HEADLINES FROM THE IZRAELI HEBREW PRESSBreuerPress
HA’ARETZ
1. US PREPARING TO SHELVE MEDIATION BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS
National Security Adviser pushing to scale back American involvement in the peace process, administration charging Israel with most of the responsibility for the crisis in the talks
YEDIOT AHRONOT
1. American officials to Kerry: The time has come to admit failure.
LAST EFFORT TO SAVE THE NEGOTIATIONS
(…) Livni and Erekat to meet today with American mediator Indyk. At the same time, Israel is already preparing for the day after with a series of sanctions in the wake of Abu Mazen’s appeal to the UN.
YISRAEL HAYOM
1. DESPITE THE CRISIS: ADDITIONAL ATTEMPT TO SAVE THE NEGOTIATIONS
Today: Negotiating teams to meet again. Israel demanding that Palestinians halt appeal to UN and agree to deal that had been formulated. In exchange: Israel would carry out the fourth phase and release prisoners. Livni: Abu Mazen needs to prove he is a partner; announcement regarding construction was a mistake. Minister Ariel to Livni: „Silence is a fence to wisdom.” Washington not letting up: „Committed to the process.”
WALLA!
1. INDICTMENT: SETTLER FROM BINYAMIN AREA SET FIRE TO PALESTINIAN OLIVE TREES
2. PALESTINIANS TRANSFER TO ISRAEL FOUR WOMEN WHO HAD CROSSED INTO BETHLEHEM
NANA10
1. ISRAELI AIR FORCE ATTACKS IN GAZA OVERNIGHT
IDF planes attacked four targets in northern and southern Gaza Strip overnight in response to rocket fire at Israel.
[Headlines from Walla! and Nana10 are from their websites as of 10:40. There was no print edition of Ma’ariv today.]
SUMMARY OF OP-EDS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS
Both papers comment on the state of the peace process:
Yediot Ahronot believes that, „Both sides are waiting to see who will blink first: Israel wants the Palestinians to withdraw their appeals to the UN and the Palestinians want to see Israel carry out the fourth phase of the prisoner release,” and adds, „The sense among the Israeli political leadership is that the big deal, that which would include the release of Jonathan Pollard, will not take place.” The author suggests, „Officially, the door has not yet been slammed shut. There are resuscitation attempts, and the meetings are continuing, but practically, this is the situation we were in nine months ago: With no diplomatic dialogue, but with an ongoing daily dialogue at the working security levels, mainly the ISA, IDF Central Command and the Coordinator of Activities in the Territories.” The paper says that while the security forces are preparing for a major conflagration, they will also do their utmost to minimize potential friction.
Yisrael Hayom notes, „The negotiations that were led by John Kerry collapsed last week without surprising anyone other than Kerry himself,” and adds, „No op-ed piece gave a chance to his pretentious move – a permanent agreement within nine months.” The author asserts that, „Kerry’s great mistake was his feeling that he was mediating between Rabin and Arafat: On the one hand, an Israeli leader who was prepared to pay a significant price to end the conflict and effect a strategic change in the Middle East by creating a diplomatic and economic coalition between Israel and some of the Arab states, and on the other hand – a Palestinian leader who was capable of committing the vast majority of his people to moves that contradicted his slogans and speeches for decades.” The paper calls on the Americans to push for a Palestinian state within temporary borders as a stopgap and to desist from their moves to achieve a permanent agreement so as, „to avoid reaching another deadlock in less than a year.”
