(Government Press Office)
Haaretz - http://www.haaretzdaily.com
Ma'ariv - http://www.maariv.co.il
Yediot Aharonot - http://www.ynet.co.il
Globes - http://www.globes.co.il
Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com
Hazofeh - http://www.hazofe.co.il
Haaretz comments: "The new spirit in the Labor Party is being felt at a time when the ruling party continues to behave in an almost wanton political manner. It came out against its leader this year with a baseless stance comprised wholly of nay-saying. A substantial part of the Likud seemingly disavowed the national reality, which calls for political movement. It thereby placed an important advantage in Labor's hands: even if Labor has not excelled at showing political determination, it has signed up - in keeping with most Israelis - as a movement looking to reach an agreement. The Likud landslide of 1977 occurred because, after the Yom Kippur War, the Alignment (of Labor's precursors Mapai and Mapam) could no longer win the public's trust to lead the country. Yitzhak Rabin came to power in a second upheaval when the Likud fell into the same predicament. It is very possible that what we are seeing now is the beginnings of another upheaval."
The Jerusalem Post writes: "The Dovrat Commission's just-unveiled school reform recommendations range from the groundbreaking to the faddish. Some of its most important proposals may meet with the most resistance; all the more reason to insure that this long overdue effort receives strong support. Perhaps the most revolutionary notion is to place merit at the heart of assessing how schools and teachers perform and how they are to be recompensed... The pendulum of our educational system all too often swings wildly and not always constructively. We can only hope that the Dovrat Commission experience will be different."
Yediot Aharonot lists the economic improvements in Israel over the past year and says that, “It would be wrong to play down the decisive part that Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has played in turning the economy around for the better. Economically, 2004 was Netanyahu’s year.” The editors remark that the public lost its confidence in Netanyahu when he took a strong right-wing stand on the disengagement issue and conclude that, “It’s a shame that what he gained with his economic leadership, he lost - with a lot of interest - with his political leadership.”
Hatzofeh notes that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did not protest British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s remark that “disengagement was only the beginning,” despite his promises that it would be a “lone step that would save the rest of the Yesha settlements.” The editors point out that over 5,000 mortar shells have been launched from the Gaza Strip and condemn the government for not doing anything to prevent it.
[Sever Plocker wrote today’s editorial in Yediot Aharonot.]