to sneak across the Sinai desert border into 
Israel. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that Ramallah sources told 
the newspaper on Tuesday that talks between various 
Palestinian factions are expected to resume in Cairo 
after the Muslim feast of Id al-Fitr, which begins 
later this week.  Hatzofe quoted Palestinian sources as 
saying that the Fatah delegation will be headed by 
Central Committee member Fathi Abu Maher Ghneim, and 
not the hard-line secretary general, Farouk Kaddoumi, 
as was the case until now. 
 
Leading media reported that the U.S. will design a new 
Qualified Industrial Zone and expand two existing ones 
to strengthen Egyptian-Israeli trade and political 
relations.  Ha'aretz printed an AP story saying that on 
Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a statement 
to this effect. 
 
Israel Radio quoted Foreign Ministry sources as saying 
that FM Shalom intends to replace Israel's Ambassador 
to the U.S. Danny Ayalon soon, regardless of the 
findings of the internal investigation being conducted 
against Ayalon.  However, speaking on the radio this 
morning, Shalom said he was unaware of such a move. 
Israel Radio quoted associates of PM Sharon as saying 
that Sharon fully trusts Ayalon, who will be replaced 
only if the investigation finds his performance faulty. 
 
Yediot reported that only 191 of the 1,522 anti- 
disengagement protesters who were arrested will be 
indicted.  The newspaper cited the indignation of many 
legal experts over the government's soft policy vis-a- 
vis violent settlers.  Leading media reported that the 
IDF has postponed drafting five settler youths who are 
suspected of participating in violent illegal protests 
against the disengagement from Gaza and attacking 
members of the security forces.  Israel Radio reported 
that the IDF will remove an electronic barrier 
surrounding the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar after 
settlers had damaged it. 
 
Ha'aretz reported that the 1994 Egyptian-French movie 
"Bab el Shams" ("The Gate of the Sun"), based on a 
romance by Lebanese writer Elias Khoury, which tells 
the story of the Palestinian people from 1943 through 
1994, has been a blockbuster among Israeli-Arab 
audiences during the past few weeks. 
 
All media reported that nine Palestinian political 
prisoners from Gaza, who are detained in four different 
Israeli jails, have recently informed the prisoners' 
leadership that they have "moved" to Al-Qaida.  The 
media cited the Prison Service's intelligence branch 
that the nine prisoners meant to express their 
opposition to what they view as the "moderation" of the 
Hamas leadership in the prisons, and to try to get 
financial support from Al-Qaida. 
 
All media reported that on Tuesday, the UN General 
Assembly unanimously passed a resolution by consensus 
establishing an annual day to commemorate the 
Holocaust.  The International Day of Commemoration will 
be held every year on January 27, the day in 1945 when 
the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was 
liberated.   This was the first ever Israeli-initiated 
resolution that was adopted by the UN.  The media 
reported that representatives of countries such as 
Egypt said after the vote that the day should 
commemorate all victims of genocide, and not be limited 
just to victims of the Holocaust.  Ha'aretz quoted FM 
Silvan Shalom as saying: "This is a historic decision 
that means that the U.N. relates to Israel as a country 
equal to other countries, and a step that contributes 
to Israel's international standing." 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that the PA has appointed 
Afif Safieh as its representative in the U.S., 
replacing Hassan Abdel Rahman who served for the past 
17 years.  Safieh was previously the Palestinian 
General Delegate in the UK. 
 
Ha'aretz cited Arabic-language media as saying Tuesday 
that PM Sharon, along with U.S. President George Bush 
and British PM Tony Blair, will be tried in absentia at 
the end of the month on charges of crimes against 
humanity.  The reports did not say where the open 
trials would take place.  Sharon will reportedly be 
accused of carrying out ethnic cleansing, participating 
in a massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 
Lebanon, and assassinating Palestinian leaders, 
including Yasser Arafat, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel 
Aziz Rantisi. 
 
The Jerusalem Post reported that on Tuesday, FM Shalom 
asked Italian FM Gianfranco Fini to refrain from giving 
money to West Bank cities under Hamas control. 
 
Maariv reported that Al Jazeera-TV is looking for 
Israeli reporters, photographers, and producers for its 
new English-language station.  Maariv quoted Gideon 
Meir, the Foreign Ministry's DG for public affairs, as 
saying Tuesday: "We have met with representatives of Al 
Jazeera-TV and told them that we hope the media 
coverage of the new network will comply with the 
standards and journalistic ethics shared by the media 
world." 
 
Yediot and The Jerusalem Post reported that in a highly 
unusual move, Yad Vashem will host an international 
seminar dealing with the genocide in Rwanda in the 
1990s. 
 
Maariv and Israel Radio reported that the U.S. Congress 
has allocated a special quota of 50,000 "green cards" 
for foreign -- including Israeli -- nurses.  The radio 
cited Israeli nurses' complaints about the lack of 
professionals in the field in Israel. 
 
Maariv quoted associates of convicted spy Jonathan 
Pollard as saying that there was nothing new in the 
date appearing on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons 
web site, which projects his release for 2015. 
 
Yediot reported that the Los Angeles-based Jewish- 
American businessman Meir Azeri (phon.) has offered to 
purchase Bank Igud for 1.2 billion shekels (approx. USD 
258.6 million). 
 
Ha'aretz cited an announcement made on Tuesday by the 
RAD group company that strong U.S. sales boosted 
Radvision (NASDAQ: RVSN) to revenues of USD 19.1 
million for the third quarter of 2005.  The company, 
which offers products and technologies for 
videoconferencing, video telephony, and the development 
of converged voice, video and data over IP and 3G 
networks, saw its net earnings more than double in the 
quarter. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
---------- 
1.  Syria: 
---------- 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin Eytan Haber opined in the lead 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot: "America has been angry since that awful 
9/11.  When America is angry, even Allah cannot save 
Bashar Assad." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
"Beware Assad, They're Waiting For You" 
Veteran op-ed writer and assistant to the late prime 
minister Yitzhak Rabin Eytan Haber opined in the lead 
editorial of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot (November 2): "Despite the fact that he has 
been in power for five years, the young and still 
inexperienced Assad may not be reading the map 
correctly, and especially the current U.S. president 
and his administration.  Should he go on sitting in his 
Damascus palace and thinking of flouting George W. and 
his friends, he would be making the mistake of his 
life: the President and his administration hasten to 
pull their triggers; they are Texans who are convinced 
that the entire world is a doormat lying at their 
feet.... America has been angry since that awful 9/11. 
When America is angry, even Allah cannot save Bashar 
Assad." 
 
------------ 
2.  Mideast: 
------------ 
 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
Gideon Behar, deputy director of the Jordan, Syria, and 
Lebanon department at Israel's Foreign Ministry, wrote 
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "We must utilize 
the Anti-Terrorist Fence and the disengagement in order 
to promote ties of peace, from a position of security, 
while continuing to extend a hand of peace to our 
neighbors." 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left 
Palestinian sympathizer Amira Hass opined in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz: "In impersonating 
an ordinary 'government' to the world and to its 
people, at best [the Palestinian Authority] is 
perceived as a corrupt and failing organization and at 
worst, as a sub-contractor for the bureaucracy of the 
occupation." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
I.  "What Kind of Peace Does Israel Seek?" 
 
Gideon Behar, deputy director of the Jordan, Syria, and 
Lebanon department at Israel's Foreign Ministry, wrote 
in independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (November 2): 
"Severing contact with our Arab neighbors would be very 
bad for the State of Israel.  History has shown that 
self-imposed isolation has always been a guaranteed 
recipe for disaster and failure.  Nevertheless, one 
hears voices among the Israeli public demanding the 
severing of ties with the Arab world and, particularly, 
with the Palestinians.  This rupture will not work in 
our favor.  It will only increase alienation on both 
sides, resulting in the creation of a dangerous vacuum 
that will be filled by forces of destruction and 
hatred.  We cannot expect peace if there is no human 
contact between the sides.... Without ties and 
contacts, there will be less peace and, consequently, 
less security.  We must utilize the Anti-Terrorist 
Fence and the disengagement in order to promote ties of 
peace, from a position of security, while continuing to 
extend a hand of peace to our neighbors.  If we do not 
shake hands, no fence will give us the security we 
crave." 
 
II.  "How the PA Failed" 
 
Palestinian affairs correspondent and far-left 
Palestinian sympathizer Amira Hass opined in 
independent, left-leaning Ha'aretz (November 2): "A 
recent study placed the Palestinian Authority a dubious 
107th on a list of corrupt countries, with number 159 
being the most corrupt.... As the leadership of an 
occupied people, the PA is not exempt from 
integrity.... [Still], it has the right and the moral 
obligation to stop the wild behavior of the armed gangs 
vying with each other to see who possesses the biggest 
weapon without regard for the consequences.  But its 
ability to do so has been impaired, because in 
impersonating an ordinary 'government' to the world and 
to its people, at best it is perceived as a corrupt and 
failing organization and at worst, as a sub-contractor 
for the bureaucracy of the occupation." 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
3.  International Holocaust Commemoration Day: 
--------------------------------------------- - 
                       Summary: 
                       -------- 
 
On page one of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot, the American Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof. 
Elie Wiesel commented about the creation by the UN 
General Assembly of an International Holocaust 
Commemoration Day: "This [victimization] has always 
happened in history: the Jews were the first, but not 
the last ones.  Perhaps this is the true, deep reason 
for Tuesday's UN resolution." 
 
                     Block Quotes: 
                     ------------- 
 
"Consciousness Is Awakening" 
 
On page one of mass-circulation, pluralist Yediot 
Aharonot, the American Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof. 
Elie Wiesel commented about the creation by the UN 
General Assembly of an International Holocaust 
Commemoration Day (November 2): "Even after a 60-year 
delay, it is important that the representatives of the 
world's nations have woken up, or have let their 
consciousness wake up.  Does this mean that the world 
has improved?  Has the world learned a lesson of the 
horrendous event that will be inscribed in the history 
of humankind as a terribly cruel occurrence?  I am not 
sure of that, but the amazing work done by the Israeli 
delegation [at the UN] and his head Ambassador 
Gillerman is worthy of every praise.  Until a few years 
ago, no one would have believed that such an 
achievement was possible.  The world has decided to 
remember.  Why?  Maybe because it has understood that 
what the Germans and their acolytes have done to the 
Jewish people was only the beginning.  This 
[victimization] has always happened in history: the 
Jews were the first, but not the last ones.  Perhaps 
this is the true, deep reason for Tuesday's UN 
resolution." 
 
JONES