Two papers discuss various issues regarding the putative US proposal regarding an extension of the freeze on new construction starts in Judea and Samaria:
Ma’ariv notes that Israel will reportedly receive another 20 F-35 "stealth" fighters under the proposal. The author, a former Education Ministry Chief Scientist, asks, "Will it be 20 or 40 planes that decide the next war, most of which will be based on missile warfare, and won’t locking the defense budget into these planes block our ability to equip ourselves with other means?" The paper believes that "The main strength of a ‘stealth’ plane is in its marketing," because "On an operational level, it is not at all clear whether it will supply the goods."
Yisrael Hayom suggests that the Americans misjudged the extent of Palestinian opposition to the proposal, hence the former’s reported reluctance to commit the deal to writing. The author wonders whether the Obama administration could, in fact, condone – in writing – continued Israeli construction in Jerusalem even if the Government undertakes not to build in the midst of Arab neighborhoods. The paper avers that "In these conditions, it is not clear whether there are grounds to hold a Security Cabinet discussion on an American proposal that isn’t." The author believes that should a deal be eventually agreed to, Israel hopes that the Americans will present Abu Mazen as the one responsible for delaying the resumption of the negotiations." While the paper ventures that "A rupture is not a good result for Israel," it says that "A rupture that is understood by the Americans and the Europeans is better than a head-to-head crisis." The author hopes that Prime Minister Netanyahu will be able to convince his ideological opponents within the Security Cabinet of the foregoing."
Yediot Aharonot acknowledges that "Relations at the top of the security establishment were hardly ever ideal," but asserts that "The quarrels and the rivalry between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief-of-Staff Gabi Ashkenazi," are different because "A relatively short distance from here, a new type of war is being prepared against us, a war of missiles and Katyushas that will skip over our battlefronts and over our Air Force, and maybe even over the Golani and Givati brigades, and reach our doorsteps. In the next war, we, the home front, will be at the forefront. In such a situation, in any normal country, the leader, the Prime Minister, would call the two people who hold the keys to [the country’s] security, bang their heads together and say: ‘Stop or pack your bags and go home, now! The State of Israel does not care about your personal feud. The security of the state is more important that your ego wars.’"
The Jerusalem Post applauds the government decision to grant the remaining Falash Mura, Ethiopians of Jewish descent, the right to make aliya, but notes that the "return of lost and forgotten Jewish tribes to Zion does not represent the end of their story, but rather a new beginning – one that requires careful, ongoing attention." The editor states that as they start on the long and difficult journey from third-world Africa to modern Israel, "we need to make sure that this country is really up to the task of absorbing this new batch of immigrants and to work out how the Jewish world can make the process as painless as possible."
Haaretz favors the proposal to end the dispute over properties in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah that were under Jewish ownership before the 1948 War of Independence, namely that the government "should take possession of these assets in order to protect public order in Jerusalem, prevent friction and set the stage for a political agreement in the city," and states that "Should it adopt the proposal to appropriate this property, the government will prove that Israel still has the ability to heed the voice of reason."
09/10/2024