(Israel Government Press Office)

Two papers comment on various aspects of the so-called "Prisoner X" affair:

Ma'ariv asks: "Was the Secret Services Sub-Committee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the picture? This is a cardinal question regarding public oversight of the security and intelligence services. The public deserves an answer. If it becomes clear that the sub-committee was in the picture, it is possible to relax. If the answer is no, then there was a very serious breach here. All elements involved in the affair, and its revelations, must be undergo a thorough examination." The author says that many people and committees have warned of faults and miscues in Israel's decision-making on national security issues and suggests: "Those sounding the warnings are not the enemies of Israel's national security establishment."

Yisrael Hayom believes that "It is permitted to hold a prisoner under a false identity if his family knows about the detention and he is receiving fair legal representation, even behind closed doors." The author suggests that "MK Gal-On, who rushes to defend the judicial system from right-wing criticism, needs to be especially cautious before accusing it of infringing on civil and human rights lest she be suspected of touting the supremacy of the law only when the judges wear two left shoes."

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Yediot Aharonot urges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud-Beytenu not to make light of demands for substantive changes – for example, in sharing the burden, the budget and in the number of ministers – being voiced by other parties and which have the support of an absolute majority of MKs and the public, if he wants to stay in office.

The Jerusalem Post notes that “In our society, bad news is given resonance and the good is relegated to the margins,” and comments that this is why so few in Israel are aware of the country’s outstanding achievements. The editor opines that “It would do us well to gain a sense of proportion and look around us to be able to better gauge the achievements of our diminutive, beleaguered yet nevertheless excelling collective,” and adds: “A brief let-up from our habitual carping would not go amiss.”

Haaretz criticizes the attitude of members of the Lower Galilee community of Nofit, who feel that the 60 Bedouin Hawaled clan members living nearby are threatening the ‘Jewish character’ of their community, and adds: “That sense of threat, fueled by racism and fear, led a good many of Nofit’s residents to oppose a plan that would have solved the housing problem of the Hawaled clan, which since Turkish times has owned the land on which it lives.” The editor remarks, however, that “The most consistent opponent of the Bedouin’s proposals is the Zevulon Regional Council, under whose aegis Nofit and its Bedouin neighbors fall,” and asserts: “The Interior Ministry must instruct the regional council to mend its ways and properly plan for housing for the Hawaled clan adjacent to Nofit.”