We need to talk about leadership

A variety of Middle Eastern leaders made the front pages of Wednesday’s Israeli press, but none of them were focusing on Israel.

After a spell of silence, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman was again in the spotlight. This time he made Haaretz’s front page for a letter he wrote to the Quartet (US, Russia, the UN, and the EU) urging it to find a way to urge the Palestinians to hold elections and oust the current president, Mahmoud Abbas. Haaretz quotes the letter, which calls Abbas an obstacle to negotiations and urges new thinking in the Middle East: “The time has come to consider creative solutions and think outside the box in order to strengthen the Palestinian leadership.”

While Liberman talks about ousting Abbas, Israel Hayom reports on its front page that the Syrian deputy prime minister is willing to discuss Assad’s resignation. During an interview with Al-Jazeera, the deputy PM said that it was possible to negotiate with the opposition about the resignation of Assad. The article also includes a warning from the Syrian foreign minister aimed at the US, “A military invasion of Syria will lead to a conflict that expands past the borders to the entire region.”

Maariv focuses its front-page ire on Egypt with the front-page headline, “Egypt is refusing to report to Israel about its forces in Sinai.” Inside the Page 8 article, Maariv quotes Yasad Ali, spokesperson for Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, “Security in Sinai is the top priority for Egypt and nothing will negate that.” Despite the focus on Sinai security, the paper quotes a report from Reuters that cites Egyptian security sources stating, “We don’t need to provide Israel a daily report on actions which are part of the security services.”

Yedioth Ahronoth‘s front page focuses on the July that was and the fact that 16,084 Israelis lost their jobs during the month. The headline states in large font the number, “187,000 unemployed.” This raised the unemployment rate by a half percentage point. One sector saw a large number of layoffs — academia. Yedioth also provides a map showing the cities with the highest unemployment rates, Dimona and Umm al-Fahm with 16.2% each and Acre with 15.8%. The lowest was Ramat Hasharon with 1.8% unemployment.

Yesterday’s news

Israel Hayom follows up on the arrest of Shushan Baraby, who is accused of being the driver in a hit-and-run that killed three women in Netanya on Friday. Baraby, who was captured on Monday after hiding in a warehouse, declared that he was not the driver and that he hid because he was afraid of the victims’ family. Baraby said, “The police looked for me because of my past… it is a shame that this occurred, and with my car, this is what pains me the most, more than anything else.” The police dispute Baraby’s innocence and say there they have eyewitnesses proving he was the driver.

Maariv continues to follow the mob attack of an Arab youth in Jerusalem with a Page 2 article on how the security services did not assist. The article reports that the city didn’t respond to a call, and that a police officer saw the attack occurring and stayed silent. One of the men who called the municipality told the paper, “The police officer arrived exactly at the time that the youths were chanting, ‘Death to Arabs’… and decided not to get involved… He told me, ‘They’re kids, what can they do to him?’”

Yedioth reports that another case has been closed against former prime minister Ehud Olmert, this one relating to whether Olmert used his political power to provide appointments in exchange for political favors. The prosecutors declared that this case was  was too similar to other open cases against the former leader.

Summertime blues

Israel Hayom gives a two-page spread to the upcoming end of summer as Israeli students go back to school in just five days. Perhaps the most interesting part of the surprisingly prominent article is that over half of the nation’s grandparents help out with the grandkids during the month of August. Nu? Is that really surprising?

Haaretz also has a summer vacation article about kids who don’t have summer vacation. Haaretz focuses their story on a religious school in Beit El where the students spend their summer vacation studying Torah instead of going to the beach. One student told the paper, “I’m not jealous of kids who get a vacation. I’m studying Torah and not bored.”

But that’s not the only school story in Haaretz. The paper also reveals the results of a survey of high school seniors on their feelings about education, the army and their political leanings. According to the survey, one third of students don’t read at all while two thirds read at least one book a month. When asked if they wanted to be drafted to a combat army unit, 60% said no. While 14% said if elections were held today they would vote for Likud, 38% said they don’t know. The most eye-opening response was the 59% who stated that African refugees should be expelled from the country.

A new Middle East?

Dan Margalit writes in Israel Hayom that the US is making mistakes in Egypt and not learning from them. “The Americans began a fickle journey to depose Hosni Mubarak and allow the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the deterioration of Egyptian army,” writes Margalit. While he understands that America has good intentions of providing more aid to Egypt to promote peace, the results are proving the opposite and the peace treaty is being violated. Margalit then worries that this American misunderstanding in Egypt is showing up in American policy towards Syria, where Iran is propping up the Syrian regime. He concludes with a sobering picture of the Middle East, “What will the world look like with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt ridiculing the American-sponsored peace treaty with Israel, and pro-Iranian Assad in Syria after the rebels’ ammunition runs out?”