Yediot Aharonot says that „While yesterday in Gaza they started eating coriander, halva, pasta and jam, we are the only ones who continue eating dirt. That is how it is when there is a right-wing government with two left feet, a Mickey-Mouse leadership which directs us from the depths to tears, whose every is to fix the last crisis, which only brings our image and deterrence down to new lows.”
Ma’ariv opines that „In any normal country, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak would have come before you the other day to hand over the keys. Indeed, the Cabinet decision to, in effect, cancel the economic blockade on Gaza is an admission that their handiwork, the decision and implementation in forcefully seizing the Turkish flotilla, caused Israel serious strategic damage.”
Yisrael Hayom believes that „Public confidence in the Government is now wavering and uncertain. Paradoxically, because of this, the next flotilla, already en route from Lebanon to Gaza via Cyprus, must be stopped. The Government must determine that there will be no infiltration into Gaza, unless an international agreement for new screening procedures for the transport of non-military equipment into the Gaza Strip is made.”
The Jerusalem Post criticizes the slanted reports issued by both the Methodist Church of Britain and the US Presbyterian Church on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and notes that „liberal Protestants are particularly susceptible to a leftwing agenda that is anti-globalization, anti-capitalist (though liberal Protestants are among America’s most affluent) and rabidly anti-Zionist.” The editor points out that „the more demanding and unambiguous a religion’s principles, the more respect and commitment it is likely to enjoy,” and states: „For their own good, Presbyterians, Methodists and other mainline denominations would do well to reexamine their policy on Israel. Perhaps they will find their own distinctive voice resonating with a more balanced view of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Haaretz denounces Interior Ministry regulations that provide for the abrogation of the rights of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem who leave the city for a period of over seven years, and notes that „Citizens of Israel can leave the country for any length of time, and their citizenship and all their rights are theirs in perpetuity. But when it comes to Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, Israel applies draconian regulations whose covert intent is to bring about the expulsion of as many Palestinians as possible from their home city.” In conclusion, the editor declares that „The rights of the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem must be equal to those of Jews. All Jerusalemites have the right to live in their city, to go abroad and return as they will, without any danger posed by the authorities lying in wait for them.”
Breuerpress-info
