(Israel Government Press Office)

Two papers discuss yesterday's terrorist bombing on the Egyptian side of the Taba crossing:

Yediot Aharonot says that "The Taba-Eilat-Aqaba tourism triangle, which receives over five million tourists a year, is an attractive target for Global Jihad," and declares that "Yesterday's attack on South Korean tourists is not only an Egyptian problem," even though it took place in the context of the Egyptian military's war against radical Islamic terrorists in Sinai. The author suggests that "Israel is in a frustrating bind. The peace agreement with Egypt is, from its point-of-view, a supreme interest. Any violation of Egyptian sovereignty means a blow to the peace accords. Therefore, Israel is not acting to foil terrorist attacks on Egyptian soil. Its principal line of defense is intelligence gathering, security coordination, using defensive measures such as Iron Dome, and mainly lots of restraint and luck."

Yisrael Hayom notes that Jerusalem and Cairo "are cooperating on the understanding that every terrorist attack is liable to have far-reaching strategic consequences," and avers that yesterday's attack "proves that the struggle is far from victory." The author believes that the attack was designed to both hurt the Egyptian economy "and prove to the Egyptian security services that no target is safe." The paper warns Israelis that traveling to Sinai "is liable to be a death sentence."

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Ma'ariv believes that self-proclaimed candidates for president such as Nobel Chemistry Prize laureate Prof. Dan Shechtman and former Supreme Court Judge Dalia Dorner are wasting their time, because "The Knesset has rules of its own and it chooses the president. This is a closed, members-only club that does not accept outsiders and always prefers candidates that come from inside." The author says: "The picture would be different, of course, if the president was elected by the people, as it should be. Then Prof. Shechtman and Judge Dorner would become realistic candidates," and concludes: "The players are Reuven Rivlin, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Uzi Landau and maybe Silvan Shalom. One of them will be chosen even if he is less worthy than the excellent candidates who are proposing themselves from outside."

The Jerusalem Post examines the “Spanish and Portuguese legislative initiatives that would, at some unknown future date, offer citizenship to Sephardi Jews throughout the world,” and notes that while “the move by Spain and Portugal to redress their history of oppression by extending citizenship to Sephardi Jews might be interpreted as a refreshingly positive trend,” nevertheless, mass Jewish immigration to Spain cannot be viewed as a positive development.

Haaretz comments on the spate of mob-related murders which have been taking place in congested municipal areas in recent months. The editor contends: “Israelis’ personal security is at a nadir,” and calls on the Israel Police and its commissioner “to act effectively and determinedly against crime organizations.”