- Netanyahu not “fooled” by election of new Iranian president
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel was not “deluding” itself following the election of Hassan Rohani as the new president of Iran, the Jerusalem post reports.
“The international community must not become caught up in wishful thinking and be tempted to relax the pressure on Iran to stop its nuclear program,” Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting, in his first public response to Rohani’s victory.
“We are not deluding ourselves,” he said. “We need to remember that the Iranian ruler [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] at the outset disqualified candidates who were not in line with his extreme worldview, and from among those whom he did allow, the one seen as least identified with the regime was elected.
But we are still speaking about someone who calls Israel the ‘great Zionist Satan.’” Netanyahu said in any event it was Khamenei who determines Iran’s nuclear policy, and not the country’s president.
“The more the pressure on Iran increases, the greater the chances of stopping the Iranian nuclear program, which still remains the greatest threat to world peace,” he said.
Click here to read the full article in Jerusalem Post
- Israel looks to improve economic cooperation with Palestinian Authority
Israeli and Palestinian finance ministers have agreed on a series of economic cooperation projects, Yediot Aharonot reports.
Sunday’s meeting between Israel’s Yair Lapid and the Palestinians’ Shukri Bashara marked the first high-profile meeting between officials since the new Israeli government took office in March.
Lapid said cooperation would include joint investments and trade between the sides. He said it would benefit both and vowed to „continue to strengthen the connection and promote important economic issues that are important to both sides.”
Click here to read the full article in Yediot Aharonot
- Israel strengthens laws against anti-Arab vandals
Israel’s security has strengthened laws to combat the growing phenomenon of “price-tag” attacks by declaring their perpetrators an illegal association, the Jerusalem Post reports.
But it failed to take the added step of legally classifying the attacks as acts of terror and those involved as terrorists.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the decision “significantly expands the investigative and judicial tools available to the security forces and law enforcement authorities against so-called ‘price-tag’ actions.”
The new measures include stiffer sentencing and lengthier prison terms, according to an Israeli official.
Click here to read the full article in Jerusalem Post
Four papers discuss the election of Hassan Rohani as Iran’s next president:
Yediot Aharonot doubts that anyone in Israel knows what effect Rohani’s victory will have on the nuclear stand-off with Tehran. The author refers to a Pentagon report that claims Iran has adopted a more defensive and deterrent posture vis-à-vis its nuclear program and adds: „In other words, the Americans do not ascribe to the nuclear weapons program an aggressive, immediate aspect. From their perspective, they have a window of more than a year in which to test Rohani’s intentions and talk with him. But the American inclination very much bothers the Israeli government; even now there is concern here that the Americans will blow us off.” The paper says that Israel can do little now other than continue to gather intelligence on both Rohani and the Iranian nuclear project itself and monitor Washington’s efforts and desire to „close a deal with him [Rohani] on freezing the situation that may not necessarily be to Israel’s liking.”
Yisrael Hayom says: „The new president, as a cleric himself, will not herald anything new regarding the character of the regime, human rights, the nuclear issue or relations with Israel. He will still sign the economic checks for Hezbollah and Syria, and will lead Iran toward a nuclear bomb. As one of the founders of the Islamic revolution, a Khomeini loyalist and one of his confidants, we should not expect to see him acting differently from ‘the spirit of the commander’ – Khomeini and Khameini.”
Haaretz implores: “Give Rowhani a chance,” and states: “Rowhani’s election is liable to change the quality of Iran’s discourse with the West. It also testifies to the power of the public, which is sick of the economic crisis, the radicalism that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ilk represent, and the repression of human rights.” The editor believes that “The Iranian people are not an enemy of Israel or the West. Rowhani’s voters, who demonstrated their political power, should be extended some credit,” and concludes: “Israel is not required to act naive, but it must not undermine the chances for diplomacy, either.”
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Ma’ariv analyzes the civil war in Syria and says: „The big war is between the Shi’ite axis supported by Russia and the Sunni axis, behind which is supposed to stand the US.” The author notes that the Shi’ite axis is far more unified, but speculates that overt US support for the more moderate Syrian rebel factions, along with increased Arab support, may offset this. The paper concludes: „The great war in the Islamic world is diverting global attention away from the increasingly marginalized Israeli-Palestinian problem. The Kerry initiative for resolving the conflict has little chance of success in such a reality. Whether this is good or bad for Israel is in the eye of the beholder.”
