HEADLINES & EDITORIALS 24 May 2004 HAARETZ 1. NETANYAHU AND SHALOM TO SUPPORT EVACUATION ONLY OF ISOLATED GAZA SETTLEMENTS. Sharon to IDF: Im not asking for your agreement to disengagement, only security solutions. 2. LAPID: THE OLD LADY NEXT TO A DEMOLISHED HOUSE IN RAFIAH REMINDED ME OF MY GRANDMOTHER. HATZOFEH 1. IDF pouring additional forces into Gaza Strip; Mofaz: Rafiah operation to be extended for a few days, not weeks. PALESTINIAN SECURITY SERVICES TRANSFERRING WEAPONS TO TERROR ORGANISATIONS. Guns were removed from Palestinian police warehouses in order to be distributed to terrorists in Rafiah. Senior security official: Hamas still planning terror attacks in revenge for Yassin and Rantisi – including blowing up a number of car bombs at same time and attack on multi-storey buildings. Mofaz: It was possible to prevent the incident in which the Palestinian demonstration was shelled. Minister Lapid caused storm following his comments at Cabinet meeting: The elderly lady in Rafiah reminded me of my grandmother. Netanyahu and Shalom called on him to take back his comments, and the Prime Minister rebuked him for the insinuation that the IDF is acting like Nazis towards the Palestinians. Knesset Speaker: Lapids comments do critical harm to Israel. Calls to dismiss Lapid following his remarks. 2. SPY INCIDENT UNCOVERED: ARABS FROM RAJAR GATHERED INFORMATION FOR HEZBOLLAH. Security sources: Hezbollah trying to heat up Lebanon border in light of high number of incidents. In last month alone: Explosives found on border last week scattered near moshav Dovev. Attempt to kidnap IDF soldier in Har Dov terror attack two weeks ago. Anti-aircraft fire aimed lower than previously. 3. MAZUZ: I DID NOT LEGITIMISE REFUSAL TO SERVE IN THE ARMY. MAARIV 1. PERES: WE WILL SUPPORT DISSOLUTION OF THE KNESSET. Despite unity talks, Labor Party chairman surprises: We will provide Sharon with a narrow security net. That is our job as the opposition. Sharon preparing new paragraph in disengagement plan: Before evacuation of settlements – additional government vote. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. FOR FIRST TIME IN ISRAEL: LEGAL EUTHANASIA. Ministerial committee on legislation approved law that would allow withholding of treatment, but not active euthanizing. 2. TERRORISTS CAUGHT ON WAY TO TERROR ATTACK AGAINST SYNAGOGUE. Thus Mofaz revealed. Tommy Lapid: Harsh pictures from Rafiah reminded me of my grandmother. ______________________________
SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Yediot Ahronot suggests that, Little by little, but unavoidably, the question of the justification of the IDFs actions in the territories is putting itself at the center of public discussion, and believes that the Israeli public is coming to understand that, If we are not just, if we don t meet the moral test, our lives here are without meaning. The editors assert that the IDF in Rafiah is, heavy-handed, and, revenge for its own sake. The paper decries the self-brutalization of the IDFs presence and actions in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Hatzofeh cites OC Gaza Brig.-Gen. Shmuel Zakais remarks that, There is a clear and immediate danger of the infiltration of war materiel, if it can be brought in through tunnels under the Philadelphia corridor, and says that, His intention is to long-range Katyusha rockets, Sagger anti-tank rockets and especially powerful explosives. The editors declare that, In the wake of Brig.-Gen. Zakais remarks, which explain the reasons for Israels various actions in Rafiah, every sane person must emphatically reject the diatribes of the old and new Left, which are calling for an exit from the Gaza Strip. The paper believes that just as the IDF withdrawal from Lebanon, has turned the State of Israel into the hostage of Hezbollah, i.e. Iran, with northern Israel liable to be made into a killing field if any of the Ayatollahs decide to close accounts with us, so too a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would similarly place southern Israel at the mercy of the Pal estinian terrorists in Gaza. The editors call on the authorities to, make an information effort in order to convince the silent majority in the West that there is no chance of achieving peace with the current Palestinian Authority leadership and that the terrorist organizations are determined to bring about the ruin of Israel even at the cost of spilling the blood of very many Palestinians. BPI.
