(Government Press Office)
Yediot Aharonot observes that "Since the onset of the confrontation over the Iranian reactor, Germany has insisted on inviting representatives from the Iranian Ayatollahs' regime to the Munich Security Conference," and criticizes the fact that this "provides them a public stage to voice their extremist views – including denying both the holocaust and Israel's right to exist." The author commends German Chancellor Angela Merkel's stance but says that "The German establishment is taking care to maintain open channels with Tehran's representatives and give them public platforms to disseminate their noxious views. What can one do, the spirit of Munich still hovers over Germany."
Ma'ariv avers that "The time has come to wean ourselves from our tendency to automatically scorn MKs and politicians, because this costs us much more than any airline upgrade." The author asserts that "I am in favor that MKs should fly abroad in business class, paradoxically to honor them. An MK is an elected representative. And this is supposed to be honorable."
Yisrael Hayom contends that when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, in his Herzliya Conference speech, that he believed that negotiations with the Palestinian would begin within two weeks, he may have been aware that "Abu Mazen was trying to recruit support, inter alia, among his political allies, for proximity talks with the Israeli Government, under the aegis of the Arab League." The author asks: "Is Abu Mazen the Palestinian leader capable of determining permanent borders? Can he sign off on solutions to the refugee issue or regarding Jerusalem? Does he have the power and authority to concede even a single centimeter, in the name of the Palestinian people, when he does not even represent all of them?"
The Jerusalem Post discusses the recent outbreak of mumps in Haredi communities in the United States, and states that "a not-insignificant minority of parents are refusing to immunize their children, fearing vaccines contain harmful side effects and/or out of conviction that Mother Nature would not approve." The editor is thankful that "most Israeli children are immunized through the Tipat Halav well-baby clinics," and adds: "We urge the Health Ministry to consider requiring parents to provide a child’s pinkas hisunim – immunization record – when they register their youngsters for school."
Haaretz states that PM Netanyahu's plan to link the periphery to the center of the country via a network of highways and railway lines over the next 20 years, presented yesterday to the Minister of Finance and other senior officials, is not a serious plan, as it lacks a professional analysis of transportation needs, solid figures, operational timetables or a cost-benefit analysis. The editor opines that the plan is merely an exercise in public relations, and notes that "It is appropriate to develop public transportation, but trains are appropriate only for the congested center of the country. To bring the periphery closer to the center we should invest in roads."
[Eldad Beck, Ofer Shelah and Yaakov Ahimeir wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]