Secret agent man

The country’s leading Hebrew-language papers welcome Shin Bet deputy director Nadav Argaman’s emergence from the shadows after years of secrecy, but do not provide much substantial information in their attempts to dissipate some of the fog surrounding the career spook, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the veteran agent would replace current Shin Bet head Yoram Cohen.

Israel Hayom blandly reports that Netanyahu brands Argaman as someone who possesses “proven operational experience and rich command skills.”

The paper provides some details regarding Argaman’s background, placing special emphasis on his secular upbringing in a kibbutz, as opposed to the head of the Mossad intelligence agency Yossi Cohen and and Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich, who both come from a religious background.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, in a report echoed across almost every other media outlet in the country, the incoming Shin Bet chief was drafted into the IDF in 1978, serving in an elite unit. In 1983, he joined the Shin Bet, where served in a variety of operative roles. From 2003 to 2007, Argaman was the Shin Bet’s representative in the US; he was made deputy head of the agency upon his return to Israel, and served in that role for three years.

Israel Hayom analyst Yoav Limor points out that in contrast to previous appointments of top security officials by Netanyahu, Argaman’s nomination was not marked by any form of controversy, and his ascension to the position of Shin Bet head is all but universally accepted.

“Argaman’s appointment as Shin Bet head has calmed the organization yesterday,” Limor writes. “No succession struggles, no external appointments. The deputy succeeds the leader, and now we continue to work.

Haaretz’s Amos Harel writes that the appointment of Argaman “is unsurprising and had been the safe bet since the fall when he was called to go back to being deputy to replace Roni Alsheich, who was appointed to save the police.”

A day after covered the appointment of Argaman from every angle on its Internet site, the papers focus is scattered elsewhere, stressing different news stories close to its ideal readers’ hearts.

The paper reports that the number of high school students who applied for matriculation exams in the humanities has dropped significantly over the past twenty years, while at the same time, the amount of people taking part in bible studies at educational institutions has shot up.

The paper stresses that the exact causes for the noticeable changes have not yet been determined by the researchers who conducted the study, yet some high school teachers have asserted that the trend is due to a general hostility on part of the Education Ministry concerning the humanities at large.

“The humanities, which cultivate critical thinking, are uncomfortable for a society that is interested in creating a collective mindset,” literature teacher Dr. Sigal Naor Perlman tells Haaretz. At the current state of affairs, in light of trends that we have already seen, like the banning of a book, my fear is that the humanities will be restricted even more.”

Back in Israel Hayom, reporter Yehuda Schlesinger covers a new book which aims to explain the topic of surrogacy, still considered in some of the more religious Israeli sectors as a bit of a taboo, to ultra-Orthodox children.

The kids book, authored by Etti Shmidov, follows a hen and a chicken, who for unspecified reasons cannot sit on their egg, and must ask for help from a second hen.

Shmidov explains that the story was born out of her personal experiences, as for health reasons she was unable to have children, and therefore twice turned to a surrogate mother. Shmidov says she hopes the book will help in making surrogacy more of an accepted procedure for ultra-Orthodox couples who face problems with pregnancy.

“Today surrogacy is becoming more well-known, but still, I understood I still needed to explain to people what exactly it is,” she says.