Yediot Aharonot suggests that "There are situations that are lost in advance and not only when one plays soccer against Barcelona," and adds that "The Finance Ministry has yet to learn this lesson. When the social workers strike and reports come in from all around the country of an 87-year-old woman who cannot care for herself or an eight-year-old boy whose parents are beating him and there is no one to help him – the game is over in advance." The author avers that "This is not to say that the Finance Ministry must give in immediately to every demand by workers," but says that vis-à-vis the social workers the Finance Ministry has not played it smart. The paper believes that Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and his senior aides "must now go to the social workers, tell them that their claims have been reconsidered, found to be justified and, therefore, it has been decided to accede to them, for the good of the social workers themselves but mainly for the good of their cases who have been suffering for the past five days." The author fears that nothing will be resolved until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervenes "again, to the praise of all."
Ma’ariv accuses the media of dumbing-down television news programs, presumably to offer viewers what the media thinks they want. However, the author points to recent surveys, claiming that this is not the case and asserts that "The level of coverage must be raised."
Yisrael Hayom rebuts criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s choice of Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror to head the National Security Council. The author asserts that objections to Amidror’s being religious and remarks to the effect that "There are too many religious people in Netanyahu’s inner circle," are tantamount to anti-Semitism. The paper praises Amidror’s knowledge and integrity and contends that "He has never allowed his private views to slide into his analysis of a situation and the assessment that he passes on to his superiors." The author says that not only will Amidror not be a yes-man, but that such an approach is essential.
The Jerusalem Post criticizes the High Court’s outlook regarding alleged racial profiling at Israeli airports, as revealed in a show-cause order requiring the Airports Authority to explain why its security criteria aren’t applied with impartial stringency to everyone, and is hopeful that this merely constitutes a pro-forma motion for evaluating and examining all arguments. The editor argues that “In an ideal world, nobody would be singled out on the basis of their ethnicity. But we do not live in an ideal world. In the real world, political correctness and common sense do not always mesh,” and adds that “Undercutting Israel’s outstanding air-safety record could conceivably cost more lives and wreak greater havoc than any previous instance of judicial insensitivity.”
Haaretz calls on the government to honor its pledge to the High Court to remove all outposts on private Palestinian land, and states: “For too many years these outposts have defined Israel’s status in the world as an occupier that ignores international law.” The editor opines that “The leniency and understanding that the High Court, the Civil Administration and the State Prosecutor’s Office have shown the government’s policy of deception cannot go on,” and declares: “The outposts must be removed immediately. Israel’s future depends on it.”
[Gad Lior, Yvonne Kozlovsky-Golan and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]