Yediot Aharonot complains that the „hilltop youth” and those behind the „price tag” attacks „are certain that they know better than the government and the IDF what is good for the country and what the right course of action is. More than a few of them direct their compasses to the heavens in order to receive inspiration from above.” The author asserts that Israel is now paying the price for years in which successive governments have shied away from imposing their will on Judea and Samaria and says, „The ‘hilltop youth’ and the ‘price tag’ people are doing as they please: the IDF, the police and the other security forces fear them and hardly dare to enter their areas. The government bends over backwards not to confront them and its ministers are seen by the public as empty vessels.”
Ma’ariv discusses the proposed bill that would give the Knesset Law, Constitution and Justice Committee veto power over Supreme Court nominees. The author believes that while the judicial selection process needs to be changed, the aforesaid proposal would „destroy the legal and judicial systems.”
Haaretz also comments on the proposed bill: „The prime minister is backing the assault by Yisrael Beiteinu and members of his own party against the legal system and its independence, and has accepted its subordination to political considerations. Netanyahu’s silence, and his acquiescence to the idea that candidates to the Supreme Court must be vetted by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, constitute agreement with the determination that „jurists from the extreme left” are sitting on the bench, and support for the idea that the rulings of the district courts should be not only interpretations of the law but also interpretations of the political interests of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation.”
Yisrael Hayom says that the Arab League decision to suspend Syria „has no teeth, but it does have symbolic value,” and points out that „While it was NATO that served Gadhafi’s head to the rebels, the countdown began in the Arab League offices in Cairo when the organization turned its back on the Libyan ruler.” The author reminds his readers that „the Arab League is a very conservative body,” and suggests that its leading members, Saudi Arabia and Algeria, „decided to suspend Syria not out of genuine concern for the Syrian people and the 3,500 riot victims to date; their leaders fear for their own heads.” The paper concludes, „Syria is more isolated than ever; however, Assad can always rely on Iran and – lest we forget – on Russia and China as well.”
The Jerusalem Post comments on a case currently before the US Supreme Court, requesting that persons born in Jerusalem be allowed to list „Israel” as the country of birth: „In September 2002, the US Congress passed the Foreign Relations Authorization Act Fiscal Year 2003. The law stated unequivocally: ‘for purposes of the registration of birth, certification of nationality, or issuance of a passport of a United States citizen born in the city of Jerusalem, the Secretary shall, upon the request of the citizen or the citizen’s legal guardian, record the place of birth as Israel.’ However, the State Department and the president ignored this provision. The US Supreme Court seems prepared to rule against the Livotofskys, which is a shame, since there are compelling reasons that their son’s passport should read ‘Israel’ without it having the added ramifications of meaning Congress is meddling in the president’s purview to make foreign policy.”
BreuerPress-info
