Yediot Aharonot exclaims: "It is unbelievable: Everyday people are immolating themselves out of despair and dire straits, Syria is burning and is raising concern over an outpouring of chemical weapons, and what did the Prime Minister of Israel do yesterday? He was busy talking to MK Avi Duan… and also holding feverish talks aimed at drawing into the Likud a number of Kadima MKs in exchange for a meager prostitute\’s fee."
Ma\’ariv maintains that "In the short term the fall of the Assad regime will cause us no small security headache. The border with Syria, which was quiet for quite a few years, is likely to heat-up; gangs of terrorists are liable to attempt to harm soldiers and civilians, similar to what is happening on the southern border. But in the long run we are talking about a net gain for Israel. Without Assad, the axis of evil loses its territorial continuity between Iran and Lebanon. Iranian revolutionary guards and Hezbollah representatives will no longer be able to remain in the country (Senior Islamic Jihad figures have already fled to Iran), and Syria\’s automatic support for terrorism will halt, at least temporarily. Syria never was a Middle East power like Saudi Arabia or Egypt; however, as far as Israel is concerned, it is likely to be the most important domino piece in the Arab Spring."
Yisrael Hayom recalls that "The Bug 2000 hysteria has become history which basically no one remembers. It is likely that this will also happen to what now seems to be Bug 2012 – the matter of ultra-orthodox service in the IDF." The author believes that "This change will not happen in a day. This is a continuous process, long-term, but crucial to our existence as society which values Torah study and at the same time is committed to equality in carrying the national burden."
Haaretz refers to social protest in Israel in light of the fate of Moshe Silman, who succumbed to his injuries after setting himself alight at a protest demonstration in an attempt “to cry out and wake up the public, not just because of the upheavals in his own life, but in the face of government policies.” The editor argues that “such a step must bring about a deep change to Israeli society and its priorities,” and, in light of a similar incident in Yehud on Sunday, states: “We dare not forget Silman and turn his death into a private matter, lest other citizens take such desperate measures, as happened yesterday in Yehud. We cannot ignore the cry, and must not forget it.”
The Jerusalem Post discusses the stringent security arrangements at the forthcoming Olympic Games, due to kick off in London on Friday, and notes that “members of the Israeli delegation will be under especially rigorous protection.” The editor cites the BBC’s refusal to mention Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as well as the International Olympic Committee’s refusal to stage a one-minute commemoration ceremony for the Israeli athletes murdered by terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games as examples of the anti-Israeli and and-Semitic sentiment pervading the international community, and states: “We can only hope that before anti-Semitism and irrational hatred of Israel pass from the world, the BBC and the IOC will regain their senses.”