US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV6815

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TEL AVIV 006815 
 
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 
 
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SUBJECT COVERED IN THIS REPORT: 
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1.  Iranian Nuclear Race 
 
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Key stories in the media: 
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The Jerusalem Post and other media reported the IDF is 
gearing up for a crackdown on the Islamic Jihad in the 
West Bank, wishing to apprehend "all of the terrorists" 
there.  The report adds that Foreign Minister Silvan 
Shalom said Tuesday "Israel was not planning another 
wide scope military operation like Defensive Shield," 
adding that he intended to lead a significant 
diplomatic operation in order to influence the US and 
Europe to pressure the Palestinian Authority.  Israel 
also suspended VIP entry permits for Palestinian 
officials and would buffer its forces in border areas 
near the West Bank, Shalom said.  His remarks were made 
during a meeting with the US ambassador to Israel, 
Richard Jones.  On the same issue,Israel Radio quoted 
this morning Sheickh Hussan, Hamas's head in the West 
Bank, currently in an Israeli jail, as saying that all 
the Palestinian factions are committed to the 
"tahadiya" and the consensus on that issue must be 
preserved. He said the reason for the suicide bombings 
lies with the Israeli occupation. He refused to condemn 
Monday's suicide bombing in Netanya. Yousef said Hamas 
leaders are candidates in the Palestinian parliamentary 
election and Hamas is willing to cooperate with any 
Palestinian party. However, Hamas has not yet decided 
whether it will join the Palestinian government. 
 
All media reported on the Counter-Terrorism warning 
last night advising all Israeli travelers to leave 
Sinai immediately due to threats that Israelis would be 
kidnapped there.  Earlier in the day, the security 
cabinet rejected a plan to overhaul security, most 
significantly by erecting a new and robust security 
fence along the border with Egypt at a cost of NIS 1.5 
billion over three years.  Instead, the cabinet 
approved an allocation of NIS 150 million for the time 
being. 
Maariv bannered on its front page the delay in the 
completion of the security fence which is barely half 
finished, though it was to have been completed by the 
end of 2005. According to the report,only about one- 
third of it has been constructed.  Palestinian 
terrorists have improved their methods of getting past 
the fence even in the sectors where it does exist and, 
as such, the terrorist who carried out the suicide 
bombing two days ago in Netanya could have entered 
Israel almost without difficulty.  Maariv also found 
that the Jerusalem sector is still totally unprotected. 
The fence and the wall have been erected only along 20 
kilometers in north Jerusalem, leaving the eastern 
areas of the city wide open.  In addition a huge gap of 
about 60 kilometers remains in the Gush Etzion area. 
Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim placed most of the 
blame on the office of the state attorney. "A lot of 
petitions have been submitted to the High Court of 
Justice," Boim said, "but sometimes the state 
attorney's office makes difficulties for us even before 
a petition has been filed with the High Court. The 
court's deliberations on each section of the fence drag 
on for many months, during which the gaps remain open." 
 
The Jerusalem Post carries a report on an interview 
with Attorney Talia Sasson, author of the state- 
commissioned report on unauthorized outposts in the 
West Bank, who says that ever since the report was 
published last March, "only a handful of remedial steps 
have been taken."  Sasson added that the ministerial 
committee headed by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni 
appointed to study Sasson's recommendations on 
instituting proper governmental procedures for building 
legally in the territories has disintegrated without 
coming to any decisions on how to implement the 
recommendations.  Sasson said that though she had 
called on the government to immediately dismantle all 
of the unauthorized outposts, so far not a single such 
outpost has been removed.  She added that the army had 
agreed to implement some of her other recommendations, 
but had not done so. 
Yediot Aharonot and The Jerusalem Post reported that 
the Israeli public has deemed poverty as the most 
urgent problem the government needs to tackle, 
according to the "Alternative Poverty Report" published 
by the "Latet" ["To Give"] Organization on Tuesday. 
The second most urgent problem, according to the 
public, is the level of education, while the security 
problem came in at only third.  Nearly one third of 
Israelis said they were concerned that they or their 
family could descend into poverty in the near future, 
while over one half said that they knew at least one 
person who had been able to live at a decent level but 
was now unable to.  According to the report, 80 percent 
of the public thinks that the government doesn't help 
and only makes matters worse. 
The media carry public opinion polls held after the 
Netanya attack.  The Haaretz-Dialog survey conducted 
Monday and Tuesday, shows that if the elections were 
held today, Kadima under P.M. Sharon would win 39 
Knesset seats, 2 seats up from last week's poll, while 
"leaderless" Likud goes up from nine to 12 seats; and 
Labor loses four seats, with 26 in the current poll. 
Other parties seem unaffected.  A Maariv poll shows 
Kadima keeping the 39 seats previous polls had given 
it, while Labor is seen losing steam here as well.  The 
Maariv report cites associates of Labor Secretary 
General Peretz saying they are worried by this trend 
and thus wish to advance the party primaries "to stop 
party infighting as soon as possible," while Sharon's 
associates say they are concerned by the quick rise of 
the new party, as they would rather a slower growth 
rate. 
Israel Radio and The IDF Radio reported this morning 
that recently appointed Likud Secretary General Tzahi 
Hanegbi will announce this morning that he is quitting 
his party and joining Sharon's Kadima Party.  At the 
same time, upon concluding their investigation, the 
police are recommending that a charge sheet be filed 
against Hanegbi on suspicions of political misconduct 
and favoritism. 
Yediot Aharonot reports that "Prime Minister Ari'el 
Sharon has a new and surprising supporter."  Speaking 
yesterday at an international media conference in 
Dubai, Saudi billionaire prince Walid Bin Tallal said 
that it seems Sharon has changed and toned down his 
stands, formed a new Israeli party, Peres joined him, 
and he presents moderate stands.  The Saudi prince 
said, "Sharon should be given a chance to prove his 
intentions and, if he attains peace, he must be 
encouraged." 
 
1.  Iranian Nuclear Race 
 
Summary 
----------- 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized:  "On the one hand, 
the head of the IAEA cannot say for sure that Iran is 
developing a bomb, even though Teheran has been 
claiming its right to do so from the roof tops, and the 
most of the world is convinced that the mullahs would 
like to build a bomb as quickly as they can.  On the 
other hand, the IAEA is admitting its own limitations 
at knowing exactly what Iran is doing at this moment, 
given that nation's strenuous and proven efforts to 
fool the international community..  If Iran obtains a 
bomb, it will be because free nations have not banded 
together to use their extensive economic, diplomatic, 
and, if necessary, military assets to protect 
themselves.  Where there is a will, there is a way." 
 
Bloc quotes 
-------------- 
 
"Iran Can Be Stopped" 
 
The Jerusalem Post editorialized:  "In London 
yesterday, International Atomic Energy Agency chief 
Mohamed ElBaradei said he found no 'smoking gun' in 
Iran that would indicate a nuclear weapons program.  He 
also admitted that, for 18 years, Iran had a nuclear 
program that the IAEA failed to detect.  These two 
statements by ElBaradei express a large part of the 
predicament facing those who would rely on his 
international agency to prevent Iran from developing a 
bomb.  On the one hand, the head of the IAEA cannot say 
for sure that Iran is developing a bomb, even though 
Teheran has been claiming its right to do so from the 
rooftops, and most of the world is convinced that the 
mullahs would like to build a bomb as quickly as they 
can.  On the other hand, the IAEA is admitting its own 
limitations at knowing exactly what Iran is doing at 
this moment, given that nation's strenuous and proven 
efforts to fool the international community..  Our 
leadership has indeed been outspoken.  In addition to 
the comments by [Chief of Staff] Dan Halutz, Prime 
Minister Ariel Sharon said that 'Israel, and other 
countries cannot accept a situation where Iran has 
nuclear arms.  The issue is clear to us and we are 
making all the necessary preparations to handle a 
situation of this kind.'  Indeed, almost everyone - the 
US, Israel, and Europe - says that an Iranian bomb is 
unacceptable.  This begs the obvious question: What is 
the international community going to do about it?  . 
this is no time for leaders in any Western capital to 
throw up their hands and assume that an Iranian bomb is 
unstoppable.  If Iran obtains a bomb, it will be 
because free nations have not banded together to use 
their extensive economic, diplomatic, and, if 
necessary, military assets to protect themselves. 
Where there is a will, there is a way." 
Jones