Summary of Editorials from the Hebrew Press – November 23rd, 2011

Yediot Aharonot believes that "When Mubarak fell, Israel received a strategic warning: Start thinking in new-old terms about a front against Egypt," and adds, "Yesterday, the timetable for this strategic warning was shortened – perhaps by a lot." The author says that Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and his fellow generals "have been seized with a kind of paralysis, a disappointing political impotence," and adds, "These are the people that the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian street will eject from power at the first opportunity." The paper asserts, "The struggle for Egypt’s image is just beginning. The military clique the first round on points. The hope in Israel is that they won’t be knocked out in the next round. Egypt’s tragedy is growing. It seems that no element there has sufficient administrative experience and a broad enough public base to run the lives of 88 million people amidst a collapsing economy and growing anarchy."

Yisrael Hayom suggests that the IDF "is taking into account [the possibility] that the wheel might roll backwards," and "is quietly preparing for a reality in which the quiet on the long border [with Egypt] will not be a given." The author believes that "The street that ousted Hosni Mubarak is disappointed over the revolution that has yet to achieve anything. The Military Council is not leading the masses. It was enough to see its head yesterday, Hussein Tantawi, to feel its weakness. He is liable to find himself in a cell alongside the former President." The paper urges the defense establishment to prepare for the possibility of a hostile Egypt within one-to-three years and adds, "Whoever understands this knows that the defense budget must remain as is."

 

Ma’ariv asserts that "The proposed libel law goes too far but this is what happens when the media repeatedly sacrifices people on the altar of ratings." The author declares, "The truth must be told: The wild competition among the various media outlets over the right to be first with the latest sensation has led to a relaxation of standards and journalistic ethics."

The Jerusalem Post writes: "The Attorney-General’s decision to investigate Safed’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu illustrates the irreconcilable tensions that result from tying religion to state and the infinite wisdom of separating the two, at least with regard to such issues as rabbis’ salaries. In order to protect religious freedom as well as Israeli democracy, city rabbis should no longer be paid from state’s coffers. If rabbis wish to express their opinions, let them do so as individuals, not as representatives of the State of Israel."

Haaretz comments: "Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman is threatening to break up the coalition if the illegal outposts Migron and Givat Assaf are evacuated. The fact that the highest court in the land determined that Migron was built on private Palestinian land and that it must be evacuated by March does not impress Liberman. After Netanyahu rejected the hearing bill and the bill to restrict funding to left-wing NGOs, the prime minister must follow to the letter the High Court’s ruling on the evacuation of illegal outposts. He will thus prove that the law reigns supreme over political considerations and that the High Court’s rulings are immeasurably more important than the bullying threats of a failing Israeli minister."

 

[Alex Fishman, Dan Margalit and Noam Sharvit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Yisrael Hayom and Ma’ariv, respectively.]