(Government Press Office)
Yediot Aharonot suggests that the Obama administration's patience is wearing thin over the Palestinian Authority's refusal to negotiate with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Government. The author believes that "The Palestinians do not want to negotiate with Netanyahu because they seem him as a practical statesman who aspires to a practical agreement," and adds that "This is what the current Palestinian leadership does not want to become mixed up with." The paper says that the Palestinians had no reluctance about talking with Ehud Olmert precisely because they knew "that he lacked a mandate to reach any agreement, let alone a 'final' agreement."
Ma'ariv is alarmed by what it perceives as an increasing trend by Israeli national religious youth towards becoming more ultra-orthodox and argues that this should concern not only the religious Zionist community but also society as a whole.
Yisrael Hayom commends the Knesset House Committee's 9-2 decision yesterday to deny National Democratic Assembly MK Said Naffaa's request for a grant of immunity from prosecution over his 2007 visit to Syria. The author reminds his readers that MK Naffaa went to Syria, in violation of the law, "despite a warning from [Attorney General] Meni Mazuz," and defends the House Committee's decision especially since the facts are not in dispute. The paper asserts that "MKs have no permission to speak – of their own volition – with the enemy," and believes that the decision strengthens the rule of law.
The Jerusalem Post discusses the Iran nuclear weapons program, and states that this is really one of those cases where the wolf really is at the door. To halt further progress, the editor calls on the Western countries to "block lines of credit to Iran's central bank and to banks that do business with it; target the corporate and personal assets of the Revolutionary Guard, and stop insuring tankers sailing to Iranian ports."
Haaretz comments that the government was foolish to boycott the Goldstone committee, and claims that Israel is currently persisting in an attempted cover-up. The editor maintains that "The prime minister must immediately act to appoint a state commission of inquiry, chaired by a Supreme Court justice, and stop covering up and avoiding a thorough investigation of the truth."
[Sever Plocker, Avraham Tirosh and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]