Three papers discuss various issues regarding the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, which began yesterday in Cairo:
Yediot Aharonot reminds its readers that „Mubarak courageously decided to follow in the footsteps of his mentor, Anwar Sadat, and chose the path of peace,” and adds, „He understood and knew the plight of the Egyptian people and correctly assessed that without peace with the State of Israel, there would be no revival for the Egyptian people.” The author says, „It is very likely that towards his own people Mubarak was a cruel dictator but in the topsy-turvy Middle East, he was a mighty rock, practically the only one in stormy waters,” and adds that „only those Israeli idiots who think that it is possible to repeat the victory of the Six Day War will not regret his going to jail. Those who know will thank him for over 30 years of peace and for the thousands from here to Tahrir Square who do not lie in military cemeteries.”
Ma’ariv observes that „It is possible to see this as poetic justice. Hosni Mubarak, who sent thousands of people to prison, most of whom did nothing wrong, is now closed up in the same cage, ill and weary, waiting for his sentence. But just as in the days of his regime, these trials have nothing to do with justice. What has changed in Egypt if today defendants still sit inside closed cages, humiliated and devoid of basic human dignity?” The author asserts that „the results of this trial are known in advance. Apparently, there are many charges that may be made against the man and his sons. But the masses want more, much more. And the new regime wants to give them more, mainly Mubarak’s head, since after all, they do not have many other achievements to glory in.”
Yisrael Hayom believes that „the military clique that now rules the Land of the Nile and does not know what do with it would be happy if Mubarak had fled or already breathed his last, and spared them the judicial process and its attendant quagmire.” The author agues that „everyone has lost: The situation in Egypt is steadily worsening and it is again not setting the tone in the Middle East, even as its primacy in the Arab League has been blurred. Its leader, General Tantawi has signaled that he is fed up with governing and is waiting until he can retire. Israel is concerned not only over the increasing anarchy in Egypt in the long-term, but over the possibility that its name will come up during Mubarak’s trial regarding the price of the gas that it receives, when it is not bombed en route. Even the US, which turned its back on its ally, has emerged from the Tahrir Square demonstrations looking not so good.”
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Haaretz writes: „The High Court of Justice’s decision to order the dismantling of the Migron settlement outpost, which has been putting down roots on private Palestinian land for more than nine years, is one of the most serious indictments ever filed against Israel’s political establishment, legal system and security apparatus. Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch and her two colleagues on the bench ruled that the outpost was built and expanded in defiance of various restraining and demolition orders. The justices pointed out that had the state not allowed the outpost to be set up in the first place, and then refrained from enforcement operations to stop its expansion, it would not now be required to deploy large forces to evacuate the residents of what has become a large outpost.”
The Jerusalem Post comments: „After several weeks of generalized agitation for nebulous ‘social justice’, Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard tent-protesters and student union representatives have hammered out their joint list of demands. Their qualifications to fix Israel’s entire socioeconomic system aside, their catalogue of demands is so all-encompassing, and so radical, that no government of any political persuasion could plausibly meet it. Regrettably, therefore, it must be judged as more populist than serious. Critical appraisal is mandated from us all, and especially from the government, which, despite its natural craving for popularity, must not give in to demands that are bound to unbalance the collective budget and leave us far worse off than we are now.”
