A somber homecoming

Many questions still linger about Wednesday’s terror attack in Bulgaria, but the Israeli press took a moment Friday morning to remember the victims. Pictures and stories of the five Israelis killed on Wednesday in Burgas were spread across the front-pages of all the major papers.

“A sad return,” is the headline across three of the four papers (only Haaretz differs with its headline, “Coffins of the dead from the terror attack fly home to Israel; Netanyahu: Iran is on a world terror campaign.”). The coverage of the attack is similar across the papers, but nonetheless heartbreaking.

Maariv highlights the story of Kochava Shriki, who was traveling with her husband to Bulgaria. Before Wednesday’s flight from Israel, the couple learned that Kochava was pregnant with their first child after years of trying. “She was so happy,” Kochava’s sister-in-law told the paper.

Aside from the focus on the victims, Maariv writes about tourists who decided to stay on in Bulgaria. One family told the paper, “After the attack we considered returning to Israel, but we decided to give it a chance. The next day there was security around the hotel so we feel safe now.” Maariv also reports that more than 1,000 Israelis flew to Bulgaria on Thursday and only about 30% of those planning to travel to Bulgaria have cancelled their trips.

Yedioth Ahronoth focuses on the sad stories of the other four victims. The first article focuses on three childhood friends who travelled to Burgas together; two of them were killed and the third remains in critical condition. The second article tells the story of the two couples who were vacationing together and both the husbands were killed in the attack. The two couples were traveling to celebrate the birthday of Itzik Kolengi, one of the husbands killed in the attack.

Yedioth dedicates a lot of space (but little writing) to the man it believes is the attacker, Mehdi Ghezali. (Maariv and Israel Hayom both include articles that state the Swiss and Swedish government deny that Ghezali is the bomber). While the article covers the basics of Ghezali’s life, an adjacent article tells that Netanyahu stated in a press conference that there was a failed attack against Israelis in South Africa. The article goes on to remind the reader of all places in the world where attacks have been foiled in the past year, including: Thailand, Turkey, and Cyprus.

Israel Hayom columnist Dan Margalit writes some pretty bleak words to open his column, entitled “Continue and don’t lose hope”:

“What is more Israeli than five new graves of young people — not everyone knew each another, but they fell victim to a terrible terror which cut down the only thing they have in common: a future, hope, optimism?” While Margalit meanders on the topic about the possible bomber and taking down the ayatollahs, he concludes his piece by asking readers to remember the families of the killed and injured. “We have no choice to continue, and not to lose hope,” he writes.

Haaretz’s focuses its coverage more on the facts of the attack and the confusion surrounding it. The article reports that while Netanyahu has blamed Iran and Hezbollah, the security services don’t have definite information on the attack itself. Haaretz quotes an anonymous Israeli security officer who tells the paper that while there was suspicion that Hezbollah was planning an attack, “We didn’t know to associate that [threat] with this specific time and place.”

Countdown to a new regime?

The developments in Syria over the past few days are making Israel nervous about the stability of that state. Israel Hayom reports that due to the deteriorating situation in Syria, the IDF has cancelled all leave time for soldiers this weekend. The article discusses Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s visit to the Israeli-Syrian border Thursday where battles between the rebels and the Syrian army could be seen just across the border. Barak told reporters, “Syria has chemical weapons and every consideration must be contemplated.”

Barak’s sentiment about Syria’s chemical weapons is apparently worrying some officials in America, as Maariv reports in its article, “The race for the chemical arsenal.” The article recounts Barak’s trip to the Golan and then ties in a report from the New York Times that states White House officials contacted Jerusalem due to fears that Israel might take action to destroy Syria’s arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. While no response was given, Maariv points out that King Abdullah of Jordan also expressed his concern about Syrian weapons falling into terrorist hands during a recent CNN interview.

Mr. Intelligence

Yedioth buries the obituary of former Egyptian spy chief Omar Suleiman on its page 14. Suleiman was in the United States for medical tests when he died suddenly. Yedioth eulogizes him (and calls him by his Egyptian moniker “Mr. Intelligence”) as a man who was loved in Israel (as much as an Egyptian spy chief can be loved) and as the man who finalized last year’s deal to release Gilad Shalit. Yedioth reports that former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak fainted when told of Suleiman’s death.

Haaretz reports that in the week since Moshe Silman self-immolated, 14 people have threatened to do the same. Haaretz bases its report on the non-profit organization, Yedid (friend), which helps people find solutions to their economic issues. While the headline of 14 people threatening to self-immolate is just a little sensationalistic, the agency reported an increase of 20% in applicants over the past year. The article argues the increase in applicants is a sign that the economic situation for the Israeli middle class has actually worsened since last year.

Weekend Politics

Both Maariv and Yedioth give front-page coverage to their very similar stories that appear in the weekend supplement about Israeli politics. Both papers conducted a survey about who the Israeli public would vote for if there were elections soon; both saw a decline for Kadima (no surprises there).

Maariv shows that the Likud would remain with 27 seats, Labor would gain four seats and have 17, and the big loser would be Kadima, which would fall from 28 to 7 seats. Yedioth’s results are almost identical, with the Likud slipping slightly in its survey. But both articles have the same bottom line: Kadima is the biggest loser from the latest coalition debacle.