| Summary of editorials from the Hebrew pressToday’s issues: Our German ally, censoring the professors, the year of saving Jewish Jerusalem, and the new sheriff in Syria.
The Jerusalem Post commends the resolution passed last week by Germany’s ruling party condemning the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement for its anti-Zionist activities, and states: “The move was both a much welcome expression of support for Israel and a further repudiation of Germany’s dark past.”
Haaretz asserts that Habayit Hayehudi Chairman and Minister of Education Naftali Bennett is seeking to educate the educators, not least due to his intent to “draft a recommended code of ethics for institutes of higher education on the issue of political and academic activity.” The author argues that “Bennett’s proposal comes on top of other initiatives, both his own and those of Culture and Sports Minister Miri Re gev (Likud), for governmental interference in the areas of thought and creativity,” and warns: “Their respective parties are competing for voters on the right, but they share a dual goal: To curry favor with the settlers, and to shape a new generation of voters who won’t be exposed to views that challenge the current government’s axioms.”
Yediot Aharonot notes the approval by the Ministerial Committee for Symbols and Ceremonies, chaired by Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, of the minister’s proposal that the main theme of this year’s Independence Day will be the jubilee of the reunification of Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and contends: “There is nothing more far removed from reality and from the truth than the slogan ‘united Jerusalem.’ United Jerusalem apparently exists only in the imagination of Minister Regev and the government.” The author asserts: “Jerusalem is divided and separated. ‘The capital of the Jewish people’ is not Jewish; it is a bi-national city. About 40 percent of its residents are Palestinian. Among Jerusalem’s young residents (18 years or younger), about 60 percent are Palestinian,” and calls on Minister Regev not to deceive herself and the public, but to take a look at reality and declare the next Independence Day as ‘the year of saving Jewish Jerusalem,’ including, among other measures, “the construction of a full, improved and monitored security barrier, which will separate the 22 Palestinian villages from Jewish Jerusalem.”
Israel Hayom discusses news reports from recent weeks alleging that Israel has attacked Hezbollah supply convoys despite the Russian presence in the country, and notes: “The Russian presence, therefore, has not paralyzed Israel’s ability to take action, though it has made this action transparent for Moscow.” The author adds: “In Israel this fact is already being taken into account, evidenced by reports that Israel used missiles instead of planes in several of these attacks to avoid unnecessary friction with the new sheriff in town, Russia,” but cautions: “In any case, it is merely a drop in the ocean. Hezbollah’s arsenal of over 100,000 missiles is the threat for which Israel must prepare.”
[Haim Ramon and Eyal Zisser wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot and Israel Hayom, respectively. |
