Summary of editorials from the Izraeli Hebrew press
BreuerPress
Two papers comment on the latest upsurge in violence in and around the Gaza Strip:
Yediot Aharonot believes that neither Israel nor Hamas, „are currently interested in opening a front in the south,” and calls for measured IDF responses to Gaza-based provocations which avoid collateral damage as much as possible. The author cautions that „The real problem is that Hamas is utilizing the quiet in order to accelerate its preparations for the next round. It is digging attack tunnels, producing UAVs and extending the range of its rockets. Any military provocation by Hamas gives the IDF an opportunity to strike at these capabilities. For its part, Hamas has no interest in giving the IDF an opportunity to destroy the military infrastructure that it is building. Perhaps this is what will lead to the end of the current round of shooting.”
Yisrael Hayom says that the IDF and ISA believe that the Gazan sniper who murdered an Israeli civilian yesterday was affiliated with an extremist organization, not Hamas. The author reminds his readers that „Hamas is now under double pressure, Israeli and Egyptian,” and ventures that while the organization is interested in stirring things up in Judea and Samaria, „regarding the Gaza Strip it is interested in quiet so that it might continue its efforts to repair the damage it suffered in Operation Pillar of Defense, especially to its long-range rockets and command and control abilities.” The paper asserts that yesterday’s IDF strikes at Hamas targets were designed to underscore the message that since Hamas is in charge of the Gaza Strip, it must exert its authority over the smaller organizations.
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Ma’ariv asserts that „America’s conduct regarding Pollard is beyond all logic,” but suggests that using him „as a bargaining chip in the going-nowhere negotiations,” or conditioning the release of any more Palestinian terrorists on Pollard’s release, „is liable to boomerang and contribute to a further hardening of the US position.” The author does not believe that the Americans would accept any such linkage and suggests that „They are liable to see it as an irrelevant Israeli excuse for derailing the negotiations.”
The Jerusalem Post discusses the unique experience of Christmas in the Holy Land, “the place where Jesus was born, lived, preached, healed and, according to Christian belief, revealed himself as Messiah,” but regrets that “consecutive governments have done too little to develop the great tourism potential presented by the Holy Land’s unique and profound attraction for the some 2.2 billion Christians who make up a third of the world’s population.”
Haaretz notes that “The 2014 defense budget will be larger than the budget of this past year. The planned cut has been scrapped and the defense establishment will be receiving generous additional funding,” and, calling it “A victory of the old politics,” states that “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adhered to the right-wing agenda despite the social justice protest and the weakening of his party at the ballot box.” The editor points out that “The budgetary surpluses could have been used to service the national debt or to invest in infrastructure and social services. But Netanyahu chose the army, the settlers and the ultra-Orthodox,” and asserts: “It should therefore come as no surprise if his insistence on adhering to the old pattern leads to a flare-up of renewed protest against his government.”
