1. IN WAKE OF OPERATION CAST LEAD: UK IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON WEAPONS EXPORTS TO ISRAEL.
UK Foreign Office announces sanctions to be imposed on sale of equipment for navy frigates that participated in Gaza operations. According to decision, that was made under pressure from Parliament, naval activity contravened bilateral agreements.
2. CRISIS IN PM'S BUREAU: NETANYAHU DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM UZI ARAD'S REMARKS TO HA'ARETZ.
3. MACCABIAH ORGANIZERS BAN WEARING OF RIBBONS IN SOLIDARITY WITH GILAD SHALIT.
Two delegations sought to wear ribbons at opening ceremony. Organizing committee: Must not turn international sporting event into rally.
4. DAVIS CUP: ISRAEL TO MEET SPAIN IN THE SEMI-FINALS.
5. SHAS PROPOSAL TO CENSOR INTERNET REJECTED.
MA’ARIV
1. Lebanon War Chief-of-Staff vs. DM.
HEAD TO HEAD.
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. Today: Senior Obama administration diplomat to meet with Netanyahu.
AMERICAN ENVOY TRYING TO RENEW NEGOTIATIONS WITH SYRIA.
Chance of resumption on Syrian track: Administration representative Fred Hoff to leave from Jerusalem for Damascus. To present map formulated in Washington with suggestions for future borders and security arrangements on Golan Heights.
2. JUDAIZING THE SIGNS.
Transportation Minister: Erasing Al-Quds and Jerusalem from road signs. As of now: Hebrew name to appear in both English and Arabic.
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. Today: Supreme Court to discuss appeal against Judge Drori's ruling.
ETHIOPIAN ORGANIZATIONS: "ANNUL RACIST VERDICT."
2. INTERNET WILL NOT BE CENSORED.
Government did not approve Shas proposal, which passed first reading in previous Knesset, to impose sweeping internet censorship.
3. LIVE MACCABIAH UNDERWAY.
This evening: 7,000 athletes from around the world to attend 18th Maccabiah's opening ceremony – largest ever.
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SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Yediot Ahronot strongly criticizes Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz's decision to replace Israel's tri-lingual road signs with new signs bearing the transliterated Hebrew names of localities instead of their traditional English and Arabic names: "One would think that the Transportation Ministry has already solved all of the problems on the roads and has reduced the number of accidents, improved infrastructure and cleared the traffic jams. Otherwise it is difficult to understand the waste of time and money on the obsession with replacing the signs." The author adds: "It is a pity that the Transportation Ministry is not dealing with the genuine problems that are causing death on the roads and awful traffic jams and instead is trying to rewrite history and Judaize the Land of Israel in line with the Greater Land of Israel ideology."
Ma'ariv wonders just how popular US President Barack Obama really is and claims that, "While President Obama fueled high expectations, he has yet to solve a single problem: The economy is still grounded, North Korea is contemptuous and his visit to Russia was lukewarm." The author speculates that the battle over his healthcare reforms, among other domestic issues, may yet compel him to look increasingly inward, especially as the 2010 Congressional and gubernatorial elections draw closer, and suggests that this might be to Israel's benefit.
Yisrael Hayom believes that the dialogue with the Palestinian Authority that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for yesterday, "will either facilitate progress toward a settlement or will expose the other side as uninterested in one," and reminds its readers that, "The Palestinian Authority has twice proven that at the moment of truth, it pulls back from making peace – at Camp David in 2000 and when Ehud Olmert in effect offered to return to the 1967 borders except for minor changes." The author believes that the Palestinians are reluctant to engage in a genuine dialogue due to: 1) their impression that the Obama administration, "will secure for them everything they want without their being asked to make reciprocal concessions," 2) calls – from figures such as Javier Solana – for an imposed solution, and 3) the Hamas-Fatah rivalry.
The Jerusalem Post discusses the Jewish involvement with the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in light if its recent 100th anniversary, and, comparing it to the Zionist movement, states that "The US civil rights movement and our Zionist enterprise, 6,000 miles away, share a passion for the Promised Land. For Zionists, it is a tangible place; for African Americans it is more of a destination. As both secure their hard-won achievements, they need to strive to remain faithful to their founders' ideals. So long as prejudice remains intrinsic to human nature there will be work for advocates of civil rights."
Haaretz criticizes the extreme right-wing approach of Uzi Arad, chairman of the National Security Council and PM Netanyahu's chief foreign policy adviser, and states that "Netanyahu must distance himself from Arad if he expects Israelis and the international community to trust the policy he recently presented. An official who espouses such positions has no place in a peace-seeking Prime Minister's Bureau."
[Ronnie Shaked, Shmuel Rosner and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Ahronot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
(Courtesy of Israel GPO)
