(Israel Government Press Office)

The Jerusalem Post comments: "Hamas is under pressure. The terrorist organization’s relations with Egypt were not particularly good even under president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian military has launched a major offensive along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt as part of a larger campaign to rein in the lawless Sinai Peninsula. On the West Bank, meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has reasserted itself, garnering extensive media coverage and international support for its willingness to return to the negotiating table with Israel. The discovery of a long tunnel running from the outskirts of Khan Yunis to Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha is a reminder of Hamas’s intentions. As Israel continues effort toward peace deal with PA, Hamas is becoming increasingly isolated, desperate and therefore increasingly more dangerous."

Three papers discuss yesterday's decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid to appoint Dr. Karnit Flug as Governor of the Bank of Israel:

Ma'ariv notes that Flug could have announced at the outset, after she was passed over the first time for the post of Governor, that, "she was going home and they could get along without her," but adds, "She stayed [on as Acting Governor] because she felt an obligation toward the Bank of Israel and its employees, and mainly to the State of Israel." The author suggests, "What happened here over the past three-and-a-half months will yet be studied in schools of administration and decision-making. All have come out of the strange affair of appointing a central bank governor for the State of Israel bruised and beaten, except Dr. Karnit Flug."

Yediot Aharonot says, "One could write pages about Netanyahu's conduct throughout this story, behavior that joins many other instances in which there is room to wonder about the decision-making process in the Prime Minister's Bureau," but nevertheless commends the Prime Minister, "for making the right choice in the end." The author discounts the proffered explanation that the Prime Minister was impressed by Flug's record as Acting Governor over the past three-and-a-half months and thus changed his views regarding her candidacy, and notes, "Much less is heard about the fact that he and Lapid could not agree on anyone else, [and] that they understood that the issue had become a farce and simply could not go on any longer." The paper asserts, "Whatever the reason, it is good to know that we have a Prime Minister who is prepared to reconsider things and change his mind. We hope that on other issues as well he will be open and attentive both to the repeated recommendations of experts and to the public mood."

Haaretz writes: "Karnit Flug's greatest advantage is her acquaintance with the Bank of Israel, its work and the issues on its agenda. It is very well possible that the convoluted and bitter path Karnit Flug had to walk to reach the governor's seat will actually contribute to her ability to stand up to pressure and various discomforts during the battles she will fight against the politicians. The fact that she actually is not a "personal appointment" or the preferred candidate of the prime minister or finance minister can contribute to consolidation of a critical viewpoint on her part."
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Yisrael Hayom asserts, "The exposure of Mossad agents in Iran by the Turks underscores the depth of the abyss in which bilateral relations have sunk under the Islamist, autocratic leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan." The author suggests that, "It is possible that the US will continue to cling to the fantasy that Erdogan is an enlightened leader, but we see him as he really is: An Islamist strongman," and concludes, "As long as he continues in office, Israel-Turkey relations will continue to be chilly at best – at least in the diplomatic sphere."

[Yael Paz-Melamed, Sima Kadmon and Isi Leibler wrote today’s articles in Ma'ariv, Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]