(Israel Government Press Office)
Two papers discuss the controversy over the work of the Peri committee, which is formulating the Government-sponsored legislation on greater equality in sharing the burden, including national or military service for the ultra-orthodox:
Ma'ariv says: "If the Peri outline in equalizing the burden passes all the long and wearying procedures that yet await it, it will indeed be a great achievement. Perhaps not historic in the terms that we were familiar with in the first years of the state, but still considerable. For the first time, the Knesset will pass a law imposing the compulsory draft on every ultra-orthodox young man who reaches 21, with criminal sanctions alongside. And this is happening less than three months after Yesh Atid entered the coalition and pushed out the ultra-orthodox." The author notes that there will certainly be parts of the Yesh Atid platform that will fall by the wayside, but claims that Yair Lapid's and Yesh Atid's "serial detractors will talk only about what has not been implemented. They will not allow anyone to take from them a good disappointment."
Yisrael Hayom dismisses the Peri committee recommendations as "too soft and a lot of noise," and adds: "Two facts remain clear: The world of Torah will not collapse as the ultra-orthodox are threatening, but neither will the IDF fill up with ultra-orthodox. The next committee will try to allocate the burden."
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Yediot Aharonot suggests that Western attempts to reach a deal with the Iranian regime in which the latter would agree not to enrich uranium to a level that could be used in nuclear bombs in return for dropping sanctions are, in effect, a discouraging message to the Iranian people, that their struggle against the regime does not matter. The author notes next month's presidential election in Iran and speculates that the potential for post-election unrest is greater than it was in 2009 because, "the economic distress is much worse and the Iranian public has less to lose." Ahead of the elections, the paper calls on the West to greatly step up sanctions and, at the same time, send clear messages of support and admiration for the Iranian people.
The Jerusalem Post reflects on Hassan Nasrallah’s unstable position in Lebanon in light of the looming fall of “Damascus despot Bashar Assad,” and notes that Nasrallah’s organization “faces odds it never encountered in the past.” The editor states “Hezbollah is more vulnerable and far weaker than at any previous juncture,” and concludes: “This is a heartening development for Israel and a welcome byproduct from its policy of non-intervention.”
Haaretz criticizes the proposal put forth by Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin regarding the exclusion of the Arab minority in Israel, and states that it “is nothing short of an apartheid law, aiming to provide a solid legal basis for the exclusion of Israel's Arab minority.”s
[Yael Paz-Melamed, Yehuda Slazinger and Ephraim Sneh wrote today’s articles in Ma'ariv, Yisrael Hayom and Yediot Aharonot, respectively.]