1. MINISTER YISHAI: WE WILL BUILD NEAR MAALEH ADUMIM EVEN WITHOUT US AGREEMENT.
Interior Minister says during tour of E-1 area that there is a "vital need" to build there. FM Liberman also criticizes American policy: "Whoever tries to force an agreement will lead to conflict." US State Dept. Spokesman: "We try not to respond to every comment by some leader in the area. Trust must be created between the sides."
2. NETANYAHU: LEBANON IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HEZBOLLAH ACTIONS.
3. NEW YORK HOMELESS WOMAN BEQUEATHS $150,000 TO HEBREW UNIVERSITY.
MA’ARIV
1. Brig.-Gen. Imad Faris was caught lying – and resigned.
"GENERAL, I LIED TO YOU."
Brig.-Gen. Imad Fares tried three times to hide the fact that his wife drove his military car in contravention of orders.
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. HE LIED AND RESIGNED.
Wife of Brig.-Gen. Imad Fares drove his military car alone, in contravention of orders, and caused an accident. Husband reported: I was in the car. When he realized truth was about to become known – he submitted his resignation to the Chief-of-Staff.
2. NETANYAHU AND MUBARAK TRYING TO CLOSE SHALIT DEAL.
The conversation: PM called Mubarak and discussed Shalit deal. The envoys: Uzi Arad in Cairo contacts and the Palestinians are reporting that Haggai Hadas has left for Egypt. The other side: Hamas representatives in talks with Egyptian Intelligence Minister.
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. HE LIED – AND RESIGNED.
2. "NEGOTIATIONS IN CAIRO."
Palestinian media reporting: "Senior Hamas officials in Egypt, along with mediator Haggai Elias, who is due to arrive and close deal." PM's adviser Uzi Arad already in Cairo. Netanyahu spoke with Mubarak; Israel sources not denying that "Shalit issue also came up in conversation."
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SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Yediot Ahronot interprets into, "simple Hebrew," the reason stated by the Bank of Israel for halting its daily foreign currency purchases of $100 million. "The original program that started in March 2008 was intended to protect the exchange rate which had dived to a nadir of almost NIS 3.2/$. In order to camouflage the real reason, we contrived (under pressure of time) the goal of raising foreign currency reserves. Three times we altered the final target, and when we understood that no one believed us any longer that that was our target, we gave up. Our real goal still remains intact, but we no longer have any good excuses and we simply decided to buy dollars without telling anyone."
Ma'ariv says that, "The Shas party is out of the bottle." The author quotes from the letter of Shas party Chairman Eli Yishai to President Shimon Peres requesting clemency for convicted former Shas minister Shlomo Benizri: "'He was a full partner to the Shas approach which champions raising the status of Sephardic Jews…' Is he serious?" retorts the author, "The last party that has a right to talk about the 'second Israel' is Shas. That is because, for a long time, Shas has not been the answer for the Sephardic Jews in Israel, but primarily their problem."
Yisrael Hayom laments that after attending the two days of discussions at the UN Rio Conference on 'The Middle East – and Peace', the author, "sensed that the contribution of the UN to 'the bridging of gaps' between the sides was the contrary: Deepening chasms…" The author asserts that, "The Rio Conference, under the auspices of the UN, was actually intended to put Israel on the stand, and was in reality a demonstration of hate towards Israel."
The Jerusalem Post discusses the increasing tension on the northern border in light of the apparent intention of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah to target Israeli or Jewish targets around the world, and notes that "In August 2006, Hassan Nasrallah admitted that had he appreciated the ferocity of Israel's response to Hizbullah's aggression, he would have never sent his men across the border. Now, with new weapons in-hand, Nasrallah may calculate that Israel will abjure hard-hitting retaliation, even for a mega-terror attack, in order to keep its population safe from reprisal bombardment in a third Lebanon war." In conclusion, the editor states that "It would be too bad for us all if Nasrallah's destiny was to keep making the same stupid mistake."
Haaretz is scandalized by Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai's request to pardon former cabinet minister Shlomo Benizri, who was convicted of corruption and sentenced to four years imprisonment, and states that "Shas and its leader must once again ask themselves how it happened that the party that espouses social issues, is the one that has nurtured so many delinquents."
[Edan Greenbaum and Amnon Ated, Ben-Dror Yemini and Yaakov Achimeir wrote today’s articles in Yediot Ahronot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
(Courtesy of Israel GPO) 
