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Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press

 MFA Newsletter 
Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press

Today’s issues: The mouse that roars, keep Tel Aviv open on Shabbat, liberal Jewish movements are the solution – not the problem, and a peace process like any other.

 

The Jerusalem Post comments on the Palestinian Authority’s farcical campaign to delegitimize Israel and its ongoing incitement of terrorism on the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and states: “It is time for the Palestinian leadership to wake up and realize that no president of the United States could endorse the PA’s ridiculous attempt to revise history as part of its campaign to destroy the Jewish state.”

Haaretz discusses the opposition of ministers from Shas, United Torah Judaism and Habayit Hayehudi to opening businesses on Shabbat, and asserts: “If the position of these ministers is accepted, Israel will be taking another step toward becoming a country ruled by clergymen – contrary to the will of the majority of its people, who want a more modern and developed state.”

Yediot Aharonot comments on the high assimilation rate of Jews in France, and notes: “Orthodoxy, unintentionally, managed to systematically alienate most of the country’s Jews from their identity. They saw it as irrelevant.” The author believes that the reform and conservative movements offer a means of curtailing assimilation, and adds: “Faced by a reality in which the easiest thing to do is to assimilate, the two liberal movements are putting up a fight. Each in its own way, each with its own successes and failures, but those who belong to them assimilate much less. They are the solution, not the problem. They are fighting – creatively, faithfully, with a lot of love – to make Judaism relevant, to match the Jewish tradition to this era.”

Israel Hayom comments on US involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in recent years, and notes “The difference between the Trump administration and the Obama administration ‎is what happens when it becomes obvious that no deal will be achieved.” The author points out that “There are positive feelings and sympathy for Israel, an American ally. And it will be obvious soon ‎enough which party has no interest in concluding a deal of any kind,” and concludes: “Trump has had much business success, and also some well-publicized ‎failures. In the cases of the failures, he knew enough to walk away at some ‎point rather than double down. The two-state solution and the latest version of ‎the peace process will soon enough look like a bankrupt Atlantic City casino ‎and Trump will be smart enough to walk away and stand with America’s ally, Israel, ‎rather than Obama’s reservoir of rogue regimes – Iran, Cuba, and the PA.”

[Yizhar Hess and Richard Baehr wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot and Israel Hayom, respectively.]