HAARETZ 1. ADMINISTRATION ENVOYS TO VISIT REGION; BUSH RULES OUT SHORTCUT TO PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. 2. GUSH KATIF RESIDENTS ASK IDF TO REMOVE EXTREMISTS WHO ARE LIABLE TO CAUSE HARM FROM WITHIN. HATZOFEH 1. Minister Katz initiating plan to save Sharon government: OUTPOSTS IN EXCHANGE FOR SUPPORTING BUDGET. Sharon to approve 71 outposts established since 2001, which he hasnt promised to dismantle, in exchange for Minister Katz seeing to it that Likud rebels vote for budget. Rebels leader Uzi Landau rejects proposal. 2. WHEN SHARON SPEAKS – NO ENTRY TO THOSE WEARING KIPOT. PM spoke to residents in Eilat to mark liberation of city. Only religious residents were barred from entry out of fear that they would demonstrate. Pro-disengagement signs posted in compound. 3. FROM NOW ON: JEWS CANNOT LIVE IN NORTHERN SAMARIA COMMUNITIES EITHER. IDF will soon declare Gush Katif as closed military zone. Transfer of Tulkarm to Palestinians postponed; Kalkilya to be transferred next week. Three soldiers and a policeman shot and wounded by Ramallah terrorists during search for stolen vehicles. 4. ECONOMY TO BE STRUCK FOR ONE HOUR NEXT WEEK IN SOLIDARITY WITH STUDENTS. 5. HADASSAH HOSPITAL IN JERUSALEM CANDIDATE FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. 6. JERUSALEM-BEIT SHEMESH RAILWAY LINE TO BE REOPENED SOON. MAARIV 1. Decisive moment in battle over health basket budget. SHARON: I WILL FIND MONEY FOR MEDICINES. (
). 2. MURDERER OF DEREK ROTH TO BE EXTRADITED TO ISRAEL. Moshe Ben-Igvi escaped from prison one year ago and fled to Argentina. Local court decided to send him back to Israel. 3. PASSOVER: TRAIN FROM TEL AVIV TO JERUSALEM. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. Life and death: Cancer victim appeals to Cabinet: My life is in your hands. LOOK ME IN THE EYE. (
). 2. MAZUZ THREATENS: UP TO 20 YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR THOSE WHO BLOCK HIGHWAYS. Attorney General orders more severe punitive measures against disengagement opponents. Concern in Gush Katif: Guests will be unable to come for Passover Seder because Strip will be closed. ______________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Both papers discuss the controversy over funding for medicines in the health services basket, ahead of todays decisive Cabinet vote on the issue: Hatzofeh endorses Knesset Health Affairs Committee Chairman Shaul Yahaloms proposal to add NIS 300 million to the health services basket. The editors also call for an independent commission to propose comprehensive health reforms. Yediot Ahronot remarks: How is the decision on the structure of the health services basket different from our leaders other important decisions? Morally, it is not different at all. Leaders responsible for areas such as security, transportation and the environment make daily decisions that affect peoples lives. The main difference is that we dont know who will die in the next war, who will be crushed in this weekends traffic accidents or whose lungs will be infected if a budget isnt found to filter poisons out of the air, but the sick have names and faces and they are demanding that their lives be lengthened and that their suffering be alleviated. BPI-info
