(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
The Jerusalem Post comments on the upcoming Palestinian Authority election: "As things appear now, it is a contest between hard-liners who differ on means rather than ends. That said, it is encouraging that over 500 prominent Palestinians endorsed, if somewhat ambiguously, Abbas's call to end violence against Israel. At the same time, even Abbas has openly wrapped himself in Arafat's mantle and gone out of his way to show respect for the terrorists he claims not to support. Abbas has made clear that there is no difference between his platform and Yasser Arafat's. Even if Abbas eventually considers striking out on a different path, he could find himself entrapped in his own militant rhetoric and in the uncompromising consensus he helped construct... Sorely missing from the Palestinian equation is a peace camp, one that need not embrace Israel – as some Israelis do the Palestinians – but a party that argues, as our own "national camp" does, that the national interest requires painful concessions."
Hatzofeh says that, “The quiet on the Palestinian street [is holding], in contravention of the dire predictions of the academics that there would be anarchy, predictions which have been proven wrong more than once because the academics didn’t correctly assess the deviousness of Abu Mazen, who - on the one hand - speaks lip-service against violence and - on the other hand - clings to all of the historical Palestinian leadership’s extremist positions.” The editors
believe that, “Israel will not find it difficult to cope with Abu Mazen’s ‘moderation’ by adopting the methods that succeeded in Yasser Arafat’s time.”
Haaretz writes: "The Interior Ministry, which in the past was considered an arena for dubious political and budgetary manipulations, will, with the appointment of Ophir Pines-Paz, receive an energetic minister who, it must be hoped, will be able to deal with the important matters on his agenda in a substantive, unbiased manner. Wage costs in the local authorities - not only for mayors, but also for senior employees - should be one of these matters, and also especially the question of whether normative wage levels in the local authorities should not be adjusted to the size of their responsibilities, as determined by the number of residents and the amount of territory under their jurisdiction."
Yediot Aharonot comments on yesterday’s awful natural disaster in Asia.
Yediot Aharonot, in its second editorial, analyzes the economic recovery of Argentina.