Three papers discuss various aspects of the protests over the high cost of housing:Yediot Aharonot urges as many of the young protestors in Tel Aviv as possible to consider moving to Jerusalem in order to bolster the secular presence in Israel’s capital.
Ma’ariv suggests that „As of now, there is no organized political force that is interested in fundamentally changing the situation in which the Israeli public – in all fields – is captive to forces with narrow interests. And until such a force arises, which will be interested in the needs and rights of a majority of the Israeli public, that will really be interested in serving the public, that sees its role as a sacred mission, until we recover from the great weakness of the political system and the values and ideas that feed it – until then we cannot really change anything.”
Yisrael Hayom believes that there are genuine problems in the housing market but charges that much of the local media is deliberately ignoring the political and financial backing that many of the tent protestors are receiving from various groups and is attempting to put its own spin on the movement in order to attack the Government.
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The Jerusalem Post comments on the recent allegations that Israeli Mossad agents were engaged in nefarious cloak-and-dagger schemes at the site of the earthquake in Christchurch last February, and, linking it to the general animosity to Israel around the world, states that “Christchurch’s canard is symptomatic of Israel’s international standing and constitutes a measure of our delegitimization and ostracism even in distant places. So habitually tarnished are we that it’s easy to smear us further and accuse us of just about anything.”
Haaretz remarks on the alleged drift of the IDF toward religious extremism, which it feels must be stopped. The editor notes that “The army’s high command is merely pretending to fight its rival in authority, the rabbis,” and calls on Chief of Staff Gantz to put an end to what it terms “the disgraceful situation.” The editor adds: “If [Chief of Staff Gantz] does not, a petition should be submitted to the High Court of Justice against the IDF’s arbitrary and unconstitutional behavior.”
BreuerPress
