1. NETANYAHU ORDERED PURCHASE OF SWINE FLU VACINES FOR ALL ISRAELI CITIZENS
2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRST MODERN PALESTINIAN CITY TO BEGIN IN OCTOBER
MA’ARIV
1. FORECAST: ONE OUT OF EVERY THREE WILL BE INFECTED
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. Israel about to deport children of foreign workers and refugees.
"DON'T DEPORT US FROM HERE"
So said six year-old Jilin, who was born in Israel and knows no other land. Interior Ministry: The children's' residence in country is illegal. But Minister Yishai promised: I will find compromise.
2. ISRAEL ON PATH BACK TO SPACE
Five and a half years after Ilan Ramon disaster: Agreement being formulated with US to launch second Israeli astronaut.
3. COUNTRY WILL ORDER SWINE FLU VACINATIONS FOR ALL
4. NINTH OF AV TODAY
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. THE FLU: PREGNANT WOMEN AT GREATEST RISK
2. "CROSSINGS WON"T BE OPENED AS LONG AS GILAD IS IN CAPTIVITY"
PM to US National Security Advisor: "We'll only allow humanitarian aid."
3. WILL LABOR PARTY SPLINTER?
Labor stormy on background of land reform and changes in party constitution.
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SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Yediot Aharonot notes that, "A UN report recently published on the El-Arabia web site... concludes that Syria is drying up, and no less than a quarter of a million farmers were forced in the last three years to abandon their lands and move to the big cities." The author argues that therefore, "Syria has an existential interest to get its hands on the waters of the Sea of Galilee in order to pump them to fields in Damascus, Halab and Hama."
Yisrael Hayom comes out against the deportation of foreign workers. "The foreign workers live here, raise families and send their children to the army. Exactly like us. Is it really possible to take lightly someone who was born here and wants to live in Israel?"
Haaretz writes in support of Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar's draft bill to grant permanent residence permits for children who have been absorbed into Israeli society: "The absorption of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers and refugees seeking asylum in Israel has over the years created a small group of fewer than 2,000 children and teenagers who were born in Israel or have spent the first years of their lives here. These minors have been integrated into the school system and even the youth groups, while Hebrew is their first language. They are part of Israeli society and culture, and some of them have enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces."
The Jerusalem Post comments on tendentious media coverage of a recent spate of criminal allegations directed against members of the haredi community: "Admittedly, it is difficult not to be shocked by the severity of some of these yet-to-be-proved accusations: organ trafficking, child abuse, money-laundering and exploitation of religious positions. But it is wrong, repugnant and destructive to suggest that haredi Judaism has an inherent quality that creates fertile ground for fraud. Instinctively, Jews understand the ultimate value of unity. There is no better day than Tisha Be'av to remember this."
Ma'ariv opines about the swine flu epidemic that "A little panic won't hurt. No one has yet died from fear. From swine flu, people have already died."
[Guy Bechor, Nada Ayal London and Noa Maimon wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
(Courtesy of Israel GPO)
