1. THE WIRETAPS AND THE NEGLIGENCE.
State Comptroller: "Tangible negligence, not malice" in police and State Attorney's Office handling of wiretaps in Ramon trial.
2. FOUR DEFENSE MINISTERS SUPPORT THE DEAL.
Barak, Mofaz, Peretz and Ben-Eliezer favor release of heavy murderers in exchange for Shalit.
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. ONE IN 1,000 IS ACQUITTED.
Astounding statistic refers to results of criminal trials in the country.
2. State Comptroller in severe report on State Attorney's Office and police handling of Ramon file. State Attorney's Office appeals to High Court of Justice against State Comptroller.
"TANGIBLE NEGLIGENCE, PERSONAL FAILURES."
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. "NO CONSPIRACY, JUST NEGLIGENCE."
State Comptroller's report on wiretaps affair determines: "No malice."
2. AL-QAEDA STYLE TERRORISM IN NAZARETH.
Seven Islamic extremists accused of setting up organization. Three of them confessed to murdering taxi driver Yafim Weinstein in November and to perpetrating series of nationalist and criminal offenses.
HA'ARETZ
1. ADMIRAL MULLEN: ISRAEL UNDERSTANDS THAT ATTACKING IRAN WOULD UNDERMINE REGIONAL STABILITY.
2. "IF ISRAEL APOLOGIZES, WE WILL MEDIATE BETWEEN IT AND SYRIA."
Turkish PM says that Israel must apologize for siege on Gaza and flotilla events, and compensate residents of the Gaza Strip.
3. MITCHELL FRUSTRATED BY NETANYAHU'S HANDLING OF THE PROXIMITY TALKS.
NANA10
1. MULLEN: ATTACKING IRAN WOULD UNDERMINE REGIONAL STABILITY.
2. MARCH TO RELEASE SHALIT BEGINS ITS THIRD DAY.
Shalit family to march from Kiryat Motzkin to Kibbutz Yagur.
WALLA!
1. AVIVA SHALIT: PRICE IS RISING DUE TO FAILURE IN NEGOTIATIONS.
On start of third day of march on behalf of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit's release, his mother Aviva claims that series of failures in negotiations to release her son is what has led to price that Hamas is demanding.
2. BARAK PROMISES ADDITIONAL UNILATERAL STEPS IN THE FUTURE.
DM defends his decision to withdraw IDF forces from Lebanon, ten years after the withdrawal.
[Headlines for Ha'aretz, Nana10 and Walla! are from their websites as of 10:05.]
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SUMMARY OF OP-EDS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Yediot Ahronot opines that, "The decision to exchange Shalit for murderers is a horrendous one, and the decision to leave him in captivity is a horrendous one. The Prime Minister and his ministers must now choose between these two horrendous options. Also, but not only, for this did we chose him for Prime Minister. The author quotes the late Gold Meir, "'Whoever wants to be Prime Minister of Israel – has it coming to him...'"
Yisrael Hayom refers to the slated demolition of 22 houses in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem in order to clear the way for an archeological park. "Who cares if this city burns? The Mayor, apparently, utterly does not. He behaves like a child who plays with matches near a puddle of gasoline."
The Jerusalem Post praises the Bank of Israel's recommendation to expand Israel’s negative income tax experiment - basically, a simple apparatus that pays cash directly to the working poor originally developed by economist Milton Friedman five decades ago - and implement it nationwide. The editor feels that "as a Jewish state that promotes Jewish values, Israel must not lose touch with its obligation to care for those less fortunate. Implementing Friedman’s NIT is one way of achieving this goal while avoiding some of the pitfalls of socialism."
Haaretz discusses the compromise reached in the ruling of the High Court regarding the Immanuel school segregation affair, and states: "Coexistence in a polarized, multicultural society demands compromise, and agreements reached after substantive dialogue between the interested parties, through the shared understanding that the country's laws apply to all."
[Eitan Haber, Chelo Rosenberg and Yehoshua Sobel wrote today’s articles in Yediot Ahronot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
