(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
Hazofe - http://www.hazofe.co.il
Yediot Aharonot defines the results of yesterday’s Likud referendum as, “an earthquake,” and says that the magnitude of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s defeat is, “a political fact that cannot be denied.” The editors believe that if Prime Minister Sharon, “wants to keep the disengagement plan alive, he will have to face a head-on clash with most of his party,” and decry, “Sharon’s arrogance and irresponsibility.”
The Jerusalem Post comments: "In retrospect, the idea that Sharon could depend on Likud voters to ratify his plan reflected a fair degree of hubris. The plan, after all, is difficult to distinguish from that put forward by Sharon's rival in the 2003 elections, Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna. Sharon won handily opposing that plan, and his own Likud voters deeply opposed any unilateral concessions, let alone the unilateral dismantling of settlements. What has changed is Sharon's acquiescence to US opposition to forcibly removing Yasser Arafat, combined with a US willingness to proffer significant diplomatic dividends in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal. Just because these changes were sufficient to change Sharon's mind does not mean that he could persuade the core of the natural opposition to his move to go along."
Hatzofeh cites yesterday’s murderous terrorist attack in the Gaza Strip and asserts that, “The quicker that we leave the Gaza Strip - Heaven forbid! - the more intensive terrorist attacks will be in Judea and Samaria and throughout Israel.” The editors remark: “Let us hope that yesterday’s terror victims will open Sharon’s eyes, which have been blinded.”
Haaretz writes: "The EU's enlargement not only strengthened its base, it is also likely to dilute the union's own principles out of a need to acquiesce to the differing national needs of its immensely varied member nations. Yet all of these fears cannot detract from the magnitude of this European achievement in a world rent by wars and violent clashes between cultures. Most of the nations who joined the EU this month are generally considered friendly to Israel, even if the Israeli public also remembers their involvement in the horrors of the Holocaust. The EU achieved its present accomplishment, etched with humanistic values and understandings that span borders, at a time when anti-Semitism is once again raising its head in Europe. This fact means that deep-rooted processes laden with hate and prejudice continue to operate on the continent. From this perspective as well, Israel has a special interest in closer ties with this increasingly powerful giant."
[Ofer Shelah wrote today’s editorial in Yediot Aharonot.]