We present the latest editorials in the Hebrew Press in order for our readers to get a sense of the political and social concerns being reflected in the Israeli Newspapers.
Yediot Aharonot comments on the law on free education from age three, which the Cabinet approved yesterday. The author claims that “expanding the free education law and economic justice have nothing in common,” and believes that “the proper response to the plight of the middle class in the area of raising children would be to channel sources of funding to providing free pre-school education only to those children whose parents work full-time.” The paper gives the following examples: Build excellent daycare centers close to places of work. Encourage both parents to develop careers and fully participate in productive activity. Use the tax code to provide incentives for both parents to work.”
Haaretz comments on the budget cuts necessary for carrying out the Trajtenberg Committee’s recommendations: “The best solution would be if most of the cuts were to the inflated and wasteful defense budget, but it Defense Minister Barak went to great lengths to inform his fellow ministers about the grave dangers surrounding Israel: Now the cut to the defense budget is lower than it should have been. In the end, there is no alternative but to approve the cuts – something that hurts all ministries and services but allows the implementation of the Trajtenberg Committee’s recommendations. Any other solution, such as enlarging the deficit or increasing taxes, would be worse and put Israel in the kind of crisis afflicting Greece, Italy and Spain. And nobody wants that.”
Ma’ariv contends that if MKs are prepared to approve legislation that would require a “cooling off” period for journalists who would like to enter politics, they should also be prepared to approve similar legislation for MKs who would like to enter the private sector.
Yisrael Hayom suggests that the effect of media personality Yair Lapid’s entry into politics will not be as great as he hopes. The author notes contrary to what Lapid is apparently counting on, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in no hurry to call early elections and adds that while current polls show Lapid doing well, they may not necessarily hold true the longer that elections are put off. The paper believes that since Lapid will draw most of his putative support “mainly from Kadima, Labor, Meretz and Independence, he will not be an ‘equilibrium breaker’ (unlike Aryeh Deri).” The editor asserts that “Lapid will soon realize that his main public asset – being really nice – is not enough to cause a political earthquake.”
The Jerusalem Post comments on the latest controversy surrounding a Jerusalem conference slated for Wednesday on “Innovations in Gynecology and Halacha” organized by the Puah Institute, run by Orthodox rabbis and spiritual leaders with expertise in medicine for religious Jews: “Unfortunately, while many of the issues to be dealt during the conference have a direct impact on women; and while many of the leading medical experts in the field happen to be women, no females will be permitted to address the conference. Women will be excluded out of deference to a male-dominated rabbinic leadership that has determined that it is improper for women to stand before men and lecture. No fewer than 40 feminist and human rights organizations have taken issue with Puah’s policy of gender-based social exclusion. But infringing on Puah’s right right to adhere to its version of religious expression when organizing a private conference is not only wrong; it is unwise from a tactical point of view. Since it was established in 1990, Puah has made tremendous headway in exposing the most parochial haredi communities to the wonders of medical science. Rabbis have been challenged to adapt Jewish law to the latest innovations. To ensure that this framework continues to be perceived by extremist segments of the religious community as safe, Puah must signal to them that it is ready to play by the rules set by the rabbis.”
[Ariel Rubinstein, Yehuda Sharoni and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
