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The Jerusalem Post comments the anti-Christian attacks in Nigeria: "What we are seeing across Africa is a deeper connection between various Islamic extremist groups, such as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in the Sahara, Boko Haram in Nigeria, and the Islamic Courts Union and al-Shabab in Somalia. This arc of terror that stretches across Africa is a threat to the stability of the entire region. It has already led to the destruction of part of Somalia. It is essential that scholars and commentators understand that what is happening cannot only be ascribed to ‘poverty’ or ‘criminality’, and that what we are seeing is a continued growth of terrorism and attempts by the groups to link to one another."
Yediot Aharonot discusses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal for free pre-school education, to be funded by a 4% across-the-board cut in the budgets of Government ministries, except for defense, which several leading ministers have expressed doubts about. The author says, "This scene, in which the Prime Minister announces to the media some campaign, without checking with his fellow ministers on its feasibility and on their willingness to participate in it first, and is then forced to postpone the vote, we have seen this before." The author faults the Prime Minister’s aides for not doing their homework and suggests that the affair reflects on the Prime Minister’s management style.
Yisrael Hayom contends that "one need not be a great expert to know that Israeli-Egyptian relations, as we knew them for the past 30 years, are over. The reassuring statements from US State Department spokespeople are getting lost in the deluge of aggressive statements by Muslim Brotherhood leaders, who see Israel as an enemy, not a partner." However, the author adds, "The leaders of the Egyptian Islamic parties are not detached from reality," and avers that, "They understand very well that Egypt cannot live without the revival of industry in general and the tourist industry in particular. Without foreign investors it will be very difficult to feed 700,000 new mouths per annum. Neither is the American aid, some $1.5 billion, something that can be given up. Therefore, they say one thing to American diplomats and one thing to their voters. They speak, at the same, with their heads and with their hearts." By saying that it will respect the peace treaty with Israel, as long as it is amended to include changes sought by the Egyptian people, who were excluded from its ratification process, the paper believes that the Muslim Brotherhood has found the formula to satisfy both its voters and the Americans.
Haaretz comments on the Holyland corruption case in Jerusalem: "The Holyland affair, which is being brought to trial following the indictment of the suspects in this case and two other, overlapping cases from other parts of Israel, must serve as a watershed in the way the public relates to the conduct of government. This is a fundamentally corrupt system of give and take, of bribes to senior officials in key places and to aides who are close to the key, in return for enormous profits for the entrepreneurs at the public’s expense. The next mission, to examine and then decide, is not only for the judges in the Holyland case but also for the entire public. They must reject corruption and remove those stained by it from government."
Ma’ariv doubts that that installation of 300 new traffic cameras will be of any benefit in the war on road accidents. The author says that instead, "We must substantially increase the presence of traffic police on the highways," and adds that, "we must also greatly increase sobriety tests. We must apprehend the really dangerous drivers (and not those who do 80-kilometers per hour on Jerusalem’s Begin Highway) – those who run amok, zig-zag and run people over. And – of course – we must invest in infrastructures."
[Sima Kadmon, Ben Caspit and Boaz Bismout wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]