HEADLINES FROM THE HEBREW PRESS

HA’ARETZ 1. SHARON FAILS IN KNESSET, OLMERT APPROVED SEPARATELY. First vote: Ministerial appointments of Bar-On, Boim and Olmert failed 60-54. Second vote: Ministerial appointments of Olmert at Finance and Vilnai at Science and Technology approved 71-41. Consequences: PM’s confidants – Knesset vote results move general elections closer. 2. MINISTER LIVNAT SIGNED BY-LAW FOLLOWING WHICH BUDGET FOR NON-PROFIT ASSOCIATION RUN BY HER MOTHER GREW BY 400%. 3. TOMORROW: LABOR PRIMARIES – PERES FEARS COMPLACENCY. Peretz believes he can surprise if voter turnout is low. Labor members in Givatayim want Sharon „because of his personality.” HATZOFEH 1. Defeat for Sharon: Knesset rejects ministerial appointments of Boim and Bar-On; supports only Olmert’s appointment as Finance Minister. DEFEAT FOR SHARON. 54 supported ministerial appointments of Bar-On and Boim, 60 opposed. PM warns Likud: Torpedoing move „will have consequences.” Landau: Knesset voted for clean politics. Strong 71-41 majority – including Likud loyalists – for Olmert’s appointment. 2. PERETZ: PERES-VILNAI ALLIANCE – LEAGUE TO SAVE SHARON. 3. SHARON: WE WILL NOT DISRUPT PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS EVEN IF HAMAS PARTICIPATES. Concern on Golan Heights over Sharon’s remarks: „I will not conduct any negotiations with Syria.” 4. SODOM: PEOPLE UPROOTED FROM GUSH KATIF REQUIRED TO PAY FOR ELECTRICITY CUT-OFF. 5. POLICE COMPLAINT AGAINST ABU MAZEN FOR FINANCING TERRORISM. MA’ARIV 1. ANOTHER HUMILIATION FOR SHARON. PM insisted on approval of three ministerial appointments in one vote – and lost. Only after defeat did Sharon fold and succeed in winning revote only on Olmert’s appointment as Finance Minister. Sharon to Boim and Bar-On: You will yet be ministers. 2. Maariv/Teleseker poll: PERES – 49%; PERETZ – 30%. Maariv poll last night: Vilnai’s quitting tipped the scales. Ben-Eliezer receives only 10%. 3. Knesset initiative. DONATE A KIDNEY, RECEIVE NIS 200,000 IN COMPENSATION. 4. ANTI-AIRCRAFT MUTINY: 14 SOLDIERS BOLTED FROM SOUTHERN HEBRON HILLS POSITION. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. PM’s confidants, after Knesset defeat on vote on three ministerial appointments: SHARON TO BRING ELECTIONS FORWARD. Last night: Rebels celebrated their victory as Sharon sufficed with Olmert’s appointment as Finance Minister. But PM’s people put chill on festivities: „Sharon has already decided that government has reached end of the line and they are dancing on the Titanic.” 2. Yediot Ahronot and Mina Tzemah/Dahaf poll: DAY BEFORE LABOR ELECTIONS: PERES – 49%, PERETZ – 38%. ______________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Both papers comment on various issues related to tomorrow’s Labor Party primaries: Yediot Ahronot notes that the vote will be between veteran leader Shimon Peres and Histadrut Chairman Amir Peretz. The editors believe that a vote for Peres means, „accepting the Labor Party’s status as a tired, worn-out and dispirited body that rests on its past and its memories,” while under Peretz’s leadership, „The Labor Party would turn toward sectors that have previously regarded it with alienation and even hostility.” The paper says that, „Voting for Peres means voting for what was, voting for Peretz means voting for what could be.” Hatzofeh downplays any ideological differences between the two leading contenders and says that, „This is a contest over seats.” The editors believe that, „Today, the Labor Party lacks roots,” and asserts that, „This is a struggle over seats, not for the concerns of the average worker.” __________ Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, suggests that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could have avoided yesterday’s Knesset defeats simply by having the Finance Ministry absorb the Immigrant Absorption and Industry, Trade and Employment ministries, which – the paper believes – are unnecessary in any case, especially given the Finance Ministry’s vast power. Yediot Ahronot, in its third editorial, believes that the shekel’s recent devaluation against the US dollar has been engineered by foreign currency speculators and urges Israelis not to rush to sell their dollars. BPI-info