Feb. 17 Headlines
Sunday
HA’ARETZ
1. PM RECOMMENDATIONS: 8,000 HOMES WITHIN 4.5 KM. RANGE FROM GAZA MUST BE REINFORCED.
'Iron Dome' Kassam interception system does not protect 4km. range from border.
2. STOLEN BREAD IN POCKET, HEBREW FORMS, TWO BUSES: THIS IS HOW REFUGEES ARE RELEASED.
MAKOR RISHON/HATZOFEH
1. OLMERT TO ANNOUNCE SHORTLY: ABDUCTEES NO LONGER ALIVE.
Thus reports German weekly Der Spiegel, which explains that Israel has concluded that the two soldiers kidnapped in Lebanon were killed. Jerusalem: Negotiations for their release continues.
2. SINCE MUGHNIYEH ELIMINATION – HAMAS AND JIHAD OFFICIALS AVOIDING CELLPHONE CALLS.
Hamas senior official: Haniyeh not hiding underground. Islamic Jihad senior official killed in Gaza explosion – probably from work accident.
3. IDO NEHUSHTAN – NEXT AIR FORCE COMMANDER.
MA’ARIV
1. Contacts with Hamas in high gear.
SHALIT DEAL NEAR COMPLETION.
Security sources in Israel prepare for possibility of completing deal with Hamas already in coming days.
2. TOUGHEST DECISION OF ALL.
As revealed to Ma'ariv, German Der Spiegel reports that Prime Minister will soon declare Udi Goldwasser and Eldar Regev as fallen soldiers whose place of burial is unknown.
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. ABDUCTEE DILEMMA.
Der Spiegel: Israel assesses that Regev and Goldwasser are no longer alive and announcement to that effect would diminish Nasrallah's bargaining ability. Families oppose: No information to verify that they're dead, for us they are still alive. Karnit Goldwasser: I want the truth, whatever it is.
2. THIS IS HOW MOSSAD AGENTS ELIMINATED MUGHNIYEH.
Sunday Times: Explosive devise hidden in jeep headrest. Sunday Express: Agents entered as Iranian tourists.
3. SENIOR LIKUD OFFICIALS: NETANYAHU'S BUREAU DISINTEGRATING.
Another top official leaves. Reason: Sarah's involvement and disappointment over Winograd report.
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SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
The Jerusalem Post criticizes what it calls a bizarre ruling handed down by the Beer Sheva District labor Court, which obliges a manufacturing plant formerly located at the Erez Industrial Zone, which was first crippled by Gazan terror and then evacuated following disengagement, to pay hefty severance pay to 88 of its former employees - all from Gaza. The editor concludes by stating that citizens should not have to personally bear the financial consequence of official actions in Gaza.
Haaretz discusses the Wisconsin welfare-to-work program initiated by the government, and opines that the program planners made two crucial mistakes: They applied the same tough rules to every participant, and decided that the main purpose of the program is saving on unemployment stipends. The editor calls to implement the Yaari report recommendations, to drop the exemption for people over 45 and to expand the program throughout the country so that every unemployed person can benefit from it.
Yediot Aharonot refers to last week's elimination of Hezbollah arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh and says that "The Arab world did not shed a tear for Mughniyeh. Nobody came to the funeral or sent a condolence telegram." The editors note that "Not only was the elimination not condemned, but a respectable group of columnists in leading [Arab] media describe Mughniyeh as "someone who got what was coming to him and expressed no small amount of joy at the security lapse in the guarded compound where the elimination took place."
Ma'ariv reminds its readers that "Today, Kosovo will declare independence, against the will of the parent state, Serbia," and adds that "The coerced solution is causing concern in Israel and in other states, such as Cyprus and Russia." The editors assert that "Kosovo's declaration of independence is a violation of international law" and suggest that the US is supporting it "Because it is simply sick and tired of dealing with these problematic Balkans."
Makor Rishon-Hatzofeh believes that the political weight of the Israeli Arab sector in the Labor Party and the opposition of left-leaning intellectuals are deterring Defense Minister Ehud Barak from pursuing a more aggressive line against Gaza. The editors ask, "Whether Barak and Olmert are capable of rising above post-Zionist political considerations and acting in accordance with the demands of the people?"
[Smadar Peri and Yaacov Ahimeir wrote today’s articles in Yediot Ahronotand Ma'ariv, respectively.]
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