A president and a gentleman

The death of Israel’s fifth president Yitzhak Navon at the age of 94 leads the country’s papers, with top writers, analysts, friends, and family members recalling personal stories or general impressions about the Jewish statesman and the characteristics that made him so remarkable.

Navon, who served as president from 1978 to 1983, died Friday night.

“A noble Israeli,” veteran Israel Hayom reporter and publicist Dan Margalit writes of Navon. “He loved honor. Was a man of honor. Was honored. Was worthy of honor.”

Margalit notes with respect the late Israeli leader’s 300-year-old roots in the city of Jerusalem, as well as Navon’s extensive scholarly background and unique dovish political stance.

“In a generation of young men of the sword fighting the British regime, he was a man of the book,” Margalit says nostalgically. “In his manners and his customs, he was not a man of bickering and quarrels, but a sort of folk prince with a rich tongue.”

Yedioth Ahronoth focuses on Navon’s efforts to bridge social and racial divides in the country, leading with the headline “The man who knew how to be the president of everyone” plastered atop an old photo of the former statesman smiling shyly.

“[Navon’s son] Erez said yesterday that [his father] loved humankind,” Nahum Barnea writes in an op-ed. “I think that saying perfectly encapsulates the man and his rarity. The political world is full of people who love themselves. Navon loved humankind,” he continues.

“One can, of course, dally with the thought of what would happen if Navon would have been elected prime minister. It is possible that the Israeli public would look a little different, less polarized between Jews and Arabs, between Ashkenazim and Sephardim, between left and right. It is possible that the internal debate would be more civilized, more comfortable,” Barnea adds with a note of regret for the missed opportunity.

Haaretz pays its respects to Navon as well, though the bulk of the paper’s front page and opinion pieces are dedicated to the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank — specifically in Hebron — and the implications the escalation may have on Israeli policy.

“The question is not why Hebron, but why now,” reporter Amira Hass writes in response to a series of attacks by Palestinians against Israeli targets in the city over the weekend. “Why the escalation ranges from East Jerusalem to Hebron is not complicated [to answer] at all. These are two cities where settlers live within the Palestinian population, in a proximity that cannot be avoided,” she opines. Hass, typically critical of Israel’s policy in the West Bank, goes on to detail a number of perceived problems caused by the presence of Jews in the two aforementioned locations. “The real riddle, in this light, is why the popular protests, including individual attempted stabbings, only broke out now.” Hass does not offer a clear-cut answer, but posits that Israel will most likely tighten its grip on the Palestinian population and scale up security measures in major West Bank flash points in an attempt to quell the unrest.

Israel Hayom features an interview with a man who managed to subdue a Palestinian who stabbed an elderly woman in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion last week. The attack and its aftermath, which were caught on camera, gave rise to serious public debate, as numerous civilians could be seen chasing the attacker while the elderly woman lay injured on the ground. Several public figures and organizations, including the woman’s daughter, voiced criticism over the decision to pursue the stabber rather than help the wounded individual. The interview in Israel Hayom seeks to clear these charges, highlighting the selfless act of the man who chased the Palestinian assailant.

“My basic assumption was that I may well be stabbed, but in front of my eyes stood the lives of the people [the attacker] was chasing, and I realized I had a responsibility for the lives of those civilians,” the man tells the paper. “Anyone who does not risk his life for others and does not have an understanding in combat, it would be better if they did not speak,” he concludes.

One can expect an article titled “Inheritance of the baboons,” to be at the very least interesting, and Yedioth’s back-page story of the same name does indeed deliver the goods. Hilda Goren, an 81-year-old woman, had for 20 years volunteered as a caretaker for the baboons in the Ramat Gan Safari. Before her death, she indicated in her will that she wished to leave all her inheritance for the benefit of the primates in Ramat Gan.”I want the baboons to have a kingdom,” Goren told her cousin before passing away. And a kingdom they shall receive. According to Yedioth, the funds left by Goren are currently being used to construct a swimming pool, a playground, and a beautiful glass enclosure for the lucky monkeys.