Summary of editorials from the Hebrew pressToday’s issues: Israel’s compromised Judaism, shame on Israel’s security agencies, the Syrian refugee crisis enfolding in Europe, and the Iran deal is not a done deal.
The Jerusalem Post warns that due to a dearth of judges, “the rabbinical court system is barely functioning,” and notes the difficulty of appointing new judges due to political and religious bickering. The editor believes the solution is to separate religion “as much as possible from the state while maintaining the Orthodox hegemony over marriage and divorce in the name of Jewish unity and in order to prevent the creation of different tribes within the Jewish people that are unable to marry one another,” but notes that the more likely outcome “will be to leave the present religious institutions in place while in parallel opening up the option of civil marriage.”
Haaretz examines the murderous attack on the Dawabsheh family’s home in the West Bank village of Duma, and notes that despite the fact that six weeks have passed, Israel’s security agencies still don’t have a clue about who perpetrated it. The editor argues that “This is an unreasonable and intolerable situation,” and suspects that “the security agencies, first and foremost the Shin Bet security service, aren’t doing enough to capture the murderers. The killers are roaming free, thumbing their noses at the authorities and destined to perpetrate additional horrifying crimes.” The editor calls on the prime minister and the defense minister to make it clear to the heads of the security services that “catching these murderers is their top priority, and all necessary resources must be devoted to this task,” and concludes: “The people who burned an entire family to death and sentenced the one member who remained alive, a 4-year-old boy, to orphanhood, are extremely dangerous — not just to the Palestinians, but also to Israeli citizens.”
Yediot Aharonot discusses the Syrian refugee crisis enfolding in Europe, and remarks that “The continent hasn’t faced such a challenge since the end of World War II. It’s not just a humanitarian and economic challenge; it’s first and foremost ethical. It is threatening to let out all the racist demons which have been kept inside the bottle since the Nazis’ defeat.” The author believes that unless the West does everything in its power to reach an agreement that will end the war in Syria “there will be no end to the massacre, no end to the refugee seeking,” and concludes: “Bush wanted to impose a democracy in the Middle East; Obama wanted justice. The refugees who are running for their lives to Europe only want to live. If the West is incapable of giving them that, what is democracy worth, what is justice worth?”
Israel Hayom is hopeful that while it seems the White House was successful in getting the required authorization from Congress to push through the agreement with Iran, the deal may yet be undone. The author notes: “This Friday happens to be the anniversary of an attack that should have awakened us all to the threat posed by those whose goal is to destroy America,” and adds: “In a saner world, that would concentrate political minds on the wisdom of a deal that will enrich, empower, embolden and re-legitimize the self-proclaimed anti-Western revolutionaries who rule Iran.”
[Nahum Barnea and Clifford D. May wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot and Israel Hayom, respectively.]
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