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Two papers comment on last Friday\’s car-bomb murder in Beirut of a senior Lebanese intelligence officer, who was responsible for the arrest this past summer of a former minister who was a strong Lebanese supporter of the present Syrian regime, and who played a prominent role in the investigation of the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which led to the indictment-in-abstentia of four senior Hezbollah members:
Ma\’ariv asserts that "Hezbollah is continuing to do the Syrians\’ dirty work in Lebanon even as it contributes to the Assad regime\’s bloodbath against the residents of Syria," and believes that "Hezbollah has indicated to its rivals that whoever thought that the worsening situation for the Syrian regime would hurt the organization\’s unique political and military status in Lebanon is sadly mistaken."
Yisrael Hayom reminds its readers that the Lebanese Tourism Minister is contemplating suing the producers of the popular television series "Homeland" for portraying Beirut as a hotbed of terrorism and suggests that the minister should instead send his complaint to Hezbollah and to the Assad regime in Syria. The author avers that by its recent open acknowledgement that it has sent fighters to Syria and by perpetrating the car bombing, Hezbollah has sought "to threaten the Lebanese political establishment not to distance itself too much from Assad."
Yediot Aharonot says: "While Democratic and Republican presidents have come and gone in Washington over the past two generations, one thing has not changed, neither with the Republicans nor with the Democrats: The US position since 1967, which does not recognize the liberated/occupied territories on the West Bank, Judea and Samaria, and which does not recognize Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel." The author concludes: "The [Israeli] Right dreams of Romney in the Oval Office? The Left is enamored of Obama? The US has gone through nine presidents since the Six Day War and only one thing has not changed: American policy. Therefore, Romney\’s and Obama\’s supporters in Israel can calm down, separately of course. Both of them will, apparently, continue the American policy that no American president up until now has dared to change."
The Jerusalem Post remarks that while the European Union “has ramped up its sanctions against Iran and Syria,” it nevertheless has an “ongoing recalcitrant indulgence toward Hezbollah, the proxy that obligingly serves masters in both Tehran and Damascus.” The editor states: “The paradox is that while Europe clamps down on financial and commercial transactions with Iran and selected Assad sidekicks, it allows Hezbollah to do business that circumvents EU sanctions,” and adds: “By no means is this an inconsistency that exclusively affects Israel. Europe permits a dormant terrorist potential to thrive in its midst, and it knows so, its denials notwithstanding.”
Haaretz comments on the Shas party’s decision to reinstate ex-convict and former minister Aryeh Deri and states: “For the first time since Israel\’s establishment, an ex-con former minister and parliamentarian is expected to re-enter the Knesset.” The editor asserts: “By ordering the reinstatement of Aryeh Deri in Shas\’ leadership, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef cast a large stain on Israeli political life and society.”
The Haaretz editorial is available today to registered subscribers only.
[Yoram Schweitzer, Boaz Bismout and Eitan Haber wrote today’s articles in Ma\’ariv, Yisrael Hayom and Yediot Aharonot respectively.]