SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS

Yediot Ahronot mourns the passing of Pope John Paul II. The editors note that Christianity is doing very well for itself in Africa but suggest that, „The actual chance that the white smoke will portend the election of a black Pope to head the Holy See is close to zero.” Hatzofeh deplores the fact that, „We live in a country in which the Prime Minister has initiated a racist expulsion of citizens of the same country from their homes, in complete contravention of the platform on which he was elected,” and strongly criticizes Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for seeking to reward his supporters with ministerial and deputy ministerial portfolios. Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, hails last Thursday’s High Court of Justice ruling that non-orthodox converts shall be recognized as Jews under the Law of Return. Yediot Ahronot, in its third editorial, says that, „The Public Security Minister’s announcement that the evacuating forces will operate without weapons expresses a mistaken assessment,” that the Yesha Council can actually control events on the ground and warns that, „Minister Ezra’s decision is liable to endanger the evacuating forces.” The editors also believe that the agreement sets a bad precedent since, „A country doesn’t make agreements with law-breakers.” BPI-info