Yediot Aharonot says that while Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has consistently sought to divert Egyptian public attention to Israel and away from his provisional government’s domestic failures, relations with Egypt are too important to be neglected. The editor believes that, „There is no choice; we must pack and go back. Egypt is stuck with itself, the provisional regime is showing weakness and its frail network of relations with us is giving off unpleasant tones. But this is not the time for honor games. We need to go back, after we revise security procedures with whomever we need to, create a working environment and wait until Sharaf breaks, returns the keys and makes himself scarce.”
Haaretz comments on PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s announcement of his decision to request that the UN Security Council recognize a Palestinian state: In his speech, „Abbas stood firm against calls for violence and continued to adhere to a two-state solution based on the June 4, 1967 lines. Abbas explained that the acceptance of such a resolution by the United Nations would not be a substitute for negotiations with Israel on the core issues of a final peace agreement. In an effort to lower expectations, and to lower the flames, he took care to tell his people that they should not expect that a vote in New York would bring about independence. The key to the path to peace is still in Netanyahu’s hands. On the eve of the official Palestinian request to the UN, Prime Minister Netanyahu should turn his rhetoric of threats into a diplomatic initiative that would encompass the dramatic changes that the Middle East is undergoing.”
Yisrael Hayom asserts that, „Abu Mazen persistently refuses peace,” and adds that, „He has proven this twice, at Camp David in 2000, and in 2009, when he fled for his life when Ehud Olmert offered him the moon and the stars.” The editor contends that, „Even those who claim that Benjamin Netanyahu put up many conditions on the resumption of the negotiations – and I am one of them – admit that it is Abu Mazen who has ruled out the resumption of contacts,” and reminds his readers that the Palestinian leader „did not take advantage of the ten-month freeze on construction in the settlements in order to hold concrete discussions with Israel.” The paper urges Prime Minister Netanyahu to consider another such temporary freeze as a show of goodwill in the Middle East in which so much has changed since the previous freeze expired.
The Jerusalem Post argues that careful consideration should be given to any proposal to privatize Magen David Adom, Israel’s national ambulance service-provider: Although privatization „has overall proved a boon for Israeli consumers, not every operation under our sun is a fitting candidate for the competitive market – be it overtly so or in disguise. The last thing we wish is for a host of private responders to rush to each emergency scene with crews whose skills and expertise might not be of the highest caliber and who might not be backed up by the same broad logistical infrastructure and technical support as MDA. Plausible as competition may sound in theory, it may be too chancy when lives are on the line.”
Ma’ariv discusses photographer Spencer Tunick’s mass nude photo shoot at the Dead Sea yesterday. While the author says that he was not surprised by the criticism from religious MKs, „who pointed out the geographic proximity between the location of the shoot and Sodom and Gomorrah,” he adds, „The sad and unsettling story is not in the expected opposition by the religious public, but in the scandalous conduct of the two regional councils that border the Dead Sea.” The author says that the opposition of the two council heads was very curious given that Tunick said that he wished to call attention to the Dead Sea and its plight, a cause that they profess to champion. The paper concludes that, „If this is how those who are supposed to uphold the Dead Sea’s interests act, it will really be a wonder if it succeeds in being chosen as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.”
