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BBC Monitoring Quotes From Israel's Hebrew Press 1 Sep 05

Posted on: Thursday, 1 September 2005, 06:00 CDT

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials published in 1 Sep editions of Hebrew-language Israeli newspapers available to BBCM.

Likud leadership

Ha'aretz [left-of-centre, independent broadsheet]: "From the point of view of profit and loss calculation, the right should aspire to a situation in which a weakened Sharon, without the ability to implement the left's policies, remains in power. The Americans, who are interested in his continued tenure, will pressure him less - over the outposts, for instance - than they would Netanyahu. Nevertheless, even if this is theoretically a reasonable option, it must not be exercised. Because of his misdeeds, first and foremost the crime of the uprooting [from Gaza], Sharon is unfit for public leadership, and certainly for running the government. He deceived party members and is also suspected of personal corruption. And for these, there can be no forgiveness and no atonement." [From commentary by Israel Harel]

Ma'ariv [centre-right]: "Could what happened to Ariel Sharon in the Lebanon war be repeated now, and will he be deposed before he has completed the task he took upon himself? This, in fact, is the real question on the agenda... In both cases those who rose to attack Sharon were primarily his opponents from the Likud. In February 1983 Menahem Begin's government deposed him from his job as defence minister... In 2005 the Likud Centre is being summoned in an attempt to topple him while Sharon is busy completing his mission of cruel separation from the Palestinians, while keeping as many big settlement blocs as possible... Only Sharon is capable of carrying out the operation of drawing Israel's lines of security... He who brings about the deposition of Ariel Sharon in 2005 is liable with his blind ambition to bring about the folding of Israel from one line to the other, and this would only be the beginning." [From commentary by Sharon confidant Uri Dan]

Ha'aretz [left-of-centre, independent broadsheet]: "Following the disengagement, it is now clear that there are two different states: Israel on one hand, and the Likud state on the other... The Likud state is no longer a reflection of the broader Israeli public, but a closed system that prevents the public from expressing itself politically. Therefore, the time has come to choose: Israel or the Likud state, the Israeli republic or the republic of the Likud Central Committee. Only Sharon can actualize this choice. Precisely because he is the one who established the Likud, he is the one who can destroy it. Just as Sharon was the only one who could sever Israel from Gaza, Sharon is the only one who can sever Israel from the Likud's hegemony... Without dividing the Likud, it will be impossible to divide the land." [From commentary by Ari Shavit]

Yediot Aharonot [centrist, largest circulation]: "In the next few weeks Sharon will want to return to his old image of the nationalist leader who strengthens and widens the settlements... After the vote by the Likud Centre, if Sharon emerges the victor, he will want to return to his fatherly image in the run-up to his next mission: implementing the road map, keeping the settlement blocs within Israel and dismantling isolated settlements that are not part of those blocs... At the end of the struggle, whether in the Centre or general elections, [Binyamin] Netanyahu will also want to drop his extreme-right image to return to centre stage. The two contestants will return to themselves at the end of the struggle but there is still plenty of time to go. We are only at the start of the masked ball." [From commentary by Yehuda Litani]

Jerusalem Post [English-language]: "Israel is faced with two major issues in its national life - the settlements and occupation in the West Bank, and the mitosis of society into two divergent halves - one prosperous, one poor. Whether the next prime minister is Netanyahu or Sharon, whether Sharon remains in Likud or forms a new party, whether a dark horse like Defence Minister Shaul Mufaz, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom or Likud rebel MK Uzi Landau gets elected instead, the basic facts of Israeli national life will remain not only unchanged, but unchallenged for the next couple of years." [From commentary by Larry Derfner]

Israel-China

Hatzofe [affiliated to right-wing National Religious Party]: "Maj- General (reserves) Amos Yaron, Director General of the Defence Ministry, has announced his immediate resignation. The resignation came to reconcile the US administration that was angered by the Israeli-Chinese deal to upgrade the Harpy drones... Amos Yaron could not have promoted the deal with China without the active involvement of the defence minister and the prime minister. What we have here is a giant deal and top grade military equipment... All those justice- loving associations that have been "harassing" the High Court of Justice so often must now demand justice: Yaron should not be the only one to go. His chiefs who were involved in every detail of the deal with China must go with him." [From editorial]

Sources: as listed

Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile

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