Yediot Aharonot asserts that "The Syrians’ cynical use of the Palestinians on Naksa Day on the Golan Heights has boomeranged in President Assad’s face," and adds that "In the Palestinian arena, the ground is shaking beneath his feet. Following Naksa Day, a rift has become apparent between him and the Palestinians in the refugee camps in Syria, which up until now, had been one of the President’s most loyal populations." The author reminds his readers that when the coffins of the young people who were killed on Naksa Day were returned to the Yarmuk refugee camp, the camp erupted in riots, the anger of which "was not directed against Israel, but against those who dispatched these young Palestinians to the Israeli border," and notes that members of Ahmed Jibrils’s PFLP, which is closely identified with the Syrian regime, bore the brunt of the popular outrage. The paper points out that "On the day that the riots broke out in the Yarmuk refugee camp, the Heights. Syrian army Syrian regime cancelled the permits admitting Palestinians to the Golan checkpoints, which are usually 15-20 kilometers from the border, prevented Palestinians from reaching the area," and contends that "Somebody in the Syrian leadership apparently grasped the size of their anger and the potential danger in using them against Israel."
Ma’ariv refers to Education Minister Gideon Saar’s decision to backtrack on his previous decision to shorten summer vacation. While the author commends the Minister’s record up until now, he avers that "Shortening the summer vacation, which changes a tradition that has been untouched since the foundation of the state, should have been done differently, gradually, while taking into account other sectors affected by the change, and at the start – not the end – of the year." The author calls for a thorough discussion of the structure and schedule of the school year.
Yisrael Hayom wonders "What exactly happened in Jisr al-Shughour," in northern Syria earlier this week and avers that "If the reports of [army] defections, which are coming from opposition sources in Syria, are true, Assad is in trouble." The author suggests that "Army defections could certainly be an equilibrium-breaker in the Syrian narrative."
The Jerusalem Post feels that there can be only one credible explanation for the occurrences on the Golan Heights on this week’s Naksa Day, and that is that “The entire event was well-organized in advance with sanction from above.” The editor states that while “Assad’s crude diversionary tactic wasn’t merely produced for foreign public opinion, but also for the home crowd,” it also served to highlight his desperation, and warns that “[Assad’s] heightened vulnerability, in fact, makes him all the more desperate and consequently unpredictable.”
Haaretz reflects on the future of peace discussions with Syria in light of the recent Naksa Day events on the Golan Heights, and declares: “The negotiations will not come to life in the twilight of the Damascus regime. But Israel will not be able to persist indefinitely in denying the need for openness to a peace process, both vis-a-vis the Palestinians and vis-a-vis Syria.”
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