Mofaz mo’ problems

Newly elected Kadima chief Shaul Mofaz paraded around Jerusalem yesterday with the media in tow.  All four newspapers today have images of Mofaz visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem and the tomb of Theodor Herzl. But despite his confidence, all is not well with Kadima.

Yedioth Ahronoth’s story, “Mofaz effect,” photographs a worried-looking Mofaz at the Western Wall with the results of a Yedioth survey next to him, showing that Kadima could bring only 12 Knesset seats in the next election. The two-page spread details the results of the poll which offers a number of combinations for election pairings, perhaps the most interesting being that of former newscaster Yair Lapid teaming up with Tzipi Livni and winning 15 seats in the next election (whenever that will be).

Maariv shows off Mofaz’s confidence with its headline a quote from Mofaz, “After my victory, Bibi has a reason to be scared.” The inside coverage breaks down the primary by region, detailing just how Mofaz trounced Tzipi Livni. In a Maariv interview, he says he wants to build up Kadima into a strong social justice party that will remain in the opposition until the general elections.

The election of Mofaz is also the top story in Haaretz, with its headline quoting Mofaz: “I will lead the summer protests.” The paper has an interview with the new Kadima head, who is trying to distance himself from his security roots and rebrand himself as a social justice politician. Mofaz tells the paper, “Once the public gets to know me, they’ll accept me.”

Israel Hayom splits its coverage between Mofaz’s victory and speculation on what Tzipi Livni will do now. Half of the Page 2 article discusses what her next move will be, as well as that of her supporters. Will she join the government? Will she leave the party? Israel Hayom asks, but has no answer.

Reporting with Stanley Fischer

Also making front-page news in three of the four papers is the report issued by Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer summarizing Israel’s economy in 2011. Israel Hayom’s headline focuses on the security budget, attributing to Fischer, “Want more security? Raise taxes.” The Page 5 story takes a win-some, lose-some attitude regarding the report, including a chart that lists some of the good things and some of the bad. Some of the positive: the economy grew by 4.7% and gas prices are not higher in Israel than anywhere else in the world. The negatives include: social inequality that’s among the highest in the Western world, and a very high tax burden.

Haaretz’s article takes a more anti-government slant on the report, making the point that government cutbacks helped reduce national debt but also increase social inequality. The article also interviews Yonaton Levy, a leader of last summer’s social protests, who is confident that the demonstrations will resume after Passover.

Maariv has a full-page article on Page 6 about the meeting of Eva Sandler and Avivit Shire. Shire, who lost her husband and five children in a fire in Rehovot Monday night, was visited by Eva Sandler, who recently lost her husband and two children in the terror attack in Toulouse.

Israel Hayom has a front-page lead about an attempted “lynch” — actually, a stone-throwing — in Jerusalem, showing a car whose windshield was broken with the headline, “Alert on the borders” in preparation for tomorrow’s Land Day. The Page 9 story tells how a couple on their way to their wedding had their car surrounded and rocks thrown at them, breaking the car’s windshield. In another article, Israel Hayom details the preparations that the security forces are taking for tomorrow’s land day activities, including canceling all police vacations and equipping police with riot gear.

On Page 12, Yedioth Ahronoth has an article about an American report, issued to Congress, stating that a strike on Iran would only delay the Iranians’ nuclear program by six months. The article quotes American sources who question how effective a strike would be and whether Israel has the munitions to make any attack successful.

Springing forward

All the papers put a nice reminder on their front page that Daylight Savings Time begins tonight at 2:00am in Israel. Only Maariv has a full-page article about daylight savings time, complete with a world map showing when other countries are changing their clocks.

On Maariv’s editorial page, Guy Meroz already misses Tzipi Livni, calling her strong-willed for not caving to Shas three years ago. He goes on to say that the average Israeli wants a strong leader and Livni was just that three years ago. But Meroz has no confidence in Mofaz, whom he thinks will join the Netanyahu government. In a moment of levity, Meroz equates writing “Prime Minister Mofaz” with writing “Israel Railways – the quickest way to travel.”

In Israel Hayom, Haim Shein writes about Obama’s microphone gaffe earlier in the week in South Korea. Shein wonders: if Obama will only be able to do more after the elections, where does that leave Israel? Will the American president abandon the promises he made during this campaign? He closes his piece by saying that all freedom-loving people should be worried about the gap between Obama’s thoughts and words.

Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz about the outcry over monkeys being sent to the United States for experimentation but lack of protest over deporting asylum-seekers. While Levy congratulates the animal rights movement in Israel, he wonders why asylum seekers are the subject of no such campaign. Suggesting that our priorities are out of whack, he states that Israel must focus first on human rights and then on animal rights.