BBC Monitoring Quotes From Israel’s Hebrew Press 18 Jan 07
The following is a selection of quotes from editorials published in 18 Jan editions of Hebrew-language Israeli newspapers available to BBCM.
Halutz resignation
Yediot Aharonot [centrist, largest circulation; from editorial] “First of all, before the slaughter knives get going on others in the army and the government, a word of thanks to the man who devoted about 40 years of his to the defence and security of the country, [Army chief of staff] Lt-Gen Dan Halutz… Dan Halutz will not be the only one who will fall on the sword of the war in Lebanon. Having learned from the experience of the ‘Agranat Committee’ set up following the Yom Kippur War, we know that even if Winograd Committee exonerates the politicians, the Israeli public – and certainly the people who returned from the battlefield – will not leave the prime minister and the defence minister alone. [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defence Minister Amir] Peretz will go home, unless they find a ‘manipulative move’ that has not been tried yet. This is the twilight of the current government.”
Ma’ariv [centre-right; from commentary by Dan Kaspit] “The question was not whether he would resign but when. Since the end of the war, Dan Halutz resembled a lost plane flying at an immense height. The pilot has gone to sleep, the system is stuck on autopilot, living on borrowed time. Outwardly, or so it seems, everything was all right. The instruments are working, the skies are blue, the burners are open. This is the chronicle of a foretold crash. In the end the fuel runs out, the plane nosedives into the open sea or the big aircraft carrier that is still chugging along, the one on which his superiors stand: the prime minister and the defence minister… Will Halutz become a kamikaze and try to take others to the bottom of the sea? It is still not clear.”
Ma’ariv [centre-right; from commentary by Amir Rapaport] “The final decision to resign looks like an attempt by Chief of Staff Lt- Gen Dan Halutz to land a preventive blow. After he had heard from witnesses who appeared before the Winograd Committee that the committee had ‘marked him’, Halutz understood that he had no choice but to return the uniforms and in this way take the heat out of the situation… No one in the army knew beforehand – not even the defence minister… The fact that Halutz did not even bother to inform Peretz that he is about to go home tells us to what extent the IDF simply does not take the minister of defence seriously. Graver still is the total lack of contact between the prime minister and the defence minister… It is impossible to sleep in peace when the Olmert-Peretz pair is filling the most sensitive jobs.”
Ha’aretz [left-of-centre, independent broadsheet; from editorial] “Halutz’s letter of resignation (‘I decided to fulfil my responsibilities according to the best traditions and values of my home’), like the prime minister’s response (‘I regret the resignation’), mark the end of an inglorious series of pretenses thrust upon the Israeli public by those running the state since the end of the second Lebanon war. The truth is that the chief of staff did not decide to fulfil his own ideas of responsibility, but was kicked out by the General Staff, the soldiers, the press and those who conducted the inquiries. And the prime minister, who hesitated to fire him, does not regret his departure, but fears what may follow…. In the current political situation – in which the prime minister fears for his job and the defence minister is seeking a way to escape from a job he should never have accepted in the first place – everyone must rise above his personal concerns and consider the good of the country when choosing a new commander for the IDF.”
Ha’aretz [left-of-centre, independent broadsheet; from commentary by Aluf Benn] “Ehud Olmert has no intention of resigning. He wants to fight for his political survival and to clear his name of the ‘investigations and the affairs’. His determination is heart- warming, his cool during times of crises admirable, and he can also take pride in the growing economy, the reduction in Palestinian terrorism and his friendship with world leaders. Still, Olmert’s fight looks like it stands no chance, following the double blow he suffered on Tuesday [16 January]: the news of a criminal investigation into his role in the sale of Bank Leumi and the resignation of Chief of Staff Dan Halutz. Even if the prime minister holds on to his post for several more months, even a year, he will be preoccupied with trying to save his seat, and will find it difficult to conduct the affairs of state. From this point on, Israel finds itself in a period of a leadership vacuum, characterized by a very thin line of leadership and very little content.
Jerusalem Post [English-language; from editorial] “The resignation of an IDF chief of staff, particularly when it ends a career as illustrious as that of Dan Halutz, is never a happy occasion. Under the circumstances, however, it is good that it happened, and Halutz is to be praised for taking this crucial step… Even under normal circumstances – and the current situation is anything but – this nation cannot afford the perception that the IDF leadership is not up to the task of providing its citizens with the best defence possible… The most immediate task our leadership faces, however, is to appoint Halutz’s replacement. While we are not in a position to assess the relative military qualifications of the various candidates among the current and former General Staff, this much can be said: The choice should be someone who is not tainted by the perception that he will be personally distracted by or implicated in the investigation of the war.”
Sources: as listed
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