16 Feb 2004 HAARETZ 1. IDF DECIDES TO DECLARE THREE MISSING SOLDIERS FROM SULTAN YACUB AS DECEASED. 2. COLLAPSE OF WALL NEXT TO WESTERN WALL LIKELY TO BE ONLY THE BEGINNING. 3. US DEMANDS: SEPARATION WITHOUT ANNEXATION AND WITHOUT EASTERN FENCE. US administration red lines include opposition to diverting settlers from Gaza to boost population of settlements in West Bank. 4. Hebron: Irreversible reality. HEAD OF OBSERVERS: CLEANSING TAKING PLACE IN HEBRON. 5. Immigration Police: Investigation or persecution? FOREIGN NATIONALS ARRESTED IN ORDER TO TURN IN THEIR FRIENDS. 6. Sharon-Cyril Kern affair. CARIBBEAN INVESTIGATION IN WAKE OF MONEY TRAIL. HATZOFEH 1. (
). POLICE COMMISSIONER: SHARP CUT IN POLICE BUDGET WILL BE A PRIZE TO CRIME.
(
). 2. IS THE END OF THE GOVERNMENT COMING CLOSER? Loophole in Basic Law: The Government likely to mean elections will be earlier than expected. (
). 3. AFTER 22 YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY SOLDIERS MISSING IN SULTAN YACUB BATTLE TO BE DECLARED DECEASED. 4. CPI DOWN 0.2%. 5. AS ONE BLOC, MARCHING TO JERUSALEM. 200 residents of Gush Katif began marching yesterday from Gush Katif to Jerusalem. March will end in mass rally opposite Prime Ministers house on Wednesday. MAARIV 1. (
). RISE IN CRIME RATE – AGE GOES DOWN. (
). 2. TO BE DECLARED DECEASED. IDF decides: Those missing from Sultan Yacub battle – fallen soldiers whose burial place is unknown. 3. TANNENBAUM FAILS LIE DETECTOR TEST. Security establishment claims: Elhanan is misleading investigators. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. (
). PLAGUE OF CRIME. (
). 2. END TO ANGUISH. After almost 22 years IDF decides to declare three soldiers missing from Sultan Yacub battle as fallen soldiers whose burial place is unknown. Families angry: We have other information. 3. Expose: THIS IS HOW ISRAEL WILL WITHDRAW FROM GAZA. Three alternatives: Complete withdrawal, reduced evacuation – or IDF will enter settlements to be evacuated. 4. VANUNU CELEBRATES EVERY TIME THERE IS A TERRORIST ATTACK. Former prisoner, who was imprisoned with atomic spy: He told me that he has additional information that he will reveal after he is released. ______________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Yediot Ahronot refers to yesterdays report that a legal loophole could force elections for the 17th Knesset to be held one year earlier than originally intended and says that, It was difficult yesterday to miss the joy which the report about early elections caused among many citizens. Yediot Ahronot, in its third editorial, comments on the latest reported upsurge in common crime in Israel and mocks Israel Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishkys recent claim that there has been, an increase in personal security. Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, says that, The Finance Minister doesnt let facts confuse him. The editors contrast a recent Yediot Ahronot opinion poll in which 79% of the respondents said that, The government was cruel to the poor, to a survey which Finance Minister Netanyahu revealed at yesterdays Cabinet meeting and which purported to show overwhelming public support for the Governments economic policies. The paper asserts that, The poll which Netanyahu presented yesterday is liable to strengthen his definition as a minister who lacks credibility, and adds that, The discussion which the Government held following the survey strengthens the publics harsh impression about the Governments responsibility for the social erosion and economic collapse. Hatzofeh comments on the recent snowfall in Jerusalem and criticizes those who questioned Mayor Uri Lupolianskis decision to cancel classes yesterday. BPI.
