Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press – December 11th, 2013

Ma\’ariv says that "The noise that we made in our ears over the noted absence ended with barely a whisper. Nobody paid attention, there was no crisis and if Netanyahu had been there, it could have been much worse because there was a concern, only a concern, that it would have ended in a provocation," given that "Today, South Africa is a bastion of extreme anti-Israel sentiment." The author acknowledges the legacy of Israel\’s relations with the apartheid regime but adds: "This is not so different from the relations that many countries have with a state like Sudan. In South Africa it was a racist regime; in Sudan it is a murderous one. What was forbidden to white racists in Pretoria is permitted to Arab murderers in Khartoum."

Haaretz regrets that the first cut PM Netanyahu made in his “exorbitant expenditures,” “resulted in Nelson Mandela’s funeral – an event that drew most of the world’s leaders, from presidents of the United States and European countries to leaders of controversial states like Iran – taking place without the participation of a senior Israeli representative.” The editor points out that the absence of Israel’s senior leadership from Mandela’s funeral “can be seen as a symbol of Israel’s increasing diplomatic isolation,” and adds: “Israel is gradually being evicted from the international community because of its insistence on continuing the occupation and even reinforcing it via more and more settlements, while turning its back on diplomatic processes and initiatives.” The editor opines that this situation “endangers Israel no less, and perhaps even more, than the plethora of regional threats that worry Netanyahu, and about which he is constantly warning.”

 

Yediot Aharonot doubts that the recently passed anti-cartelization law will have much effect and says that it is a "capitulation by legislators to the stormy public mood against \’pyramids\’ and \’tycoons\’."

Yisrael Hayom laments that the US Republican Party has nothing similar to the recently concluded Saban Forum in which its leaders can better explain their views on the Middle East to the Israeli public. The author says that "There has yet to be found a Republican \’Haim Saban\’ who could copy Saban\’s actions in flying, lodging and feeding senior Israeli journalists so that they might absorb the mood of the Democratic Party."

The Jerusalem Post discusses the problem of sexual harassment by commanders in the army and police, and states: “the recent revelations of large numbers of assaults and harassment in institutions such as the army and police reveal a pattern of behavior that is disturbing and particularly galling because women are conscripted by the state to serve in these institutions.” The editor asserts: “The army and police must send a clear message that these incidents are serious; that offenders will receive long and stiff prison terms, and that women who come forward will be provided protection,” and calls for the strengthening of investigative procedures: “when base commanders or district commanders are the assailants, the army and police must have the proper tools to go after even the highest commanders.”

 

[Ben-Dror Yemini, Sever Plocker and Yaakov Ahimeir wrote today’s articles in Ma\’ariv, Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]