HEADLINES FROM THE HEBREW PRESS

HA’ARETZ 1. US TO ISRAEL: DON’T RETURN TO CHINA DRONES THAT WERE RETURNED FOR REPAIRS. Assessment: Deepening rift between Pentagon and Defense ministry will lead to confrontation with China. 2. NEW ON PALESTINIAN TV: CAMPIGN IN FAVOR OF GENEVA ACCORD. 3. BLAIR’S SCHEDULE IN ISRAEL: TWO HOURS WITH SHARON, 10 MINUTES WITH SHALOM, 20 MINUTES WITH PERES. 4. ASSESSMENT: MURDER OF WOMAN AT MOSHAV NEHUSHA – PERPETRATED FOR NATIONALISTIC MOTIVES. Murderer slit throat of mother of four at entrance to her home and fled. 5. DISAGREEMENT IN GUSH KATIF: IS ORANGE STAR LEGITIMATE? HATZOFEH 1. IDF preparing for operation deep in Gaza Strip against rocket fire. TERRORISM ONSLAUGHT: NEHUSHA RESIDENT MURDERED; “RAIN” OF MORTAR FIRE IN GAZA STRIP. Miracle in Netzarim: Anti-tank shell scored direct hit on synagogue during morning prayers – nobody hurt. Shell lands near Katif kindergarten. Residents demonstrate opposite Southern Command. 2. CRITICISM ALSO FROM RIGHT REGARDING SETTLERS’ INITIATIVE TO WEAR ORANGE STARS. [MK] Uri Ariel: As son of Holocaust survivor, issue chills me very much. [MK] Yuli Edelstein: I will not help those who make outrageous use of Holocaust symbols. 3. PALESTINIANS MANUFACTURING RPG’S. Security source: Palestinian weapons industry developing. 4. APPARENT: PUNITIVE ARTICLES TO BE REMOVED FROM “EVACUATION COMPENSATION” LAW. 5. LEGAL QUESTION MARK REGARDING LEGALITY OF LABOR CENTRAL COMMITTEE DECISIONS: Labor Party Central Committee approves coalition agreement with Likud; ministers to be chosen tomorrow. (…). 6. BLAIR ARRIVES IN ISRAEL TO PROMOTE IDEA OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN LONDON. 7. TODAY: FAST OF 10TH OF TEVET; GENERAL KADDISH DAY. MA’ARIV 1. “Thousands of soldiers have signed: We will refuse order.” “I AM CONCERNED.” Right wing activists claim: Among those who have signed to refuse evacuation order – hundreds of regular army soldiers. Chief-of-Staff: “We must be very careful with words that are said.” 2. BLAIR IN THE COUNTRY. British PM to meet Sharon today. 3. Special: ISRAELIS ARE MORE OPTIMISTIC. As determined by updated world index. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. Yediot Ahronot and Mina Tzemach poll of settlers. 52%: WE WILL OPPOSE EVACUATION WITH OUR BODIES. 10%: We will use physical violence. 42%: We will stay in our homes. 38%: We will evacuate without opposition. 47%: Support violating the law. 30%: Support orange stars. 2. MOTHER OF FOUR MURDERED IN HER FRONT YARD. Police assessment: Terrorist stabbed Ariela Fahima (38) to death yesterday at moshav Nehusha on Green Line. 2. BABY WAS SOLD FOR NIS 7,000. Full story: Thus Jordanian Arab woman who got pregnant by Jewish man sold her baby to childless haredim from Bnei Brak. ______________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Hatzofeh notes that the State Prosecutor’s Office is currently checking whether Binyamin Area Regional Council Chairman Pinchas Wallerstein’s letter, in which he called on potential evacuees to break the law and go to jail, constitutes incitement to rebellion and says that, “Whatever the decision is, it will be insufficient to deter citizens who could be evacuated from their homes and exiled, from also accepting the punishment for inciting to rebellion.” The editors roundly criticize Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for being anti-democratic and breaking election promises, and ask whether those who built on Arab lands would be willing to uproot themselves from their homes in the way they expect Gush Katif residents to move. Yediot Ahronot points out that, “The de-Arafatization process has been quick” and looks back on the amount of money wasted by Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. The editors believe that a massive economic plan must be made to revitalize the Palestinian economy and add that, “Arafat’s death, the elections planned in the Palestinian Authority, the democratic reform and liberalism that they have promised to implement and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza…have created an historical opportunity for an economic and humane solution to the refugee problem in the natural and only place possible: A future Palestinian state.” BPI-info