HEADLINES FROM THE HEBREW PRESS

HA’ARETZ 1. Escalation in Gaza Strip: Two Palestinian workers and one Chinese worker killed by Kassam at Ganei Tal, firing at Sderot. IDF WILL NOT RESPOND IN GAZA IN ORDER TO ALLOW ABU MAZEN TO ACT; HALUTZ: OUR PATIENCE IS LIABLE TO RUN OUT. 2. GAL FRIEDMAN’S OLYMPIC MEDALS STOLEN. Gold and bronze medals that Friedman won at Athens and Atlanta stolen yesterday, along with safe, from his home in Karkur. HATZOFEH 1. Rockets fired at Sderot: Three workers killed in Kassam rocket attack on Gush Katif. HALUTZ: TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS PLAYING ISRAEL OFF AGAINST PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY. Thus Chief-of-Staff said in Sderot. In his words: Our patience will run out at a certain stage and we will decide how to act.” Three Kassams, two mortar rounds and five anti-tank rockets fired yesterday at western Negev. Two rockets hit Sderot, one scored direct hit on apartment building. Three workers killed in Kassam hit on Ganei Tal warehouse. Head of Islamic Jihad in Jenin eliminated. 2. SHARON AT BAR-ILAN: UNITY DEPENDS ON PAINFUL CONCESSION. Sharon made remarks at Bar-Ilan University, at honorary degree award ceremony marking its 50th anniversary. Bar-Ilan University Pres. Prof. Moshe Kaveh called on PM to seek reconciliation and unity. Sharon met by giant demonstration against uprooting. 3. BRITAIN ADMITS: WE HELD CONTACTS WITH HAMAS. 4. GAL FRIEDMAN’S OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL STOLEN. 5. AVERAGE WAGE DECLINES BY 7%. MA’ARIV 1. CHIEF-OF-STAFF: PATIENCE HAS ITS LIMITS. Halutz warned yesterday, in wake of Kassam fire: There will be no disengagement under fire. 2. Expose: APPROXIMATELY 4,700 LIKUD MEMBERS JOIN LABOR. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. Tension in Gaza following postponement of PA elections. Senior IDF officers estimate: KASSAM ROCKET FIRE WILL CONTINUE BUT IDF WILL NOT RESPOND. Battle day: Kassam and mortar assault against Sderot and Gush Katif. Three workers killed in Ganei Tal packing house. Dan Halutz, on first visit to being-shelled Sderot as Chief-of-Staff: „Harsh words are not a working plan.” 2. Detained disengagement kids: STATE THREATENED: WE WILL PUT YOU UP FOR ADOPTION – AND GIRL QUICKLY IDENTIFIED HERSELF. After three weeks in detention: Parents received summons from welfare officer and hastened to release their daughter. ____________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Hatzofeh mocks the reports that certain officials in the US administration are discussing the possibility of opening a dialogue with Hamas, given the latter’s recent electoral successes, and wonders why the US went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq instead of negotiating with Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. Yediot Ahronot discusses the continuing Kassam fire from the Gaza Strip and asserts that, „The politician, hero or military man still hasn’t been found who will stand up and tell the residents of Sderot: It is doubtful if the Kassam would stop even after a comprehensive agreement was signed that would return Judea, Samaria and Gaza to the Palestinians.” Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, notes that this week marks the 38th anniversary of the Six Day War and says that, „Interest in the war has not waned.” The editors remind their readers, however, that this week also marked the 23rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Lebanese war and add that, „It seems that nobody remembered it or called it to mind.” The paper says that there are those who laud the withdrawal from Lebanon as former Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s only salient achievement. The editors recall that then Prime Minister Barak effected the withdrawal in the face of, „the outraged prophecies of the security establishment, which warned of carnage,” note that the last five years on the northern border have been relatively quiet and wonder, „If the security experts’ predictions were so catastrophic then, maybe they are also mistaken now?” Yediot Ahronot, in its third editorial, eulogizes Irgun veteran, and founding member of Herut (the precursor to the Likud) Aharon Heichman, who passed away last week at the age of 92. The editors hail him as, „a man of morals, principles and integrity,” and say that, „If he hadn’t passed away at the ripe old age of 92, we would guess that following events in his party, the Likud, in recent years, that Aharon Heichman died of shame.” BPI-info