All eyes on Eisenkot

Starting off the week in Israel, the Hebrew papers decide to channel their inner bubbe and talk readers’ ears off about the new leader of the IDF, Gadi Eisenkot.

“Good luck!” reads Israel Hayom’s front page headline alongside a picture of a saluting Gadi Eisenkot. Yedioth Ahronoth runs for the simple headline, “Chief of Staff Eisenkot,” alongside a picture of the new military chief on the day he was drafted back in 1978. Haaretz doesn’t quite get into the festive mood of the other papers, instead going with “Ya’alon and Netanyahu announce Gadi Eisenkot will be the next IDF chief of staff.”

Among the eight pages of coverage in both Yedioth and Israel Hayom there are a number of pieces describing Eisenkot and why he’s the right man for the job. Yedioth says that of his group of childhood friends growing up in Eilat, he was the only one not to join the navy, instead choosing the Golani infantry brigade. The paper also recounts how Eisenkot was on leave when the first Lebanon war broke out and in order to reach his unit he had to hitchhike his way to the front to take command of his unit.

If that’s not enough proof that he’s right for the job, Israel Hayom gives a testimonial from someone who would know: his mother. Esther Eisenkot told reporters, “Everything he will do – he will succeed, God willing.”

To celebrate the appointment, the papers do what they do best: opinion pieces.

Haaretz’s Amos Harel thinks that Eisenkot is the right man for the job, and one who won’t lead Israel into unnecessary conflicts. Harel calls Eisenkot “Sober and very experienced,” and says that his experience and qualifications won the enthusiastic endorsement of current IDF chief Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. Despite being the best man for the job, Eisenkot still faces a number of threats: Iran, non-state actors fighting on Israel’s borders, and tensions in the West Bank.

While Harel worries about the external threats, Yedioth’s Alex Fishman worries about the internal threats facing the IDF’s top soldier. Like others, Fishman praises Eisenkot, saying he has moved up the ladder of the IDF without making many enemies. “He has the instincts, discretion and diplomatic ability to defuse the minefield before him,” Fishman writes. What minefield? “Eisenkot ascends to the top post in a period lacking government stability and may find himself with a defense minister, or even a prime minister, with whom he doesn’t see eye to eye.”

Israel Hayom’s Yoav Limor thinks that Eisenkot is facing three main challenges: “operational, deterrence and budgetary.” Operationally, Limor writes the IDF must update its operational procedures in light of the shortcomings of Operation Protective Edge and a meeting of the High Command this week will be an excellent starting point. Perhaps the most daunting challenge for Eisenkot will be the budget, forcing Eisenkot to do more with less. Despite these challenges “being a recipe for a few potential conflicts,” the public should feel safe knowing that the IDF is in good hands.

We are the 98%

Political junkies over the past week have been wondering if the “Jewish state” bill would cause the coalition to crumble, and on Sunday there is a partial answer.

“Sources close to Netanyahu – we are already 98% in an election campaign,” reads the front page headline in Haaretz. Over the weekend Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Netanyahu traded barbs, which according to sources, has Netanyahu pondering if the coalition will survive or not. Those same sources expect that he will decide the fate of the coalition within the next two days.

Just in case you’re not in the election spirit yet, Haaretz also commissioned a survey with some surprising results. Netanyahu’s current approval rating is at 38%, down from 77% on August 5. While in the midst of Operation Protective Edge 42% thought he was the best man to be prime minister, now only 35% think so.

If elections were held today, the paper finds that Likud would get 24 seats, Jewish Home would get 16, and both Israel Beytenu and Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid would win 11. If popular former communications minister Moshe Kahlon decided to run he would win 12 seats.

Yedioth also reports on the coalition crisis and says Netanyahu may be trying to defuse the situation by removing the cause of it, the “Jewish State” bill. Originally the bill was scheduled to be voted on this Wednesday in the Knesset, but it appears that the vote has been delayed a week.

In a piece by Shimon Shiffer, the columnist writes that now we can see the end of the coalition. Shiffer speaks to some unnamed government minsters, one of whom has some harsh criticism for Netanyahu. “Nothing interests him [Netanyahu] except for one topic, his survival.” This crisis may be showing the rest of the country something that some in the government already know. Shiffer writes, “It looks like Gideon Sa’ar and Amir Peretz who quit this government saw something that others have preferred not to see: the emperor has no clothes.”

Finally, while the coalition crisis worsens, an incident Saturday night reminds the public that Jerusalem is as shaky as ever. Israel Hayom reports on an arson attack at a bilingual Hebrew-Arabic school in Jerusalem. Police suspect that arson was behind the attack on the school, which caused smoke damage to a few of the classrooms. Outside the school were spray-painted slogans like “No assimilation” and “Kahane was right” [in reference to the right-wing extremist Meir Kahane]. Shai Peron, the education minister, condemned the attack, saying, “It is a violent incident, criminal and despicable, that could undermine the foundations of democracy.”