Welcome to the (political) jungle

The political fallout from the collapse of the Plesner Committee continues to dominate the front pages of Israel’s newspapers today. Everyone was waiting to see what the lone remaining member of the committee, MK Yohanan Plesner himself, will say when he presents the recommendations of the defunct committee and, more importantly, the reactions of the main political forces to the report.

Maariv leads with Shas’s spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s declaration that “If sanctions are placed – Shas will resign.” Yosef is addressing one of the anticipated recommendations of the committee, punishing draft dodgers with fines. As we learn from the subhead, Shas isn’t the only party to talk about quitting. Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz has threatened to leave the coalition he joined just a few short weeks ago if the committee’s recommendations, including sanctions, aren’t adopted.

Israel Hayom takes an optimistic approach, suggesting in its lead story that after Plesner does his thing, the recommendations will become a platform for renewed negotiations between the sides, with Prime Minister Netanyahu moderating through political give and take.

Haaretz relegates the political rigmarole to lower down on its front page, sufficing with an announcement of an expected meeting between Netanyahu and Mofaz to try to keep Kadima from leaving the coalition.

Yedioth Ahronoth looks at the story from a more human point of view, leaving the political angle for the inside pages. The front-page headline quotes from a letter by high school seniors who stand to be drafted, urging Netanyahu not to give in to the haredim. “Everyone should enlist like we do,” read the headline under a photo of seven young men.

A second story that is getting major play this morning follows the Al Jazeera report on the possible poisoning of former Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. Both Yedioth and Israel Hayom feature a headline on the report on their front page, with Yedioth’s two top defense correspondents, Ronen Bergman and Alex Fishman, weighing in on it.

Yedioth offers up a preview of a weekend magazine interview with polygamous cult leader Goel Ratzon. In his first interview from behind bars, Ratzon tells Yedioth readers how his multiple wives competed with each other over who loved him more.

Maariv reports on the front page on a new initiative by Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger to rank Israeli hotels according to their adherence to Jewish law. The new system proposes to give hotels a ranking of between two and five “kosher stars,” depending on how strict they are in maintaining religious edicts. A five-star hotel according to the new ranking would be one that does not employ gentiles, has gender-segregated swimming pools and does not use electricity during Shabbat.

Haaretz’s lead story reports on the Prison Services decision to release the man who killed former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin from solitary confinement. After 17 years of being set apart from the general prison population, Yigal Amir will be placed in a cell with other inmates and be granted occasional yard privileges. The move comes after the court ordered an easing in his conditions for humanitarian reasons.

All the papers offer reviews of yesterday’s much anticipated Guns N’ Roses concert in Tel Aviv. The consensus seems to be that though the numbers in attendance were lower than expected and signs of age are showing on front man Axl Rose, the band that played a big part in the collective soundtrack of the 90’s still has much to offer its nostalgic fans. An electric guitar rendition of Hatikva was the cherry on top for the 13,000 people who made it to the concert.

Sweet child of mine

In Haaretz’s opinion section Zvi Barel writes about the army’s charter and reminds readers that it is first and foremost there to provide security for Israelis and not as a socialization tool for Arabs and haredim. Barel urges Israelis to change the way they view the army and Israeli society in turn. “It requires the establishment of a professional army whose prestige depends on its ability to face external threats and not its skills as a social or educational agent. It is an army that carefully filters into its ranks and its payroll those who are worthy and needed, and is not a pot in which citizens are melted into a collective identity.”

In Yedioth, Amnon Abramovich sums up the political situation in Israel in two words: “He’s scared.” Abramovich is referring to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who he claims at the age of 63 still doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up. “He has a huge and unruly coalition, he knows the material, he knows precisely what the economy and society hunger for — but he is afraid. He has yet to internalize that the time has come to take action for the state and not just political survival, that he has nothing to fear but fear itself,” writes Abramovich.