(Israel Government Press Office)

Four newspapers discuss various issues regarding Tuesday's elections for the 19th Knesset:

Yediot Aharonot discusses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett: "Netanyahu heads a list that he does not control. Half of it is controlled by Liberman. The other half is controlled by political factions some of which are on the extreme margins of the settler movement. Bennett also does not control his list. An unsuccessful agreement that he signed with the extreme nationalist faction 'Tekuma' joined to his list several candidates from the settlements' messianic margins." The author concludes: "The rivalry between Netanyahu and Bennett will end an hour after the elections. They will sit down together to establish a coalition and will discover that their true enemies are at home."

Ma'ariv implores Israelis to go out and vote on Tuesday. The author asserts: "Regardless of its character and direction, a large turnout will give support to a system that represents the public and will strengthen it against institutions that have forgotten that they are here in order to serve," and adds: "A high turnout will show public confidence in the Knesset and in the future government."

The Jerusalem Post comments on the collapse of the bureaucratic machine managing the logistics of the forthcoming national elections, which this year for the first time was organized by a commercial company that won the government tender, and states: “Lessons must be learned from this year’s fiasco. Perhaps the most fundamental is a rethink about tenders.” The editor believes that “It is clearly not enough to choose a contender who offers the lowest price,” and asserts: “Even if underrated in popular perception, organizing all the nitty-gritty details of Election Day is a civic mission of the highest order. It might not be advisable to leave parts of this project to the lowest bidder.”

Haaretz criticizes Upper Nazareth Mayor Shimon Gapso for blocking the opening of a school for around 1,900 Arab pupils, children in a community making up about 20 percent of the city's population, and asserts that the city “is obligated to open schools for its minority communities.” The editor maintains that “The term ‘Judaizing the Galilee’ provides allegedly legitimate cover for every benighted racist position that sees the presence of Arabs in the Galilee or anywhere else as a national threat,” and concludes: “when the interior minister, the authority over the municipality, espouses racist views himself, Israelis who oppose racism and discrimination - Arabs and Jews alike - have no choice but to vote for parties that will fight both phenomena.”

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Yisrael Hayom eulogizes long-time Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman, who passed away Friday after a battle with cancer. The author says that "In contrast to many other politicians, he did not only talk about the need to establish communities over the Green Line, he realized this dream," and lauds Nachman's devotion to Ariel. The paper says that Nachman "spoke about the city that he built with the great excitement of a father praising his children," and concludes that "Ron Nachman will be remembered as a Zionist pioneer."

[Nahum Barnea, Amnon Lord and Gideon Alon wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]