Out of this world

Are we humans truly alone in the universe? Are there possibly other life forms on distant planets, billions and billions of miles away from our own? These are some of the questions the Hebrew press grappled with on Friday, following NASA’s announcement of the discovery of Kepler-452b, an earth-like located roughly 1,400 light years away.

In Yedioth Ahronoth, the historic Iranian nuclear deal and US Secretary of State John Kerry’s spat with Congress are pushed to the side as an image of Earth and Kepler-452b, presumably an illustration, covers nearly a third of the paper’s front page. “A twin brother for Earth,” the headline excitedly states.

Israel Hayom is slightly more reserved in its reaction to the possibility that extraterrestrials may exist, dedicating only a small box to the astronomical finding with a rather familiar headline reading, “Earth, the twin brother.”

Haaretz mentions the discovery as well, but its top story deals with a new development on the left-wing side of Israel’s political spectrum, namely that Zahava Gal-On’s Meretz party is exploring possible mergers with other Israeli factions more to the center. According to Haaretz writer Yossi Verter, the Meretz chairwoman in recent months organized numerous meetings with other fellow opposition party heads, as well as leaders of social movements, in the hopes of establishing a new, unified faction with the potential to attract a large voter base.

“We cannot be connoisseurs any longer,” Gal-On is quoted by Haaretz as saying. “The results of the elections force us to rethink and to draw conclusions.” Meretz currently holds only five Knesset seats and just barely passed the electoral threshold, which is currently situated at the four-seat mark.

Israel Hayom continues to blast the Iranian nuclear deal, extensively covering the fierce exchange between Republican senators and John Kerry during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday. “Unbelievable, according to a secret clause in the nuclear agreement, the Iranians themselves will collect samples from the military facility in Parchin,” the paper exclaims. “Kerry, you’ve been duped,” it adds in big, bold letters.

During the said hearing, Kerry dismissed talk of a better deal to thwart Iran’s nuclear program as a “fantasy” involving “some sort of unicorn arrangement involving Iran’s complete capitulation.” The secretary was met by several highly skeptical critics, one of whom told him that the Islamic Republic had “fleeced” the US in the negotiations.

In other nuclear agreement-related news, Yedioth presents an interview with former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, who states point blank that “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is incapable of dealing with the Iranian threat.” The paper spares no effort in highlighting Liberman’s frustration with the prime minister. The challenge is simply “too big” for the Israeli leader to handle, says Liberman. “One must be creative, determined, make tough decisions,” the former minister continues. “[Netanyahu] has none of that.”

Staying on the topic of Netanyahu criticisms, Yedioth reports that the parents of fallen IDF soldier Lee Matt, who was killed during last summer’s 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, are protesting a ruling by the Defense Ministry not to allow a change in the wording on his tombstone to include the names of his siblings by instead inscribing the words “Lilik was killed on the watch of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — Bibi and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon — Bugi” upon the monument. Sergeant Matt, 19, from Eilat, served in the Paratroopers Brigade’s elite reconnaissance unit and was killed along with two other soldiers after the three entered a booby-trapped house in Khan Younis on July 23.

Meanwhile, Haaretz defense analyst Amos Harel reports that Education Minister Naftali Bennett is working to advance the recommendations offered by the Locker Commission, which calls for comprehensive reforms and budget cuts in the Israel Defense Forces. According to Harel, Bennett has already rallied several ministers to his cause in the hopes of forcing the prime minister to accept the commission’s suggestions.

The move puts Bennet at odds with Defense Minister Ya’alon who had claimed this week that “[t]he report is superficial, extremely unbalanced and completely detached from the reality in and around the State of Israel.” The defense minister also warned that “[t]he report, if implemented, would place a gamble on the safety of Israeli citizens.”