(Government Press Office)
Ma'ariv discusses a dilemma of having to choose between a corrupt politician who may bring peace and an honest politician who may lead the nation to war. The editors suggest that either "war or peace are at our doorstep, and the minister under discussion is the deciding voice, except that just yesterday he was caught in his iniquity. What now?"
Yediot Aharonot relates to an Israeli Arab "monitoring committee" which holds that "Your Independence Day is our disaster," and to an article by a local Israeli Arab editor, who claims that Israel is not his state. The editors believe that "It is time correct the injustice of Israeli citizenship, which has been imposed upon Israeli Arabs against their will, including those who view the state as a 'disaster'."
Haaretz comments on the growing strength of Hizbollah in Lebanon, especially after the June 2006 war, as well as the political monopoly that Hamas is gradually consolidating for itself in the Gaza Strip, and states that faced with these two threats, from north and south, Israel can no longer sit with arms folded or make do with military bombast. It must also examine the diplomatic alternatives and make immediate and wise use of them while they still exist.
The Jerusalem Post criticizes restaurateurs who demand that the government allow them to import cheap labor from foreign countries, and states that cheap labor can end up being exceedingly expensive for Israeli society. When foreign workers fill a special niche, they can aid our economy while helping themselves. But importing restaurant workers to labor for exploitative wages simply leaves a bad taste in our mouths.
[Kobi Niv and Elyakim Haetzni wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot and Ma'ariv, respectively. Makor Rishon-Hatzofeh was unavailable today.]