HEADLINES FROM THE HEBREW PRESS

29.9.2003 HA’ARETZ 1. ECONOMIC SANCTIONS TODAY; VOTE ON CUT DAY AFTER TOMORROW. 2. TERRORIST WHO MURDERED TWO AT NEGOHOT WAS RELEASED FROM DETENTION TWO MONTHS AGO. Baby girl and man shot as terrorist infiltrated house on holiday eve; completion of fence at settlement – only in planning stages. 3. PA REDUCES PRISON SENTENCES OF SENIOR PFLP TERRORISTS IN JERICHO. 4. ABU ALA PRESENTS GOVERNMENT – WITHOUT DAHLAN.


5. REFUSENIK RECANTS. Colonel rescinds signature on pilots’ letter: I was mistaken, I am not a refusenik. HATZOFEH 1. IDF sources: Arafat personally ordered to start with attacks against communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. HOLIDAY EVE MURDER AT NEGOHOT. Eyal Yeberbaum, 30, and Shaked Avraham, seven months. Four residents wounded. Islamic Jihad terrorist was released from Israeli prison two months ago. Took advantage of broken fence to infiltrate community on holiday eve without hindrance. Residents outraged: Construction of fence delayed due to bureaucracy. 2. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES BEGIN SANCTIONS TODAY. 3. ISRAELI PAIR WIN TENNIS TOURNAMENT HELD IN THAILAND. MA’ARIV 1. Terrorist was released from prison and perpetrated holiday eve murders. SHE WASN’T EVEN ONE-YEAR-OLD. Terror struck two hours after start of holiday. Islamic Jihad terrorist infiltrated Negohot, entered mobile home and opened fire. Shaked Avraham, only seven-months-old, and Eyal Yeberbaum, 27, murdered. 2. SANCTIONS AT GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES. First step on road to general strike: as of today, no reception at Interior ministry, motor vehicles, National Insurance, Income Tax and Customs. 3. First cracks in “pilots’ rebellion.” SENIOR REFUSENIK: I WAS WRONG. Col. Ran: “This does not reflect the values I was raised on.” 4. “456 PRISONERS FOR BODIES AND TANNENBAUM.” Thus claim Palestinians. Increasing calls to hold public discussion on heavy price of deal in the making. IDF calling for cancellation of ban on publishing circumstances of Tannenbaum’s abduction. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. Three years of intifada: 867 killed, 5,878 wounded. SHAKED WAS SEVEN-MONTHS-OLD. Knocking heard at door during festive Rosh Hashanah dinner. Eyal Yeberbaum opened door slightly and was shot in chest. Baby Shaked Avraham murdered by additional burst. 2. Sanctions at government offices. NO PASSPORTS, NO VEHICLE LICENSES. No reception at Employment Service offices or National Insurance. Histadrut: We will intensify struggle against decrees. 3. “I WAS MISTAKEN, I AM NOT A REFUSENIK.” Refusenik pilot recants. Col. (res.) Ran, in letter to OC Air Force: “I withdraw my signature from pilots’ letter. For me, carrying out orders is supreme. I chose way that befits neither my character nor my values.” ______________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Hatzofeh says “The murders in Negohot…are the appropriate Palestinian response to the pilots’ petition that was submitted before Rosh Hashanah,” and adds that while “We engage in intellectual discussions on how to catch abominable murderers while ensuring the minimum number of civilian casualties – the Palestinians are making maximum efforts to murder civilians.” The editors argue that “In war…you cannot be neutral and you cannot sit on the fence. Whoever is capable of eliminating child murderers and refrains from doing so, must bear responsibility for their deaths.” Yediot Ahronot notes that “Three years of the intifada were stamped with the murder of a baby and a resident in a terror attack on the Negohot settlement,” and comments that while the pictures are tragic, it must be asked why it was possible for an armed terrorist to infiltrate an unguarded settlement located in the heart of areas in dispute. The paper calls on the government to compel settlers to put up fences and to take every step to make it more difficult to perpetrate such attacks. Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, discusses Col. Ran’s retrof his signature on the pilots’ letter refusing to carry out eliminations. The editors call on OC Air Force to seriously consider the conditions under which 27 of its pilots took such a step. Yediot Ahronot, in its third editorial, asks the government “What it intends to do in light of the fact that 72% of civilians believe that there is no future for youth here?”