The Jerusalem Post comments on the situation in Egypt: "Whether or not democratic elections are good for Egypt, it seems they are unavoidable. Under immense pressure from the Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties, SCAF, the ruling military junta, reached a compromise which will apparently facilitate parliamentary elections as planned on November 28. Perhaps the most controversial part of the agreement is SCAF’s demand to postpone presidential elections until April 2013. Keeping the military junta in power, at least in an executive function, could help avoid a major confrontation between Egypt and the West even if the parliament is taken over by Islamist and radical nationalist parties. But pressure is building among diverse groups to reinstate the April 2012 date for presidential elections so as to enable a quick transition to civil rule. If SCAF is forced to relinquish rule next year, this could increase the chances that the sort of anarchy and internal strife witnessed on the streets of Cairo Sunday night will spread. And this could have a negative impact on, among other things, Egypt’s long-lasting peace treaty with Israel."
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Yediot Aharonot questions the rationale behind the Finance Ministry’s annual report on public sector salaries, which was issued yesterday, and asserts that, "The report does not deal with the most important issue of all: What is the policy and how is it being implemented? The reason: The Government has no policy on salaries worth being reported." In this vein, the author comments on the crisis in public sector medicine: "Everyone knows that there is a severe problem regarding salaries in the medical sector, especially for doctors, especially for young doctors. The doctors’ agreement cost capital merely to buy off the top echelon, which, in any case, makes its living from private practice. The organizing by residents is a badge of honor for doctors who told the Government and their professional leadership ‘Enough.’"
Haaretz comments: "The continuing struggle by the doctors, even after a collective agreement has been signed, and the wave of resignations by the residents are making a mockery of the values of justice, morality and the rule of law. The agreement was generous and fair, a deal unlike that ever given to any group of workers in the public sector. It advances public medicine all over the country, and expresses the willingness of the treasury to institute real reform, notwithstanding the insults being hurled at it by the medical residents. The treasury has even agreed to discuss with the residents tweaking the agreement and making some improvements. The residents ought to get real, stop protesting and return to the hospitals."
Two papers discuss various issues regarding the Sukkot holiday, which begins tomorrow night:
Ma’ariv discusses the recent spate of ‘price tag’ actions and asserts that, "Those who burn mosques and desecrate graves take us back to the days before the establishment of the state. They damage our ethics as Zionists and Jews." The author says that, since "Sukkot has many universal elements," we "now have an excellent opportunity to unite left and right, religious and secular, and declare that these lunatics have no place among us."
Yisrael Hayom notes that during Sukkot, the Book of Ecclesiastes is read in synagogues. The author notes that, "On Sukkot, we are commanded to rejoice, but the custom is also to read Ecclesiastes, which instills one with a sense of despair. This paradox reflects the complex nature of life in general and Jewish life in particular. We cannot paint everything in black-and-white." The author also believes that commandment to dwell in a rickety booth instills empathy with the less fortunate in that "We leave our luxury apartments replete with Italian marble, Swedish furniture, a Jacuzzi and a top-storey view, and move – for a time – to a temporary dwelling on the ground, the ground of reality."
[Gideon Eshet, Rabbi Shai Piron and Aviad Cohen wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]