Summary of editorials from the Izraeli Hebrew press
BreuerPress
Two papers discuss this week’s incident in which Iron Dome intercepted a rocket fired at Eilat:
Yediot Aharonot notes that „Eilat is a city that lives on tourism,” and asserts: „Therefore, the Israeli government’s and the security establishment’s attitude toward Eilat is not the same, with all due respect, as its attitude toward other cities and communities around the country. One need not be sitting on the lagoon in Eilat to know that one Grad hitting vacationers could cause severe damage to the place and its residents.” While the author is confident that the government and the IDF will continue guarding Eilat, he adds that „The problem is that the Bedouin in Sinai also know that this is ‘the soft underbelly’ and they are liable to try again and again to scare away the tourists, wreck the city’s livelihood and create a new situation at the State of Israel’s southernmost point.”
Yisrael Hayom believes that „Terrorists in Sinai have set for themselves the goal of embittering the lives of Eilat’s residents and scaring away the vacationers,” but adds: „There is room for optimism because the Israeli public has matured and does not scare easily.” However, the author cautions that the situation could change if rocket attacks become routine, especially if there are casualties, and suggests that preventing such a scenario is the main reason the recently stationed Iron Dome battery „will not be going anywhere anytime soon.” „Given the chaos in the peninsula,” the paper urges increased intelligence sharing and cooperation with the Egyptian military.
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Ma’ariv reminds its readers that „Eight years after the disengagement, only around half of the evacuated families have entered into permanent housing and the rate of unemployment among evacuees has quadrupled.” The author calls on the state that „decided to uproot 8,600 people from their homes,” to accelerate the finding of solutions, and declares: „Even for the uprooted, better late than never.”
Haaretz criticizes the Prime Minister’s Office for its intention of setting up “a unit of students to operate on social networks as undercover spokesmen for the government and its actions,” and asserts: “This is a cynical plan that reflects not only the depth of international suspicion of Israel’s government, but also the fact that Netanyahu and his staff favor public diplomacy tricks above all else.” The editor believes that “Instead of protecting academia against political interference, the student leaders are helping subordinate it to directives from the Prime Minister’s Office,” and adds: “A solution to Israel’s ‘image problem’ won’t be achieved by dirty tricks. To accomplish that, what’s needed is a change in policy.”
The Jerusalem Post believes that Secretary of State Kerry leveraged European threats of boycott and delegitimization to extract Tuesday’s Palestinian prisoner release mfa.gov.il/MFA/
