Fuente: © Israel Foreign Ministry
http://www.israel.org

ISRAEL: Summary of Editorials from the Hebrew Press

/noticias.info/ (Government Press Office)

Haaretz - http://www.haaretz.com
Yediot Aharonot - http://www.ynetnews.com
Globes - http://www.globes.co.il
Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com
Hazofeh - http://www.hazofe.co.il


Haaretz comments: "The situation in the Gaza Strip cries out for the world's help. After hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of Qassam rockets have landed in Israel, and lacking any exchange between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, the two sides once again cannot extricate themselves from the miserable situation into which they have deteriorated. In light of the situation, the world is called on to intervene directly, as is the norm in other areas of conflict... An international force deployed in Gaza, primarily in the areas that border Israel and Egypt, could calm the situation. Both Israel and the Palestinians should be interested in this... Israel must initiate the move and thus appear interested in calming the situation. The world, for its part, should volunteer for the mission. The prime minister, who has left for political talks in Washington, could bring this idea with him, which has never been tried between Israel and the Palestinians and, in doing so, advance a new reality."

The Jerusalem Post writes: "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert arrives in Washington as a leader with the dubious distinction of having lost even more popularity over his management of a war than has George Bush. Unfortunately, Olmert and Bush may be the last leaders on earth who are at all serious when they say that an Iranian bomb must be prevented at all costs. In fact, it is not clear that Bush himself can still be placed in this category... A realism worthy of the name would begin with this basic premise: The refusal to confront and punish aggressive tyrants will not result in their moderation but in the opposite - more terrorism, greater threats, and a less free and more unstable world. We hope that Bush does not need Olmert to remind him of this, and that our prime minister's confidence is better placed than meets the eye."

Yediot Aharonot argues that responsibility for the army's shortcomings begins at the top and not at the bottom. Blame is being directed at those who have been appointed and promoted by IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, but it is "Halutz that should go."

Yediot Aharonot, in its second editorial, discusses Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's abrupt dismissal of IDF Intelligence Branch recommendations to enter into talks with Syria. While the reason given was that, "The Intelligence Branch lacks a comprehensive view," the editors, "wish that Olmert would convince us that he has one."

Yediot Aharonot, in its third editorial, makes a last call to change the 2007 budget in favor of the poor and needy. The editors excoriate the appointment of a minister for strategic threats even as there is still no social affairs minister and "the struggle against social terrorism" is ignored.

Yediot Aharonot, in its fourth editorial, stresses that Israeli society's sudden change of heart towards millionaire Arkadi Gaidamak is not only due to his financial support of Jerusalem's Betar football team or the tent city, which he erected while the North was being rocketed, but rather epitomizes a buyers' market for the hearts of the people in the midst of a severe leadership crisis.

Hatzofeh says that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Strategic Threats Minister Avigdor Lieberman are pushing their electoral change revolution, while camouflaging their plans for an open vote for the presidency, in order to facilitate the election of Vice Premier Shimon Peres. The prime minister's opponents are avidly trying to focus the public's attention on the Lebanese War debacle in the hope of ousting the triumvirate responsible for it. notas_de_prensa_archivo