The Jerusalem Post discusses the government’s determination to reduce the pollution in the Haifa Bay area on the backdrop of the alarm caused by an incomplete report which states that the alarming number of deformed babies born in Haifa is due to pollution from the petrochemical industry, and praises the National Action Plan that will decrease the air pollution level to half the 2014 level by 2018. The author contends that “Part of the recent hullabaloo over newborn head sizes was no doubt connected with a popular feeling that the government, led by the Health Ministry, should start putting residents’ health above the financia l interests of polluting companies,” and states: “The National Action Plan for the Haifa Bay Area is a clear indication that such an effort is indeed under way.”
Haaretz asserts that the current right-wing government is at a loss as to how to end the four-month-long intifada of lone assailants and states: “except for empty talk of a painful response and a heavy hand, we are not hearing a real solution.” The editor argues that the only solution to the situation is through negotiation, and states that “steps like collective punishment and house demolitions only deepen the despair, which leads to more outbreaks of violence. The whole world is demanding that Israel come back to the negotiating table to reach a two-state solution. After four bloody months, the time has come to do so.”
Yediot Aharonot comments on the death of border policewoman Hadar Cohen who died preventing a large number of casualties in a terror attack, and sharply criticizes “The Security Cabinet’s refusal to deal with the necessary conclusions and change the state that has been forced upon us in the past few months.” The author argues that we cannot make do with publishing statements accusing Abbas, Ban Ki-moon, the American ambassador, the European Union, and others of giving aid and comfort to terrorists, and asserts: “This is not another cycle of terror attacks. This is a foreshadowed escalation, on the way to total chaos.”
Israel Hayom comments on the “problematic” verbal war over the tunnels under the Israel-Gaza Strip, and notes that while the threat is very real, and we must make the necessary preparations to deal with it, “there is no need to heed populist demands and launch a military operation at this time.”
Yoav Zitun and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot and Israel Hayom, respectively.
