Summary of Editorials from the Hebrew Press
Yediot Aharonot hypothesizes: „Even if we do not have a partner for peace, perhaps we have a partner, paradoxically, for a unilateral move.” The author muses that „The key, it would seem, is in the separation of the question of partition from the question of evacuation: There is no need to make evacuation a condition. Israel could, first-of-all, pass an evacuation-compensation law for the West Bank. It is possible to presume that such a law would drastically diminish the size of the settlement problem. They could remain there under Palestinian sovereignty. Israel has a large Arab minority. It is not unfathomable that Palestine could have a small Jewish minority.”
Ma’ariv notes that „On the Lebanese border there is an unprecedented quiet. But under the surface, Hezbollah is taking control of the country, is arming and improving its capabilities, and is only waiting for the order from Tehran.”
Yisrael Hayom discusses the imminent US disengagement from Iraq, and states: „The eastern front – which, some believed, had been done away with, thanks to the gulf war of [George] Bush Sr. and the war of [George] Bush Jr. – is liable to become even more threatening than it was in the Saddam [Hussein] era.”
The Jerusalem Post feels that the death of historian Tony Judt „offers an opportunity to revisit a case of strongly anti-Zionist sentiments held by a prominent Jewish intellectual.” The editor notes that Judt’s conclusions from his own arguments that the nation-state was the only remaining, as well as the best-adapted, source of collective and communal identification, and that there was no substitute for the social cohesion and communal identification provided by a unique national identity, were that the goal of a politically homogeneous Europe, devoid of borders and cultural distinctions, was unattainable. Nevertheless, he was of the opinion that „for Israel it was time to move on and that the Jewish state should be replaced by ‘a single, integrated, bi-national state of Jews and Arabs.’” For Judt, European particularism was an undeniable fact, but the Jewish variety was outdated. The editor comments that „what really seemed to have bothered Judt was his subjective feeling that, as an identifiable Jew, he was somehow being represented by Israel,” and points to what Judt himself noted: ‘fear of finding oneself in bad company is not an expression of political purity; it is an expression of a lack of self-confidence.’”
Haaretz discusses the so-called Galant document, which apparently reveals a concerted campaign in support of GOC Southern Command Yoav Galant’s appointment as IDF chief of staff, and calls for an immediate police investigation: „The public good requires police investigators to plumb the incident to its depths, without fears about probing the actions of senior figures.” The editor opines that „The government is the IDF’s commander, and the chief of staff is the army’s senior officer. The trust of soldiers and civilians in both symbols of leadership has been severely undermined. It must be restored, and fast.”
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