HAARETZ 1. CHIEF-OF-STAFF: CONDITIONS RIPE IN IRAN FOR OVERTHROW OF AYATOLLAHS REGIME.
2. MAN KILLED IN WEST BANK SHOOTING AMBUSH; HIS SIX-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER AND YOUTH SERIOUSLY WOUNDED. 3. Remembrance Day: 21,540 people killed in Israeli wars; Approximately 2,000 killed in terror attacks. WE NO LONGER SAY THIS SHOULD BE THE LAST PERSON TO FALL. 4. ON EVE OF INDEPENDENCE DAY: ISRAELI POPULATION 6.7 MILLION. 5. MAJORITY OF SENIOR LABOR PARTY OFFICIALS SUPPORT ELECTION OF TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN. 6. TURKEY PRESSED AND BROCHURES FOR TORCH-LIGHTING CEREMONY WERE SHELVED. 7. PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN TREASURY AND HISTADRUT; STRIKE WILL NOT BE RENEWED THIS WEEK. HATZOFEH 1. State of Israel today: 6.7 million resident, 5.4 million Jews. Two thirds of us native Israelis. Number killed in Israeli wars until yesterday 21,541. THE FIRST FIFTY-FIVE YEARS. 2. TERROR ATTACK IN SAMARIA LAST NIGHT: ONE MAN MURDERED, GIRL AND SOLDIER WOUNDED BY TERRORIST FIRE. 3. AMERICAN ENVOY BURNS COMPARES SETTLEMENTS TO TERROR. Palestinians must fight terror and Israelis must, at same time, freeze settlements, said US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns at end of his meeting with Abu-Mazen in Ramallah. 4. JERUSALEM POLICE CHIEF MICKI LEVY: WE HAVE BEGUN STEPS TO OPEN TEMPLE MOUNT TO JEWS. 5. UPROAR IN LABOR PARTY: TEN CANDIDATES (FOR NOW) AND EVERYONE IS AGAINST EVERYONE. 6. PALESTINIAN SECURITY HEAD: WE WILL CATCH HAMAS AND ISLAMIC JIHAD TERRORISTS ACCORDING TO AMERICAN DEMANDS. MAARIV 1. BOWING OUR HEADS. 55 years of independence has claimed a heavy loss of life. 21,541 of our sons and daughters have fallen in Israeli wars and terror attacks, and today we unite to remember them. Tens of thousands of bereaved families will visit their loved ones burial sites, will lay wreaths, and shed tears. I have sworn to bring an end to war and death and bring peace for generations, Prime Minister Sharon said yesterday, and it only remains for us to ask: Would that there might be quiet. 2. APPARENTLY: PERES TO BE TEMPORARY LABOR PARTY CHAIRMAN. 3. YESTERDAY: FATHER KILLED IN SHOOTING AMBUSH IN FRONT OF HIS YOUNG DAUGHTER. Six-year-old girl seriously wounded. Soldier also seriously injured in attack, which occurred in Shilo area. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. WITH BOWED HEADS; WE CELEBRATE 55 YEARS. This morning at 11:00 Two minutes silence; Israel unites in remembering its fallen. Tonight from 20:00: Israels birthday; Israel celebrates independence. Israels population 6.7 million. 2. REMEMBRANCE DAY EVE: TERRORISTS MURDER FATHER IN FRONT OF HIS SMALL DAUGHTER. Victim (28) was resident of settlement outpost, his daughter (5) was seriously wounded, passenger traveling in car fighting for his life. Sharon: I have sworn to bring peace. ______________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Both papers comment on various issues related to Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israels Wars (which occurs today) and Israels 55th Independence Day (which begins tonight): Yediot Ahronot says that, Even today, after yet another terrorist attack, spring is in the air, and adds, Suddenly, the unexpected is to be expected. Suddenly, the unbelievable seems believable. There is the feeling however amorphous and hard-to-grasp that something deep, and not yet fully understood, is about to change. The editors believe that the terrorist threat has weakened since Independence Day last year and suggests that, While large numbers of Palestinians are still being killed, their political leadership is looking for a way out of the impasse into which it has led its suffering people. The paper says that, While the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are still being printed in updated editions, according to which the Jewish conspiracy was responsible for the US war in Iraq, the new anti-Semitism has gone out of fashion even in the salons of Paris. The editors remind their readers that, While Israels economic growth is still close to zero, it is no longer negative, and suggest that unemployment is no longer growing. The paper asserts that the shekel is holding its own and that Israels credit rating (last years economic horror story), is even likely to improve. The editors declare: And the main point: A settlement with the Palestinians is still far away but it seems closer than it ever has been in the last 32 months. Hatzofeh says that, We will mark Independence Day tomorrow in the shadow of the worst economic crisis that we have known for a long time, and adds that, There is no doubt that the shadow of the strike has somewhat darkened Independence Day festivities. Even so, the editors declare, we will try to mark the birthday of the Jewish state as befits a day on which we are commanded to thank the Almighty for the wonderful miracles which we have witnessed during the restoration of the Jewish people in its land, for more than 50 years. The paper surveys some of the nations achievements in the past 55 years.
