The three R’s

Standing apart from banking deals, reservists getting stiffed, and John Kerry’s diplomatic timeframe, there was one story that united the Hebrew dailies’ front pages today: missiles in Eilat.

Haaretz gives the most space to the story with a two-pronged headline, “Two rockets fired at Eilat; Iron Dome doesn’t respond.” An Iron Dome battery stationed in the city for the past month tracked the missiles but decided not to intercept them for operational reasons. The army said the rockets were fired from the Sinai Peninsula (and indeed, a Salafist organization based there claimed responsibility), but Egyptian authorities weren’t so sure.The Egyptian government is investigating the incident and an spokesman told reporters, “Israel can say what it wants about the source of the rockets but the Egyptian side will only made a statement according to the results of the investigation.”

Israel Hayom relegates its coverage to Page 9 but includes an opinion piece by Yoav Limor, who writes that Israel needs more cooperation from the Egyptian side. The reason this story was front page news (just barely) was because Eilat is not just another Israeli city, it’s a symbol of escape and freedom, and unlike other cities in Israel, it is entirely dependent on tourism. The situation has changed in the Sinai too, where the terror groups no longer are connected to Gaza and therefore cannot be hurt by an Israeli response. “In order not to harm the peace agreements, Israel is completely dependent on the mercy of the Egyptians,” Limor writes. Closer cooperation between Israel and Egypt could prevent the attacks, he believes, but he realizes that Egypt’s focus on its current economic problems means that nothing is likely to change in the near future.

Something that will change in the near future is the amount of money IDF reservists will receive for their time served. “Reservists are worth less,” reads Yedioth Ahronoth’s front page headline. Last year, IDF reservists who served 25 days received 3,762 shekels (about $1,035), but this year will receive only 2,616 shekels (about $720). The grant is paid once a year and many soldiers have come to depend on the extra money. The IDF blamed the shortfall on Operation Defensive Shield, which called up more reservists who will now split the same amount of money allocated for the grants.

In an accompanying opinion piece titled “It’s not the money, it’s the message,” Yoav Keren moves on from Ricki Cohen, instead giving examples of the citizen soldiers who use their own money to help the army and get nothing in return, like the company sergeant who spends hundreds of his own shekels on phone bills trying to organize supplies for his unit.

2 for 2

Maariv’s front page features the latest from the quiet world of peace negotiations, with US Secretary of State John Kerry setting a timeline of two years for a two-state solution. Kerry made the comments to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after returning to the US from the Middle East and East Asia. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Kerry that he believes that a permanent solution can be reached with the Palestinians if only Mahmoud Abbas would return to the negotiating table. However, Kerry told the committee both sides have issues. “The difficulty we have to overcome is great distrust between the two sides, that Abbas is not sure that Netanyahu intends to give him a state, and on the other side, Israel is not convinced that the Palestinians will give it the security it needs,” Kerry said.

While Israel and the Palestinians think about negotiations, some negotiations in the business world are ruffling feathers in Israel. The deal for Bank Leumi to forgive millions of shekels of debt from a company controlled by Israeli billionaire, Nochi Dankner, has raised the ire of the public. Israel Hayom pats itself on the back for bringing attention to the story, but concedes that it was TheMarker (the business paper published by Haaretz) that broke the story. (“By the way,” the paper gloats,”Yedioth Ahronoth and Maariv did not report the story.”)

Aside from the bragging, the paper reports that the deal is being looked at by the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Israel to make sure that everything is on the up and up. Opposition leader Shelly Yachimovich praised the investigation but was disgusted that the deal had been struck in the first place. “Any individual or small or medium business could only dream about it [having debt forgiven],” Yachimovich told reporters.

Tribute to the Iron Lady

Britain’s farewell to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher features prominently in the Hebrew press. Only Maariv didn’t place a picture of Thatcher’s Union Jack-draped casket on its front page (will Israel Hayom call it out on that too?) and all the papers included spreads of the dignitaries attending the funeral, including Queen Elizabeth and the Netanyahus.