1. Israel's response to Goldstone report reveals:
GAZA DIVISION CO SUBJECTED TO DISCIPLINARY ACTION OVER FIRING OF PHOSPHORUS SHELLS DURING OPERATION CAST LEAD.
Document delivered to UN last Friday: Committee that examined strike on URWA installation in Gaza found that Brig.-Gen. Eyal Eisenberg and Givati Brigade CO Col. Ilan Malka "exceeded their authority in a manner that jeopardized the lives of others." IDF: Report proves that we began investigations without waiting for external inquiry.
2. EGYPT UNCOVERS TERRORIST NETWORK THAT PLANNED TO PERPETRATE ATTACK ON RABBI YAAKOV ABUHATZEIRA'S TOMB.
MA’ARIV
1. FACTORY HAS BEEN SAVED.
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. "Woman who entrapped senior Hamas official."
WOMAN AGENT AT THE DOOR.
Suspicion in Dubai: Terrorist Mahmoud Mabhouh, who was always careful to block door with furniture, opened hotel room door after female voice called to him from outside.
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. Israel denies involvement.
"7-MAN HIT SQUAD."
Dubai police commander: "Mabhouh's assassins arrived and left with European passports."
WALLA!
1. Allowed for publication:
RECRUITED IN DUBAI AND PLANNED MAJOR TERRORIST ATTACKS IN ISRAEL.
One month ago, at Be'er Sheva Central Bus Station, ISA arrested two Israeli Arabs suspected of having been recruited by Hamas militants in Jordan and Dubai. Found in their possession: Intelligence information on crowded places including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Be'er Sheva bus stations.
2. OFFICERS PUNISHEED FOR FIRING PHOSPHORUS SHELLS IN GAZA.
Gaza Division CO Brig.-Gen. Eyal Eisenberg and former Givati Brigade CO Col. Ilan Malka subjected to administrative discipline following investigation into firing at UN compound. Thus arises from Israeli response to Goldstone report.
3. DUBAI WILL NOT INVOLVE HAMAS IN ELIMINATION INQUIRY.
Asharq Alawsat reports that UAE security forces are refusing to involve Hamas in investigation of senior organization official Mabhouh.
4. ABU MAZEN HINTS: POSITIVE ANSWER ON RESUMPTION OF NEGOTIATIONS.
In The Guardian interview, PA Chairman warns that Israeli construction in West Bank is leading to binational state. Emphasizes that he will not allow second intifada.
NANA10
1. ALLOWED FOR PUBLICATION: TWO EASTERN JERUSALEM RESIDENTS ACCUSED OF PLANNING TERRORIST ATTACKS.
Marad Kamal and Marad Namer, 24 and 25, holders of Israeli ID cards, arrested at Be'er Sheva Central Bus Station in possession of detailed intelligence information on Israeli targets they planned to attack.
2. ANSWER TO GOLDSTONE: PUNISHMENT FOR GAZA DIVISION CO.
Two senior officers dealt with administratively by GOC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Galant.
3. ABBAS' CONDITION: THREE-MONTH FREEZE.
PA Chairman Abu Mazen: "Israeli conduct on West Bank leading to one state for two peoples."
[Headlines for Walla! and Nana10 are from their websites as of 11:35.]
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SUMMARY OF OP-EDS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Yediot Ahronot says that one of the conclusions of the Second Lebanon War and the Winograd report was that the IDF was "ordered to do everything possible to limit casualties amongst its soldiers, whatever it would cost the Palestinians. The result: Any target that the soldiers advanced upon was softened up first by artillery fire and aerial bombing. When you're referring to a densely populated area like Gaza, even an army taking every precaution to fire only upon armed targets will bring about harm to numerous civilians, including children, which gave rise to the Goldstone report." The author concludes: "Those who feared a new Winograd Commission following Operation Cast Lead received the Goldstone report and now face the UN's demand to establish an Israeli commission of inquiry."
Ma'ariv contends that, "There is a smell of confrontation in the air. The political environment in the US is ripe for a decisive move by Obama, who longs to prove that he is not weak. The political and military fronts sense a heating-up."
Yisrael Hayom notes that, "The successful elimination [of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh] is proof that joining the long line of martyrs in the orgy of virgins in heaven is not really the preferred option. Perhaps it is for the rank-and-file, but not for senior figures." The author asserts that, "The claim that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was strangled with an electric cord and tortured, is a scenario from the annals of the Hamas – whose people tortured Fatah activists and tossed them from windows. This style is less suited to the clean, elegant work methods of the Mossad, which sometimes integrates an artistic aspect…The truth is that only Allah knows what he [Mabhouh] died from."
The Jerusalem Post discusses the Chinese reaction to the intended sales of defensive American weapons to Taiwan, and wonders: "Is it not absurd that China feels threatened because the US is selling Taiwan weapons that pose no threat to mainland security, while it shamelessly blocks international pressure aimed at keeping the atomic bomb away from Muslim fanatics?"
Haaretz calls on PM Netanyahu to heed the words of Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi and declares that "Netanyahu must tirelessly push for peace with Syria, and explain to the public that the freeze on construction in the settlements is only the first step in the undoing of this harmful enterprise and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territories."
[Baruch Leshem, Shmuel Rosner and Reuven Barko wrote today’s articles in Yediot Ahronot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
