(Government Press Office)
Yediot Aharonot says that "Hamas is not interested in a prisoner exchange deal and the continued negotiations only serve to strengthen the psychological warfare which it uses against Israeli society and in order to strengthen itself." The author suggests that "…this is how negotiations are conducted in the Middle East. The other side must be placed in a dilemma in which it feels that tomorrow it will receive much less than today."
Ma'ariv claims that "The Wisconsin Project is not ideal, but it is more effective and less expensive than the Employment Service." The author adds that "Its opponents are correct in that the program did not rescue workers from poverty, but the Employment Service also has not succeeded in doing so and the number of poor is only growing. For this, what are needed is real investment in education and professional training, not demagogy.
Yisrael Hayom opines that "At the moment, Israel has a rare opportunity to make a fundamental change in its behavior towards terrorist extortion… The Government must apply pressure on Hamas to the point of threatening its regime."
Nana10 contends that "Israel is supposed to be a law-abiding country. But if it was, a policy of eliminating Palestinian terrorists, after the perpetration of an act, would not be countenanced." The author argues that "The political echelons could not have approved a more problematic operation than the elimination in Nablus at the current time. Why risk igniting the entire West Bank and an additional weakening of the Palestinian Authority just before a supposed renewal of negotiations? Because Netanyahu compulsively shoots from the hip."
The Jerusalem Post discusses the corruption charges of unprecedented severity leveled this week against Bat-Yam mayor Shlomi Lahiani. The editor notes that "Local politics all too often constitute particularly fertile ground for malfeasance of varying degrees," and remarks that a new legislative initiative which would prohibit anyone in debt to the tune of NIS 5m. from running for mayor has recently been submitted to the Knesset. The editor concludes: "Were this law on the books in 2003, the entire sordid Lahiani saga might have been avoided."
Haaretz declares that "The High Court of Justice's decision, in a panel headed by Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, to end the ban on Palestinians using Route 443 is one of the most correct and just decisions the court has made in recent years." The editor adds that "The barring of Palestinians from Route 443 was one of the ugliest aspects of a deluxe occupation. Real security cannot be achieved by roadblocks, fences and separate roads, but only by a fair peace accord that will bring an end to the occupation."
[Guy Bechor, Ruti Sinai, Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Ron Adelist wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma'ariv, Yisrael Hayom and Nana10 respectively.]