Summary of Editorials from the Izraeli Hebrew Press
Yisrael Hayom surmises that „The historical turning point in the Land of Israel was the 29th of November, 1947: The United Nations decided on the partition of the land into two states, Jewish and Arab. The Jews agreed in joy and in pain, while the Arabs in the Land of Israel and neighboring Arab countries started a war. At that very moment the partition decision had to pass from this world.” The author recommends: „Netanyahu must adopt and implement the report by Judge Edmund Levy, especially the ruling whereby Jews are not occupiers in Judea and Samaria. Likewise, he must cancel the very idea of partition – from the 29th of November 1947 until this day.”Yediot Aharonot, in the wake of Abu Mazen’s successful bid for UN observer state status for the Palestinian Authority, remarks that „Now we must examine what he intends to do the day after. Amongst us, it was said of him that he is no partner and that he is irrelevant. Abu Mazen understands that the national camp is not only boiling, but rather is waiting for him in the corner.” The author contends that „Abu Mazen must take care not to aggravate Netanyahu and Liberman. Dancing in the street is one thing. But if exceptional disturbances will occur, or, heaven forbid, an attack, the wheel will be set backwards.”
The Jerusalem Post refers to remarks by Police Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino, who “argued openly for legal limits to how long the police can carry on an investigation without ever producing actual charges.” The editor believes that these remarks referred to “the attorney-general’s pending decision on whether to indict Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on a series of offenses including money-laundering, fraud and breach of trust,” and states: “No matter how Liberman’s saga concludes, it should, as per Danino’s recommendations, lead to legal curtailments on the length of time in which our law-enforcers can pursue a given case. It cannot be that the police and prosecution would usurp over a decade of anyone’s life because of hunches, even if said hunches are somehow eventually borne out after all.”
Haaretz criticizes the government decision to build another 3,000 housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and asserts: “That is how the government responded to the UN General Assembly’s decision to recognize Palestine as a nonmember observer state; that is how the government decided to punish the Palestinians and the world.” The editor declares: “The world – even including the United States this time – can’t allow Israel’s arrogant response to pass quietly. This very government decision might serve as a spur to those who want to transfer the settlements issue to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, as punishment for the ‘punishment’ imposed by Israel. And the next time Israel needs the world’s help, on the Iranian issue or on any other, the world will remember this decision.”
