Nothing to see here…

Pictures released on Friday of a possible cover-up at an Iranian military base have the Israeli press all atwitter. The satellite imagery from the Institute for Science and International Security outlining the movements at the Iranian base of Parchi was published in all the Sunday papers.

Yedioth Ahronoth uses a quote from one of its writers for its headline: “Iran lies.” Maariv uses the more descriptive headline, “Iran hides nuclear activities at a military base,” while Israel Hayom goes with, “Continuing to enrich, concealing visibility.”

Haaretz (the only paper not to put the story on its front page) focuses the discussion on the upcoming report from the International Agency for Atomic Energy IAEA that is expected to tell how Iran’s nuclear program is continuing unimpeded by sanctions. Haaretz says the forthcoming report shows the disagreement between Israel and the US, with the latter feeling there is still time for negotiations.

Yedioth’s article (“Exposing the lies”) is an opinion piece written by Yedioth columnist Alex Fishman who calls out the Iranians for their lying about their nuclear program. He runs down about all the things the Iranians are lying about (basically everything) and states that IAEA negotiations will not succeed. Fishman then uses a popular childhood story to illustrate why negotiations will fail. “The dialogue between Iran and the IAEA is reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf dressed as the grandmother: Grandmother, why such big eyes?”

Writing about the developments in Israel Hayom, Dan Margalit also goes for drama with a metaphor about Iran putting on a show for the world. After he exhausts the stage metaphor, Margalit writes that there are three options that the world has to deal with the Iranian threat. “The US will lead a coalition attack on the Iranian nuclear sites; or Israel will do so itself, or the world will make its peace with the ayatollahs’ government developing; and building atomic bombs.”

Migron headache

The papers may disagree about the timing, but they agree that this will be a fateful week for Migron. Yedioth and Maariv both report the evacuations will begin in two days, while Haaretz states that they will start today. Israel Hayom plays it safe and states that sometime this week a decision will be made. Whatever the timing, Maariv reports that not everyone is happy about the evacuation and in protest right-wing activists are beginning a campaign against Netanyahu. The campaign will hold Netanyahu personally responsible for the evacuation. The papers report that the campaign will reach its height on Tuesday, when the evacuations will begin, and that protesters are expected to block over 100 junctions throughout Israel.

Haaretz snags an interview with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman who continues on his campaign to oust Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Calling Abbas’s rule “not legitimate” Liberman is continuing on his quest to remove Abbas because “Abu Mazen is on a terror campaign to delegitimize Israel.” Liberman also made a prediction about Abbas based on the Arab Spring, “We bet on dictators in the Middle East and it didn’t help anyone. In the end, Abu Mazen will be kicked out.”

Armstrong remembered

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, had universal appeal and his death was displayed on the front pages of all the Israeli papers. Maariv and Haaretz used almost the identical headline, “Neil Armstrong dead, first man to walk on the moon” while Yedioth and Israel Hayom used the memorable phrase, “One giant step for mankind.” Yedioth digs into its archives and prints an article from July 21, 1969, about Armstrong’s famous moon walk. Haaretz remembers the astronaut, who on a visit to Israel five years ago talked with schoolchildren about his moon landing. Maariv’s Ben-Dror Yemini writes, “Armstrong was the human side of this tremendous achievement.”

A sad story of an Israeli traveler in India who met her death: Maariv reports that Shoshana Meizel, 63, was killed during a jeep tour in India. Meizel, a retired sport instructor from Gedera, spent most of her time helping the elderly and physically challenged people. Her neighbor told the paper that this trip was “something she had wanted to do since she retired.”

Saved by the bell (if you’re a parent)

Monday starts the new school year in Israel and Yedioth decides to give parents a way to plan ahead for their child’s education with a table they call “Money sciences” (a play on the Hebrew term for social sciences) with the professions that pay the best. Electrical engineer is at the top of the list, earning 23k per month, followed by computer sciences at 18k per month. Rounding out the bottom of the list is social worker at 5,000 shekels per month.

Haaretz prints an op-ed about the opening school year and the possible segregation in Eilat’s schools. The piece concedes while an agreement is expected to end the segregation of children of African workers in Eilat schools, “educational segregation is unacceptable.” The op-ed is surprisingly understanding of the Eilat schools: “No one disputes the difficulty of the educational inclusion of children from different backgrounds with different cultures, languages and needs. But this is the essence of the educational enterprise.” The piece concludes that it is the responsibility of the Education Ministry to serve children of different backgrounds and cultures and “not to keep them out of sight and out of mind.”