Yediot Aharonot opines that "The victory of the non-violent revolutions in Tunisia and in Egypt is not only a stable basis for future democracy; it is also a deadly blow to Al Qaeda and to the organizations of the Islamic Jihad, which brandish the flag of violent holy war. It has become apparent that no regime can withstand the non-violent masses."
Ma’ariv contends that "Those who signed a petition calling for the firing of [Kiryat Arba] Rabbi Dov Lior for incitement are right. Are they willing to apply the same standard to inciters from the Left?"
Yisrael Hayom notes that "The chaos in the Arab world proves the stupidity of the claim that the Palestinian issue is the source of all evil in the Middle East." The author professes that "The Al-Jazeera documents attest that even Israeli concessions did not cause the Palestinians to compromise their stance, neither regarding ‘the right of return’, nor Jerusalem, nor borders, nor recognition of Israel as the Jewish State. As Olmert noted, the maps on which Israel’s territorial concessions were marked remained in the hands of Abu Mazen, who didn’t even bother to get back to him."
The Jerusalem Post comments on the appointment of Lt. Gen Benny Gants as the new IDF Chief-of-Staff, and notes that “with all the security challenges, Gantz’s appointment brings a reminder of the wider perspective – of the long road our nation has traveled from the concentration camps of Bergen-Belsen to a Jewish state that is a military power. No one is better equipped than Benny Gantz – by virtue of both background and career – to take charge of that military might.”
Haaretz discusses the induction of the new IDF chief-of-staff, and notes that the ill wind blowing from the highest offices of the Defense Ministry and the IDF General Staff headquarters over the past year has made it abundantly clear that the IDF’s most dangerous enemy lies within. Secure in the ability of Lt. Gen. Gantz to lead the army along a path that will allow it to restore its faith in itself and turn it into a sharp and effective instrument in the hands of the country’s statesmen, the editor nevertheless points out that the IDF “must ready itself, responsibly and vigilantly, to the tests to come, without abandoning its watch but also without contributing to an escalation that would fulfill the prophecies of wrath.”
[Sever Plocker, Ben-Dror Yemini and Zalman Shoval wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]