1. ISRAEL AND EGYPT HOLDING TALKS ON REGIME ARRANGEMENT IN THE GAZA STRIP.
On framework of proposal, internal Palestinian reconciliation agreement will be signed, calm will be declared and crossings to Strip will be opened. Netanyahu and Barak express reservations over establishment of Palestinian unity government and are demanding international supervision of the crossings and return of Abu Mazen's people to the Strip. Senior diplomatic source: "Plan likely to advance Shalit release."
2. Renewed flare-up in Jerusalem.
SIX WOUNDED IN HAREDI DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST PARKING LOT OPENING.
3. SECOND REFUSAL CASE IN TWO MONTHS IN KFIR BATTALION OVER CLAIMS OF ABUSE OF PALESTINIANS.
4. BASKETBALL PLAYER OMRI CASPI, AFTER BEING SELECTED TO PLAY IN THE NBA: "THIS IS HISTORY; I AM LIVING A DREAM."
5. DUDI SELA ADVANCES TO FOURTH ROUND AT WIMBLEDON.
MA’ARIV
1. UNITED TORAH JUDAISM: PARKING LOT CRISIS LIABLE TO TOPPLE THE GOVERNMENT.
Jerusalem burns again: Carta Parking Lot opened, haredim rioted, police entered Mea Shearim neighborhood. Senior source close to Rabbi Elyashiv warns: "We already left one government because of a turbine that traveled on Shabbat."
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. This is the compromise that DM will propose in Washington:
BARAK: WE WILL FREEZE CONSTRUCTION FOR THREE MONTHS.
Significance: Israel agrees – for the first time – to halt construction in the territories for natural growth needs.
2. SABBATH WARS.
Tens of thousands of haredim demonstrate in Jerusalem against opening of Carta Parking Lot on the Sabbath. 20-year-old man fell from balcony and was severely wounded. Six policemen lightly hurt.
3. GOOD LUCK!
Tennis player Dudi Sela advances to fourth round at Wimbledon. History: Basketball player Omri Caspi en route to NBA.
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. ONE PERSON SEVERELY WOUNDED, 40 ARRESTED IN JERUSALEM.
Sabbath wars: Violent weekend in Jerusalem over opening of Carta Parking Lot. Haredim: We will continue to go out into the streets as long as the parking lot is not closed. Approximately 1,000 secular residents held supportive demonstration in Safra Square. [Meretz] MK Nitzan Horowitz: We will struggle over character of the city.
2. "THERE WERE UNDERSTANDINGS ON CONTINUATION OF CONSTRUCTION IN SETTLEMENTS."
Elliot Abrams, senior Bush administration official: "Clinton does not have all of the information."
______________________________
SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Yediot Ahronot argues that, "If it becomes clear, heaven forbid, to Israeli decision-makers that American commitments are only good for the term of the relevant presidential administration, no one will want such pledges any longer."
Ma'ariv uses a joke to make a point, "'I'm going with an alternative treatment. Maybe that will get rid of the disease', say the patient. 'I already told you,' sighs the doctor, 'There is no cure for diabetes. What is this new treatment you are about to try?' 'Chlorine injections, the substance will clean out my system', says the patient; 'That will kill you, shouts the doctor in amazement!' 'Either it will or it won't,' says the patient; 'anyway, what's your alternative?' The author states that, "There's not always an alternative, and concludes that, "If there was a solution to the Jewish-Arab conflict, it would have been found long ago."
Yisrael Hayom rhetorically asks, "Will the riots in Tehran affect their nuclear development?" It replies by noting that, "The Iranians are not cancelling their nuclear progress. Taking into consideration the West's helplessness, it would seem that the day is nearing when Israel will have to focus on preventing an Iranian attack."
Haaretz, in an editorial entitled "Courageous, but belated", notes that the observations of former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak suggest that the values of democracy, particularly on matters relating to the Arab minority, have never been internalized in Israel. Barak said Jews have the exclusive right to immigrate to Israel, but the moment they arrive their rights must be equal to those of Arabs. He favors preserving Israel's character as a Jewish and democratic state, while supporting it becoming a state of all its citizens. However, Haaretz notes, "as someone who led Israel's Supreme Court for 11 years, he had countless opportunities to sound a warning and act to improve human rights and democracy in Israel and the occupied territories."
The Jerusalem Post writes: "The fact that two separate Israeli courts sent two ex-ministers to do long stretches behind bars last Wednesday confers no great honor on our society. Their offenses stained the reputation of this country's public servants and top political echelon. That said, the fact that they weren't let off with a reprimand and a slap on the wrist goes a fair way to counterbalancing the shame, underscoring intolerance to corruption in high places. In this respect, the situation in Israel is considerably better than in many other democracies."
[Dov Weisglass, Haim Navon, and Halit Barel wrote today’s articles in Yediot Ahronot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
(Courtesy of Israel GPO)
