Today's Situation

SEX AND SPIES, July 6, 2007

All four of Israel's leading daily newspapers lead with different stories in their Friday editions, with only Maariv stretching the Katsav plea bargain scandal into another lead headline. According to the paper, which has been at the forefront of the tabloid media's pornographic coverage of what is undoubtedly the most sordid scandal to shock a country that considered itself to be unshockable, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has described the relationship between Katsav and the main complainant in the case as 'sick.'

The Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, leads with a warning from the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, which issued a report Thursday in which it claimed that Israel could lose its sea ports, see its entire coastline flooded and suffer billions of dollars in irreparable damage if global warming is allowed to continue unchecked.

Yedioth Ahronoth leads with an extract from a soon-to-be-published memoir by convicted spy Marcus Klingberg, who claims that he recruited a senior Israeli scientist- an Israeli Prize laureate, no less- to spy for the KGB.

Haaretz leads with an exclusive report by Peace Now, which claims that just 9 percent of the land allocated to West Bank settlements by the state is used for construction. Nonetheless, the paper reports, most of the settlements exceed their boundaries, and about one-third of the territory they do use lies outside their jurisdiction.

Elsewhere, freed BBC reporter Alan Johnston continues to make headlines in the Israeli press, which focuses on the way in which he was released from the grips of the shadowy Army of Islam group that held him captive for 114 days.

According to The Jerusalem Post, members of the Dughmush family, which makes up the Army of Islam, clashed with Hamas officials over what the clan claimed was a deal struck to gain Johnston's release. According to the report, a spokesman for the clan said the deal with Hamas would see Army of Islam recognized as a legitimate Palestinian faction and the group would be allowed to keep its weapons. The spokesman denied, however, reports that Hamas had paid a huge ransom for Johnston's release.

According to at least one report, Hamas paid $5 million and one million bullets for Johnston's release. According to Arutz 7, deposed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh stated Friday, 'I confirm that there was no deal or bargaining, and that the release was without any preconditions. We do not pay political rewards.'

Hamas itself, however, may be rewarded for its role in securing Johnston's release. According to Army Radio, quoting several British newspapers, a member of the European Parliament has urged the EU to resume formal ties with Hamas after the terror group helped release of the BBC correspondent. Liberal Democrat Liz Lynne, a member of the European Parliament's Human Rights Committee and a campaigner for Palestinian rights, commented: 'Let us hope that this is the start of a new phase in the Middle East and will persuade the European Union and other international bodies to start talking to Hamas, because only through dialogue can we achieve a long-lasting peace.'

Yedioth Ahronoth's Alex Fishman reports that senior defense officials are extremely concerned by the fact that Hamas has recently seized large quantities of anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank rockets and Katyusha rockets.

In the course of Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in the last several weeks, the group's gunmen took control over Fateh and PA security forces' depots containing vast amounts of weapons, the paper reports. A Southern Command official explained that some of the weapons were smuggled into Gaza in violation of agreements and understandings with Israel, and may pose substantial risk to the IDF.

Finally, on the diplomatic front, Israel Radio reports Friday that Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit says he will soon travel to Israel to discuss an Arab peace initiative revived by the Arab League earlier in 2007. Aboul Gheit told reporters in Cairo that he will visit Israel after talks with U.S. officials in Washington to push for discussion of the peace plan at an upcoming meeting of the international Quartet.

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