Summary of editorials from the Izraeli Hebrew press
BreuerPress
Two papers discuss the demonstrations that took place over the weekend against the
Begin Plan (also known as the Prawer Plan):
Ma’ariv asserts: „This protest has nothing to do with the plight of the Negev Bedouin,” and adds: „It is the product of political demonstrations which have been fanned by Balad and Islamic Movement Arab MKs who aspire to turn the State of Israel into a state of all its citizens, with an Arab majority and administration.” The author claims that „Most Bedouin support the arrangement, even though at this stage there is no law, only draft legislation,” and avers that „The Arab politicians’ protest does not stem from a genuine interest in the welfare of the Negev Bedouin, but from a political interest that cynically exploits the poverty in which most Negev Bedouin live.” The paper concludes: „The Bedouin are citizens of the State of Israel with equal rights and they certainly deserve a much higher quality of life, for the prosperity of the Negev and for a future of hope for all citizens of the State of Israel – Bedouin, Arabs and Jews alike.”
Yediot Aharonot says that the state must, in the end, enforce the law against those who build without permits, and adds: „This is true for settlers who reside on private land and it is true for the deluge of illegal building by Bedouin in the Negev.” However, the author contends that „It would be a mistake to think that this is a dispute over land and money,” and believes that „The struggle is over the face of the State of Israel.” The paper avers that Palestinian nationalist and Islamic extremist sympathizers are setting the tone for the demonstrations and ventures that „A considerable portion of the Bedouin are looking to integrate within the state, and the damage that these demonstrators are causing them and the fabric of Jewish-Arab relations is tremendous.”
——————————
Yisrael Hayom refers to the Geneva agreement regarding Iran’s nuclear program and suggests that „The more hidden facts that are revealed about the Geneva negotiations, the more it becomes clear that the results resemble a Swiss cheese,” and says: „The agreement has holes and a lack of clarity.” The author believes that „Obama has decided de facto to accept a nuclear Iran,” and that „This expresses a collapse of all commitments, and a rift that will be difficult to heal, not only with Israel, but with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Gulf States and, to a certain degree, even with Turkey.” The paper argues that the foregoing holds, „even if Iran does not complete the nuclear process now and remains a ‘threshold state’ instead,” and contends that it is not only the US’s traditional allies that will pay the price for President Obama’s weakness but the US itself, „albeit under his successors.”
The Jerusalem Post questions the silence of US President Barak Obama on the increase in violent assaults on males and females in Jewish neighborhoods in the US, in light of his pre-election proclamation that he would “forthrightly protect the human rights of minorities,” as well as continued American silence in the face of “the recent incendiary racism of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who likened Israel to ‘the sinister, contaminated, rabid dog of the region,’” and dehumanizing anti-Israel slander originating in Ramallah, and asserts: “Dehumanizing imagery, like the sport of knocking Jews senseless, deserves official America’s resounding and resolute admonition. Anything less betrays double-standards.”
Haaretz criticizes the intent of the Ministry of the Interior to deport a foreign national who has lived in Israel for 20 years, in the wake of his divorce from his Israeli wife, and asserts: “The right to family life is a basic human right recognized by international and Israeli courts.” The editor calls on the Ministry of the Interior to “look beyond bureaucratic failures and religious or national affiliations and choose the ethical alternative to deportation,” and adds that it is incumbent upon the ministry to recognize that “divorce is not a reason for deportation,” and that children of such a marriage “have the full right to have their father in their lives.”
