The author says that the Islamist government in Ankara views Hamas "as a legitimate partner," and suggests that "Israel has no reason to give in to a Turkish diktat." The paper cautions that "The Turks are explicitly talking about opening a regular sea route to Gaza without Israeli oversight," and warns that "If this flotilla gets through, the way will be open and the closure of the crossings will be meaningless." The author concludes "It may be that the policy of blockading the Gaza Strip is mistaken – both politically and from a humanitarian perspective – but it must be Israeli society that decides this."
Yisrael Hayom says that "There is no humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip but Hamas is not passing on the opportunity to convince the world that there is," and notes that all non-military items on the flotilla could easily be unloaded in Ashdod and delivered to Gaza via the UN.
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Ma’ariv reminds its readers that "Our partners in Ramallah tried to torpedo Israel’s joining the OECD," and adds that the Palestinian Authority "supports any international initiative to boycott and portray us as racist monsters – such as the various Durban conferences; it openly leads systematically violent demonstrations against us – accompanied by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, and, no less severe, continues to wage a campaign of incitement against us." The author also cites the PA’s boycott of Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria and asserts that the Palestinian security forces regularly hound and harass any Palestinian suspected of being too favorable towards Israel. The paper says that "The necessary conclusion is: Immediately stop the negotiations with the Ramallah government."
The Jerusalem Post praises the Bank of Israel’s stance regarding what it terms the "glaring anomaly in our real estate market." Low mortgage rates have encouraged widespread speculative investment in the property market. This has driven the price of property sky-high, which in turn has forced the BOI to reduce mortgage attractiveness, making property speculation less enticing, and thereby helping to restrain the price-hiking demand. The editor feels that the country’s economic well-being hangs in the balance, and declares that "The BOI consequently deserves unstinting support for moving to impose greater mortgage moderation – for at least trying to break the vicious cycle of rising real estate prices and low interest rates."
Haaretz criticizes the Ministry of Education’s handling of the leaked matriculation exam in mathematics, and claims "an infuriating disregard for the students, teachers and principals in this affair." The editor states that "Tuesday’s exam was most of these students’ first encounter as teens with the establishment. As such, it was replete with snags and foreshadowed ills to come," and calls on the Education Ministry to "shake off its complacency and decide on how to correct the distortions quickly."
[Alex Fishman, Nadav Haetzni and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
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