(Israel Government Press Office)

Yediot Aharonot asserts: "Outside the classroom, it is the civil right of any teacher to express a view on any subject, but in the classroom the teacher is not a private citizen. He is an educator: His job is to raise for discussion even controversial issues, bring information and present valid views from all sides. His job is to teach pupils how to evaluate them with a critical eye and formulate justified arguments. In class, his job is to present the positions of all sides, not take one of them."

Haaretz appeals to the education minister to “break his silence and throw his support behind a teacher who is being punished for trying to engage his students,” and calls on him to give the requisite backing to the teacher “through a clear, forceful public statement in favor of education that dares to raise questions.”

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Ma'ariv commends Nobel Chemistry Prize laureate Prof. Dan Shechtman for announcing his candidacy to succeed Shimon Peres as Israel's next president and says his entry into the race "has infused it with a refreshing spirit and raised its level of respectability." The author notes that Israel's fourth president, the late Ephraim Katzir, was also an apolitical scientist and adds that "His tenure and several of his remarks underscored the disadvantages of such a president." However, the paper also notes that whereas Shechtman has entered the race of his own accord, Katzir "did not volunteer for the post and was dragged, almost forcefully, by Golda Meir from his laboratory at the Weizmann Institute and crowned president." The author suggests: "One may guess that most MKs are not welcoming him with open arms, especially not those who see themselves as candidates for the presidency," but asserts: "It would be preferable to have a professor of chemical engineering in the President's Residence and not the familiar politicians."

Yisrael Hayom discusses yesterday's deadly car-bomb in a pro-Hezbollah Shi'ite neighborhood in southern Beirut. The author reminds his readers that Hezbollah is strongly supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in his country's civil war and says: "The Sunni jihadist fighters, who have been unsuccessful in toppling the Alawite regime in Syria, are translating their frustration in Damascus into the carrying out of a series of deadly attacks against Hezbollah in its southern Beirut stronghold."

The Jerusalem Post is heartened by the news that Iran is adhering to the six-month Geneva interim deal, which went into effect on Monday, but nevertheless notes: “Prospects look bleak for any real diplomatic breakthrough on the Iranian nuclear issue.”