Haaretz writes: "Israel Defense Forces’ top officers are crafting a proposal to mitigate the damage to the Palestinian Authority’s status caused by Hamas’ success in freeing over 1,000 prisoners. In addition to the release of Fatah prisoners in the Shalit deal’s second stage, the IDF recommends significant gestures that will allow PA President Mahmoud Abbas to present accomplishments to the Palestinian people. If PM Benjamin Netanyahu still believes in the two-state solution and remains committed to the security of Israeli citizens, he must treat Abbas as a genuine partner and take immediate steps to strengthen Fatah’s position in the eyes of the Palestinian public. In addition, he must present to the Quartet tomorrow realistic proposals on the dispute’s core issues."
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Ma’ariv believes that, "One need not be heartless or self-righteous to understand that the death penalty must be imposed on loathsome murderers, those who have no place in human society," and says, "Those who perpetrated the abhorrent murders in Itamar must pay with their lives." The author avers that "The claim that the death penalty is undemocratic and inhumane is irrelevant; this is natural justice for monsters who slaughter entire families."
Yisrael Hayom discusses the results of the Tunisian election, which have apparently been won by the Islamist Ennahda party. The author believes that "Those who are writing about Ennahda as a ‘moderate’ party are refusing to see the truth. In comparison to the Salafists, who were barred from running, it is possible to claim that Ennhada is moderate but one must pay attention to the party’s double-talk: On the one hand it talks about the Turkish model but on the other it dreams of the Iranian." The author says, "I recently sat for an afternoon with a senior Western diplomat who serves in an Arab country. What of the Arab Spring, I asked him. ‘It will be bad,’ he replied. And afterwards? ‘It will be worse,’ he added."
Yediot Aharonot criticizes Kadima Chairwoman MK Tzipi Livni for enunciating her views on the Gilad Shalit deal only several days after it had been carried out. The author asserts that, "She is ready to come, after the fact, and wrinkle her nose. But whoever wants to take positions after the fact, does not need to be leader of the opposition. He certainly does not need to be prime minister."
The Jerusalem Post criticizes the lenient sentences handed down by Israel’s judges for hit-and-run crimes: "Our courts are wary of handing down truly harsh sentences when a reckless driver kills or handicaps for life innocent pedestrians or cyclists. Too often we hear of plea bargains being reached. Under the circumstances, we welcome a new bill that would ban plea bargains in hit-and-run cases. It would also increase the maximum sentence for a fatal hit-and-run to 14 years from just seven to nine years at present."
[Aviad Kleinberg, Shalom Yerushalmi and Boaz Bismout wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]