HEADLINES FROM THE HEBREW PRESS

HA’ARETZ 1. POLICE COMMISSIONER: PUBLIC OPPOSITION LIKELY TO CAUSE EVACUATION TO FAIL. Yesha Council joins Wallerstein’s call to oppose Gaza withdrawal even if it means sitting in prison; Mazuz orders investigation of comments. 2. WORLD BANK PRESIDENT: WITHDRAWAL NOT ENOUGH, MUST GIVE HOPE TO PALESTINIANS. HATZOFEH 1. Battle against racist transfer of Jews in Gush Katif steps up: Yesha Council takes stand alongside Pinchas Wallerstein. “HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WILL GO TO PRISON.” Attorney General decides that State Prosecutor’s Office will examine Wallerstein letter, and will prepare opinion on whether it is incitement to rebellion. Yesha Council Chairman Bentzi Lieberman: Law proposing to expel Jews from their houses is against Israel’s basic laws.” 2. IDF FORCES RESCUE TRUCK DRIVER WHO MISTAKENLY ENTERED RAMALLAH. Driver said: “They heard I was Jewish and immediately started throwing rocks at me.” 3. PERES LAW PASSES IN KNESSET: TWO DEPUTY PRIME MINISTERS. MA’ARIV 1. SIGNING UP IN YESHA: I PROMISE TO OPOSE WITH FORCE. Settlers organizing in wake of call to rebel. Gush Katif residents to wear protest orange patches. 2. COALITION DEAL INCLUDES “ARTICLE AGAINST SCHEMING.” 3. EXPOSE: PARENTS WHO SUPPORT REFUSNIKS IN TERRITORIES. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. The rebellion: Settler leaders declare support for breaking the law. Police Commissioner: Evacuating Gaza will be harder than evacuating Yamit. THE PROTEST: ORANGE PATCHES. Settlers using Holocaust to fight their battle: Gush Katif residents decide to wear Star of David as in Nazi period. Left wing MKs: How can they compare evacuating communities to genocide in gas chambers? Yitzhar: Setters cut off water to soldiers guarding them. ______________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Hatzofeh declares that, “Even those who oppose uprooting Jewish communities from Gush Katif cannot rely on Pinchas Wallerstein’s letter in which he calls for ‘violating the evacuation law even if this means going to jail’,” and says that, “The path on which Pinchas Wallerstein has chosen to go is not that of those who are faithful to the Land of Israel,” because, “They wage the struggle with integrity, within the framework of the law and not outside the law.” The editors assert that, “Not only has Wallerstein’s letter not contributed to the strengthening of the residents of Gush Katif, it is liable to weaken resistance to the evacuation,” and add that the Likud-Labor, “coalition was formed within the framework of the law and there are no grounds for questioning its legality ‘despite its appetite to uproot communities and expel Jews’.” The paper says that Wallerstein’s letter was ill-timed and, “does not serve the interests of Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria and Gaza; it especially harms the residents of Gush Katif who are fighting for their future.” Yediot Ahronot analyzes the coalition negotiations and says that, “The Labor Party is joining Sharon’s government as a junior partner, like a fifth wheel,” and belittles the ministries that Labor has sought for itself. The editors assert that, “Labor’s social-budgetary demands were surprisingly low-priced,” and suggest that Prime Minister Sharon has bought Labor cheaply. Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, discusses an IMF delegation’s current visit to Israel and avers that, “The Finance Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Israel would do well this time to pay close attention to the balanced and professional voices of the IMF’s economists,” regarding the Bachar committee’s proposed capital market reforms. BPI-info