Three papers discuss the diplomatic moves in New York ahead of a possible request by the Palestinian Authority for recognition as a state and admission to the UN:
Yediot Aharonot refers to the role of the Obama administration. The author believes that, „Neither an American veto nor verbal acrobatics are what is now necessary,” and adds that, „Obama needs to do what he promised upon being elected: Establish a Palestinian state and bring about the end of both the occupation and the conflict.” The paper suggests that, „An American veto would be destructive not only to its position in the Arab world but to Israel as well, which will be seen again as a US client, and will upset liberal groups in America, including liberal Jews, who claim that Israel is dragging it into acting against its basic interests.” The author calls on US President Obama, „to justify all the hopes that were pinned on him.”
Ma’ariv asserts that, „In vain will we look for justice and logic. It is the luck of the Palestinians that opposite them stands Israel. It is the Palestinians – not the Kurds and not the Tibetans – who receive broad international recognition because more than the international community loves the Palestinians, it loves to hate Israel. This is the style. This belongs to the forces of progress. The Tibetans and the Kurds, and many other peoples do not receive the support of the international community, except for lip-service only. [The late Menachem] Begin said once that we are here by force of right and not by right of force. Today, force belongs to the new superpower, the international community, which has an automatic majority for every caprice and every injustice. In reference to Begin’s remark, the Palestinians deserve a state before the Kurds and the Tibetans by right of force more than by force of right.”
Yisrael Hayom believes that, „The current Israeli government has crossed the Rubicon vis-à-vis its intentions – two states for two peoples (yes, the Jewish People), a ten-month construction freeze in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem and a readiness for negotiations. The Palestinians did not bat an eyelash. They are not interested in any negotiations that could lead to an end to the conflict and recognition of the Jewish People’s right to any part of its historic homeland. From their point-of-view, this means the denial of their collective raison d’etre, the main point of which is the destruction of the state of the Jews and the ejection of the Jewish People from this part of the region. Otherwise, they would have long since accepted the historic compromises, from 1947’s to Olmert’s in 2008.”
Haaretz comments on the forthcoming cabinet decision to approve the establishment of 10 new communities in the Arad area of the Negev: „Establishing new communities in the Negev stands in stark contradiction to Israel’s long-term planning principles, based on strengthening the four major cities (Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva ) and preserving open areas and rural communities. The Negev does not need additional communities that will devour land, infrastructure and money, and destroy a region of great ecological importance, on the doorstep of communities that have been neglected for years. One example is Arad, a quality town turned into a failing community. Establishing the new communities will also cause an unnecessary clash with the Negev’s Bedouin, who have just found out that 30,000 of them are to be forcibly evicted as part of another pretentious cabinet plan. The Bedouin are suspicious about the link between the plans, feeling, justifiably, that the communities plan is part of an explicit intention to kick them out. It should be hoped, therefore, that the ministers who oppose the harmful, superfluous plan, headed by Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, are successful in foiling it.”
The Jerusalem Post comments on the interim recommendations for improving free-market competition published yesterday: „In a 2009 annual report, the Bank of Israel said Israel had the highest concentration of corporate power in the developed world. And the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which last year admitted Israel as a member, said Israel’s level of corporate concentration is problematic.” While entrepreneurship is the driving force behind growth and prosperity that provides jobs and opportunities and technological development, in order to realize the full potential of our society’s many talented individuals, protect the economy from undue risks and provide citizens with affordable goods and services, it is absolutely essential to ensure truly free and fair competition. Let’s hope that the atmosphere created by this summer’s socioeconomic protests will lend a hand to the present government in its push to make the necessary reforms.”
BreuerPress-info
