HA’ARETZ
1. ISRAEL TO HEZBOLLAH: WE WILL HALT NEGOTIATIONS IF YOU DON'T GIVE IN ON RELEASE OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS.
Latest proposal: Israel will not release Palestinians in exchange for Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser. If Hezbollah does not give in, negotiations with it will be halted. In that case, it is likely that Israel and IDF will make "harsh decision" regarding two captives. Senior source: We have reached the end of the road; ball is in Hezbollah's court.
2. NEW EVIDENCE STRENGTHENS SUSPICION OF ADDITIONAL CRIMES BY PM.
3. ISRAEL TO RESPOND POSITIVELY TO PROPOSAL FOR CALM.
Major military operation in Gaza to be considered only if Egyptian initiative fails.
MA’ARIV
1. Labor Chairman allots time to Olmert government:
BARAK: "ELECTIONS WITHIN SIX MONTHS."
At Labor Knesset faction conference last night, Barak made it clear: "I estimate that elections will be held by December. We must unite the camp. Today in Knesset: First test for PM's crumbling coalition.
2. HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE TO DECIDE TODAY: WILL THERE BE A DEPOSITION?
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. MKs: Pensioner breakaway faction's agreement with the oligarch – corrupt.
KNESSET AGAINST GAIDAMAK.
Apparent: Today – Knesset House Committee will not approve union between Pensioners Party defectors and Gaidamak. Knesset Legal Adviser: Suspicion that agreement is illegal due to extraordinary promises to rebels.
2. JUDGE ARBEL AGAINST OLMERT.
Ten years after accounts affair, Arbel is again in position to decide on Olmert. Then, she indicted him; he was acquitted and criticized her sharply. Today, she will hear his appeal against Talansky deposition.
3. IS BRITAIN'S MOST WANTED ROBBER HIDING IN EILAT?
City residents: We have seen him, we are sure it is him.
[MAKOR RISHON-HATZOFEHwas unavailable today.]
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SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Ma'ariv asserts that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is way out of line by demanding that, "The Palestinians forget the 'Nakba' as a condition for independence." The editors aver that this, "attests that we are generations away from being able to make peace with them. Peace is not achieved by conquering the other's chronicles, and erasing his memory. Peace with the Palestinians will be possible only when we recognize their disaster and our part in it".
The Jerusalem Post discusses Saudi actions and policies in the region, stating that given the regime's origins, it is ironic that the inheritors of Wahhabism are today uniquely positioned to help bridge the civilizational gap between Islam and the West. Failing to do so will ultimately cost them, and us all, dear.
Haaretz calls on Prime Minister Olmert to Olmert to explain to the investigators as soon as possible the source of the funds handed him by Morris Talansky, and states that so long as Olmert has not provided a satisfactory explanation for the money transferred to him in envelopes, he is not morally entitled to sit in the prime minister's seat.
Yediot Ahronot contends that while US President George Bush declared in the Knesset that 300 million Americans would stand beside seven million Israelis, "America is tired, castrated, and torn from within. All that it is able to provide its Middle East allies, at the moment, are words". Giving the example of the US's lack of response in Lebanon just last week, the editors state that, "We have no one to trust but ourselves".
[Kobi Niv and Nahum Barnea wrote today’s articles in Yediot Ahronotand Ma'ariv, respectively. Makor Rishon-Hatzofehwas unavailable today.]
