Editorials 11 March 2015

Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press

  • 3/11/2015
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    Today’s issues: The decline in pre-election political discourse, a new policy of hounding Jerusalem Arab suspects, US treatment of the Palestinian issue is about to become more aggressive, rollercoaster poll numbers and slow growth expected for 2015.
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    The Jerusalem Post notes the correlation between the decline in the character of political discourse and the proximity of the elections, and states: “Instead of engaging in populism, political parties should devote the precious time remaining until the election to explaining their stands on the central issues facing society.” 
    Haaretz believes that the new policy of hounding Jerusalem Arab suspects, in which the Jerusalem municipality, the police, the Shin Bet security service and other agencies are participants, is nothing short of “a mockery of the law.” The editor believes that “The litany of legal and moral problems stemming from this procedure is intolerably long,” and asserts: “The attorney general must immediately order this blacklisting to stop and investigate who thought it up and approved it.” 
    Yediot Aharonot comments that by appointing Dr. Robert Malley as the person in charge of the Middle East at the White House, President Obama has given the finger “not only to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but also to the Jewish establishment in the United States.” The author predicts that “The presidential treatment of the Palestinian issue in the next two years is about to take on a much more aggressive attitude,” and asserts that Israeli officials who believe that Obama is fast approaching a ‘lame-duck’ status, or that Hilary Clinton, who appears to be the leading Democratic candidate for president, will emasculate any of Obama's initiatives “are living in an illusion.”  
    Yisrael Hayom comments on the “Ferris wheel of poll numbers” that have been saturating television news shows in the past few days, and asserts: “the average Israeli's voting behavior has a disorienting effect on pollsters, who fail to pick up on late surges.” The author commends President Reuven Rivlin for actively engaging apathetic voters and urging them to vote. The author states: “This is important for democracy. It is good for stability. It is good for the big parties, whose would-be voters are the most apathetic,” and concludes: “There is still a long way to go before the votes are tallied.” 
    Globes discusses slow growth and the prevailing pessimism in the Israeli business sector, and states that “Despite substantial improvement in economic performance in the fourth quarter of 2014 and a rise in consumer confidence, the elections to the 20th Knesset will apparently take place with rather low growth figures, relative pessimism among consumers, and predictions of a virtual standstill in business activity in the background.” Relying on a survey of the business sector by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the author claims that despite predictions of economic improvement in 2015, the current picture still indicates slow growth and not very optimistic predictions by the business sector that match the general pessimism prevailing among households, even after the rapid rises in consumer confidence in January and February 2015.” 
    [Alex Fishman, Dan Margalit and Avi Temkin wrote today's articles in Yediot Aharonot, Yisrael Hayom and Globes, respectively.]