(Israel Government Press Office)
Two newspapers discuss President Peres’ 90th birthday celebrations:
Yediot Aharonot suggests that the praise heaped on President Shimon Peres at last night's gala was exaggerated and overlooked many of the more controversial aspects of his political past. The author concludes: "Peres is an excellent president – one of the best we have had. He is the most accepted Israeli in the world – an immeasurable strategic asset. Given all this, he deserves great thanks, not a personality cult."
The Jerusalem Post comments: “Money, unfortunately, was focus of much of discussion surrounding Peres’s 90th birthday celebrations, rather than the exceptional man himself.” The editor states that “While the pros and cons of allowing business moguls to fund a conference devoted to issues central to Israel’s prosperity can and should be debated,” and asserts: “our popular president should be honored not just as a national treasure, but as a source of inspiration and hope for the future.”
=======================================
Ma'ariv lauds outgoing Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer and discusses the issue of his successor. The author, a former president of the Israel Manufacturers Association, endorses the Bank's current Deputy Governor, Dr. Karnit Flug, and believes that "She will bring us economic stability and a continuity of Stanley Fischer's correct path."
Yisrael Hayom refers to the recent 'Price Tag' incident in Abu Ghosh and asserts: "The time has come for the Price Taggers to be arrested. It must be understood that beyond the damage to tires, walls, homes, olive trees, churches and monasteries, these thugs also damage the state's good name. And in the age of media wars, actions of this sort have significance and a price. For this alone they merit the description 'terrorists.'" The author predicts: "Those who perpetrate these abhorrent acts will not succeed in harming the exemplary co-existence in Abu Ghosh."
Haaretz warns of the “The price tag of the stalemate with the Palestinians,” and states: “the reality, including the economic one, is that a Palestinian state is an Israeli interest.” The editor calls on PM Netanyahu to "work energetically to break the diplomatic impasse, desist from his ritual of casting blame on Abbas, and above all, abandon his efforts to evade negotiations.”
[Nahum Barnea, Oded Tira, and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]