Haaretz writes: "The awarding of the Nobel Prize in chemistry to Prof. Dan Shechtman – the sixth Israeli in a decade to win the Nobel for scientific research – is a moment of national exaltation. Nevertheless, the celebrations are diluted by concern that these prizes are the fruits of past greatness, of the years when Israel’s educational system was an outstanding one that produced renowned scholars and leading scientists. The past two decades have seen a deterioration in our education system: Israel now ranks 40th in the world on international achievement tests, and it is suffering a serious brain drain as brilliant scientists abandon local academe for better-funded research institutes abroad. Fortunately, Israel’s embarrassing international showing has spurred the government to act. The past four years have seen an incredible burst of activity in the realm of education. It’s too early to tell, of course, if these various reforms will be enough to restore Israeli research to its former glory. But at least there is reason to hope that the phenomenon of Israeli Nobel Prize winners will not become a thing of the past."
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Yediot Aharonot notes that in the past decade five Israeli scientists have been Nobel laureates: "This is an unfathomable achievement which can certainly be defined as Israel’s finest hour. It is also an opportunity to say out loud: Brain power is the secret to our existence."
Yisrael Hayom notes that almost all of Israel’s ten Nobel Prize laureates have voiced concerns that education and learning have been pushed from the center stage of the lives of the people of the book.
Ma’ariv suggests that, "The Yom Kippur War established a new internal structure. The state’s vulnerability, the nation’s attitude towards bereavement and the loss of trust in leaders are the results that shadow us until this day."
The Jerusalem Post comments on the rise in excise tax imposed on gasoline: "The arbitrariness of the move irks more than the small (0.23 percent) addition to the overkill of what we’re anyway charged. There’s no excuse now for any increase. International market conditions, in fact, mandate a reduction. Oil prices fell recently on international bourses. The rise, however, is 9 additional agorot per liter – all in excise tax. Excessive taxation, keeps our fuel prices disproportionately high, and Israelis pay more at the pump than anywhere in the Western world."
[Sever Plocker, Rubik Rosenthal and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]