(Israel Government Press Office)
Ma'ariv discusses Iran's and Hezbollah's growing role in Syria and remarks that "The impression is that Iran is ready to fight in Syria down to the last Hezbollah member." The author suggests that following the rebel defeat in Al-Qusayr, Hezbollah will join the Assad's regime's assaults on other rebel strongholds and adds that "This would have great advantages for Israel because the more it [Hezbollah] bleeds and becomes entangled there, the better. However there are also risks because Assad will have to compensate Hezbollah in the form of the latest weapons, and the worse Nasrallah's situation gets, the more perhaps he will want to prove that he is still operating against Israel and not just Sunnis."
Yediot Aharonot hails the strides that the Israeli LGBT community has made in recent years, especially in Tel Aviv, where it is a political force to be reckoned with, but urges members of the community to refrain from outing those of its members who wish to remain in the closet, and thus trampling on their individual rights.
Yisrael Hayom comments on Google's deal to buy Waze and suggests under the former's tutelage, the latter "could become a global standard. Israeli pride!"
Haaretz eulogizes Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk, who passed away over the weekend at the age of 83, and states: “Kaniuk was an example of an intellectual who pursued social justice. He and his friends first fought to create a state for the Jews, and afterward to establish that state as just, secular, democratic and egalitarian. They succeeded in their first mission, but subsequently failed.” The editor asserts: “Kaniuk was an Israeli patriot with all his heart and soul, and was one of the prime generators of Israeli art and culture since the state was founded. His literary works dealt with milestones of Israeli and Jewish history, from the Holocaust through the revival, and he was not only afraid for the future of the state, but for the future of its language,” and adds: “He leaves behind a legacy that must not be ignored.”
The Jerusalem Post notes that “The political order artificially constructed in the Middle East by the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement is disintegrating. As the Syrian civil war rages, the borders drawn nearly a century ago are becoming blurred.” The editor opines that “The breakdown of the old Sykes-Picot political order is also testing Israel’s border with Syria along the Golan Heights,” and adds: “Israel must remain vigilant to prevent the sort of anarchy that reigns along the 600-kilometer border which separates Iraq and Syria.”
[Amos Gilboa, Nahum Barnea and Ilan Gatnew wrote today’s articles in Ma'ariv, Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]