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Itongadol.- Ma\’ariv says that while the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was indeed the spiritual leader of Shas, he was also its unquestioned political leader as well and adds that this may be seen in the infighting between rival factions led by Aryeh Deri and Eli Yishai that has taken hold of the party since the rabbi\’s passing. The author asserts: "The power attributed to Deri when he was known as the party \’strong man\’ was, in effect, the power given him by the supreme political leader," and adds: "Now that the source of his power is gone, Deri\’s position is wobbly."
Yediot Aharonot discusses today\’s government debate on the defense budget and suggests that there is ample room to trim away budgetary fat without harming either career personnel or national security.
Yisrael Hayom comments on the second phase of the release of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons and contends that "The release in four phases strengthens the obduracy of the Palestinians because it is not dependent on progress in the talks and any compromises at all on their part." The author remarks: "Israel is releasing the terrorists who will prepare the wave of killing and attacks after the failure of the talks."
The Jerusalem Post comments on the Tzohar bill – the so-called revolutionary reforms changing the way religious services are provided to citizens by the state – introduced by Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett, who holds the Religious Services portfolio, and states that the bill “actually perpetuates the Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly of religious services by alleviating pressure for real a reform.” The editor adds: “In the short term, Bennett’s ‘Tzohar bill’ will make it easier for hundreds of couples to marry, but concludes: “this legislation is no ‘revolution.’ In the long run, a real ‘revolution’ is needed in the way religious services are provided.”
Haaretz discusses the plan unveiled by the Education Ministry to promote a new educational program that would obligate the Holocaust to be taught from kindergarten through high school, but questions the need “to expose young children to a terrible event like the Holocaust, as well as their ability to deal with the emotional burden this would impose.” The editor feels that exposing young children to Holocaust education is a dangerous step: “It is liable to give them a victim complex and imbue them with the feeling that they are eternally in danger of annihilation,” and asserts: “Every Israeli child has the right to live a life free of collective traumas, and to deal with those traumas only once he is ready to do so.”
[Avraham Tirosh, Yossi Yehoshua and Prof. Alexander Bligh wrote today’s articles in Ma\’ariv, Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]