The Jerusalem Post berates the US State Department and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for their criticism of Israel’s building plans in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and asserts: “The expansion of Jerusalem’s neighborhoods to accommodate the city’s growing population is a matter for the municipality’s urban planners. It is not the concern of third parties, such as the State Department, whose (yet another) uninformed knee-jerk reaction underlies a misconstrued support for the Palestinian Authority narrative, which negates Israeli sovereignty to begin with.”
Haaretz discusses the discrimination against unmarried women and men, especially same-sex couples, who are not permitted to use surrogate mothers, and notes: “it is important to grant same-sex couples access to surrogacy in Israel, not only abroad, where they are forced to go to use it today. The attorney general would do well to adopt a stand saying that discrimination against same-sex couples regarding surrogacy is also wrong, not only discrimination against single mothers.”
Yediot Aharonot is concerned that Israel seems may soon be dragged into another publicly contentious prisoner exchange with Hamas, and states: “Had the Israel government accepted the recommendations of the 2011 captives redemption commission, those who negotiate with Hamas these days wouldn’t have the authority to offer it more than 6–10 live Palestinian prisoners in return for the Israelis they hold.” The author believes that “The price Israel pays for captives has to be widely agreed upon,” and asks: “Why, five years after the commission concluded its proceedings, is the prime minister still refusing to accept its conclusions?”
Israel Hayom contends that the while military victory over the Islamic State is important, the key factor to defeating it is by “breaking down Islamic State’s successful brand name and its reputation as the head of the global jihad movement.”
Globes states that with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trip to Africa, Israel’s long neglected diplomacy has finally come to the fore and declares: “Israel is now emerging as a diplomatic powerhouse, along with its other well-known international assets.”
Alex Fishman, Daniel Cohen and Norman Bailey wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Israel Hayom and Globes, respectively
