Editorials 20 Nov 2013

Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press

  •  
     
    (Israel Government Press Office)
    Two newspapers comment on the nomination of Shai Nitzan as the new State Prosecutor:
    Haaretz notes that Nitzan’s biggest challenge “will be to restore the public’s faith in the prosecution, currently at a nadir.” The editor believes that the plethora of tests that await Nitzan “will involve confrontations with powerful interests and major power centers,” and adds: “Nitzan will have to allay the suspicions that accompanied his selection and demonstrate integrity and assertiveness in carrying out his mission of upholding the public interest.”
    Yisrael Hayom commends the nomination, and says the criticism being directed against him from both the Left and the Right is his strongest card.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Ma'ariv comments on the Labor Party leadership contest tomorrow between incumbent MK Shelly Yachimovich and challenger Yitzhak Herzog and suggests that "Labor's problem is that no matter who is chosen, the party will not emerge from these elections with a leader who will be portrayed as a proper candidate for prime minister." The author rebuts the claim that the winner will have four years (the remainder of the current government's term) to build him/herself up as a credible candidate for the premiership and says that 1) general elections will be held well before then, 2) neither Herzog nor Yachimovich will be able to change doubts about their characters and abilities, and 3) "Who says that tomorrow's winner will remain in office until the next elections, whenever they are? This is the Labor Party."
    Yediot Aharonot claims that post-apartheid South Africa has set the pattern for and launched many of the global anti-Israel campaigns, including academic boycotts of Israeli institutions, the abuse of human rights discourse, the mislabeling of Israel as an 'apartheid' regime, etc. The author remarks: "When phenomena born in South Africa reach European leadership and campuses in the US, Israel and the Jewish organizations mobilize to block them. But at this stage, there is a need for major investments against a strong current. Therefore, instead of most resources being directed at the US, some to Europe and none to South Africa, the resource allocation pyramid should be turned on its head and major resources should be invested in blocking or softening anti-Israel initiatives in South Africa. The greater the success in waging the struggle at the epicenter, the more it will be possible to prevent the damage from spreading to other parts of the world."
    The Jerusalem Post discusses “the latest in a series of ominous signs that our economy is running into difficulties,” and quotes a recent speech by Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug, in which she stated that “Israel’s real challenge in the medium- to long-term is to fight income inequality by striving for ‘inclusive growth,’” basically the sort of growth that lowers income inequalities in countries and between countries instead of exacerbating them. The editor notes that the recent wave of layoffs at large firms “is a reminder that we live in an increasingly globalized and competitive world economy,” and that “Attaining ‘inclusive growth’ has become increasingly difficult.” The editor concludes, however, that “it is nevertheless a worthy aspiration for it fosters social cohesion, provides citizens with more equal opportunities and fosters political stability.”
    [Dan Margalit, Avraham Tirosh and Einat Wilf wrote today’s articles in Yisrael Hayom, Ma'ariv and Yediot Aharonot, respectively.] 
     
  •