Three papers discuss Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland’s report on the seizure of the Mavi Marmara:
Ma’ariv says that „In the excited reports over the findings of Maj.-Gen. Giora Eiland’s ‘investigation’ yesterday, one small detail – that was somehow pushed to the sidelines – got lost: The fact that the second naval commando to land on the Marmara took a bullet in the stomach from a pistol that had been prepared in advance by the Turkish ‘peace activists’.” The author believes that „There is never enough intelligence. Intelligence is a funny thing; we always need more of it,” and adds that „If the IDF would always wait for 100% intelligence before embarking on an action, no would ever be carried out and therefore, it is reasonable to assume, no commission of inquiry would ever be established, and no state either.”
Yisrael Hayom believes that the errors mentioned in the report, „need not serve as material for judgment and punishment but for professional study.” However, the author ventures that neither the Eiland report nor the work of the Turkel Commission, even with expanded powers, „will be enough to block the UN move to establish Goldstone II.”
The Jerusalem Post claims that PM Netanyahu and MOD Barak sought to make do with two investigations that are not authorized to touch them; The Eiland team was limited to the military alone, while the Turkel Committee’s mandate is to deal solely with aspects concerning international law. The editor declares that „This is cowardly behavior toward the naval commandos and the other troops who took risks. The government must now turn onto itself the spotlight that Eiland directed at the Israel Defense Forces.”
===================
Yediot Aharonot suggests that US President Barack Obama „is belittling Israelis’ intelligence,” and adds that „Otherwise, it is hard to explain his claim that part of our suspicion of him stems from the fact that his middle name is ‘Hussein’.” The author reminds his readers that the fact that Israelis have been well aware of the US President’s middle name for some time did not prevent him from being greeted warmly when he visited Israel as a candidate. The paper wonders if the US President thinks that „We did not hear his Cairo speech in which he lavished uncompromising praise on Islam (including nonsense about its tolerance ‘during the Inquisition’) and linked the establishment of Israel to the Holocaust alone.” The author says that „Regardless of some Israelis’ suspicions towards him, he has no implementable formula for establishing a demilitarized Palestinian state while annulling all demands of a ‘right of return’.”
The Jerusalem Post argues that there is still time to prevent Israeli Beiteinu MK David Rotem’s proposed legislation that will essentially hand a monopoly over conversions to the Orthodox establishment. The editor notes that „In recent years, discussion among Jewish leaders and thinkers both in Israel and in the Diaspora has gradually moved away from narrow definitions of Judaism based on religious and ethnic criteria toward a broader more inclusive concept known as ‘peoplehood,’” and therefore „Diaspora Jewry’s leadership feels betrayed.” The editor adds: ” There is still time – and there is an imperative – to amend Rotem’s proposed legislation before it becomes law.”
BreuerPress-info
