Fanning the flames

After being knocked off the front-pages for a few days by the Sinai terror attack, Iran made its triumphant return to the front pages of all newspapers on Friday with enough news and public surveys to keep you reading all Shabbat.

All the headlines have a slightly different flavor but all point to the same thing: Israelis are nervous. Maariv’s headline reveals the results of a survey it conducted, “37% of the public: if Iran will have nuclear weapons there could be a second Holocaust.” Inside the more survey results are revealed including that 40% of Israelis would support Israel attacking Iran while 35% said let the United States handle it.

The Israeli public isn’t the only ones feeling the pressure of Iran, Haaretz’s headline reveals that government is also worried, “Senior Israeli official: the Iranian sword on our necks is sharper than the situation in 1967.” The unnamed source tells the paper that if Iran gets the bomb, “the Middle East won’t be the same, our existence won’t be the same.” The paper reported that the official also responded to the idea that Israel wanted to drag the US into a war. “Under no circumstances do we want to drag the US into a war…Israel is strong, contemplative and will do all that it must do.”

While Israel is preparing how to deal with Iran, Israel Hayom’s headline quotes an American official about the Iranian reaction, “Iran is significantly increasing its pace towards developing a nuclear weapon.” Despite its prominent headline the article is buried on page five and tells about the most recent American intelligence report, which largely confirms the Israeli assessment. The article states the difference of opinion between Israel and the US lies in what each country defines as its red line. For the US it is the Iranian political decision to assemble a bomb, while for Israel it is the capability to assemble a bomb that is the red line.

Yedioth Ahronoth also puts Iran front and center on its front-page with the headline, “Netanyahu and Barak are determined to attack Iran in the fall.” But that story is buried in its weekend supplement and just recaps the reasons for and against attacking. What is included in Yedioth’s main section is a little article about the IDF ensuring that bases all around the country have enough field rations and ammunition. The article reports that these logistical moves are most likely the result of the Second Lebanon War where troops in southern Lebanon could not get supplies due to a lack of logistical support.

A different type of heat wave

The major domestic news going into the weekend is the current wave of arson within Israel. Maariv reports that on Thursday there were six wildfires throughout the country and police investigators believe that it was an organized arson attack. Four of the fires were set in the north of Israel, outside of Haifa, and two were set outside of Jerusalem. Overall the fires destroyed five homes and burned hundreds of dunams but there were no injuries. Police suspect that the reason for the blazes is nationalistic.

It has been 12 years since the lynching of two IDF reservist at a Ramallah police station but Israeli authorities haven’t stopped searching for those responsible. Israel Hayom reports that two Palestinians have been indicted in an Israeli military court for their participation in the brutal attack.  The two men have reportedly admitted to participating in the lynch that killed Israeli reservists Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Nurzhitz.

Haaretz reports that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected an invitation to speak at the Arab League conference in 2007. The paper states that the invitation was arranged through former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and while Olmert originally accepted, he declined at the last minute and sent Moshe Shahal instead. The paper reported that Olmert wanted to attend but felt that he didn’t have the domestic political support to do so.

Rotten milk

The dairy company Tnuva issued a recall on Thursday of its one liter 3% milk due to contamination with cleaning products. Maariv reports that the milk was contaminated with sodium hydroxide which is used to clean the machines and clear blockages at the dairy plant. Doctor Vadim Levinksy tried to calm fears by telling the paper, “This can’t cause health issues especially with this low amount of concentration in the milk.” While the contaminated milk may not cause health issues, the recall is expected to cost the dairy giant 71 million shekels which may make some at Tnuva start crying over contaminated milk.

Tnuva isn’t the only ones crying, Yedioth laments about the Olympic medals that could have been with two stories of Olympic athletes and their ties to Israel. The first story is about a sailor Jo Aleh, who is the daughter of an Israeli father and New Zealander mother.  Aleh’s parents met while her mother was a sport instructor in the IDF. Aleh, who speaks Hebrew but has lived her entire life in New Zealand, is guaranteed to win a silver medal and may win gold if Friday’s event goes her way.

The other Olympic medal that could have been Israel’s is related to  gymnastics. The coach of American gold medalist Aly Raisman, Mihai Brestyan lived in Israel and trained Israeli athletes in the 1980s and 1990s. Brestyan left Israel after the Israeli Olympic committee refused to send one of the Israeli athletes to Atlanta because they didn’t think she would medal. “After that, I broke,” Berstyan said. But the coach had some positive things to say about Israeli athletes, “There are many capable kids and coaches in every sector of Israel. If they would stop creating drama, maybe Israel would be able to win a lot medals.”