Sunday, December 4, 2005

HA’ARETZ

1. SURPRISE IN SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT: SYRIA IMPROVES SCUD-D ACCURACY.

The revelation: Experts learned of improvement after Syrian missile mistakenly landed in Turkey.  The improvement: Syria put wings on missile, which help it to maneuver.  The Arrow: Anti-missile success – Intercepted target that resembles Iranian Shihab-3 missile.  Iran: Russia to provide Tehran with anti-aircraft rockets.

2. KADIMA LEADERSHIP: OLMERT, LIVNI AND DICHTER.

3. TWO UNARMED PALESTINIANS KILLED IN GAZA.

Four Kassams land north of Gaza Strip; navy vessel sinks Palestinian fishing boat.

HATZOFEH

1. Palestinians fire new type of rockets for first time.  Lukewarm Israeli response.

KASSAMS GETTING CLOSER TO ASHKELON.

Terrorists launch Kassam rockets over Shabbat, part of which struck near Ashkelon.  Friday: Israeli lightly wounded by rocket fire.  On Saturday, Palestinian terrorist tried to reach Israel by sea and was eliminated by navy.

2. Crisis among Labor leadership.

BARAK INCLINED NOT TO RUN FOR SPOT ON KNESSET LIST.

3. Sarid quits politics.

"SHARON IS MOST CORRUPT ISRAELI POLITICIAN OF THEM ALL."

4. ISRAEL BUSINESS CONFERENCE: MINISTER SHALOM'S SPEECH INTERRUPTED.

5. JIBRIL RAJOUB WINS FATAH ELECTIONS IN HEBRON.

MA’ARIV

1. Knesset initiative: Support for Netanyahu as PM and postponement of elections.

SHINUI: WE WILL SUPPORT COALITION WITH RIGHT AND HAREDIM.

Deal: Civil marriage law in exchange for toppling Sharon.  Crisis in Labor: Four more MKs considering going over to Kadima.

YEDIOT AHRONOT

1. Israel carries out successful Arrow test.  Iran buys missiles from Russia.

ISRAEL AND IRAN: THE COLD WAR.

Security sources: "Unprecedented defensive arms race occurring."

2. NETANYAHU TRYING TO ESTABLISH GOVERNMENT WITH HELP FROM SHINUI.

Goal: Secure 61 MKs' signatures and thereby torpedo elections.  Lapid doesn't rule out possibility.  Barak cancels meeting with Peretz and attacks: "Labor Party seems like 'One Nation II'."

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SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS

Hatzofeh asserts that, "The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was not so vital from a security point-of-view," and says that, "The Disengagement Plan hasn't really improved Israel's security situation like the Prime Minister promised." 

Yediot Ahronot predicts that the struggle against corruption will be much discussed during the coming election campaign, yet dismisses it all as, "lip service," since neither the various allegations against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon nor the conviction of his son, Kadima MK Omri Sharon, have had the slightest effect on the former's popularity.  The editors conclude that the average Israeli voter really does not care much about corruption in public life.

Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, suggests that party loyalty among voters is much more tenuous than has been commonly believed.

Haaretz comments: "The prosecution and defense in Tali Fahima's trial reached an agreement under which she will plead guilty to several charges and be sentenced to a jail term of three years. In practice, Fahima will go free in 10 months, should the court approve the plea bargain. The subdued ending of the Fahima affair raises tough questions about its beginnings. When the indictment was filed last December, Fahima was charged with aiding the enemy in wartime - an offense punishable by a life sentence... It boils down to one of two options: Either Tali Fahima is a threat to national security, or else she is the victim of a false charge... It is difficult to believe that the state is prepared to set free in another 10 months somebody who until a moment ago was kept in solitary confinement because of the danger she posed... The state prosecutor's office is supposed to serve as a barrier to such false suits, and the courts are supposed to take the air out of balloons floated by investigators and prosecutors; but in this case, it looks like everyone bowed their heads before bogus security considerations."

The Jerusalem Post writes: "Meretz MK Yossi Sarid's decision to retire from politics might be seen as a natural step for someone who has served 32 years in the Knesset... He ends a career of principled leftist ideals. He was an ardent supporter of the Oslo Accords and objected to the unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon, preferring a negotiated agreement with Syria that would have included the return of the Golan Heights. As Sarid said Thursday, 'I am flattered that at least I am not in the list of people who are moving from one side to another. I am leaving politics wearing the same shirt that I entered with."

[Ofer Shelah wrote today’s editorials in Yediot Ahronot.]