(Israel Government Press Office)
Ma'ariv suggests: "Whoever advised Netanyahu to talk about jeans as a symbol of freedom should go home," and adds: "He can be the Prime Minister's friend but not write his speeches." The author notes that hardly anyone at Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's funeral wore jeans and that the vast majority of the wives and sisters of the men who attended the funeral do not wear pants at all, and asks: "What does that say about us as a society? If Israel's public diplomacy was clever and would think in contemporary terms – even just a little – it would understand that Netanyahu's remarks could boomerang." The paper asserts: "Israel is a democracy because it does not arrest bloggers and it has media outlets that investigate the Prime Minister and his wife and because it has demonstrations and its senior officials are investigated by the police and a former president is in jail because he did things it is forbidden to do. Our democracy is not about clothes, it is about our ability to loudly criticize ourselves without fear; it is the ability and the willingness to hold public debates, to air the dirty laundry in public." The author says: "It is not that Israeli public diplomacy can drastically change our situation in the world, but it can prevent us from being seen as pathetic."
Yediot Aharonot discusses a recent article about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in
The New York Times, in which he referred to Theodor Herzl and Winston Churchill and said: "They were alone a lot more than I am." The author writes: "Herzl? He started his career as an Austrian journalist, without a state and the strongest army in the Middle East. Despite this he succeeded in advancing the idea of a Jewish state and became the most important symbol of the revival of Israel. In his lifetime he was dubbed 'the King of the Jews' and masses of distraught Jews attended his funeral. Netanyahu's embrace of Churchill's isolation also sounds strange. Britain's European allies did not abandon him; they were conquered by Nazi Germany. The US supported him diplomatically and provided him with weapons and economic assistance until it joined the war in [late] 1941. Churchill was also not isolated among his own people during the war, but was an admired, unifying symbol." The paper concludes: "It is possible to compare Netanyahu's isolation to that of a Japanese soldier who continues to hide out in the jungle on some Pacific island years after World War II has ended because he was certain that the battles were still raging."
Yisrael Hayom speculates that Hamas may be looking to stir things up with Israel ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday precisely because it has lost Egyptian support since the military took power in Cairo and ousted its fellow Islamists.
The Jerusalem Post marks the opening of the Knesset’s winter session, and posits that three dramatic bills are in the offing: the Referendum Bill, an electoral reform bill and a haredi enlistment bill. The editor states: “Disputes that arise among coalition members over these three bills might potentially endanger the stability of the government,” but nevertheless concludes: “it is important that all three be passed for the sake of strengthening Israeli democracy.”
Haaretz is pleased to note that “Israel’s decision makers are gaining a better understanding of the need to give consideration to animals and their emotional and physical needs,” and is hopeful that PM Netanyahu’s support of a proposal by Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz that his ministry be responsible for enforcing laws against animal cruelty will ensure that animals will finally “get the ministerial protection they deserve.”
[Michal Aharoni, Baruch Leshem and Dr. Reuven Barko wrote today’s articles in Ma'ariv, Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]