Az Izraeli Lapok vezércikkeiből angolul

Yediot Aharonot writes: „The main problem with the United Nations report on Operation Protective Edge is that it artificially tries to create a moral and legal symmetry between the State of Israel and the IDF – and Hamas and the other Palestinian organizations. The report fails to mention the fact that Hamas is the one which opened fire and initiated the fighting, and it gives no weight to the fact that Israel did everything in its power to reach a ceasefire before moving on to a full-scale counterattack, including a ground offensive in the Strip. If nothing radical is done in the international arena to neutralize the effect of the ‘second Goldstone report’, this report may critically erode Israel’s ability to defend itself in the next war, whether it erupts in the north or in the south.”

Israel Hayom writes that „The only positive thing about the United Nations Human Rights Council’s report on Operation Protective Edge is the fact that it is slightly less hostile to Israel than the previous report written by the committee led by Richard Goldstone.” According to Committee head Mary McGowan-Davis, there is room for comparison between the IDF and Hamas, which she names the „armed group”. The writer concludes: „There is no comparison. There was no investigation into the murderers of 21 civilians who were shot and killed without trial in a city square. How can that be compared to the IDF, which did not dispatch even one soldier into Gaza without prior consultation with a legal advisor? The IDF tried for the first time in the history of humanity to fight according to the precise limitations of international law, and even that step di d not earn it any points at the U.N.”
___________________

The Jerusalem Post writes: „Mixing religion and politics is always a bad idea. Last week, Shas’s Religious Affairs Minister David Azoulay provided a reminder why. Azoulay is reportedly trying to use his political clout as minister to restrict religious expression at the Western Wall – particularly the forms of expression adopted by the Women of the Wall. As the minister responsible for providing religious services to all Israeli citizens, he has no business using his political position to advance the narrow interests of his religious sect. Diversity flourishes when Judaism is allowed to develop organically and in an atmosphere of free expression. One would think that the world’s only Jewish state would do its utmost to foster a vibrant, multifaceted Judaism.”

Haaretz comments on the reform of the broadcasting authority based on the law passed by the previous government: „Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is now communications minister, along with Ofir Akunis, the minister made responsible for the reform, are examining a series of amendments that would strip the law of its great achievements by restoring the politicizing of senior appointments, enlarging the budget, increasing the number of employees and forcing the new company to employ inefficient workers from the old IBA. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon must decide if he will back his ministry’s professionals, who support continuing with the reform as is, or cave in to Netanyahu’s and Akunis’ political demands.”

[Ron Ben-Yishai and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]​