BBC Monitoring Quotes From Israel’s Hebrew Press 27 Mar 07

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials published in 27 Mar editions of Hebrew-language Israeli newspapers available to BBCM.

Condoleezza Rice

[US Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice has come to try and push a plan not in keeping with Israel’s policies. Before she arrived, she did not hesitate to publicly air the differences between the two nations, stemming from the American intention to maintain contact with the members of the Palestinian Authority unity government. Rice was, therefore, welcomed politely but with indirect defiance. While she was going back and forth from Ramallah to Jerusalem, the cabinet allowed settlers to go to the settlement of Homesh in the northern West Bank, which was evacuated during the disengagement\ It is a limited disagreement\ It will help [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert stave off a political attack from the right and also – and perhaps more importantly – serve as a show of strength against the Rice- Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni duo\ Olmert wants to teach Rice a similar lesson and at the same time bring Livni down a few notches. [From commentary by Shmuel Rosner in left-of-centre, independent broadsheet Ha'aretz]

The bottom line is that fanatics on both sides remain determined to thwart any kind of breakthrough. Nevertheless, it is critical that the Israeli and Palestinian governments find a way to end the stalemate. Although that will require some ingenuity, I believe that Israelis and Palestinians are fully capable of it. The United States seems to be moving in that direction. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is not buying into the Israeli government’s position that all states friendly with Israel should boycott the entire Palestinian government because some of its members are with Hamas\ Rice’s position is precisely right. America should not boycott Palestinians who recognize Israel and oppose terrorism just because they serve in a government with people who don’t. The job of a secretary of state is to find ways to communicate with those who can be helpful to the US, not to find ways to stonewall them. [From commentary by Director of Israel Policy Forum's Washington Policy Centre MJ Rosenberg in English-language Jerusalem Post]

Ban Ki-moon

With gentle determination the UN secretary-general has decided to put his preoccupations aside in the next few days and to focus on the attempt to bring about a political breakthrough and the opening of dialogue for peace between Israel and the Arab countries. The sand in the clock, he believes, is about to run out. This is the moment to do something. He intends to put the UN in the picture as an honest mediator\ Both the Israeli and Palestinian sides had in the last two days a good opportunity to present their arguments. It is not clear where will the move lead to but it is already clear that he brought with him a fresh wind. Ban assesses that within a few weeks or months there will be a breakthrough. He reiterated that he is a true friend of peace and that his intention is to finally bring peace to the Middle East. [From commentary by Orly Azulay in centrist, largest circulation Yediot Aharonot]

Saudi initiative

Already today President [George W.] Bush is thinking, his aides are thinking, how this man will go down in the history books of the US, of the free world\ If there is a thousandth chance of promoting something, to be recorded even as a marginal note in the books of history, it lies perhaps in the endless quarrel between the Israelis and the Palestinians\ There, perhaps, there is a chance for the start of a settlement of some kind\ For this end, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice clang to the Saudi initiative as one who found a rich spoils (some would say a straw) in order to return home with a victory smile and tell her employers: We did it. But let there be no misunderstanding. The Saudi initiative as it stands today is dangerous and bad for Israel and it will never be possible to accept it with all its clauses\ The initiative will need general overhaul in order to be acceptable to Ehud Barak, Amir Peretz, Ehud Olmert, Avigdor Lieberman and others. The prime minister was right and wise when he did not reject it off hand. It is never late to say `no’. Meanwhile there is a need to score points in world public opinion. [From editorial of centrist, largest circulation Yediot Aharonot]

Shimon Peres

Why is [Deputy Prime Minister] Shimon Peres angry at the Winograd Committee [investigating the Second Lebanon War] that was forced by the High Court to release immediately the testimony of witnesses who appeared before it\? Had it depended on [Chairman] Dr Eliyahu Winograd and his colleagues they would have hidden all of the testimonies in the State Archives\ By supporting giving evidence in secret Peres presents a position with double standard: to members of the committee he said the war was one big dough of mistake and to [Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert, who holds the key to his election as the next president, he says words of flattery, that there is no one who is bigger, more enlightened, more responsible, braver and wiser then him

Citizenship law

The Citizenship Law continues to burden the law books and cause damage to the reputation of democracy in Israel. The blow to the right of Arab Israeli citizens to choose to live here with their partners is sweeping and detrimental to the rights of Arab citizens. The amendment to the Citizenship Law was approved by the High Court of Justice exactly a year ago, with a majority of six justices in favour and five opposed. But it was obvious then that the approval was conditional and temporary, and would require significant changes if the state were to opt to make it permanent\ Meanwhile, the law was extended repeatedly, and this week it was extended for more than a year\ The Citizenship Law does not further the country’s security, but rather damages it by broadening the gap between the rights of Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens. It would have been better to do away with this amendment to the law and for the Interior Ministry to reject or approve requests for family reunification on an individual basis, on the basis of the opinion of security sources, just as it has been throughout the state’s existence. [From editorial of left- of-centre, independent broadsheet Ha'aretz]

Sources: as listed

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