HEADLINES FROM THE HEBREW PRESS

07.2.2004 HA’ARETZ 1. SCHOOL STRIKE INTENSIFIES; SHEETRIT PROPOSES DEFICIT ARRANGEMENT. (…). 2. BEILIN AND ABED RABBO WORKING TOWARDS ADOPTION OF GENEVA INITIATIVE BY ARAB LEAGUE SUMMIT IN TUNIS. 3. LIKUD AND LABOR TALKING ABOUT UNITY BUT NOT WITH EACH OTHER. First draft of disengagement plan to be presented to PM next week. 4. PM TO BE QUESTIONED TOMORROW; ATTORNEY GENERAL’S DECISION WITHIN WEEKS OR MONTHS. HATZOFEH 1. Sharon determined in his position: I promised, it pains me, but I will dismantle communities. PERES: WE WILL SUPPORT PLAN BUT NOT JOIN GOVERNMENT. Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin: Sharon does not hold to Greater Land of Israel worldview. [National Union] MK Eldad presents bill to annex Judea, Samaria and Gaza areas to Israel. Channel 1: Sharon not ruling out early elections if his unilateral plan fails. [PM Sharon’s Bureau Director] Dov Weisglass and Palestinian counterpart to meet today. Attorney General holds first discussion on cases of Ariel Sharon, who will be questioned tomorrow on Greek Island affair.


2. SEVERE SHORTAGE OF O-TYPE BLOOD DUE TO NUMBER OF TERRORIST ATTACKS AND TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS. 3. GOVERNMENT DECIDES ON PREPARATION FOR POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE EARTHQUAKE. MA’ARIV 1. Sharon preparing compensation package for rightwing parties. SENIOR OFFICERS: EVACUATION OF GAZA – VICTORY FOR TERROR. “Security establishment in shock,” according to senior source, “Sharon’s plan will whet terrorists’ appetites.” Organizing in Labor and Likud to thwart establishment of secular unity government. Most of Likud opposes disengagement plan. Most of Labor supports entering government. 2. THE PLAN: THUS UMM AL-FAHM WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO PALESTINIANS. 3. THEY DRESSED UP AS TERRORIST VICTIMS AND RECEIVED DONATIONS. 4. COUNTRY BLOCKED. [Local] authorities strike intensifies. (…). YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. Sharon: It pains me, but I will evacuate communities from Gaza. Assessment: Each evacuated family to receive approximately NIS 1 million. Settlers: We will send children to march like Vicki Knaffo. CONTACTS ON UNITY. Sharon confidants: PM to invite Peres to meeting soon, but is not ruling out early elections and referendum. [Labor] MK Yitzhak Herzog met yesterday with Omri [Sharon] and briefed senior Labor leaders: Sharon is serious. Outrage in PM’s Bureau over silence of Likud ministers: “Cowards.” 2. Embarrassment in prestigious course. IDF HAS NO MONEY FOR PARATROOPERS’ WINGS. Moment before graduation ceremony, paratroopers were told that they won’t receive famous symbol, which costs NIS 7. Another embarrassing cut: During course, specially chosen soldier issued limited quantities of toilet paper. 3. NEW LIFE AFTER 12 YEARS IN FREEZER. World record at Hadassah: 37-year-old Jerusalem woman gave birth to twins from implanted embryos. ________________________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Both papers discuss various issues related to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s recent remarks about evacuating the Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip: Yediot Ahronot says that, “Even if Ariel Sharon’s heart and mouth aren’t in synch, the Prime Minister has embarked on a path from which there is no turning back,” and declares that, “Even if Sharon doesn’t lift a finger and does nothing of what he has talked about, there is no doubt that the accumulated weight of his statements will have a decisive influence in the coming period vis-?-vis fashioning the public atmosphere in the State of Israel.” The editors add: “A supportive, or opposing, public atmosphere is a very important factor in a leader’s – any leader’s – decision-making process.” Hatzofeh believes that Prime Minister Sharon, “who promised the moon and the stars in the war on terror and planted the hope in the hearts of many that he had the key to defeat the terrorist organizations – has been revealed as someone whose old age shames his youth,” and asserts that, “Military genius has given way to the weariness of age.” The editors accuse Prime Minister Sharon of, “now trying to curry favor with leftwing circles and the leftist media,” and of, “sacrificing the residents of Yesha on the altar of his troubles,” with the various alleged corruption charges that may be levied against him. However, the paper warns that, “The path that Sharon is now taking will lead him into sharp conflict with the Land of Israel faithful, will not save him from his personal and national troubles, and will not win him any admiration among left-wing circles who, in any case, believe that he is a pathological liar.” The editors caution that, “Whoever ‘sells’ his best friends, who took shelter under his wing and adopted his path, only in order to be rescued from being put on trial for his doubtful actions, will, in the end, be betrayed and held in open contempt. How sad.” Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, hopes that the ISA will be more aware of possible threats to Prime Minister Sharon from rightwing extremists.
BPI