Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press
Today’s issues: Misdirected mob anger, a call to the PM to stop ostracizing Israeli Arab lawmakers, the desperate kid with a knife, and how Europe never learns.
The Jerusalem Post says that two weeks into the current round of the longstanding war by Palestinian terrorists on our populace, Israeli citizens have every right to be both scared and angry, but points out that while justified and real, these emotions “do not give anyone the right to assume the guilt or innocence of a suspected terrorist and mete out brutal street justice in a flagrant violation of social norms and democratic values,” as was the case after the murder of a 21-year-old soldier in Beer Sheva last Sunday night. The editor states: “Despite and because of the challenges that daily life is throwing at us, it is incumbent upon us to retain the values that make our society so special and exemplary,” and yearns for the day when these kinds of atrocities do not befall anyone.
Haaretz criticizes PM Netanyahu for not inviting Joint List chairman MK Ayman Odeh for a security briefing, as part of a round of meetings the premier will be holding in the near future with members of the opposition, and calls on him to stop ostracizing Israeli-Arab lawmakers. The editor contends that the prime minister cannot ignore the Arab public, which constitutes some 20 percent of the population, and has a full right to elect its representatives, whatever their views, as long as they are acting legally, and asserts that continued incitement “will not result in an improvement to the situation, but only distance and promote alienation on the Arabs’ part toward the authorities.”
Yediot Aharonot contends that a 13-year-old Palestinian boy running around Jerusalem’s streets and looking to stick a knife in a 13-year-old Jewish boy’s neck does not think, neither before the stabbing nor after it, about Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, about the fate of the Palestinian people and, in most cases, is not influenced by the imams’ sermons at the mosques. According to the author, the reason he is doing this is because the life of Palestinian youths stinks: “Poverty is ripping their families apart. Their freedom of movement is restricted. The educational system they are educated in is collapsing. They hear their parents talk about their national and personal feelings of humiliation. The Palestinian media and social networks are filled with horrific descriptions of the ruling Jews’ actions. They see no future.” The author is unoptimistic with regards to the future: “Some of the Jews, a people who have been humiliated for many generations, will likely continue to humiliate the Palestinians. They, for their part, will react the way they are reacting today.”
Israel Hayom remarks that Jewish community leaders in Europe know they are facing a surge of anti-Semitism in which Muslims have united with extremists from both the Right and the Left for the sake of one goal, the destruction of Israel, and states: “These Jewish leaders are calling on Europe to open its eyes and sober up to reality. Europeans must come to understand that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and it is fighting against terrorism on their behalf.” The author reports that Israel is being portrayed in the European media as the most ruthless country in the Middle East, if not the whole world, and adds: “The freedom of expression that exists in Europe is what enables people to call for Israel’s destruction without fear of consequences. And many international media outlets are continuing the tradition of propagating blood libels against the Jews. It appears Europe has forgotten an important history lesson: What starts with ‘Death to the Jews’ never ends there.”
[Eitan Haber and Smadar Bat Adam wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot and Israel Hayom, respectively.]
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