HEADLINES FROM THE IZRAELI HEBREW PRESS
HA’ARETZ
1. ARIEL SHARON LAID TO REST
In restrained and impressive ceremony, Sharon was buried alongside his wife Lili in the presence of hundreds of citizens and a handful of diplomats.
MA’ARIV
1. ECHOES OF CONTROVERSY ALONGSIDE DEEP LOVE
2. ISRAELI AMBASSADORS TO EU MEMBER STATES WARN: BOYCOTT OF SETTLEMENTS LIABLE TO BE EXPANDED TO ALL ISRAEL WITHIN TWO YEARS
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. DM Moshe Yaalon in closed talks:
„KERRY IS MESSIANIC AND OBSESSIVE”
Yaalon in unprecedented attack on American Secy. of State: „He should not presume to teach me. Give him the Nobel Prize and let him leave us alone.” On the talks: „There are no negotiations with the Palestinians, this is between us and the US.” On Abu Mazen: „If we leave the West Bank, it’s over.”
2. GOOD-BYE GRANDFATHER
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. Paratroopers fired volley in the air; Hamas launched two Kassams from Gaza
FAREWELL WITH TWO VOLLEYS
(…)
WALLA!
1. AFTER THE ROCKETS: PALESTINIANS REPORT ATTACK IN GAZA
According to reports, Islamic Jihad sites were struck in Khan Yunis and Dir Al-Balah, and an Al-Quds battalion site in Gaza. Earlier, two rockets had been fired at Israel; no casualties or damage.
NANA10
1. POLICE PREPARED: TENS OF THOUSANDS TO VISIT ARIEL SHARON’S GRAVE
[Headlines from Walla! and Nana10 are from their websites as of 10:50.]
SUMMARY OF OP-EDS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
All three papers discuss various issues regarding the late former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:
Ma’ariv asserts that the fact that the IDF stationed an Iron Dome battery in the area near where former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was buried yesterday, „is, perhaps, the clearest repudiation of Sharon’s legacy.” The author notes that Sharon was laid to rest, „in a place he loved – in an area under threat from the same region he destroyed and whose flourishing communities he uprooted.” The paper cites reports that Hamas now has missiles that can hit as far as Hadera and questions why it is that Jews can be uprooted from their homes, but not Arabs. The author concludes with his concern that Ariel Sharon, as prime minister, „pushed us further away from peace.”
Yediot Ahronot says, „The disengagement from the Gaza Strip was distinguished mainly by errors. Sharon erred when he thought it would bring quiet. The settlers erred when they did not understand the need to offer their own diplomatic plan.” The author adds, „Sharon did not manage to learn the lessons. He sank into a coma without seeing how Gaza turned into a strategic problem, how the funeral at Shikmim Farm became a target for the terrorist organizations he had spent all his life fighting.” The paper continues: „On the other hand, the settlers in Judea and Samaria have also not learned lessons: Some have sunk into black moods. Some are involved in the attempt to ‘settle in the hearts’. Despite the passage of time, they are still talking about ‘what was shall not be.’ Despite the processes all around, there is still no attempt to craft a diplomatic alternative.”
Yisrael Hayom notes that Ariel Sharon was a former commander of the IDF Paratroop Brigade. The author, the brigade’s current commander, says that Sharon, „will be a symbol of strength, determination and daring for all future paratroopers,” and avers that, „We will continue to draw inspiration from Sharon’s legacy as a general and to honor this heritage on any mission to which we are assigned.”
