Editorials 20 January 2015

Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press

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    Three newspapers comment on Sunday’s attack on Hezbollah and Iranian military leaders on the Syrian Golan Heights:
    The Jerusalem Post states that “It would be seen as a sign of weakness in the eyes of both supporters and rivals if [Hezbollah and Iran] fail to retaliate.” The editor warns: “the flare-up in the North should be seen as a harbinger of a much more serious challenge to Israel’s security and to Middle East stability – Iran becoming a nuclear power,” and concludes: “Israel’s reputed air strike in Syria and the potential for fallout is a diversion from the real challenge: preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.”
    Haaretz believes that the attack “stemmed from [Israeli] electoral considerations,” and calls for a “new policy of an abundance of caution in the run-up to elections.”
    Yediot Aharonot asserts: “the northern front is reaching a boiling point as we speak, perhaps the most explosive boiling point since the start of the civil war in Syria.” Remarking on the many similarities between the Golan and Gaza fronts, the author notes one dramatic distinction, which is concealed in the intensity of the conflict: “The strength gained by Hezbollah makes all the difference.” The editor adds: “Whoever decided on Sunday's strike probably estimated that Hezbollah's interest – while its organs are stretched on all fronts – is to respond moderately,” and concludes: “They may or may not be right. Intelligence is not an exact science.”
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    Yisrael Hayom discusses the recent mysterious death of Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who dedicated a substantial part of his life to exposing the truth about the terrorist bombing at the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994, and speculates whether he was eliminated in the “traditional Argentinian way.” The author points out that “The extensive and detailed information that he possessed apparently posed a threat to the local leadership as well as to the Iranian regime,” but adds: “More than 20 years after the attack, the responsible parties are still roaming free. And that is the way it will remain.” 
    Globes op-ed was not available today.
    [Alex Fishman and Ariel Schmidberg wrote today's articles in Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]