(Israel Government Press Office)
Ma'ariv says that "The new president of Iran is raising hopes just like Bashar Assad did in his day," and cautions: "Rohani is part and parcel of Iran's clerical establishment and his values are the fruit of Persian culture and Shi'ite faith." The author asks: "Where will Rohani go?" and replies: "He makes one thing clear: His goal is to lower the economic price of the sanctions. How? We'll just have to wait and see."
Yediot Aharonot notes that Shas leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has not bothered to conceal his bitter opposition to the candidacy of Rabbi David Stav as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi. The author says that Rabbi Stav's "views differ not a whit from the views of the other orthodox rabbis from the central stream," and urges his readers "not to think that the opposition to Rabbi Stav stems from a difference of opinion on religious law, doubts as to his greatness as a Torah scholar or deficiencies of some kind in his personal life – it stems from economic interests, only some of which have been revealed in recently published investigative articles. We are talking about a kashrut enterprise worth millions operated by Rabbi Yosef's family; vast deals to provide religious services, control of centers of influence regarding the selection of connected family members to rabbinical posts, and links between major food industry businessmen and corrupt local rabbis and kashrut inspectors."
Yisrael Hayom endorses the selection of former Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Jacob Frenkel to succeed outgoing Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer and asserts that the former is a "logical," choice. The author says that "Frenkel enjoys the reputation of being in Fischer's league vis-à-vis international institutions," and suggests that "He will be received with open arms."
The Jerusalem Post notes that “Support for military intervention on behalf of the Syrian opposition forces fighting Bashar Assad’s minority Alawite regime is gaining traction,” and asserts that “While there are good reasons to intervene in the ongoing Syrian quagmire, not the least of which is a moral obligation to end the bloodshed, intervention creates problems of its own, which should be seriously considered before limited intervention snowballs into uncontrollable escalation.”
Haaretz discusses the proposal that the Hebrew University of Jerusalem “would assume control of the ultra-Orthodox college opened a few years ago by Adina Bar Shalom, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's daughter,” and notes that “This means the Hebrew University would be granting academic degrees in a separate program intended for the ultra-Orthodox.” Concerned that this will lead to Orthodox extremism and gender separation in the University itself, that editor asserts: “The University’s leaders would do well not to sponsor - academically or otherwise - an institution whose principles contravene these basic tenets.”
[Amos Gilboa, Yaron London and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Ma'ariv, Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]