Az izraeli lapok vezércikkeiből angolul

Az izraeli lapok vezércikkeiből angolul 

Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press

 

 
Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press

Today’s issues: Needless fight, Netanyahu is harming Israel, Netanyahu’s constant search for enemies is beyond pathetic, the Erdogan enigma, and the farcical “budget of two masters.”

 

The Jerusalem Post ponders the decision by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to meet with two Israeli NGOs that have drawn fire for presenting discordant accounts of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and states: “Though the foreign minister has the right to meet with whomever he wishes, his choice sends out a problematic message.” The editor believes that while Israel should not let these two NGOs interfere with its best European ally, the coercive methods used by PM Netanyahu are counter-productive, and asserts: “Nobody likes being forced into a corner. Netanyahu should have instead used his meeting with Gabriel to explain what’s wrong with the two NGOs instead of canceling it.”

Haaretz contends that the ultimatum given by PM Netanyahu to German FM Sigmar Gabriel to cancel his meetings with local NGOs “brings the legacy of the Netanyahu governments to an ugly new low.” The editor states that in contrast to the government’s repeated claims, “the real damage to Israel’s image isn’t caused by the human rights groups but by the ministers themselves, who vie with one another in fawning on the settler minority and promoting racist and anti-democratic initiatives characteristic of dark regimes,” and argues: “Breaking the Silence and B’Tselem, in their unyielding war against the occupation that’s creeping across the 1967 border and destroying everything good about this country, are keeping democracy alive in Israel.”

Yediot Aharonot is bewildered by PM Netanyahu’s attempt to prevent German FM Gabriel from meeting with the left-wing NGOs Breaking the Silence and B’Tselem, and states: “the activity of these two organizations is legal. Their battle for human rights can be appreciated, they can be criticized and even boycotted, but foreign guests cannot be prevented from meeting with them. Netanyahu’s sin is similar to the left-wing organizations’ sin: He is getting foreigners involved in the internal Israeli debate.”

Israel Hayom examines the enigmatic behavior of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the most inconsistent, mysterious and unpredictable major politician on the world stage,  and declares: “It’s time to see Erdogan for the dictatorial, Islamist, anti-Western egomaniac he is, ‎and protect his neighbors and ourselves from the damage he is already causing and the greater ‎problems to come.”

Globes states that Finance Moshe Kahlon’s plan for benefiting low-income employees is simply a game of one-upmanship between the prime minister and the finance minister, which has taken the place of serious budget planning, and asserts: “If the money was found to pay for increasing grants to workers, then maybe, through proper planning and a more serious attitude towards the budget, money could have been found for improving the health system, a substantial expansion in professional training, a real improvement in the education system, particularly for poor people, and establishing a real aid system for the disabled, including support and placement in the labor market. All this, and much more, can be accomplished through a long-term policy and annual budgets that implement it. In today’s Israel, however, that’s a dream. We have gotten used to a policy of shooting from the hip, improvisation, maneuvering, and concealing the truth. The rulers are busy with dubious productions such as the present one, with compromises, and plugging holes. Time goes by, and the show goes on.”

[Nahum Barnea, Daniel Pipes and Avi Temkin wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Israel Hayom and Globes, respectively.