US embassy cable - 05DHAKA4135

UNCLAS DHAKA 004135 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR I/FW, B/G, IIP/G/NEA-SA, B/VOA/N (BANGLA SERVICE) STATE 
FOR SA/PAB, SA/PPD (LSCENSNY), SA/RA, INR/R/MR, AND PASS TO 
USAID FOR ANE/ASIA/SA/B (MMETZLER) 
 
CINCPAC FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR, J51 (LCDR FLETCHER), 
J45 (MAJ NICHOLLS) 
 
USARPAC FOR APOP-IM (MAJ STYNER) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR, OIIP, OPRC, KPAO, PREL, ETRD, PTER, ASEC, BG, OCII 
SUBJECT: Media Reaction: Israeli Withdrawal From Gaza; Dhaka 
 
Summary: Newspaper editorials term the Gaza withdrawal a 
move in the right direction.  They say that Israel needs to 
focus now on the West Bank and Jerusalem issues. 
 
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Israeli Withdrawal From Gaza 
 
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"Israel leaves Gaza" 
Independent English language newspaper "New Age" editorially 
comments (8/19): 
 
Part of the reason why Mr. Sharon has decided to leave Gaza 
stems from his realization that holding on to the territory 
does not really solve his country's security problems. In 
the past few years, the activities of Palestinian extremists 
such as Hamas have more or less convinced people all around 
that sooner or later the Israeli authorities would need to 
look inwards about whether or not they need Gaza as part of 
the bigger Israel they have in mind. It is now obvious that 
the prime minister has accepted fully the thought that 
Israel without Gaza will be a better proposition than with 
it. In the process, though, Mr. Sharon has had to confront a 
rebellion within his own cabinet where extreme rightwing 
ministers opted to go out of office rather than go along 
with him. On top of everything, it was the finance minister 
(and former prime minister) Binyamin Netanyahu who made a 
public show of disagreeing with Sharon, eventually making 
his way out of government. In his turn, the prime minister 
made a shrewd, well-calculated move of inviting the 
opposition Labor into a power-sharing arrangement with his 
Likud party. The result has been a healthy accommodation 
between Mr. Sharon and Mr. Shimon Peres, the veteran 
politician now known for his contribution to the peace 
process with the Palestinians. Together the prime minister 
and Mr. Peres, now the deputy prime minister, have quietly 
but insistently been implementing the Gaza withdrawal plan 
in its entirety. The alacrity with which the settlements 
have been and are being emptied of even the most rabid of 
Jews is a sign of the seriousness the government in Tel Aviv 
has attached to the issue. 
 
But while the Gaza withdrawal is surely a move in the right 
direction, there is the general feeling that Israel needs to 
come up with a lot more in its search not only for 
accommodation with its Palestinian neighbors but also for 
its own security. It is the West Bank which should now be 
the focus in any peace consideration. With issues like the 
status of Jerusalem remaining in an imbroglio, it is but 
natural for people to feel that Mr. Sharon and his friends 
must come up with a lot more than they are willing to offer. 
A few crumbs here and there will not satisfy the 
Palestinians, for crumbs are not the ingredients that go 
into the making of a state. 
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"After Gaza, the West Bank?" 
Pro-left English language weekly "Holiday" editorially 
comments (8/21): 
The withdrawal from Gaza...is welcome. But that does not 
mean that it solves all problems for either Israel or the 
Palestinians. There is still the matter of what the Israelis 
plan to do about the West Bank and the future status of 
Jerusalem. The Israeli government has lately demonstrated 
what it thinks is its agreement to live with a Palestinian 
state beside it. But the way in which it has gone about 
promoting the idea has only convinced men like President 
Mahmoud Abbas that it expects a Palestine to be established 
on the crumbs of territory it has on offer. Obviously, such 
an attitude can only exacerbate the issues. Which is why it 
is important tha