1. SEVERE EARTHQUAKE IN CHILI; PACIFIC OCEAN TZUNAMI ALERT
2. US WARNS SYRIAN PRESIDENT: HALT HEZBOLLAH WEAPONS SHIPMENTS
American administration also stipulated that Israel: Avoid deterioration to war on northern border.
3. BRITISH INVESTIGATORS ARRIVE IN ISRAEL TO TAKE TESTIMONY FROM PASSPORT HOLDERS WHOSE IDENTITIES WERE STOLEN IN DUBAI ELIMINATION AFFAIR
Report: Australian intelligence following three suspected of spying for Israel, who used Australian passports to enter into Iran, Syria and Lebanon. Dubai police chief to Meir Dagan: "Be a man and admit responsibility for al-Mabhouh elimination."
MA’ARIV
1. HEBRON: PARADE ALERT
On background of Prime Minister's declarations and last week's harsh clashes, holiday parade will set-off from Kiryat Arba to Jewish settlement in Hebron. Security establishment's concern: Right-wing extremists will ignite event.
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah leaders met in Damascus.
AXIS OF HATE
Assad, who declares his desire for peace, hosts Ahmadinejad and Nassrallah, who want to destroy Israel. Hezbollah leader arrived disguised for fear of assassination.
2. BRITISH POLICE ARRIVE TO INVESTIGATE CITIZENS WHOSE PASSPORTS WERE FORGED
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. WITHSTOOD THE QUAKE
2. US GALLOP POLL: RISE IN AMERICAN PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL
Unrelated to the administration and unrelated to peace: 63% of the American public support Israel, only 15% the Palestinians.
WALLA!
1. ARABS THROW ROCKS AND BARRICADE IN TEMPLE MOUNT
Arab youth started throwing rocks at Temple Mount visitors leading police forces to break through to Temple Mount square. No casualties so far, but there is concern that riots will spread to old city.
NANA10
1. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PLACATING: "NO ISRAELIS ON CHILE CASUALTY LISTS"
[Headlines for Walla! and Nana10 are from their websites as of 9:50]
SUMMARY OF OP-EDS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Two newspapers discuss the reaction to the al-Mabhouh affair:
Ma'ariv notes that "The elimination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh doesn't disappear from our headlines… and the tone of our media… relates to the affair as if it were a fiasco of the Mossad and Government decision makers." The author emphasizes that "Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was a mass murderer, a bitter enemy, who established systems of massacre, and fulfilled senior posts in the dark mechanism that strives to wipe us off the face of the earth. Under those circumstances, extinguishing al-Mabhouh was an important mission of its own and it is easy to imagine how many Israeli lives were saved by doing so."
Yisrael Hayom contends that "Of all of the reactions regarding the al-Mabhouh elimination, the most infuriating thing is concealed in the response of Nicolas Sarkozy, who defined the terrorist's elimination as murder." The author goes on by clarifying: "Perhaps this is where we need to remind Sarkozy of a little history: Throughout the war in Algeria, the French secret service SDECE (today DGSE) was actively employed. One of the organization's targets was the weapons suppliers of the FLN, which fought for Algerian independence. One day, in 1956, the French secret service succeeded in sinking ships carrying thousands of weapons. Everyone knew that this was the work of France… Nobody asked the organization for explanations regarding the death dozens of terrorists fighting for Algerian liberation in the operation. Nor did they ask France. Okay, perhaps that is because, we must say in their defense, they did not use Israeli passports."
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Yediot Aharonot argues that "Israel's security cabinets must convene – and perhaps they already have – in order to determine its policy, and perhaps even the conduct of life in Israel, according to a new situation: Life under the nuclear shadow. There is no need to be alarmed. A large part of the world, certainly the US, Russia and all of Europe lived for nearly 40 years under the shadow of an atomic bomb – what scientists and the media loved to call The Balance of Terror."
The Jerusalem Post discusses what it terms the abuse of IDF veterans by the government agencies created to assist in their recovery, but notes that this is at least partially due to the fact that many of the cases handled have shaky claims to disabled-veteran status. Calling for a return to the goals envisioned by David Ben-Gurion, the editor states that "The existing travesty is certainly not in keeping with Ben-Gurion’s vision. We need to do less for the pretenders, and far more for authentic disabled veterans."
Haaretz examines the new "Explaining Israel" website launched by the Information and Diaspora Ministry, and declares that "the campaign does not offer hope for working toward a solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, only baseless faith that hasbara - public diplomacy - will lead the international community to abandon the Palestinians and begin supporting the settlers."
[Eitan Haber, Nadav Haetzni and Boaz Bimot, wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma'ariv, and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
