Arab press ponders Israel’s political bombshell

New words of warning from international envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, saying the country may deteriorate into civil war, are making headlines in Arab press Wednesday.

“Annan: We fear Syrian civil war; Washington: We will increase assistance to the opposition,” reads the headline of Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat. The daily quotes Arab League secretary general Nabil Arabi expressing the same fear as Annan, adding that civil unrest could spread from Syria to neighboring Arab countries. The photo in A-Sharq Al-Awsat displays a group of Syrian soldiers who defected from the government’s army and joined the opposition marching in the city of Al-Qasir.

“Annan: Failure will be horrible and Damascus bears prime responsibility,” reads the headline of liberal, London-based daily Al-Hayat. The daily reports that this is the first time the international admitted the possibility of failure before the UN Security Council.

Al-Hayat columnist Randa Taqi A-Din writes about “the Baath charade as opposed to the French democracy,” comparing the elections that took place in Syria and in France one day apart.

“On the day the Syrian people witnessed an election travesty prepared by a regime that continues to kill them, France presented an enjoyable and valuable democratic scene as President Nicolas Sarkozy and President-Elect Francois Hollande stood side by side, placing a bouquet on the tomb of the anonymous soldier on memorial day for the victory over Nazism. This is a lesson in democracy.”

Media analyzes Israel’s new unity government

Arab media continues to analyze the new Israeli unity deal between Kadima and the Likud. Since the dramatic deal occurred early Tuesday morning, most Arab newspapers did not properly report the event until Wednesday.

“Netanyahu cancels early elections and incorporates the opposition party Kadima into his government,” reads the headline of A-Sharq Al-Awsat, featuring a photo of Netanyahu and Mofaz shaking hands following their joint press conference.

The daily’s Israel analyst, Nazir Mjalli, writes that the Israeli extreme right will suffer more from the new unity than the left, since “they realize that the new government may lead to political decisions that will harm the interests of the right and the settlement project.”

“Israel: The unity government with Mofaz frees Netanyahu from coalition pressures,” reads the headline of Al-Hayat.

“Is it the fear of risking early elections, or a prelude to military action against Iran? These are the central questions posed in Israel after the sudden agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima opposition leader Shaul Mofaz,” reads the article. “Netanyahu and Mofaz did not give conclusive answers to these two questions.”

But if Al-Hayat only has the questions, Arab-nationalist daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi holds the answers. “Netanyahu creates wartime coaltion,” reads the headline of an unsigned editorial.

“No one can know what goes on in the mind of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu these days regarding many regional issues, but one may predict that this man harbors evil plans for war after killing the peace process through his monstrous settlement policy in the occupied  Arabic lands.”

“It is a war coalition, not a peace coalition,” continues the writer. “Its goals are old-new: Iran first, the Gaza Strip second and southern Lebanon third. Netanyahu continues to consider the so-called Iranian nuclear threat an existential threat to the state of Israel… national unity governments in Israel are usually not formed unless to wage wars; regional wars to be exact. No one party with a limited parliamentary majority can take such decisions.”

Iraqi vice president faces international arrest warrant

Iraq has issued an international arrest warrant for its vice president Tareq Al-Hashimi, accused of terrorist acts in Iraq. The unusual saga began months ago, when Hashimi fled first to the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq and then to Gulf states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Al-Hayat, which leads its news with coverage of Iraq, reports that tensions are also at an all-time high between Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and his Kurdish coalition partners, who harbored Hashimi. On Tuesday, Maliki banned the Kurds from a government meeting he conducted in the northern city of Kirkuk.

Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya reports that the “red arrest warrant” issued against Hashimi has soured relations between his Iraqiya political bloc — a senior member of the ruling coalition — and Maliki’s State of Law coalition.