Two newspapers comment on the fighting in Syria:
Yediot Aharonot says that "The Assad regime is like a rotten shack infested with termites. The wood is hollow and gnawed but it is still standing." The author remarks that "When will it crumble and collapse? Nobody dares to guess," and adds: "Talk among intelligence services no longer deals with the question if Assad will go but when and what will come after him." The paper believes that ethnic Alawite-Sunni fighting will continue even after Assad\’s departure and cites defecting army officers, all of whom are Sunni, as saying that "The Alawite hegemony must be eliminated." The author contends that fighting is particularly heavy in and around Homs because it is both a mixed city and the gateway to the main Alawite areas in Syria. The paper claims that "Assad can take comfort from the fact that the other minorities – Druze, Kurds and Christians – are, so far, not joining the ranks of the rebels," due to apprehensions over the! intentions of any future Sunni Muslim Brotherhood-led alternative regime, and adds that the Sunni middle classes of Aleppo are also, for the time being, not coming out against the regime. The author concludes that President Assad "still enjoys sufficient military and militia forces to be able to continue spilling blood. But this is a temporary situation. Forecasts for the day after Assad speak of the possibility of chaos and ethnic civil war."
Yisrael Hayom reminds its readers that "Bashar Assad is already hearing, from his palace windows, the fighting raging in Damascus. As opposed to Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, he cannot flee. The Alawites, who fear for their lives should the regime fall, will not allow him this option." The author adds: "And by the way, this week the Red Cross declared that there is a civil war in Syria. Good morning!"
Two newspapers discuss the expected decision to recognize the Ariel
University Center as Israel’s eighth university:
The Jerusalem Post is pleased by the proposal, and believes, despite the oopposition a number of influential figures in the academic world, “who have
joined forces to prevent the center from being upgraded to university status,” that the Center has a worthy academic record. The editor opines that “Instead of trying to appease Israel bashers or join their ranks, our academics should be protecting academic freedom,” and declares: “On Tuesday, the Council for Higher
Education in Judea and Samaria is expected to meet to discuss upgrading Ariel’s
status. We hope they make the right decision.”
Haaretz declares that the expected decision “is not a source of pride, as should be any development of the higher education system,” and asserts: “The unacceptable reality that sanctifies the illegal outposts is now also seeping into the sphere of higher education.”
The full text of Haaretz online editorials is now available to registered subscribers only.
Ma\’ariv discerns in the Levy Committee and its report right-wing judicial activism and believes that it is as invalid as left-wing judicial activism. The author says that "The Right is taking from the Left the legal dialogue and the talk of rights, and is turning them into weapons in the struggle for the right of the State of Israel to the greater Land of Israel," but asserts: "The fate of the territories, settlements and outposts needs to be decided in the public and political arenas."
[Alex Fishman, Boaz Bismout and Ben-Dror Yemini wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Yisrael Hayom and Ma\’ariv, respectively.]